Mac mini 2014 won't wake monitor via HDMI

Similar problem with 2 Insignia 24" monitors, one on HDMI and one thunderbolt to HDMI.

I pulled them off of an IBM thinkpad that worked fine, putting the monitors to sleep and waking them up with no problem. So the line about "the cable might not be giving the power signal" is a farce.

I keep the system running 24x7, it never goes to sleep, only the monitors do, because I don't need them on to eat power.

I agree. Tried several cables. Only thing that works is cycling the monitor power. It's an Apple issue.

I have a brand new mac mini connected to my Sony TV and have the display-won't-wake problem when I do what always worked with my mid-2011 mac mini - that is, turn on the TV then press the left mouse button. I have noticed a couple of things about this situation. First, the mini is woken up (the light changes from pulsing to solid) by the TV being turned on - don't remember if this was true for the mid-2011 mini. Second, if I wake the mini with the left mouse button before turning on the TV, the desktop will appear. Anyone else seen this? Of course this isn't a solution to the problem, but it helps for now.

SInsular. I wake mini first, then cycle monitor power button. It works, but a pain. When I had mini set to go to sleep when monitor was off, it was worse. Mini wouldn't wake and I had to force power it off.

SUCCESS!!!

I have solved the problem (at least for my configuration.)

Brand new 2014 mini, 2 insignia (best buy) 24" monitors.

Both were connected via HDMI (one through a mini display port adapter.) The computer never goes to sleep but the monitors go blank after 5 minutes idle to save power.

With HDMI when you move the mouse or the KB, nothing happened on the screen, you had to power cycle one of the monitors, even though you could log in on the mini while the monitor was still blank.

Then I changed out one of the HDMI cables for an HDMI/DVI cable like this (HDMI on one end, DVI on the other):

http://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-HDMI-DVI-Adapter-Cable/dp/B001TH7T2U/ref=sr_1 _1?ie=UTF8&qid=1419876565&sr=8-1&keywords=dvi+hdmi+cable

The mini side is HDMI (main HDMI port) and the DVI plug goes into the monitor. It now wakes up. So, CLEARLY this is a mini/apple issue, this is not a monitor issue.

DVI: both apple and thinkpad wake up monitor

HDMI: only thinkpad wakes up monitor

I now clerly know that the monitor is capable of being woken up, the mini is capable of waking up the monitor (DVI only) and that the monitor can wake up on HDMI.

This narrows down the issue to a mini problem with sending the wakeup to an HDMI port. The wakeup signal is being sent over the HDMI port, but whatever shape it is in when it gets to the monitor is the issue.

Good news. I'm wondering if display port to DVI would work as well.

Even if by using DVI this ultimately works, what if I have only HDMI input (except analog D-Sub) in my monitor? 😟

Same issue with a Samsung SyncMaster 2220wm.

Following El Morche's advice, I opened a support case, and I questioned why they have not reproduced this issue. The response was that there have not been other cases with this issue, so I would suggest everyone else start opening cases. I was given a bunch of things to try (system reset, trying another monitor, etc.), but I pretty much know none of these will help. The fault appears to be with the new Mac mini not fully supporting digital monitors with only a dvi connection via the hdmi port.

If you were ok with lower resolution, VGA would probably work, but that is a pretty big compromise. If you want to try cables, I wonder if an HDMI>DVI cable with a DVI>HDMI changer on the end would work. I could see where in theory this could work.

I will try the mini display port>HDMI coupled with the HDMI>DVI cable and see what happens.

What I've read here and other forums points to ditching HDMI on monitor end. So either HDMI to DVI or Display port to DVI. Those with TVs may be hosed unless they have a HDMI/DVI input.

OK, just did a little more testing. I know the following things work:

Mini > HDMI port > HDMI to DVI cable > DVI port on monitor

Mini > Mini DisplayPort port > Mini DisplayPort to HDMI cable > HDMI to DVI cable > DVI port on monitor

Now, let's be clear, I'm a cheap guy and my Mini DisplayPort to HDMI cable is a $5 cable from Hong Kong (DX.com) and the HDMI to DVI cable is a $10 cable from Rakuten.com. Clearly any discussion of "sub par cables" is probably a dodge to shift blame by apple.

Now, for the real weirdness. Understand that there are 2 types of "sleep" for the monitor, what I will call the "quick sleep" and the "secure sleep" (I don't know the real names....) Quick sleep happens when there is no activity for ~5 minutes. When the system awakes, it awakes to a desktop screen, no lock screen. If there is been no activity for ~15 minutes the system goes into the secure sleep where when it awakes, it opens to a lock screen.

In the second configuration, with the mini displayport adapter added to the chain, when it is in "quick sleep", the mouse will not wake up the screen, but the keyboard will wake up the display. If the system has been out of use for long enough for the secure sleep to hit, either the mouse or the keyboard will work to wake the display up. I find this to be a very weird, especially considering that I am using a Logitech combo KB/mouse with a unified USB dongle, so both of the peripherals use a single USB device to communicate.

Regardless, it looks like the DVI option seems to be the key to getting the monitor wakeup to work consistently.

Done.

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Thanks. That is great info. Gives me more confidence moving forward with a mini displayport to DVI cable.

I tried two other monitors, and the issue only occurs on the Samsung SyncMaster 2220wm.

Connecting the Mac mini hdmi port via the same hdmi to dvi cable to either a Dell 2208WFP or a Gateway HD Display LP2417, the display wakes up after sleep when the enter key is pressed on the Mac mini. All three monitors are 6+ years old, so I don't know if I'll get any support from Samsung if I inquire with them about this issue.

My Case number of some weeks is: 706826615

I have a Philips 234E that has only a D-SUB? in addition to HDMI. A converter that allows me to use D-SUB from the monitor to HDMI on the Mini works...badly. There is severe lag on the mouse making it almost impossible to use (it becomes possessed) and it is very glitchy but it does wake up! Plus I believe (but am not at all technical) that D-SUB will compromise the image quality. It's a no go all around for me and I'm gutted that I have no DVI port. But in a way, I shouldn't have to and am keen to get Apple to pay attention to the fault on the 2014 mini. If anyone else has case numbers please let us know so they can stop telling us that a) this forum is 'speculation' as one advisor told me and b) it is not just a problem related to Philips.

Thanks!