Dual Monitors strange boot sequence

MSI Ultra 645 MB
MSI G4 TI 4400 128MB
Monitor 1 Diamond Pro 750SB (Connection Dsub)
Monitor 2 ADI Microscan (Connection DVI Via Dsub adapter)
Latest MSI driver (not 4.xx beta)
When booting PC the bios screen and windows boots up on monitor 2, until it gets to the logon screen it changes to monitor 1 (primary display), once logged on to windows everything works as it should.
surely the bios and windows should boot on display 1
the problem is if i dont have monitor 2 switched on i dont see anything until the logon screen appears on monitor 1.
Any ideas welcome ?( ?(
best regards Sgt Braveheart :P ) :] 8o

Quote
Originally posted by kashmeer
The default display head is the DVI connector. If you really want to you can reverse the monitors and the default display in XP.
Thanx alot that works just fine if you plug your monitors into the wright ports. I feel so stupid bit never mind we all learn something new everyday
Thanx alot Kashmeer
Regards Sgt Braveheart

Similar Messages

External monitor in boot sequence

Hi all,
i have a hp dv6000 laptop with a busted monitor.. so far, i had managed to get by using an external monitor. but the problem is, the external monitor only works when windows loads up..
how do i 'force' the laptop to detect the external monitor during boot sequence, especially now when im trying to reformat the laptop.
i know you have to press f11 during start up but if i cant see anything. the external monitor will only start detecting during windows login screen.
help..

I have a HP Mini 1000 and I am having the exact same problem. I think I need to change a BIOS setting, but I can't see anything since the LCD was broken, and I completely removed it. I can see when Windows starts, but I need to see the boot so I can install a new operating system. Does anybody know the BIOS sequence key by key so that I can do this blindly? I can get in with F10 as Windows does not start when I am in the this mode, so I am definitely in the BIOS.

Windows & Mac on Dual Monitors with Boot Camp

Can you run a windows program & a mac program at the same time on dual monitors using boot camp?

No. OSx licensing only allows running OSx on Apple hardware.
What program? Boot Camp only partitions the drive for Windows. Boot Camp has no impact or affect on Windows. The only difference between running Windows in a Boot Camp partition or in a VM is that Windows uses the computer's hardware natively in a Boot Camp partition.

Mac Pro Dual Monitors in Boot Camp Windows 8.1 Pro

I just set up my 2013 Mac Pro with Bootcamp using Windows 8.1 Pro x64 and so far everything works great (albeit the initial setup was a struggle) except that Windows won't use my 2nd monitor. In device manager I see both displays but one has the exclamation on it saying there was a problem and it won't be enabled (yes, that generic too, gotta love Microsoft). I really want to be able to use both displays when I am in boot camp, is there anything I can do to fix this? I have made sure both Windows and Mac are fully updated and still no love.

Thank you for the link but it wasn't helpful as it only really said compatibility. What did finally resolve the issue was going directly to AMD and finding that they updated the BootCamp specific drivers. For other that stumble upon this, you cannot use the normal drivers from AMD but you must search for the bootcamp specific drivers (which also includes an updated Catalyst utility and a couple extra things not included in Apples release of the drivers).

Dual Monitors in Boot Camp

I have Vista installed under Boot Camp and I am trying to use an external monitor hooked up to my MacBook Pro. However, I have encountered some problems trying to do this. When hooked up the external monitor, the external monitor screen flickers and does not display in the correct pixel ratio. What do I have to do to get the monitor to display properly?

Hi,
have you tried the Drivers Apple mentions in this document ?
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306891
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Regards
Stefan

Strange booting sequence

lp is logic board
I made a mistake in booting a 600hz lb on a 400mhz chasis which contained 10.2
before I upgraded the firmware. After I realized what I did I took the disk to another machine and set it up to boot 9.2. After many tries I managed to get
both screens to come on move past the happy face and actually getting to the
desktop and then it freezes.
In the process of getting to the desktop several
other configurations were tried but it seems to be time related. After about 20-30 seconds freeze. It did not lock up in of and I reset nvram and all but I am not sure if I did this within the 20-30 seconds so I don't know if it would of
froze. When it freezes there is no mouse movement no keyboard and so I hold
the power swith in until it powers down. I have to unplug the power cord
for about 10 minutes and then I get to try again. If I don't unplug the power
cord I get the green diagnostic light only and the crackle like the display wants to start. No chime, no light on the switch so I just hold the switch in again and start over. Disconnect the power ocrd wait ten minutes and try again.
Sounds like either a device or lb problem. Anybody have these types of problems.
I have a 400 mhz which I am trying to put the 600 mhz lb into and a 500 mhz
and alot of experience with hardware software problems. I would also think it was over heating problem but everything is cool to the touch even agter this happens.
Thanks for your thoughts.

Imemac,
I made a mistake in booting a 600hz lb on a 400mhz chasis which contained 10.2
before I upgraded the firmware.
I would also think it was over heatin.
If I understand your post correctly you're trying to drop a 600 MHz logic board into a 400 MHz body. The problem in doing that is that the heat sink is in the wrong place. You need to unscrew the heat sink and move it over the CPU. (drill and tap, watch the metal chips). There is also an adjustment in height that needs to be done.
Richard

Dual Monitor Behavior

Hi All,
New Mac Pro system with ATI 4870. Dual monitor setup, 23" cinema connected to mini display port and 30" cinema connected to DVI. The 23" is the default monitor during boot sequence with the 30" firing up after boot near complete. Any way to change this behavior, 30" followed by 23"?
Matt

I just don't think it really matters unless your machine is not set for automatically logging in, or running verbose or single-user mode on boot-up. The login screen would just appear in the other (secondary) monitor. It might seem to be a hassle if you are constantly messing around with the boot sequence or constantly logging in and out, sleeping or screen-saver lock.
If the 23" is your secondary (I'm assuming this is what you want) and the menubar is on the 30", I would leave well enough alone. Now if you wanted the 23" as the primary, you can use the Displays preference pane to move the menubar to the 23" (from the arrangement tab.) Just click and drag the little white bar. I'm pretty sure you know that but thought I would throw that out there.
Performance-wise, there should not be any difference between the 2 displays.
D.

Strange dual monitor behavior: mac pro + leopard + x1900xt + 2 dell 2001FPs

I recently purchased a mac pro dual quad core with radeon x1900xt graphics card. Updated to 10.5.1. I have a dual monitor setup: 2 Dell 2001FPs connected to the x1900xt with dual-link DVI cables.
Here's the problem:
I want to use both monitors at their optimal resolution (1600x1200). I can get one monitor to run at 1600x1200 by changing the display preferences, but when I change the secondary monitor to something above 1280x1024, it goes dark, then doesn't come back on (the green light remains on, however). Occasionally while this is happening I will get a message on the black monitor telling me the computer is asleep. It obviously is not since I can see it is awake on the operating screen.
Here's where it gets weird:
I just found out that if I drag the mouse over into the darkened screen and then click a couple times, the monitor comes alive at the desired 1600x1200 resolution! If I restart from there, I get the primary monitor to come up upon startup, but I have to change the secondary monitor back down to 1280x1024, then back up to 1600x1200, then do the mystery clicking with the mouse!
The problem occurs no matter which monitor is primary and no matter which slot is being used on the graphics card.
To me this sounds like a driver problem, but I'm posting in the Mac Pro forum to see if any others have purchased the same configuration and have similar issues.
Message was edited by: istra

It appears I have solved my problem...for the time being.
1. rechecked all connections, replaced cable on secondary monitor with new (no change in behavior)
2. reviewed system log and saw this junk:
{quote:title=system log}
Dec 19 11:57:37 dhcp-xxx-xx-xxx-xxx [0x0-0x2f02f].com.apple.systempreferences[690]: objc[690]: Class O3Panel is implemented in both /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Con trast.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/Contrast and /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Geo metry.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/Geometry. Using implementation from /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Geo metry.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/Geometry.
Dec 19 11:57:37 dhcp-xxx-xx-xxx-xxx [0x0-0x2f02f].com.apple.systempreferences[690]: objc[690]: Class O3Panel is implemented in both /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Geo metry.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/Geometry and /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/VPT .monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/VPT. Using implementation from /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/VPT .monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/VPT.
Dec 19 11:57:37 dhcp-xxx-xx-xxx-xxx [0x0-0x2f02f].com.apple.systempreferences[690]: objc[690]: Class O3Panel is implemented in both /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/VPT .monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/VPT and /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Bez el.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/Bezel. Using implementation from /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Bez el.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/Bezel.
Dec 19 11:57:37 dhcp-xxx-xx-xxx-xxx [0x0-0x2f02f].com.apple.systempreferences[690]: objc[690]: Class O3Panel is implemented in both /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Bez el.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/Bezel and /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Ext endedTouchSwitch.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/ExtendedTouchSwitch. Using implementation from /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Ext endedTouchSwitch.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/ExtendedTouchSwitch.
Dec 19 11:57:37 dhcp-xxx-xx-xxx-xxx [0x0-0x2f02f].com.apple.systempreferences[690]: objc[690]: Class O3Panel is implemented in both /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Ext endedTouchSwitch.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/ExtendedTouchSwitch and /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Pow erMode.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/PowerMode. Using implementation from /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Pow erMode.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/PowerMode.
Dec 19 11:57:37 dhcp-xxx-xx-xxx-xxx [0x0-0x2f02f].com.apple.systempreferences[690]: objc[690]: Class O3Panel is implemented in both /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Pow erMode.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/PowerMode and /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Aut horization.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/Authorization. Using implementation from /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Aut horization.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/Authorization.
Dec 19 11:57:37 dhcp-xxx-xx-xxx-xxx [0x0-0x2f02f].com.apple.systempreferences[690]: objc[690]: Class O3Panel is implemented in both /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/Aut horization.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/Authorization and /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/TVO ptions.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/TVOptions. Using implementation from /System/Library/MonitorPanels/AppleDisplay.monitorPanels/Contents/Resources/TVO ptions.monitorPanel/Contents/MacOS/TVOptions.{quote}
The message above occurred each time I booted the mac pro and I think also when I changed resolutions on the monitors. This appeared to me to be a call to the specialized Apple Display extensions and preferences, not for non-apple displays.
Resolution:
I went into /System/Library/MonitorPanels/ and copied the AppleDisplay folder to the desktop and renamed it to XXXX.old. I deleted the AppleDisplay folder from its previous directory (I left behind the Arrange.monitorPanel, Display.monitorPanel, Profile.monitorPanel and VGADisplay.monitorPanel files). I then rebooted. No problems since. I can change resolutions all I want and my secondary monitor kicks right in, never staying black.
Note: this seems to work for me because I am using Dell monitors on the mac pro with the x1900xt graphics card. I wouldn't do this if you have monitor trouble, especially if you have an Apple Display, as it seems these files are important for those.

How do Dual Monitor with my Mac Book Pro (Boot camped with Windows 8) through my mini display port VIA Thunderbolt to a iMac (Model Mid 2011)?

So I have a Mac Book Pro with a bootcamp Windows 8. I dual monitor on the Mac side with my Mid 2011 iMac through my mini display port via thunder bolt cable. In my perfect world, I would be able to switch to the Windows side and have the iMac mirror or extend my windows display for my gaming pleasure, etc. I'm not sure if it's just a simple driver or that it cannot be done. Please help. Thanks.

so you want the notebook forum, not this one
MacBook Pro
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro
https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os?view=discussions
http://www.apple.com/support/macbookpro

Strange boot bug; open firmware not working

Hi!
I have a powerbook Alu 15", 1.5Ghz. It runs OS X 10.4.2 with the latest security update. My problem started last Saturday.
The problem is that my pb will not restart nor boot on its own. The computer makes its usual chime, the hard-disk starts to spin for a few second, and then stops suddenly before anything is displayed on the screen (the display does not even light-up). If I press the option key after or before the chime, and keep it pressed, or the shift key, or the c key, or the t key, or the command-option-p-r key combination, or even the command-option-o-f key combination, the behavior is exactly the same: the disk starts to spin for a few second after the chime, and suddenly halts. The computer appears to shutdown on its own before the boot can even start.
Here is the strange part: the computer boots normally if I press the command key (this key on its own is not suppose to do anything). It also works if I press the command-s or command-v key combination. No other key combination seem to work.
Except for this strange boot behavior, the computer works flawlessly. I did not have any kernel panic for at least a year, the computer did not crash recently, everything works fine except for one small detail on which I will come back at the end.
I've tried to fix the problem by the following actions:
1) Clean install of Tiger with a new partitioning of the disk; I even zeroed the entire disk. This did not change anything so the problem is probably not OS related.
2) Reset of the PMU with the four finger salute: shift-control-option-power combination. No effect except that I lost the date/time information. Hence the reset worked.
3) Tried to reset the PRAM, but the command-option-p-r key combination does not seem to work.
4) Tried to load the open firmware with command-option-o-f, but this does not work either.
5) Memory seems ok. I have 1x256M of Apple RAM + 1x1G of RAM bought from OWC. I've had the OWC RAM for about a year without any problem. Anyway, I removed the 1G module and tried to boot on the 256M Apple module alone. Exact same behavior. Then I removed the Apple module and put back the 1G module. Exact same boot behavior. So the problem is not with my RAM, unless both modules have simultaneously developed a malfunction.
6) Tried to run the Apple hardware tests. However, for my machine, these tests come on the install DVD, in a special hidden volume. To boot on this special volume, one needs to boot with the option key depressed, and to select the boot volume from the open firmware interface. But this does not work on my machine, the computer seems to shut down before this interface can be activated!
So this problem is very strange. I can live with having to press the command key for booting my machine, but I would sure like to know what is going on here. Is the problem hardware related? Perhaps, but as I said, the machine works flawlessly except for the strange boot behavior.
Is the problem related to firmware? I think that this is the most probable option. What do you think? Maybe, the firmware got slightly corrupted? Maybe a bit got flipped in the flash memory? Is this possible? I guess so. But, what can I do? Should I contact my friendly local repairman?! I have to admit that this option scares me a little bit for such a strange problem. I would need an Apple engineer with boot related experience/expertise!
Now, here is a little bit of further information. I don't know if its related, but it is also very strange. I work with a dual screen configuration. Usually, I connect my screen and then I wake up the computer. Last week, I noticed that if I connect my second screen live, the system detects it automatically. I guess this is new to Tiger? Anyway, the strange behavior is that the computer then asks me if I want to sleep, restart or shutdown my pb, as if I had pressed the power button. But I did not press this button when I connected the dvi connector >:-o
Many thank

Hi Scott!
Almost every time the PowerBook woke after sleep, I got the 'Are you sure you want to shut down your computer now...' message.
I get this message upon wake only rarely, but every time I plug or unplug a display live.
The strange behaviour was tolerable, so I've lived with it for several months. But then when checking out the PowerBook discussions, I read about the failing lower RAM slot problems, and just out of interest, checked out my System Profiler....
Ok, so the good news is that my pb may continue to work for several months
My lower RAM slot appears to be ok for now.
Interestingly, I'm sure that the start-up problems began when I started using my PowerBook with a 23" Apple Cinema Display (a pink hued one, but that's another on-going saga) - and you too have mentioned that you use an external display, so I wonder if that's part of the cause of our start-up problems.
Yes, I've noticed the 'Are you sure you want to shut down your computer now...' message just a few days before noticing the strange boot problem (not sure if the machine booted in between). I use ViewSonic displays (one at home and one at the office), and several different projectors in different class rooms. From what I read, it is plausible that there is a link between this problem and the dvi port. Could it be that the boot sequence of mb is affected by a hardware problem on the dvi port? But not when a press the command key?!
Anyway, my machine is no longer under warranty, so I intend to live with the problem for as long as possible...
But I've been doing more regular backups since then.
Best wishes to you and your (almost) new machine!
Marc.

Problem w Dual Monitors on ATI Radeon HD 4870 512 MB

Hi I'm having problems with Dual Monitors on ATI Radeon HD 4870 512 MB, Mac Pro 2009.
Setup: I'm running two 27" DELL U2713HM Displays at 2560x1440 one via direct DVI cable and the other one thru the Mini Display Port via Dual Link DVI adapter.
Now when I boot up the left screen displays the start-up apple as it should but then both screens go black and the right one (DVI connection) comes on while the left one stays black, goes into power safe mode. When I go into preferences > Displays I even get only one single display as if there were no multiple connected. It's however NOT a connection problem, since it works during the boot up sequence.
Any idea what might be wrong with my set-up? Do I need a new graphics card?

You do have the dual-link adopter connected to USB power right?
Next I would try using a displayport to mini displayport cable. You monitors have:
Connectors VGA, 4 x USB 3.0, DVI-D (HDCP), HDMI, DisplayPort 1.2,
That cable is about $10
http://partnerdirect.dell.com/sites/channel/Documents/Dell-UltraSharp-U2713HM-Mo nitor-Brochure.pdf

Need help with dual monitor setup for KDE 3.5.5.

Here's my hardware:
NEC MultiSync LCD 1530V: 1024x768 (analog)
Samsung SyncMaster 941BW: 1440x900 (digital)
nVidia Dual head AGP video card.
The dual monitor works under dual-boot Windows, boot up and pure Linux console. I've googled around for help, changed my xorg.conf file accordingly to some sites, but it wasn't much help.
Here's my working xorg.conf:
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Simple Layout"
Screen "Screen 1" 0 0
InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection
Section "Files"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/misc"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi"
FontPath "/usr/share/fonts/Type1"
EndSection
Section "Module"
Load "dbe" # Double buffer extension
SubSection "extmod"
Option "omit xfree86-dga" # don't initialise the DGA extension
EndSubSection
Load "freetype"
Load "glx"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Keyboard1"
Driver "kbd"
Option "AutoRepeat" "500 30"
Option "XkbRules" "xorg"
Option "XkbModel" "pc101"
Option "XkbLayout" "us"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
Identifier "Mouse1"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "Auto" # Auto detect
Option "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "NEC LCD1530V"
HorizSync 31.5 - 48.5
VertRefresh 50.0 - 70.0
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Standard VGA"
Driver "vga"
VendorName "Unknown"
BoardName "Unknown"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "NVIDIA GeForce"
Driver "nvidia"
Option "NoLogo" "true"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen 1"
Device "NVIDIA GeForce"
Monitor "NEC LCD1530V"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 8
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 16
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Using this xorg.conf file, only my NEC LCD analog monitor could display KDE while the Samsung digital can't.
Any suggestions?

Thanks for your help guys, I'm halfway there.
The second monitor shows the KDE desktop, but it isn't exactly what I expected. Right now, both monitors display at 1024x768 (each) or 2048x768 (total). The larger monitor stretches and distorts the display of 1024x768 to its natural resolution at 1440x900 and it isn't what I wanted. Other than that, the dual desktop setup behaves what I expected to.
Here's a snippet of my xorg.conf that currently works:
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "NEC LCD1530V"
HorizSync 31.5 - 48.5
VertRefresh 50.0 - 70.0
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Samsung SyncMaster"
HorizSync 31.5 - 60
VertRefresh 60.0 - 70.0
EndSection
Section "Device"
#VideoRam 131072
# Insert Clocks lines here if appropriate
Identifier "NVIDIA GeForce"
Driver "nvidia"
Option "NoLogo" "true"
Option "TwinView" "true"
Option "TwinViewOrientation" "LeftOf"
Option "SecondMonitorHorizSync" "30-50"
Option "SecondMonitorVertRefresh" "60"
# Option "MetaModes" "1440x900, 1440x900; 1024x768, 1024x768"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen 1"
Device "NVIDIA GeForce"
Monitor "NEC LCD1530V"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 8
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 16
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 24
Modes "1024x768"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen 2"
Device "NVIDIA GeForce"
Monitor "Samsung SyncMaster"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Depth 8
Modes "1440x900"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Anyone have an idea?
EDIT: Oh snaps. I just did a pacman -Syu and it upgraded Arch Linux to 0.8 and the 2nd monitor stopped working.

Dual Monitor with iMac?

I have a iMac from early 2009 and wanted to use it as an external monitor for my laptop which has Windows 8.1 as it's OS. So my question is without using any software such as Synergy, Air Display, etc is there anyway I can make the iMac an external monitor for my laptop. I also have boot camp set up with Windows 7 as it's OS and I'm not sure if that's any help or not making this dual monitor setup work.
I was going to buy a mini displayport to VGA adapter (iMac (Early 2009) - Technical Specifications says: "Mini DisplayPort output port with support for DVI, VGA, and dual-link DVI via adapter," so I am assuming I cannot use HDMI) and use that to connect my laptop and the iMac together. And so I was wondering if that'll work out if I'm on windows partition in boot camp or not.
iMac Specs: iMac (Early 2009) - Technical Specifications
Laptop Specs: http://www.asus.com/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/N56VM/
Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

Can't do it as far as I know. The mini display port on your Mac is for output only. You need a late 2009 or later iMac to do Target Display Mode Target Display Mode: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Dual monitor setup - primary monitor blank upon startup

Hello -
This has been vexing me for some time now. I've seen hints of this issue from other people but never the exact same circumstances and never do I see a definitive answer.
I have a dual monitor arrangement on my 8 core Clovertown (first generation) Mac Pro. After shutting the machine down, when I start it back up, the primary monitor almost always flickers very quickly then goes black while the machine boots, and the secondary monitor kicks on. Note - this never happens on restarts or waking up from sleep mode; just after starting up after completely shutting the machine down.
Exact specs are:
The afore mentioned first-gen 8 core Mac Pro (spring 2007), combined with an ATI 4870 graphics card, with the 24 inch Cinema Display LED serving as primary monitor (the one that's useless upon starting up), and my older 23 inch LCD as secondary display. Also worth noting - I'm aware the ATI 4870 is not officially supported in this generation of Mac Pro, however there were so many reports on the web of it working that I did the swap-out myself, and ended up getting the 24 inch LED since I then had the Mini Displayport on the back of my machine.
The only way I manage to get my machine working after starting back up is to restart it several times - literally up to over a dozen attempts sometimes, before the primary display finally does start functioning and I can begin working as normal.
Because there were many reports of the ATI 4870 working fine with this Mac Pro and word of other flickering monitor problems, I thought I'd ask despite the graphics card not being officially supported. Any ideas on how to remedy this problem so I don't have to keep restarting over and over before both my screens eventually work?
Thank you in advance.

So I have the same issue. I run dual 23" Apple Cinema Displays. For a while now the main monitor has had trouble waking up. I have also been unable to put the Display to sleep from the power button on the display. The other monitor seems to go to sleep fine. So when I get it to sleep and it won't start up, I usually restart and everything is fine. Today I can't get that monitor to come up at all. In addition, I have swapped ports on the video card switching the order of the monitors, no change. I also checked in my System Preferences>Display, and the system is still recognizing two monitors. So I am guessing my issue is related to the Display itself. What can be done at this point?

Dual monitor setup MBA 2013

Hello Everyone,
This is my first post on the Apple Support Community.
Nice to meet al of you!
System information:
Macbook Air medio 2013
Model MacBookAir6,2
Intel Core i7 1,7GHZ
8GB
512GB SSD
I am wondering if it is possible to have a dual monitor setup using the thunderbolt feature daisy-chain.
The configuration i am looking for is:
MBA --> Belkin Thunderbolt™ Express Dock (for using gigabit ethernet) --> Dell U2414H --> Dell U2414H
Specs:
Belkin Thunderbolt™ Express Dock = http://www.belkin.com/us/p/P-F4U055/
Dell U2414H = http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&cs=04&l=en&sku=860-BB CG
Do i have a chance this could work?
I'm looking forward to hearing from you all.
Thanks!
Kind regards,
Njamo187

Hello,
I had the same problem with a nVidia GT120 card (2009 Mac Pro standard). OSX wouldn't show the gray screen on the 3090, even when it was connected alone (to the DVI port). Also, the login screen would always revert to the secondary display (connected thru the mini display port to DVI adapter).
After login, all was well.
Now I've solved the problem with an nVidia GTX 285 card. The 3090 is connected to the n.1 DVI port and the secondary display (a 1600x1200 Eizo L997) to the n.2 DVI port, and the Mac Pro boots correctly on the 3090 (gray screen and everything, at full 2560x1600 resolution).
Note that the first time I booted up the Mac after replacing the GT120 with the GTX 285 I had the same problem, and solved it by disconnecting the secondary display and then rebooting with the 3090 alone. Now everything works as it should.
Dont't know if there is a bug somewhere (EFI, maybe) of if the GT120 and your ATI are simply unable to work at full resolution before OSX desktop loading.

Dual Monitors strange boot sequence

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