Clamshell obsessions...

What a great forum...Just wanted to note such and a thanks to someone at macforums who referred me...New to clamshell...have a mini, older 14yo daughter has a imac dv, and my 10yo daughter fell in love with a pix of clamshell so I searched for one for her birthday a week ago...What an incredible journey...You see, she really wanted an indigo one (and i thought having firewire would be a good thing too), but i couldn't find one (1) on ebay for a reasonable price in good shape...but (lol) i found a lot of sixteen (16). The are in great shape, had no software and only the 64mb. But journeying around, and getting some great advice from good people and sites, i plan to upgrade memory to 320mb, install 10.3.9 panther, install a toshiba dvd/combo drive, retrofit the bezel, and go wireless (not sure if airport or another usb product is best..ideas welcome). I may never get my house clean or other work done...and I will probably give one to my neice, keep one for myself and sell off the rest (not really an ebay seller, but what the heck...unless anyone here is interested...is there a marketplace for free here?...although my little girl thought we could set up a fun clamshel lab for kids...actually i have a PC lab at a youth center through work with 4H, but UNH where I work only supports PCs...maybe I can convert them). Anyway, i've been browsing around here and i'm so impressed with the great advice, knowledge level and attitude, thought I'd share some of my "indigo clamshell, gotta upgrade obsession blues!" I'll return with updates...Am only moderately tech literate, but a proud mac user since 92 and never a virus been had...Peace, Rick

Rickame hi, it is quite funny that you only wanted one clamshell but came away with 16. It seems like you have got a good idea though about what to do with them
Just a suggestion to your Airport query. If you was to buy yourself a router most allow up to four ethernet cables to eight to plugged in. You can get online without an Airport card if you just run a ethernet cable from your router box to your ethernet port on your Clamshell. Doing this could save you a bit of money.
I have used an Apple alternative Airport card before but the model that i used was hard to come by. All the alternative cards that do not require modification are hard to come by now.
A USB alternative is there but that will take up your USB port and with these clamshells they are pretty short on that front already.
I recognise you from the forum that you mentioned, good luck with your project.

Similar Messages

Mid-2010 MacBook Pro stuck in clamshell mode?

I asked a similar question to this earlier, but now the problem has been more consistent. I have a mid-2010 MacBook Pro that I often use with an external display, plugged in via mini-DVI to HDMI adapter. The problem is, after I've unplugged my macbook to "go mobile" and am away from my display, if I ever have to restart my computer or boot into Windows 7, my computer will think it's still in clamshell mode. The screen will stay dark, and if the lid is closed, the white light will stay on steadily, not pulsing. However, if I plug into my external display when this is happening, the external display works fine and I have a display again. When I look up my displays while connected to an external display while this is happening, my internal display isn't even listed in the system report; it's like it doesn't exist! And this is especially a problem now as I am away on a 3 week school related trip.
I have not been able to consistently reproduce this problem. Sometimes it restarts normally, sometimes I restart it and get the gray + apple logo screen that then goes dark, and sometimes the internal display just never turns on. The problem doesn't seem to be related to an OS, as it happens when booting into Windows 7 OR mountain lion 10.8.5. I've tried resetting PRAM mutliple times as well as performing an SMC reset multiple times, and neither has helped. This even happened when I was booting into a mountain lion install USB, as I thought maybe a fresh install would help. I've seen many other forums discussing a similar issue, but none described quite like mine.
What gives?? How can I get my macbook to restart normally? I really don't want to have to make a repair, even though it's looking like a hardware problem. My computer is one month after Apple Care has expired, and I can't afford a pricey repair as I'm a very in debt student who only has a MacBook because his school gave it to him in the first place. I would be very appreciative for any suggestions and/or help! Thanks!

Hello thedoctor8706
Reset your NVRAM and test to see if that resolves your issues. Typically that will resolve video, volume, startup disk selection, and kernel panic issues.
About NVRAM and PRAM
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Regards,
-Norm G.

Can running Macbook Pro in Clamshell Mode cause problems for Macbook Display?

Hi,
I recently got a new monitor (Dell U2711) and it is stunning when running at full resolution through a mini displayport to displayport adapter. However, i ran my MBP in Clamshell Mode and after rebooting (without the display this time) i had horrible lines across my screen. It was like a grid, but they were tiny, it was like i could see the individual pixels or groups of about 4. I turned it off straight away and when i came back to it (about an hour or 2 later) it was as normal.
I just want to know what is the regular behaviour of running in Clamshell? Is that to be expected? I know that Macbooks dissipate heat through the keyboard, so i wonder if it could be a heat related problem, and if that's something i should be worried about in relation to causing long term damage to my mac's display, or will it always sort itself out?
Sadly, i can't recreate the problem as i have a faulty monitor and it needs to be sent back (i will be getting the same model as a replacement though).
Does anyone have anything to say on this matter?
Thanks in advance
mrmeister

Shootist007 wrote:
Is this a brand new, less then a year old, MBP? If it is then take it to a Apple care center and have them look at it.
It's a refurb late 2008 that i bought in late 2009, but i do have apple care until september 2012 i think, i guess if the problem happens again i can take it in and they can sort me out.
eww wrote:
MBPs don't dissipate any significant amount of heat through the keyboard. No matter how often that misconception is posted, it's still a misconception.
Ok, so it shouldn't be anything to do with heat then, i know the top left corner (closest to the screen) gets pretty hot too, just above the speaker, but from Shootist007's post, it would appear that heat doesn't have anything to do with it. I mean, i wasn't running intensive tasks, i was only browsing the internet.

Horizontal shifting bars on MBP 15 after disconnecting 24" LED cinema display and waking up from clamshell mode.

I use my MBP 15 (late 2011) with 24" Apple LED Cinema display in a clamshell mode. After disconnecting external display, and opening display, it shows horizontal shifted bars, so it becomes completely unusable. Have to hard reset laptop. Any hints on how to resolve this? Thanks.

Ok, more information for anyone that might care. The wake-up seems to be the familiar dark wake in order to go into hibernate mode. Except now, it's a death wake. Looking at the logs, I see that it happens exactly 70 minutes after sleeping, even though hibernatemode = 0 (which shouldn't hibernate at all!)
So my power settings look like this:
Currently in use:
standbydelay         4200
standby              1
halfdim              1
hibernatefile        /var/vm/sleepimage
darkwakes            0
gpuswitch            2
disksleep            10
sleep                10
autopoweroffdelay    14400
hibernatemode        0
autopoweroff         1
ttyskeepawake        1
displaysleep         2
acwake               0
lidwake              1
standbymode is 70 minutes, what a coincidence. I'm going to try setting it to 0 and see what that does.

MacBook late 2008 - stuck in clamshell mode

This laptop was recently attached to an external display and all was fine - running in either mirror or non-mirror mode. When I last saw it it was set to mirror mode and the lid closed to effect "clamshell" mode.
Recently however it has got into a state where the built-in screen display is not recognised. The external display is OK. If the external display is disconnected the MacBook will go to sleep regardless of the lid being open or pressing keys etc.
On a reboot the laptop screen will show everything OK up until a few seconds after completeing the login phase - then it goes black.
There is a lot of chatter in various forums about sleep issues but I can't see much about this particular variation. I've spent several hours scanning through these discussions and general Google searches.
As I say in the title - the symptoms appear to be that the firmware believes the lid is closed and hence the OS X software, such as display preferences, gets locked out from accessing the display after startup is complete. If the OS decides there is no display present it puts the MacBook to sleep.
I have reset the PRAM and SMC, rebooted in Safe Mode, deleted the display preferences plist file, run the Apple Hardware Test - all with no change to the symptoms.
Hass anybody reading this observed the same symptom and noted a method to fix it?
Thanks,
Graham

I had a similar issue where my Late 2008 Macbook would get stuck in closed clamshell mode after connecting and disconnecting an external display, or just closing the lid. Only rebooting the machine would bring back internal video.
External video continued working via the mini displayport, but the internal display would stay black no matter if the external display was connected or not. I was also unable to adjust the display brightness from the internal keyboard, pressing the F1 and F2 keys had no effect (even while holding fn key). Resetting PRAM and SMC had no effect.
I resolved all aforementioned issues by replacing the HDD Bracket with IR/Sleep Cable. This can likely be done fairly cheaply at a local Apple Store.
I might suggest first having the HDD Cable and or IR/Sleep Cable reseated on the main logic board, before replacing anything.

Wi-Fi Slow for Mid-2010 MacBook Pro in Clamshell Mode

'd like to add my experience the posts which I have see regarding slow speeds in clamshell. I have a mid-2010 Macbook Pro 13 and when I first attempted to use it with an external monitor, keyboard and mouse - I too experienced significant slowing of the wi-fi speed. About 3 months ago, we swapped our existing router (non-Apple) for an Airport Extreme. That seems to have somehow cured the problem. While this does not address the issue with a 2008 product, I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has similar experience and/or if this potentially corrects the problem for other current model (or earlier model) Unibody owners. I hope that this isn't something that might evaporate with a software update someday in the future.
Mid-2010 13in Macbook Pro

Hello thedoctor8706
Reset your NVRAM and test to see if that resolves your issues. Typically that will resolve video, volume, startup disk selection, and kernel panic issues.
About NVRAM and PRAM
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Regards,
-Norm G.

MacBook Pro Retina 15" mid-2012 won't boot in clamshell mode with an external display attached

I have a 15" MBPr mid-2012 running OS X 10.10.1. The system won't boot in clamshell mode (power is connected, lid shut) with an external display attached via an Apple Thunderbolt->DVI adapter. it boots fine if the lid is open. It isn't the adapter or the display since my 15" MBPr mid-2014 boots up just fine connected to the same adapter and monitor. And this system used to boot like this just fine some while ago (probably before it was upgraded to Yosemite). I've reset the NVRAM (twice) to no avail.
Has anyone encounter this? Anyone have a solution? Should I try an SMC reset (always a bit nervous about that)? Might it be a driver issue in Yosemite?
Thanks.

I have a 15" MBPr mid-2012 running OS X 10.10.1. The system won't boot in clamshell mode (power is connected, lid shut) with an external display attached via an Apple Thunderbolt->DVI adapter. it boots fine if the lid is open. It isn't the adapter or the display since my 15" MBPr mid-2014 boots up just fine connected to the same adapter and monitor. And this system used to boot like this just fine some while ago (probably before it was upgraded to Yosemite). I've reset the NVRAM (twice) to no avail.
Has anyone encounter this? Anyone have a solution? Should I try an SMC reset (always a bit nervous about that)? Might it be a driver issue in Yosemite?
Thanks.

HT3131 Will running the Macbook Pro 2011 in clamshell mode affect heat dissipation at all?

I'm worried about the heat not being able to escape when the laptop is closed.

I have used my new mid-2012 MBP in clamshell mode and monitored the temperatures and they were no different than when the lid was open, so it appears that the cooling system is unaffected. Very little heat dissipates upwards through the keyboard/upper case anyway, the heat is directed through the rear and underside of the case.

Hi - How do I connect an HDTV as a second monitor to Thunderbolt display with macbook pro in clamshell mode?

I have a Late 2011 Macbook Pro in clamshell mode connected to a Thunderbolt Display with the built in Thunderbolt cable. I want to then connect an HDTV via the Thunderbolt port at the back of the Thunderbolt display. I already had a cable that I thought would work which turns out to be a MiniDisplay port to HDMI cable and therefore not compatible with Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt (Mini DisplayPort not being the same technology although it uses the same port - although I'm not an expert !!) So far a web search has provided me with the only solution being using a Thunderbolt dock or storage that has multiple Thunderbolt ports and then using that to daisychain inbetween the Thunderbolt Diplay and the HDTV. The cheapest solution I can find for this would be about £250. Surely not ??!!!!
Many thanks for any comments - Nik

You could also use aThunderbolt dock with HDMI, such as:
<http://www.belkin.com/uk/F4U055-Belkin/p/P-F4U055/>
<http://www.caldigit.com/thunderboltstation/>
<http://www.elgato.com/en/thunderbolt/thunderbolt-dock>

How to keep display on Macbook Pro instead of Clamshell Mode

I have an extended desktop through a Mini-Display Port-to-VGA connection from my Macbook Pro (OSX Mountain Lion) to an external monitor. I have the Macbook Pro screen set up as the "main screen" (with the display bar on top). But everytime I close my macbook pro, the computer goes into clamshell mode and sets the extended desktop as my "main screen" which switches my display bar. Is there anyway to tell OSX ML to always keep the Macbook Pro screen as the default and not go into clamshell mode?
This also creates a problem when I want to physically close my computer to allow to sleep, but instead goes into clamshell mode and extends the desktop to my external display. Any ideas?

this is from another discussion:
jk10003
Re: MacBook doesn't sleep when closing lid with external monitor attached with Lion Oct 14, 2011 7:01 PM (in response to admgtz)
I would like to offer this solution. I have a MacBook Pro with an external monitor, and, for a year and a half both displays slept when I closed the MBPS. This behavior stopped when I installed Lion. They would sleep when I removed the power cord, but what a pain that would be. The command "pmset -g assertions" gave no indication of which process ought be preventing sleep.
I contacted Apple support, and after some searching, the guy working with me found this thread, which was flagged as an Apple-approved solution:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3190417?start=165&tstart=0
This is the important part:
Correct AnswerRe: How do I tell Lion to disable the LCD screen even when the lid is open?
Aug 31, 2011 9:56 AM (in response to Bob_viking)
Here's the command to make your laptop behave like it did Pre-Lion (courtesy of my friend):
sudo nvram boot-args="iog=0x0"
Works perfectly for me. If it screws up your system, just zap the PRAM next boot (cmd-opt-p-r) and you'll be back to the default Lion state. Or if you can still get into terminal, this command will get you back to Lion's default state as well:
sudo nvram -d boot-args
Enjoy!
One snag was that I had to run it with the external monitor disabled, but it worked great!

HT3131 Why doesn't Apple mention using the Display control panel's "Arrange" feature to move the menu from the Macbook's display to the EXTERNAL display? THAT'S the real answer to make Clamshell mode work, but it's not mentioned in any Apple documentation

After a recent OS update, Clamshell mode quit working. I couldn't find any Apple documentation
that would help. So many people were stabbing around in the dark, until I finally found the following information
that is lacking from any Apple documentation that I've been able to find.
Here's what I found to be the most helpful:
Forcing a MacBook to use the External Monitor:
I tried about everything: Rebooting, switching off completely, removing and inserting the Thunderbolt->HDMI adapter etc.
The only thing that finally worked was the following:
1. Take it out of the dock and connect to Power and HDMI to the TV.
Shut down the Mac. Turn it on and close the lid. It will now boot up on the external screen.
Log onto the Mac, and put it in sleep mode (Option-Command-Eject).
Put it back into the dock and wake it up with the spacebar.
It should be OK now... until the next update...
Note: One indication that you’re going to have extreme trouble with this is when (occasionally and without reason) the Mirroring Options icon shows up on the top icon bar.
Other useful commands:
“Command + F1” puts PC in Two-Screen MIRROR mode.
If it’s REALLY being stubborn, do the following (Clamshell Must be open
to see the arrangement tab.):
In System Preferences > Display on the MacBook screen there should be an Arrangement tab when you have the MacBook hooked up to the TV and both screens working. When you click the Arrangement tab do you see two monitors side by side? One of them will have a Menu Bar at the top. Just click on the Menu Bar and drag it to the second monitor (Yes, I know, it’s hard to grab ahold of it...) That will make your EXTERNAL monitor your main screen.
You can now use your MacBook in Clamshell Mode with a wired or Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3131 When you disconnect from the TV, make sure it’s asleep (Option+Command+Eject buttons) or your Menu Bar will automatically change back to the MacBook.

After a recent OS update, Clamshell mode quit working. I couldn't find any Apple documentation
that would help. So many people were stabbing around in the dark, until I finally found the following information
that is lacking from any Apple documentation that I've been able to find.
Here's what I found to be the most helpful:
Forcing a MacBook to use the External Monitor:
I tried about everything: Rebooting, switching off completely, removing and inserting the Thunderbolt->HDMI adapter etc.
The only thing that finally worked was the following:
1. Take it out of the dock and connect to Power and HDMI to the TV.
Shut down the Mac. Turn it on and close the lid. It will now boot up on the external screen.
Log onto the Mac, and put it in sleep mode (Option-Command-Eject).
Put it back into the dock and wake it up with the spacebar.
It should be OK now... until the next update...
Note: One indication that you’re going to have extreme trouble with this is when (occasionally and without reason) the Mirroring Options icon shows up on the top icon bar.
Other useful commands:
“Command + F1” puts PC in Two-Screen MIRROR mode.
If it’s REALLY being stubborn, do the following (Clamshell Must be open
to see the arrangement tab.):
In System Preferences > Display on the MacBook screen there should be an Arrangement tab when you have the MacBook hooked up to the TV and both screens working. When you click the Arrangement tab do you see two monitors side by side? One of them will have a Menu Bar at the top. Just click on the Menu Bar and drag it to the second monitor (Yes, I know, it’s hard to grab ahold of it...) That will make your EXTERNAL monitor your main screen.
You can now use your MacBook in Clamshell Mode with a wired or Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3131 When you disconnect from the TV, make sure it’s asleep (Option+Command+Eject buttons) or your Menu Bar will automatically change back to the MacBook.

MBP Clamshell Mode - DVI to TV Adapter - Front Row Works - But No Video?

Hi all,
Have picked up an Apple DVI to TV adapter for my MB Pro. Have successfully got it to work in clamshell mode displaying Front Row on the TV without the external Mouse or keyboard.
However, it will not play videos or movies on the TV.
If I keep the lid open, it will play the video/movie on both displays as hoped. However, when I close the lid, all other Front Row stuff works - but no video picture! Is this some sort of overlay issue? How can I fix this? I do NOt want to burn my LCD when using it this way - would be a waste.
Please pass on any thoughts!
Thanks,
Stu

I also have this exact same problem. A little annoying since I have just spent $A35 on the mini dvi to dvi adapter and another $A50 on a good quality DVI cable. My LCD tv is set to millions of colors so that is not the issue.
I have a 2.0Ghz Core2Duo Macbook. A quick google search If anyone knows how to fix it I'd be very grateful.

External Display won't work in clamshell mode

Hi - I can't get my external display to work with the MacBook in clamshell mode - It works fine with the lid open.
I'm using it with the apple bluetooth keyboard and mouse.
I've obviously changed a setting without realising - can anyone help.
Thank You.
Ash
MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2010)
Mac OS X 10.6.8

Sorry - I've now got it to work.
I don't know how - I just went through all the settings one by one, switched them off and back on again and it now works - I have to assume it is 'user error' but I can't work out which bit

HT3131 Operating MBP in closed clamshell mode with external display

I have a new MBP retina display. Trying to operate in a closed clamshell mode. I connect a USB keyboard and a wireless mouse. My external display is a Dell 2007FP display screen connected via a VGA adapter. Whenever I close the computer lid to operate in clamshell mode the screen goes to sleep/power save mode. Have tried various combinations of attaching keyboard and mouse first then screen, switching computer off on etc. The external display states there is "no signal coming from computer"...any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciate

Congratulations on taking one more step in becoming more self sufficient in tech stuff.
But I have to wonder why you spent so much on a Retina display only to have it cooking uselessly there.

Problem running in closed-lid (clamshell) mode?

New 2.4 glassbook, upgraded to 4Gb Crucial ram, using bluetooth mouse and keyboard, with external Dell 2007FP monitor.
With my old MBP in sleep mode, I could connect the monitor, ethernet, and power, and when I plugged in usb with the lid still closed, the laptop would turn on and everything worked in lid-closed mode.
Now with new glassbook, do the same thing (using display port to DVI adapter), the machine whirrs up, the display turns on (without top menu), and then the laptop goes to sleep. Tried it on a different monitor, same problem.
Am I the only one with this problem of the glassbook not wanting to operate in lid-closed mode?
Thanks in advance.

Yes, same problem. Swapped memory chips back to Apple, same problem. Reset SMU and zapped pram, same problem. It's gonna suck if I have to exchange the laptop because I've spent a day migrating over. I'm hoping it's just a defective DP-DVI adapter. I've also noticed external display flashing (losing signal) as detailed in this thread: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1756755&tstart=0 This makes me worry it's not just the adapter but a problem (driver or hardware) with the 9400M. Can someone else confirm they can operate in clamshell mode without problems?

Clamshell obsessions...

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