Deactivate laptop screen with external display attached

Hi guys,
Once upon a time when you connected a powersource, peripherals and external monitor to your MacBook (Pro/Air) you could then open the laptop to allow for better cooling (useful) without activating the laptop's built-in display thus staying in single-screen mode.
However, since Lion you can't. Whichever way you try, fly, walk on your hands or smash your head into a wall Lion will always always activate the laptop's display when you open it up.
Anyone got a Clu how to get the old behaviour back?

1. Potential solution: Apple wants your forum feedback
Please see a post in the following thread and reply to it as you wish. Apple has now reportedly requested that we provide evidence in support of our desire to have the "open lid with screen off" option reinstated (eg significance of operating temperature differences, reduction in wifi reception, etc). They may then address our concerns with a Lion update.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3190417?start=60&tstart=0
2. The madness of magnets
This is getting very worrying. It's madness that Apple owners feel obliged to experiment with passing magnets over the top of their premium-priced computers and sticking them on here, there and everywhere in the hope of finding short-term workarounds. The sooner this problem is fixed at source (ie within Lion), the better.

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Kernel panic when trying to use spotlight with external display attached

Having an issue with my fairly new MacBook Pro (purchased in April). When it's connected to an external display, I will get a kernel panic 100% of the time if I click on the Spotlight icon. The same also happens sometimes when clicking Documents or Downloads in the dock, but that is infrequent. This only happens with an external display attached and I have tried multiple external displays and cables. Following is the kernel panic report. I don't really know how to read it, so if anyone has suggestions they would be much appreciated.
Mon Nov 15 19:13:33 2010
panic(cpu 2 caller 0xa7cbfa): NVRM[0/1:0:0]: Read Error 0x00000100: CFG 0xffffffff 0xffffffff 0xffffffff, BAR0 0xc0000000 0x7fc71000 0x0a5480a2, D0, P2/4
Backtrace (CPU 2), Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
0x5516a188 : 0x21b50c (0x5d42fc 0x5516a1bc 0x223974 0x0)
0x5516a1d8 : 0xa7cbfa (0xc922bc 0xd02940 0xca1424 0x0)
0x5516a278 : 0xb97640 (0x95db004 0x9875004 0x100 0xe3d7a00)
0x5516a2c8 : 0xb8e639 (0x9875004 0x100 0x5516a2f8 0xa6c6d7)
0x5516a2f8 : 0x170d9ce (0x9875004 0x100 0x438004ee 0x1)
0x5516a438 : 0xbb62bd (0x9875004 0x9865004 0x0 0x0)
0x5516a478 : 0xa85e63 (0x9875004 0x9865004 0x0 0x0)
0x5516a518 : 0xa8246f (0x0 0x9 0x0 0x0)
0x5516a6c8 : 0xa844a3 (0x0 0x600d600d 0x702b 0x5516a6f8)
0x5516a798 : 0xd47652 (0xc1d00041 0xbfef0033 0xbfee0034 0x857c)
0x5516a808 : 0xd56e38 (0xa09d000 0xa051d00 0x8 0x1)
0x5516a828 : 0xd7ba20 (0xa051d00 0xb 0x5516a848 0x3)
0x5516a858 : 0xd7c23b (0xa054000 0x1 0x5516a87c 0x0)
0x5516a888 : 0xd5c485 (0xa054000 0x7d3ef080 0x1 0x0)
0x5516a8d8 : 0xd1e68e (0x46559000 0x1 0x0 0x3)
0x5516a948 : 0xd1dd99 (0x46559000 0x1 0x2 0x3)
0x5516a978 : 0xd13ca7 (0x46559000 0x1 0x2 0x4654b000)
0x5516aab8 : 0xd4ccfe (0x4654b000 0x0 0x5516abcc 0x5516abc8)
0x5516ab68 : 0xd0fc93 (0x4654b000 0x0 0x5516abcc 0x5516abc8)
0x5516abe8 : 0x5659b8 (0x4654b000 0x0 0x5516ae3c 0x5516ac74)
0x5516ac38 : 0x566257 (0xd9de20 0x4654b000 0x97edf88 0x1)
0x5516ac88 : 0x566b0b (0x4654b000 0x10 0x5516acd0 0x0)
0x5516ada8 : 0x285bce (0x4654b000 0x10 0x97edf88 0x1)
0x5516be58 : 0x21d8ba (0x97edf60 0xa0d05a0 0x1fd7e8 0x5e43)
0x5516be98 : 0x210a3a (0x97edf00 0x0 0x9d4ba40 0xa0e9b60)
0x5516bef8 : 0x216c9d (0x97edf00 0x0 0x0 0x0)
0x5516bf78 : 0x295156 (0x9245328 0x0 0x0 0x0)
0x5516bfc8 : 0x2a148d (0x9245324 0x7fff 0x10 0x9245324)
Kernel Extensions in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.GeForce(6.2.4)@0xd04000->0xdb9fff
dependency: com.apple.NVDAResman(6.2.4)@0xa16000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(2.2)@0xa09000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.6)@0x908000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(2.2)@0x9e7000
com.apple.nvidia.nv50hal(6.2.4)@0x15d7000->0x19ebfff
dependency: com.apple.NVDAResman(6.2.4)@0xa16000
com.apple.NVDAResman(6.2.4)@0xa16000->0xd03fff
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.6)@0x908000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport(2.2)@0xa09000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily(2.2)@0x9e7000
BSD process name corresponding to current thread: WindowServer
Mac OS version:
10H574
Kernel version:
Darwin Kernel Version 10.5.0: Fri Nov 5 23:20:39 PDT 2010; root:xnu-1504.9.17~1/RELEASE_I386
System model name: MacBookPro6,2 (Mac-F22586C8)
System uptime in nanoseconds: 254626597586
unloaded kexts:
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBUHCI 4.1.5 (addr 0x1454000, size 0x65536) - last unloaded 196223967832
loaded kexts:
com.cisco.nke.ipsec 2.0.1 - last loaded 42574053426
com.parallels.kext.prl_vnic 5.0 9370.589435
com.parallels.kext.prl_netbridge 5.0 9370.589435
com.parallels.kext.prlusbconnect 5.0 9370.589435
com.parallels.kext.prlhidhook 5.0 9370.589435
com.jft.driver.PdaNetDrv 1.0.64
com.parallels.kext.prl_hypervisor 5.0 9370.589435
com.Logitech.Unifying.HID Driver 1.1.0
com.Logitech.Control Center.HID Driver 3.2.0
com.apple.driver.AppleHWSensor 1.9.3d0
com.apple.driver.IOBluetoothSCOAudioDriver 2.3.8f7
com.apple.driver.IOBluetoothBNEPDriver 2.3.8f7
com.apple.driver.AGPM 100.12.19
com.apple.driver.AppleHDA 1.9.9f12
com.apple.driver.AppleMikeyHIDDriver 1.2.0
com.apple.driver.AudioAUUC 1.13
com.apple.driver.AppleUpstreamUserClient 3.4.5
com.apple.driver.AppleMCCSControl 1.0.17
com.apple.driver.AppleMikeyDriver 1.9.9f12
com.apple.DontSteal_Mac_OSX 7.0.0
com.apple.iokit.CHUDUtils 364
com.apple.iokit.CHUDProf 364
com.apple.driver.AudioIPCDriver 1.1.6
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelHDGraphics 6.2.4
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelHDGraphicsFB 6.2.4
com.apple.kext.AppleSMCLMU 1.5.0d3
com.apple.driver.AppleGraphicsControl 2.8.68
com.apple.GeForce 6.2.4
com.apple.driver.SMCMotionSensor 3.0.0d4
com.apple.driver.ACPISMCPlatformPlugin 4.5.0d5
com.apple.driver.AppleLPC 1.4.12
com.apple.filesystems.autofs 2.1.0
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTCButtons 200.3.2
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBCardReader 2.5.8
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBTCKeyboard 200.3.2
com.apple.driver.AppleIRController 303.8
com.apple.iokit.SCSITaskUserClient 2.6.5
com.apple.BootCache 31
com.apple.AppleFSCompression.AppleFSCompressionTypeZlib 1.0.0d1
com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIBlockStorage 1.6.3
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBHub 4.1.7
com.apple.driver.AppleFWOHCI 4.7.1
com.apple.driver.AirPortBrcm43224 426.36.1
com.apple.iokit.AppleBCM5701Ethernet 2.3.9b6
com.apple.driver.AppleEFINVRAM 1.4.0
com.apple.driver.AppleSmartBatteryManager 160.0.0
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBEHCI 4.1.7
com.apple.driver.AppleAHCIPort 2.1.5
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIButtons 1.3.5
com.apple.driver.AppleRTC 1.3.1
com.apple.driver.AppleHPET 1.5
com.apple.driver.AppleSMBIOS 1.6
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIEC 1.3.5
com.apple.driver.AppleAPIC 1.4
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagementClient 105.13.0
com.apple.security.sandbox 1
com.apple.security.quarantine 0
com.apple.nke.applicationfirewall 2.1.11
com.apple.driver.AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement 105.13.0
com.apple.driver.DspFuncLib 1.9.9f12
com.apple.driver.AppleProfileReadCounterAction 17
com.apple.driver.AppleProfileTimestampAction 10
com.apple.driver.AppleProfileThreadInfoAction 14
com.apple.driver.AppleProfileRegisterStateAction 10
com.apple.driver.AppleProfileKEventAction 10
com.apple.driver.AppleProfileCallstackAction 20
com.apple.iokit.IOSurface 74.2
com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothSerialManager 2.3.8f7
com.apple.iokit.IOSerialFamily 10.0.3
com.apple.iokit.CHUDKernLib 365
com.apple.iokit.IOAudioFamily 1.7.9fc4
com.apple.kext.OSvKernDSPLib 1.3
com.apple.driver.AppleHDAController 1.9.9f12
com.apple.iokit.IOHDAFamily 1.9.9f12
com.apple.driver.AppleSMBusController 1.0.8d0
com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireIP 2.0.3
com.apple.iokit.AppleProfileFamily 41.4
com.apple.driver.AppleSMC 3.1.0d3
com.apple.driver.IOPlatformPluginFamily 4.5.0d5
com.apple.driver.AppleSMBusPCI 1.0.8d0
com.apple.nvidia.nv50hal 6.2.4
com.apple.NVDAResman 6.2.4
com.apple.iokit.IONDRVSupport 2.2
com.apple.iokit.IOGraphicsFamily 2.2
com.apple.driver.BroadcomUSBBluetoothHCIController 2.3.8f7
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBBluetoothHCIController 2.3.8f7
com.apple.iokit.IOBluetoothFamily 2.3.8f7
com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIBlockCommandsDevice 2.6.5
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBMassStorageClass 2.6.5
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMultitouch 206.6
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBHIDDriver 4.1.5
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBMergeNub 4.1.5
com.apple.driver.AppleUSBComposite 3.9.0
com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIMultimediaCommandsDevice 2.6.5
com.apple.iokit.IOBDStorageFamily 1.6
com.apple.iokit.IODVDStorageFamily 1.6
com.apple.iokit.IOCDStorageFamily 1.6
com.apple.driver.XsanFilter 402.1
com.apple.iokit.IOAHCISerialATAPI 1.2.5
com.apple.iokit.IOSCSIArchitectureModelFamily 2.6.5
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBUserClient 4.1.5
com.apple.iokit.IOFireWireFamily 4.2.6
com.apple.iokit.IO80211Family 312
com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily 1.9
com.apple.iokit.IOUSBFamily 4.1.7
com.apple.iokit.IOAHCIFamily 2.0.4
com.apple.driver.AppleEFIRuntime 1.4.0
com.apple.iokit.IOHIDFamily 1.6.5
com.apple.iokit.IOSMBusFamily 1.1
com.apple.kext.AppleMatch 1.0.0d1
com.apple.security.TMSafetyNet 6
com.apple.driver.DiskImages 289
com.apple.iokit.IOStorageFamily 1.6.2
com.apple.driver.AppleACPIPlatform 1.3.5
com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily 2.6
com.apple.iokit.IOACPIFamily 1.3.0

Though it doesn't look like one of them is clearly responsible, it may be due to the presence of one or more of these kernel extensions:
com.cisco.nke.ipsec 2.0.1
com.parallels.kext.prl_vnic 5.0
com.parallels.kext.prl_netbridge 5.0
com.parallels.kext.prlusbconnect 5.0
com.parallels.kext.prlhidhook 5.0
com.jft.driver.PdaNetDrv 1.0.64
com.parallels.kext.prl_hypervisor 5.0
com.Logitech.Unifying.HID Driver 1.1.0
com.Logitech.Control Center.HID Driver 3.2.0
As a first debugging step, try rebooting in safe mode:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1455
and see if the panics occur then, though quite frankly it appears it may be an issue with your video card and/or drivers.

IMac grey screen with external HDD attached

I used to have unibody Macbook with externall USB HDD (containing Time Machine and some free space) attached to it.
Today I have 2011 iMac but now if HDD is connected via USB, computer will stay at gray screen (after DVD drive noises).
If I disconnect the HDD, it succesfully boots. And ALT key Boot Menu with plugged HDD can be opened no problems too.
Formatted and partitioned HDD - no change.

1. Potential solution: Apple wants your forum feedback
Please see a post in the following thread and reply to it as you wish. Apple has now reportedly requested that we provide evidence in support of our desire to have the "open lid with screen off" option reinstated (eg significance of operating temperature differences, reduction in wifi reception, etc). They may then address our concerns with a Lion update.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3190417?start=60&tstart=0
2. The madness of magnets
This is getting very worrying. It's madness that Apple owners feel obliged to experiment with passing magnets over the top of their premium-priced computers and sticking them on here, there and everywhere in the hope of finding short-term workarounds. The sooner this problem is fixed at source (ie within Lion), the better.

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.

Help with external displays

Just installed Lion and afterward I noticed that things work differently with external displays. In the past I could have my laptop open to mirror but now it must be shut and the mirrior button or selection isn't available within the display preferences. So my question is, 1. does any one know how to better manage displays? and 2. does anyone know how to mirror while having the laptop screen open?
I know trhis sounds petty but where I work it is very hot and it seems like with the screen shut the computer syncs heat away a lot less efficiently.
Thanks

Thanks,
I now know how to turn on and off mirrioring with command/F1 (didn't know that yet), but would you know how I can use my external display in mirror mode with the laptop display completely turned off, not dimmed till black, but off?
Before lion I was able to do this by shutting the laptop screen which would put the machine into sleep mode and then by clicking the mouse or hitting a key on the keyboard it would wake it. Once the external display came on then I would open the laptop and the laptop display would remain off while using the external display. Hope that makes sense. Any suggestions?

How to stop sleep/hibernation with external display & lid down

What is the proper way to get my MBA to not sleep, hibernate, etc. when I have an external display attached and lid closed while watching a movie or webcast. In such a case I am not touching the mouse, trackpad, or keyboard.
I have bluetooth keyboard and usb wireless mouse attached.
I also disabled the sleep/poweroff options in the energy settings while watching.
The MBA still would go to sleep or something after 10 or 15 minutes of no agitation.
Also, the Monitor goes blank since their is not signal coming through to it.
Was this just not a use case that was thought through: Watch video stream with external monitor and lid closed? Make sure the MBA knows this scenario invalidates the powersave options????? And yes, the power was plugged.
Thanks

Caffeine puts a little coffee cup icon at the top bar. Click to turn it off and on - it is on when the cup is dark, ie has coffee in it. However, this won't solve your problem - the MBA will still sleep with the lid closed. There are settings to allow use of an external monitor but what I did was download InsomniaX. This little free app keeps your computer from going to sleep when you close the lid. That way you can close the lid, walk down a hall or do something, then open the lid and keep working. Just don't forget it is on and leave the Mac too long or it will run out of battery.
Insomnia isn't in the App store, had to download it at http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/22211/insomniax

IMac won't boot with external drives attached

I am using iMac 27" Late 2013 model upgraded to mavericks 10.9.4. Two external drives are always attached with it, one is segate 3.5" 2TB USB 3.0 drive and another one is 2.5" usb 2.0 drive.
when i start my imac with external drives attached it won't boot up. Stuck at plain white screen after a startup chime, not even any apple logo or any progress circle appears. And i have to detach all of my drives to make it boot.
This problem arises after upgrading to mavericks. Already tried resetting PRAM, SMC and checked Startup disk and verify disk with disk utility.

Raja,
Do a SMC reset perhaps even a couple of times and see if that helps. Also in System Preferences + Startup Disk make sure the internal HD is selected.
SMC RESET
Shut down the computer.
Unplug the computer's power cord and all peripherals.
Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.
Release the power button.
Attach the computers power cable.
Press the power button to turn on the computer.
PRAM RESET
Shut down the computer.
Locate the following keys on the keyboard: Command, Option, P, and R. You will need to hold these keys down simultaneously in step 4.
Turn on the computer.
Press and hold the Command-Option-P-R keys. You must press this key combination before the gray screen appears.
Hold the keys down until the computer restarts and you hear the startup sound for the second time.
Release the keys.
Roger

Can not properly view cover flow in full screen in external display

My mac is the new Mac book pro 15.4 inch screen and I connect my mac pro to external display e.g. Samsung LCD monitor 24 inches.
The bug is that I can not PROPERLY view full screen (in external display) for some application e.g. iTunes, and Front Row.
- When I use iTunes, I can not properly view Cover Flow view in full screen (in the external display screen) except the case of mirror display.
- For Front Row, I can not view full screen in external display but only my mac display.
However, for other DVD or VDO players, I can view movie on external display in full screen and I still be able to do other works on my mac screen.
Please let me know how to solve it.

found the likely issue! are you participating in youtube's html5 trial? go here and it will tell you if you are:
http://www.youtube.com/html5
exit the trial and it should fix the issue. it worked for me!

MacBook Pro won't stay asleep with external monitor attached. When sleep is selected from the Apple menu the computer will go to sleep only to continually wake up...go back to sleep...wake up...etc. every few seconds.

MacBook Pro won't stay asleep with external monitor attached. When sleep is selected from the Apple menu the computer will go to sleep only to continually wake up...go back to sleep...wake up...etc. every few seconds. This only happens when using the external monitor. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Mine does that too. The worst thing is when it goes to sleep, then wakes up and keeps running while the lid is closed and it is wrapped up in a case. I am afraid when the hot weather comes it is going to burn up. I am hoping Apple fixes it in the software or they may have a melted MBP to replace.
Then when I open the lid it is crashed running at fill tilt, pumping out heat to beat the band. I am forced to hold the button down and reboot.
I wiped my hard disk and reinstalled my OS, but it didn't help. I reversed my OS to 10.5.0 and it solved the DVI problem but still won't sleep. This post will probably be deleted by Apple, they did it a few days ago. I just don't know what to do, and I consider myself a real Apple expert. Just hoping you realize you are not the only one.

Why is there an arrangement button in Displays when I don't have an external display attached??

Why is there an arrangement button in Displays when I don't have an external display attached to my MacBook Pro?

I can't even get my pictures from iPhoto to my external hard drive I just bought.
Quit iPhoto and drag the iPhoto library to the external drive as an intact single entity - launch iPhoto while depressing the option (alt) key and point iPhoto to the new location - test the library fully and then delete the library from the internal drive
I'm about ready to just get a disposable camera and call it good.
No problem if that makes you happy
My hard drive is so full I keep getting messages that it's almost full and won't work right if I don't delete something.
That is correct - you must have 10% or a minimum of 10GB of free space for efficient and safe operation
I'm TRYING but nothing is working. It's very frustrating, isn't it?
Maybe if you would give some details on what you are "trying" and what is "not working" someone could help - above is a specific answer to the specific question on how to move the iPhoto library
Not to mention, the CD drive has a disc in it that won't come out. I'm not anywhere near an Apple dealer, and my MacBook is under warranty, so I can't go anywhere but Apple.
I would post that in the MacBook forum rather than the iPhoto forum
LN

HT203254 I bought my MacBook Pro since 2008. Now I live in Thailand, and my MacBook had the second symptom (No video on the computer screen (or external display) even though the computer is on). How can I get guarantee in Bangkok?

I bought my MacBook Pro since 2008. Now I live in Thailand, and my MacBook had the second symptom (No video on the computer screen (or external display) even though the computer is on). How can I get guarantee in Bangkok?
<Serial Number Edited by Host>

"That's why I'm wondering whether they still can fix it as lifetime guaranty or not?"
No, not lifetime.
According to the referencd article:
"If the NVIDIA graphics processor in your MacBook Pro has failed, or fails within four years of the original date of purchase, a repair will be done free of charge, even if your MacBook Pro is out of warranty."

No Wireless Internet with External Display, Other Issues

Hello,
When I connect an external monitor to my MBA, I lose my connection to the Internet. The wi-fi signal remains strong, but pages will not load (I tried many) and I cannot retrieve email. The connection times out when I try to ping as well. This occurs whether I have the MBA open or closed. The loss of Internet happens immediately when I connect an external display using the supplied dongle, and returns the moment I disconnect it. It is clearly an issue with external displays.
On the advice of an Apple Genius, I also tried disabling bluetooth. I did so, and turned off all my bluetooth devices (Apple keyboard and mouse, iPhone), but the problems persist.
The other trouble I am having is difficulty connecting to a network for the first time in a session. In other words, I was connected all day yesterday, take the MBA home, and return to the office the next day. MBA takes a long time to see the network, then fails to accept the password. If I carry the MBA closer to the wireless router, it finds and connects automatically as I'd saved my password. When I return to my desk, I remain connected with full signal strength. This has happened in two locations, one with an Airport Extreme, the other with a Netopia 802.11g router. When my Macbook Pro is sitting right next to the MBA, it recognizes and connects to the same networks almost instantaneously.
Anyone have any suggestions? Much appreciated.

Just a quick update... I was on the phone with Apple Support on Saturday morning and I thought we were making progress. The basic idea behind the proposed solution was that there was some "Preferences" that were causing the problem. We started over with a clean Preferences folder and tried connecting up the external monitor. At first, this approach was showing progress. The suggestion was to copy over my original Preferences (I had made a backup copy) just a few at a time until we figured out which ones caused the problem. The problem with this approach is that immediately after I got off the phone, the internet started not to work again. So, even with a clean Preferences folder, the internet would quit working after connecting up the external monitor.
So, I'm back to the drawing board. I have since restored my Preferences folder and I don't have my external monitor and internet working at the same time. BTW, I also upgraded to 10.5.3 and it didn't help.
Still bummed,
Kevin

MBP Retina low performance with external displays

Hi everyone!
I have a very bad performance with my MBP 15´´ retina display when it comes to ad an external display. I have a FUL HD LG monitor that looks very bad when i connect the HDMI or the thunderbot port with the proper adapter (as bad as you can´t even read). I want to know if this may ba a hardware problem just with my computer or if it is a software problem, any ideas? does anyone have the same issue?
How can i update my NVIDIA card???
Thanks a lot!

Topic seems to come up here often. Apple has a tendency to dismiss the issue.
Its a pretty well known problem that Mac font smoothing doesn't seem to work well on high resolution third party external displays, making text hard to read. In addition, I think the Mac HDMI resolution support is limited to 1080p, so you must use DP or DVI video interfaces to see full monitor resolution.
The OS default is no font smoothing on external displays (except perhaps the apple display). There is a terminal command that will enable font smoothing for any external monitor, but it often doesn't work well enough. I found that using the OS zoom feature magnifies text to the point to be easily readable. You can set zoom parameters in the accessibility systems preference panel.
For some reason, sometimes the Mac OS thinks some monitors are TVs and use YCbCr instead of RGB. You can open the color sync utility and brouse the settings to see what is being used. There are scripts available that can fix that but are more complicated to install than an app.
It seems that PCs are way ahead of Macs with external display implementation. Most folks having monitor problems with a Mac do not see the same issue with PCs or Unix/Linux OSs.
Oh as far as updating the video card, can't. The monitor "drivers" are built into the OS. When a new display is connected, the OS finds the profile for it.

Help with external display/broken macbook screen

I have an old MacBook that has a screen which broke a while ago, since then I have been using it hooked up to an external display through the mini-dv port.
However yesterday the system froze and I had to do a hard reboot. When it came back on, the external display was no longer set up properly. Being that the screen is broken as well, I can't figured out how to fix this.
How do I force my macbook to use the external display at startup?
Thanks.

I have the same problem too, but when I try, nothing shows up on my external. I cant see my screen at all, and the laptop just keeps humming as if its still starting up. I just had the hard drive replaced a couple weeks before my screen "magically" shattered.. any advice?

Is Mission Control broken with external display?

With mountain lion on macbook pro and an externel monitor attached to it, (and I close the macbook pro display to use only the external display), when I invoke the mission control, I dont see the preview of all the spaces (at the top) and I dont see the "add desktop" button at the top right corner as well.
Once I open the macbook display (such that I am working with both external and laptop display), I see these (add desktop button as well as preview of spaces), on the macbook display where as the big window at the bottom of the screen which shows each application is in the external monitor.
Because of this, I cant use multiple spaces with external monitor only.
Am I missing something or this is a bug??

Posted on the wrong thread.

Deactivate laptop screen with external display attached

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