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Mac Pro 2013 Multiple Display Issues

Is anyone else having issue with their 2013 Mac Pro and third party displays when it comes to sleeping? When I sleep my Mac Pro both of my Asus PB278Q's go to sleep. When I wake up the Mac Pro they both light up and then display 'No Signal' before shutting off again. The only way I am able to get video back is to shut down the Mac and boot it up again. Even then I only ever get one Display working and have to turn off one display and turn it on again before they will both work.


Very frustrating for such an expensive Mac and two professional level displays.


Would appreciate any help or even just finding others who are having same issues? Apple care have only been able to escalate the issue.

Mac Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.3), 2x Asus PB278Q 27" Displays

Posted on Jun 12, 2014 11:34 PM

Reply
69 replies

Jan 22, 2015 8:40 AM in response to Jerry Chrisman

IDEA:

Has anyone tried running the monitor through an HDMI splitter first?


Although it technically shouldn't change anything, I've noticed in the past that when I have HDMI issues, sometimes running it through an HDMI splitter "changes" the way the device or computer reads the signal. I'm not sure why, but using a splitter can "trick" the device (mac pro in this case) into thinking its a different HDMI input.

Basically this is the equivalent of plugging a "different" monitor into your Mac Pro. And because certain monitor models seem to have more trouble than others, its possible that the HDMI splitter is more friendly to the Mac Pro.


My monitor setup is working again ATM so I haven't tried this. But when it acts up again I'm gonna try a few different splitters and see if that makes Mac happy.

Jan 27, 2015 3:16 PM in response to kenair

So is there no official response on this?

Has Apple just ignored this completely?


Also, I'm curious of the percentage of dual monitor setups that aren't working. I mean from this thread it seems like they never work with dual monitors, but obviously people are only going to find this thread if it is an issue for them.

I'm just wondering if this happens to 90% of people, or just 10%, etc.

Jan 27, 2015 3:41 PM in response to elgraso

This seems to be the main thread on this issue on the entire net... and there seem to only be a dozen of us chiming in.

It's a Mac Pro, so it's not unlikely that if you invest in a computer like this you would get a secondary monitor. I imagine that around 20% of people who buy this computer will get a second monitor, maybe even more. My theory is that it's a powerful computer so people likely would get it for video editing, animation, pro audio, etc; things that a second monitor would help with. Not to mention a quality monitor is only a few hundred bucks these days.

My point is that there are likely more than the dozen of us that are using this computer with dual monitors.... a lot more. And if an investment like this is having such issues, most people aren't just going to roll over and take it. They'll at least research the issue; I'm assuming they know a decent amount about computers and their setup if they bought a Pro. If they researched the issue, it's very likely they would find this thread. I've researched it many times over the year and this one always is towards the top of my searches.

What I'm getting at is that I'm starting to suspect that we are a small minority in terms of Mac Pro Dual Monitor users.

Like I said, a second monitor is not a rare thing to have with this model of computer and there are only a handful of us chatting about it. And no peep from Apple.

Jan 27, 2015 3:55 PM in response to elgraso

I am technically on an iMac, but it's only a few months old and it's upgraded to the hilt and I am have the exact same issues as the Pro.


I am still under AppleCare. To have them fix it, I have to bring in my iMac AND the two monitors, and was told they would likely just do a clean install, which I can do myself. I can't be without my workstation for 5-7 days while they do this.


It's very frustrating.


I HAVE had alot better luck hitting the space bar once and than waiting 10 seconds and hitting it again to wake up the monitors. Now having the issue once a week instead of 2-3 times daily. Let's hope that holds. Still annoying as heck though.

Feb 5, 2015 12:56 AM in response to elgraso

FWIW...


Mid 2011 Mini server running 10.9.5. I have been running two displays for years with no problem. An Asus and a Samsung. The Asus was connected using an HDMI > DVI adaptor cable.


When reconfiguring my system, I changed the Asus cable to a straight HDMI cable and am now experiencing the above issues on that monitor on a system that DID work. Same OS, I only changed the cable.


I will obviously go back to the DVI cable but thought this may shed some light for others. Yes, it ***** that Apple is so typically silent and unresponsive. I'm a Mac user for 24+ years, and I'm over thier crap. My Windows 7 machines scream with very few problems.

Feb 5, 2015 1:02 AM in response to elgraso

FWIW...


Mid 2011 Mini server running 10.9.5. I have been running two displays for years with no problem. An Asus and a Samsung. The Asus was connected using an HDMI > DVI adaptor cable.


When reconfiguring my system, I changed the Asus cable to a straight HDMI cable and am now experiencing the above issues on that monitor on a system that DID work. Same OS, I only changed the cable.


I will obviously go back to the DVI cable but thought this may shed some light for others. Yes, it ***** that Apple is so typically silent and unresponsive. I'm a Mac user for 24+ years, and I'm over thier crap. My Windows 7 machines scream with very few problems.

Mac Pro 2013 Multiple Display Issues

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