Desktop blank after disconnecting alternate display

Hi
I am running Snow Leopard on my 2.6GHz MacBook Pro (non-unibody version). I connect it to an alternate display at home. When I disconnect, I put the computer to sleep, then remove the display cord. When I open the laptop at work, none of the desktop icons appear, though the Dock is there. Only after I change the screen resolution, do the icons return. Any fixes, thoughts?
Cheers,
Philip

I don't see an issue with removing the display first, so that the system can detect the change and update, then shutting down.
Have you tried that instead?

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the issue I am having:
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Mac OSX 10.8.2
Model Name:          MacBook Pro
Model Identifier:          MacBookPro10,1
Processor Name:          Intel Core i7
Processor Speed:          2.6 GHz
Number of Processors:          1
Total Number of Cores:          4
L2 Cache (per Core):          256 KB
L3 Cache:          6 MB
Memory:          8 GB
Boot ROM Version:          MBP101.00EE.B02
SMC Version (system):          2.3f32
Intel HD Graphics 4000:
Chipset Model:          Intel HD Graphics 4000
Type:          GPU
Bus:          Built-In
VRAM (Total):          512 MB
Vendor:          Intel (0x8086)
Device ID:          0x0166
Revision ID:          0x0009
gMux Version:          3.2.19 [3.2.8]
MacBook Pro:
Vendor Name:          Apple, Inc.
Device Name:          Macintosh
UID:          0x0001000D11C0EF80
Firmware Version:          11.1
Port:
Status:          Connected
Link Status:          2
Link Controller Firmware Version:          0.11.4
Port:
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Link Status:          7
Link Controller Firmware Version:          0.11.4

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HDMI does not come back after disconnect

Hello Archers,
this one is bugging me for a while now, perhaps someone has an idea.
I have a headless ARCH home server that mainly has the following purposes:
1. being a 24/7 file/backup/ssh server for family and friends
2. being an MPD server connected to my music system
The setup may seem a bit exotic. The computer is connected to the music system via HDMI over an S/PDIF audio extractor to the music system. This is because the machine replaced a RaspberryPi that really had crappy analog audio output and my music system has an optical input and can perform the digital to analog conversion itself. I have not installed Pulse just alsa and jack2-dbus.
aplay -l shows the following:
**** Liste der Hardware-Geräte (PLAYBACK) ****
Karte 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], Gerät 0: ALC887-VD Analog [ALC887-VD Analog]
Sub-Geräte: 1/1
Sub-Gerät #0: subdevice #0
Karte 0: PCH [HDA Intel PCH], Gerät 3: HDMI 0 [HDMI 0]
Sub-Geräte: 0/1
Sub-Gerät #0: subdevice #0
The Problem:
Whenever I switch off the music system and later switch it back on, the HDMI-connection is lost and does not get reestablished. I tried various things but essentially only a reboot of the machine helps (which opposes purpose 1 of the machine). On the RaspberryPi I did not have that problem, probably due to the hdmi_force_hotplug=1 in /boot/config.txt.
My Observations so far:
The first problem that made the sound disappear was the screen blanker on the console after 10 minutes. This can be prevented with
setterm --term linux --blank 0 >/dev/tty1 # You need write permission on /dev/tty1 for this to work!
There are no appearant error or warning messages when using e.g. aplay or speaker-test, just no sound at all
There are tipps in the forums/the internet sugesting to disable power management on the display involving xset and xrandr. However, I have no X running and the tools complain that they cannot find/open the display
In /proc/asound/PCH/codec#2 I find the HDMI codec to show the following as long as it is connected after a reboot:
Codec: Intel Valleyview2 HDMI
Address: 2
AFG Function Id: 0x1 (unsol 0)
Vendor Id: 0x80862882
Subsystem Id: 0x80860101
Revision Id: 0x100000
No Modem Function Group found
Default PCM:
rates [0x0]:
bits [0x0]:
formats [0x0]:
Default Amp-In caps: N/A
Default Amp-Out caps: N/A
State of AFG node 0x01:
Power states: D0 D3
Power: setting=D0, actual=D0
GPIO: io=0, o=0, i=0, unsolicited=0, wake=0
Node 0x02 [Audio Output] wcaps 0x6611: 8-Channels Digital
Device: name="HDMI 0", type="HDMI", device=3
Converter: stream=8, channel=0
Digital: Enabled GenLevel
Digital category: 0x2
IEC Coding Type: 0x0
PCM:
rates [0x7f0]: 32000 44100 48000 88200 96000 176400 192000
bits [0x1e]: 16 20 24 32
formats [0x5]: PCM AC3
Power states: D0 D3
Power: setting=D0, actual=D0
Node 0x03 [Audio Output] wcaps 0x6611: 8-Channels Digital
Converter: stream=0, channel=0
Digital: Enabled
Digital category: 0x0
IEC Coding Type: 0x0
PCM:
rates [0x7f0]: 32000 44100 48000 88200 96000 176400 192000
bits [0x1e]: 16 20 24 32
formats [0x5]: PCM AC3
Power states: D0 D3
Power: setting=D0, actual=D0
Node 0x04 [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x40778d: 8-Channels Digital Amp-Out CP
Control: name="HDMI/DP,pcm=3 Jack", index=0, device=0
Control: name="IEC958 Playback Con Mask", index=0, device=0
Control: name="IEC958 Playback Pro Mask", index=0, device=0
Control: name="IEC958 Playback Default", index=0, device=0
Control: name="IEC958 Playback Switch", index=0, device=0
Control: name="ELD", index=0, device=3
Amp-Out caps: ofs=0x00, nsteps=0x00, stepsize=0x00, mute=1
Amp-Out vals: [0x00 0x00]
Pincap 0x09000094: OUT Detect HBR HDMI DP
Pin Default 0x18560010: [Jack] Digital Out at Int HDMI
Conn = Digital, Color = Unknown
DefAssociation = 0x1, Sequence = 0x0
Pin-ctls: 0x40: OUT
Unsolicited: tag=01, enabled=1
Power states: D0 D3
Power: setting=D0, actual=D0
Connection: 2
0x02* 0x03
Node 0x05 [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x40778d: 8-Channels Digital Amp-Out CP
Amp-Out caps: ofs=0x00, nsteps=0x00, stepsize=0x00, mute=1
Amp-Out vals: [0x00 0x80]
Pincap 0x09000094: OUT Detect HBR HDMI DP
Pin Default 0x58560020: [N/A] Digital Out at Int HDMI
Conn = Digital, Color = Unknown
DefAssociation = 0x2, Sequence = 0x0
Pin-ctls: 0x40: OUT
Unsolicited: tag=00, enabled=0
Power states: D0 D3
Power: setting=D0, actual=D0
Connection: 2
0x02 0x03*
Node 0x06 [Pin Complex] wcaps 0x40778d: 8-Channels Digital Amp-Out CP
Amp-Out caps: ofs=0x00, nsteps=0x00, stepsize=0x00, mute=1
Amp-Out vals: [0x00 0x80]
Pincap 0x09000094: OUT Detect HBR HDMI DP
Pin Default 0x58560030: [N/A] Digital Out at Int HDMI
Conn = Digital, Color = Unknown
DefAssociation = 0x3, Sequence = 0x0
Pin-ctls: 0x40: OUT
Unsolicited: tag=00, enabled=0
Power states: D0 D3
Power: setting=D0, actual=D0
Connection: 2
0x02 0x03*
Node 0x07 [Vendor Defined Widget] wcaps 0xf00000: Mono
After disconnect/reconnect it changes to this:
Codec: Intel Valleyview2 HDMI
Address: 2
AFG Function Id: 0x1 (unsol 0)
Vendor Id: 0x80862882
Subsystem Id: 0x80860101
Revision Id: 0x100000
No Modem Function Group found
Default PCM:
N/A
Default Amp-In caps: N/A
Default Amp-Out caps: N/A
State of AFG node 0x01:
Power: setting=UNKNOWN, actual=UNKNOWN, Error, Clock-stop-OK, Setting-reset
Invalid AFG subtree
I figured that the problem is probably related to powermanagement, so I experimented with powertop. This resulted in a reduced consumption of 1W when idle, which is nice but did not solve the original problem...
The Questions
Is there a way to completely reinit the HDMI subsystem just like on a reboot?
Is there an option comparable to hdmi_force_hotplug=1 on the pi that forces the HDMI signal to stay up?
Thank You for Your time!
Best regards,
Lars

I can confirm what zofiel said. I have tested it by connecting a TV and HDMI reactivitated by switching from X to console. However, this option only works one time and requires X running in the first place, which I usually have not on a headless server, but it made me think: Obviousely the X server needs to activate the graphics in the first place. Then I came up with an idea for a really messy work around. I could try to remotely start X. Normally, this is not possible and you get:
% startx
/usr/lib/xorg-server/Xorg.wrap: Only console users are allowed to run the X server
xinit: giving up
xinit: unable to connect to X server: Connection refused
xinit: server error
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sudo startx
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I have a slight problem: I ran an update, which brought me a brand-new shiny kernel and a brand-new shiny xorg-server. It took me a few days until I bothered to reboot my computer and after that things got hairy.
After a few minutes, screen goes blank.
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http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=70733&p=1

Desktop blank after disconnecting alternate display

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