External displays go black for 2-3 seconds

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External displays go black for 2-3 seconds

I have a new retina macbook pro with intel graphics. I have two external monitors that I use for work via BootCamp. This is my first day with this setup and the only hickup I have is that the two external monitors randomly go black for 2-3 seconds then come back on. The latop display remains on. I have the two external displays connected to the thunderbolt ports via mini display port to Dual Link DVI. The adapters are cheap ones from Amazon. The cables and monitors are standard DVI. The monitors and cables worked fine for almost a year on my custom built windows PC. The only two new factors are the adapters and the macbook pro. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, Windows 7

Posted on Feb 20, 2014 11:34 AM

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Answer 1

brenden dv

Community Specialist

Feb 22, 2014 11:54 AM in response to rossmatt06

Hi rossmatt06,

If you are having intermittent issues with the external displays connected to your MacBook Pro, you may find the following article helpful. In particular, if at all possible I would test with different adapters to try to rule out an incompatibility.

Apple computers: Troubleshooting issues with video on internal or external displays

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1573

Regards,

- Brenden

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Answer 2

rossmatt06 Author

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Mar 4, 2014 2:19 PM in response to brenden dv

Thank you for the response! I'm holding off on the apple adapters ($60) until I test a few other things. So for I've changed the power plan settings (didn't work), and downloaded the correct monitor drivers (didn't work). I think I have it narrowed down to the electricity in the building. My office is down the hall from a bathroom. When someone turns the lights and fan off, my monitors go black for 2-3 seconds then come back on. I have been able to repeat this at will. I have since moved my adapter from the standard wall outlet to a battery backup but it hasn't resolved the issue.

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Answer 3

rossmatt06 Author

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Apr 22, 2014 1:17 PM in response to rossmatt06

I think we've solved the issue. I was originally running a cheap AOC and cheap ACER display and the ACER would always blank out. The AOC has the power supply built in whereas the ACER had a brick. I replaced the ACER with a matching AOC panel and all is well. I'm not sure if the brick was going out or if the Macbook just doesnt like monitors with bricks but so far this is the solution.

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Answer 4

rossmatt06 Author

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Aug 4, 2014 7:53 AM in response to rossmatt06

UPDATE...

It turned out to be the cheap thunderbolt to DVI adapters. The monitors worked for about a week and then started acting up again. It got to the point when the A/C would kick on, there would be random noise on my monitors. I broke down and purchased the Apple adapters and so far, all is well. Should have listened to your responses earlier.

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