Macbook pro thunderbolt 2011 won't detect display

I am working on a Macbook Pro, October, 2011 model with a thunderbolt port. I have now gone through two thunderbolt to HDMI cables and neither was able to detect my display, which is a Sony Bravia. Should I throw in the towel and buy a $50 (rip-off) cable from Apple, or could it possibly be that my port is faulty? Anyone with a similiar problem?

No, don't buy expensive cables. Do you have a url (link) to the cable you are using?
On what basis do you think that your computer doesn't detect your TV?
If you opened Displays system preferences, click Detect Displays. Is there an Arrangement tab and an does it show two monitors? If not, then there is indeed a physical problem Make sure the cable is fully seated in the HDMI on the TV and the TB socket on the computer and also make sure your TV is set to take input from the HDMI input port you connected the cable to.
If the Arrangement tab is there and shows two screens click Gather Windows. This should bring the Displays preference window for the TV on to your main screen. Then set the resolution (probably 720p, 1080i, or 1080p) and refresh rate (probably 60Hz). At this point you should see a picture on your TV.
You may have to play the underscan/overscan settings on your TV and the displays prefs for the TV if the picture is too small or larger for the TV screen. If Sony's haven't changed they may call it "full pixel".

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13" MacBook Pro (Early 2011) doesn't detect display over mini DisplayPort HDMI adapter in Mountain Lion 10.8.2

Hi to all.
I have a problem connecting external display (Dell U2311H) to my 13" MacBook Pro (Early 2011).
I use Tecklink Mini DasplayPort to HDMI adapter (http://www.techlink.uk.com/products/wires_cables/wiresmedia/wiresmedia_media/wir esmedia_mini_displayport_plug_to_hdmi_plug), but since U2311H doesn't have HDMI input, I also use Manhattan DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter (http://www.manhattan-products.com/en-US/products/8101-displayport-adapter).
And nothing.
The display is not detected, no picture or even external monitor presence at all.
I even reset PRAM, and installed 10.8.2 Supplementary update.
I also plugged and unplugged all I could, with no luck.
As I can see on Apple discussion, it is a common problem with 2011 MacBook Pro's.
It seems like the problem is in Thundebolt port, it somehow does not work properly.
If anyone has solved such ploblem, please let me know.

In reply to my own post have to say appologies to Apple whose Thunderbold port I used to blame.
Shame on me)
So, what was my problem?
Guess what?
Manhattan DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter !
The point is it's actually do only what it said to do, converts DP to HDMI.
But I for some reason thought it can be used vice versa, to be HDMI to DP converter))
I was wrong.
I bought new one HDMI to DVI adapter and now I HAVE external display!
Thunderbolt works like a charm.
So I'm very satisfied now.

Dual Display - help with Cinema Display for MacBook Pro where MB won't detect displays.

I just got a Cinema Display (a1081 20") ("CD") off eBay to use as a dual screen with my Macbook Pro OS X 10.6.8 ("MB"). However, I can't get MB to recognize CD! I've tried power cycling both the MB and the CD with and without USB cord connected. MB won't recognize CD display in any situation. However, it is recognized in some capacity although I can't use dual display because the CD power button triggers MB to ask me if I want to restart, shutdown, or cancel.
Any help is appreciated!!

Have you tried smc and pram resets?
Try Detect Displays in the Displays preference pane.
Does the Displays preference pane Arrangement show two screens? If so do click gather windows and check the resolution setting of the new screen.

I have an Epson printer on a Wifi network. Windows 7 desktop and and HP Win 7 laptop (my wifes) print to it just fine. My MacBook Pro running Yosemite won't detect it, and I have the latest driver installed. No problem when I had a Canon...

I have an Epson printer on a Wifi network. Windows 7 desktop is running the network, and my wife's HP Win 7 laptop prints to it just fine. My MacBook Pro running Yosemite won't detect it, and I do have the latest driver installed. I didn't have a problem when I had a Canon Pixma on the network, but when I replaced it with the Epson nothing seems to work. I go to add a printer to the queue and only the FAX function of the printer shows up - not the WS-4530 print function. Does anyone out there have any suggestions? Please??? :-)

Hi Kelly,
As someone who has to print from my Mac to a networked printer at home all the time, I can certainly understand how frustrating it must be to have that fail to perform as expected. Let's see if we can get you up and running.
I would suggest that you troubleshoot using the steps in this article -
OS X Yosemite: Printing troubleshooting
Start with the section titled Check the network.
Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
Sincerely,
Brett L

EXACTLY what cable(s) do I need to connect my MacBook Pro (early 2011) to an external display with a 2560x1440 resolution?

I am trying to connect my MacBook Pro (early 2011 w/ Intel HD 3000/ 384Mb) to an external display with a 2560x1440 resolution. Specifically, what cable/connections do I need to display at this resolution? I cannot get the display to work using a "Thunderbolt to HDMI" or a "Thunderbolt to DVI" connector. Note: I used both older and newer (uni-directional) HDMI cables on the first config, and a Dual-link DVI cable on the second config. Apple specs state this is possible ( support.apple.com/kb/SP619 ), but I am at a loss as to how this can be done. Thanks in advance for the help!

You use a Mini DisplayPort to either HDMI or dual-link DVI adapter. If that component doesn't work, something's wrong with either the cable or something else in the connection.
(112855)

Macbook pro (early 2011) won't boot after sleep. Black screen with chime

I put my macbook pro early 2011 (Quad, 8 Gb RAM, 2 x SSD-disks, external 27" LED-screen) into sleep mode a couple of days ago. Everything was fine then.
However, the morning after it wouldn't wake up - this is the bootup process:
- Black screen
- Chime
- Still black screen, nothing happens.
So I've tried resetting NVRAM, SMC etc - no luck. Even tried the "Powerbutton" + "S" + Enter but to no avail.So I immediately began dd:ing my SSD-disk before trying anything else, figured it might be some preboot-corruption of some sort since I'm running FileVault2 with full AES-encryption.
Now, the problem (after some troubleshooting) doesn't seem to be disk-oriented. Remember the black screen? I've tried pulling the SATA-cables one by one on the motherboard of the Macbook pro and discovered that when I pulled the cable which reaches over the optical device (just above the SATA-cable for the optical device) then I get a white screen and I'm able to get as far as boot-option, or even disk repair (if I run my SSD-disk over USB and without any cables (three of them) attacked to the motherboard).
So since nothing works when I have disks connected or that third cable (some kind of logic board bridge? Reaches through the screen over to the other side of the mother board).
Also worth noting is that I was running out of free disk-space on my system disk. The disk is 250 Gb and free space was about 5-10 Gb (less than 5%). I also make the macbook pro dump contents of memory to disk (since my disk is encrypted it resides safely there).
So, my fear is that Apple hasn't used A-grade controllers for the disk drives (I've had drive corruption before, a Crucial 6 GB/s drive trashed less than a week before a presentation) and doesn't handle "unexpected events" nor signal/noise ratio very well. Maybe free space on disk was less than the 8 Gb needed to dump RAM (shouldn't have needed the full 8 Gb though) and this caused some kind of panic overwrite which trashed the controller?
Anyways, I've attached an image of the motherboard and I am wondering - what does the top cable which reaches over the optical drive do? Is it connected to the logic-board?

sspott wrote:
** The volume Macintosh HD could not be repaired.
Looks to me like a fatal error on the hard disk. IMHO, the only solution is to boot from an external device, reformat the hard drive, and restore from backup. If you don't have a backup, you're in trouble. Boot from the external device, try to mount the int'l drive, and, if successful, back up as much as possible. Also, try running Disk Utility—it may be possible to fix it while booted from a different device, thought I wouldn't bank on it. At any rate, make sure to run an AHT afterwards, to check for possible hardware issues with the drive.
If the machine is still covered by AppleCare, take it to the store by all means. But they won't try to recover anything from the int'l drive, just check it, erase it if they don't find hardware issues, and re-install a fresh copy of the OS.
That's why you should always have at least 1 up-to-date backup (2, with one kept off-site, is better).

15in Macbook Pro early 2011 won't shutoff nor can I run disk utilities. Any suggestions?

Situation:
I have a 15in Macbook Pro early 2011 that I can not shutdown nor can I run disk utility to repair any issues. I recently had it serviced to replace a failing hard drive.
Known issues:
     - Disk Utility: Will not respond. A couple days ago I had to run it to repair some damage to harddrive. When I try to open it, it is frozen with the rainbow ball.
     - Shutdown: I can not shutdown or restart my computer as it freezes during shutdown with grey screen. I can manually turn it on and off by holding down the      power button.
     - Disc Drive: This may not be related but I can not eject DVD in the disc drive.
Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated. I currently live overseas (for school) so just going to an Apple store is not really a realistic option for me at this time. Thanks

thetribes wrote:
Situation:
I recently had it serviced to replace a failing hard drive.
Take it back to where you had it serviced, there is usually a ~90 day guarantee
you can force a shutdown by holding the power button for longer than usual.

Macbook Pro (Late 2011) Won't read game

My Macbook Pro (Late 2011) plays dvds (I used Family guy to test) but will not read the disk for Football Manager 2015 despite it being Mac compatible. THe disk itself runs on PC so isn't faulty. Any thoughts?
Processor 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5
Memory 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
Graphics Intel HD Graphics 3000 384 MB
Software Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 (11G63b)

Thanks, OrangeMarlin. Lots to learn about in land of the Macs.
Point taken on the driver. The reason I'm hesitant to assume it's power related is because everything else works. Here is a short list of other devices I've used it for in the week or so I've owned this machine:
iPad (connected fine and charged iPad to full)
Seagate GoFlex (connects fine, but this device also uses wall power)
Samsung Spinpoint HDD (in an aluminum Rosewill enclosure, also uses wall power)
iPod Classic (fifth gen, 30GB), also charges
Samsung Captivate (Android phone), charges
I got this machine from the Apple store last week, when I swapped out my original purchase MBP due to a screen defect. I asked them to run a gamet of tests to ensure everything OK, and they complied (at least claimed to). I assume if I brought it back, with the drive, they would be able to test for a power issue, correct?
Thanks again.

Macbook pro early 2011 won't turn on

My MacBook Pro was working fine until an evening, when it suddenly turned off. It was connected to power and had about 70% charge. The Magsafe indicator turned off along with the mac, but it turned green soon. It still stays green and won't change to amber. Without the magsafe connected, the battery indicators won't respond. If the magsafe is connected, 6 battery indicators lit up as usual. I tried resetting the SMC, but no success. I tried looking for burned areas in the logic board, but everything seems fine.
(Small red ants were frequent visitors of my lap, when it was left unattended for an hour. They usually came out from beneath the keys when I am back Just saying... )

One more thing, I had my 1TB external HDD connected to the mac via USB, when all these happend. (http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.aspx?id=470)

MacBook Pro 13" 2011 - Won't let me use 2 USB ports at the same **** time.

I'm trying to use 2 usb driven hardware devices at the same time and it won't let me - one of them always disconnects (usually the 2nd port) ...even though both devices work on other macbooks ive used lately..
Is it possible one of them isnt properly powered? Is there any way of "turning" them both on?
Sorry I sound so novice, i've had macs for 10+ years but i've never had this problem before...

USB ports on a computer have always had a limited amount of power. The least expensive solution is to get a powered USB hub, meaning it has a separate power supply. The hub will provide enough power to keep things running.
It will also make your extenal hard drives behave better it they are USB-powered.
Here's an example:
Newer Technology 7 Port Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Hub with Power Adapter for Mac & PC

HT1119 MacBook Pro late 2011 won't turn on

I was working late and let my battery drain while working. The computer shut down. I immediately plugged it in but the light on the power adapter didn't turn on (either orange or green) I tried other plugging it into other outlets. Nothing. I left it plugged in all night. Nothing. No light on the adapter and the computer isn't working. Help!

if you live near an Apple store or AASP have them test it with a known good charger to see if all you need is a new charger.

MacBook Pro (early 2011) won't boot, sleep light comes on and fans come on high.

Just had a stick of RAM and the CPU replaced by Apple for an unrelated issue, but now this has cropped up. A little searching indicated that the GPU became unsoldered, but I'm curios if anyone can shed some light on this issue.
Thanks.

Did you do anything in particular to get it to boot up? If I could get mine to boot then I could work with it. I've got an external monitor that might connect, but if not, I should be able to share the screen from my Mac Mini. But I can't get it to boot.
Also, what time zone are you in? Since the same problem happened to us both on the same day, I wonder if something in the date is causing a failure in sleep/wake. I've had my fingers crossed that when tomorrow rolls around it will boot up again. Crazy, perhaps, we'll see. You give me hope.

The thunderbolt firmware 1.2 update keeps reappearing. I have a MacBook Pro and 2011 Thunderbolt display. Did not discionnect when upgrading to Yosemite (only read the instructions later). Thanks.

Hi There,
I have a MacBook Pro (late 2011) and a Thundertbolt Display. I have recently upgraded to Yosemite. Since then Thunderbolt Firmware update 1.2 keeps reappearing and I cannot complete the update (with and without display connected etc.). Any advice? Thanks.

Hello HTG65,
If the Thunderbolt Firmware Update 1.2: Keeps reappearing try reinstalling it following the steps in this article.
Thunderbolt Firmware Update 1.2: Keeps reappearing and Thunderbolt ports and Target Display Mode may not work - Apple Support
To resolve this issue:
Shutdown your computer.
Disconnect all Thunderbolt devices.
Wait 10 seconds.
If you are using a Mac mini with a Thunderbolt display, reconnect the Thunderbolt display directly to your computer via the Thunderbolt port. Do not connect other Thunderbolt devices at this time.
Restart your computer.
If the Thunderbolt Firmware Update 1.2 is offered, download and install it and restart your computer when asked. If the Thunderbolt Update is not offered, the update has installed correctly.
Reconnect all Thunderbolt devices.
Take care,
Nubz

How do i use my imac 21.5" 2011 as a display for my macbook pro late 2011, through thunderbolt cable ? I have tried and it doesnt seem to work, neither does target disk mode.

How do i use my imac 21.5" 2011 as a display for my macbook pro late 2011, through thunderbolt cable ? I have tried and it doesnt seem to work, neither does target disk mode.
Could it be a borked cable ? I just bought it new from the store today, i have updated both imac and macbook pro to latest thunderbolt firmware and updates. Both 10.7.3.
MacBook Pro:
Vendor Name:    Apple, Inc.
Device Name:    MacBook Pro
UID:    0x0001000A17016E60
Firmware Version:    22,1
Port:
Status:    No devices connected
Link Status:    7
Port Micro Firmware Version:    FFFF.FF.FF

You are correct, here is what Apple Says:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3775
I was able to find these instructions, however they referr to 2009-2011 27" iMacs. I think it's the same, if it's not then contact Apple directly for instructions. If either of the machines is less than 90 days old or covered by AppleCare then call AppleCare tomorrow for help, they should be able to easily answer this for you. You will find the number in your manual or you can use the AppleCare Contact Info link.
Your iMac should automatically recognize the presence of a digital video signal at the Mini DisplayPort and enter Target Display Mode.
If your iMac does not automatically enter Target Display Mode, press command + F2 to manually enter Target Display Mode.

MacBook Pro Late 2011 10.7.5 won't detect external monitor

Hello,
I have a Macbook Pro Late 2011 13" Running OSX Lion 10.7.5. It won't flash blue at ALL when connected to an external display. Under system report, it shows that the "Link Status" is 7. The same setup works with another MacBook Pro Mid 2009 15 inch. I am under AppleCare, should I take it in? Weird. All firmware updates are completed, no "Air Display" type programs are installed currently, and gfxcardstatus is also installed and doesn't really help.

Looks like a problem with the GPU (possibly the screen, but it looks more as if it's the GPU). If I were you, I'd take your machine into your local Apple Store or an AASP and have it diagnosed.
Clinton

Macbook pro thunderbolt 2011 won't detect display

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