My monitor goes dark 27 inch 3.1 iMac.

Got this wonderful new iMac for Christmas except the display goes dark now about every 15 minutes. I tried a software fix -- did not work. Is there anything else or should I just pack it up and send it back?

Thanks for the input. I was not specific enough. This was happening while the computer was in use, so the sleep setting should not be an issue. And yes, I am aware of Apple Care -- my first Mac was the 512K Enhanced -- but I was hoping to resolve the situation with getting Apple Care involved. I say was, because for some reason, the problem has stopped. I have had 24 hours of nonoccurrence, including a couple of sleep periods. I had downloaded a software patch from Apple, but that seemed not to help. Had 3 or 4 occurences after that. However, the malfunction has stopped for whatever reason.

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Monitor goes dark on 2008 Mac Pro Tower with ATI Radeon 5870 Card

I have a 2008 Quad Core Intel Mac Pro Tower running 10.6.8.
The original graphics card had trouble with HD movies of any kind and eventually my screen would sometimes not turn on (stayed black) when the computer was turned on.
So I replaced the graphics card for both reasons to a ATI Radeon 5870 PCIe with a GB rather than the 256 that came with the machine.
The problem was solved. I got a new monitor, one that is like the latest ones and all has been working great for a few years.
Then recently the monitor started going dark while the computer was on. (no screen saver or anything like that, I can be in the middle of work on a photo or video).
Trouble shooting I have tried.
A forum said drag the mouse to the hot corner for a while and then back. Well, I tried, assuming I was dragging the mouse to the corner. Didn't work.
I tried using the keyboard commands to shut down the computer. It didn't work.
I tried plugging the keyboard into other USB ports and tried to shut down the computer. No luck.
The only thing that works is shutting down the computer with the power button.
on start up the monitor is back on.
Sometimes it works for days like this, other times the monitor stays on only minutes.
The monitor is fine. Tested my old monitor on the computer to make sure it wasn't my new monitor.
So the questions are:
Can it be over heating?
is it worn out, toast, done and or dead and dieing?
Should I buy a replacement graphics card VS finally upgrading and getting a new computer (lots of $$$$ but then I do work in HD Video so....)
any help is appreciated
thanks
john

Replacing FBDIMMs would be today inexpensive and worth doing.
No one knows if heat is an issue without your using thermal sensor monitor. Probably want to up the default fan speeds while at it.
And because you don't have Lion+ then even more reason to setup a small maintenace volume on another drive with OS X basic system for repairs. In fact you should always have a bootable backup or two you can rely on.
Restarting may work, or it may be you have now new issue with corrupt fies or directory that a safe boot even is no guarantee of fixing.
When in doubt, try a clean new OS install on another drive.
And FBDIMMs: $25 for a 2x2GB set on Amazon.com
You want to get the most out of what you have, a small investment in RAM, maybe recycle those drives for 2-4TB units. And an SSD will have system responding better and perform better.
My guess, the 5870 wasn't needed and was overkill and a 5770 for almost half would have been more than adequate.

G3 freezes and monitor goes dark

I have been experiencing the following scenario with increasing frequency (at least twice yesterday, and four times today)--
The monitor will suddenly go dark, as though the system were going to sleep--except that no keyboard or mouse action will wake it up again. Sometimes it will recognize the power key followed by return or enter, and shut down. Most of the time, though, it will only recognize CmdCtrlpower key to reboot.
After forcing a reboot, the video comes back. However, I have also been noticing lately that the "Waiting for local disks" phase of startup has been taking significantly longer than before (usually flashes right by, but now stays there for probably 30 seconds or more).
Any ideas as to what might be causing these video blackouts? Might the elongated "Waiting for local disks" be a related symptom?
Thanks,
Pete

Thanks Frank,
I actually came across that same post not long after I posted this question. Guess I hadn't used the right keywords in my search to find it (or get it to stand out among all the false hits). Anyway, I followed the referenced fix procedure, and things seem to be working now. Even the prolonged "Waiting for local disks" phase has gone away since applying the fix.
Thanks again,
Pete

20' monitor goes dark with lines

I bought the monitor with the very first G5 2G dual tower. I have had the half dark screen and it was fixed. I got it back after that and it had another problem, it went all dark with horizontal lines, then it goes to black on the edges and vertical lines in a block in the center. Any ideas? When I sent it in for this last time, it was sent back and they said they could not get it to do that......ok it did seem fine for some time....but now it is doing it again. I have unplugged it and will leave it unplugged for a couple of days and try it one more time before I call and see (no under warranty now, was the first time it exhibited this problem) if it comes back to me again?

I have my monitor back and it has the same problem that it first had last summer. I don't know why the technician would have said this monitor was repaired when half the screen is darker than the other and the error light is doing the short-short-long, indicating the inherent problem that so many have encountered.
I am on the phone right now to try and get this resolved. This monitor has been sent in a total of 4 times now in the last 6 months.

2010 mac mini - monitor goes dark every few sec's problems since Mavericks Install

My Wife updated her 2010 Mac mini from Mountain Lion to Mavericks and ever since, after start, up the display intermittently flashes a dark screen, every few seconds. (within 3-10 seconds or so, there will be another period of dark screen, that may last aprox. 1- 6 seconds. The timing of this changes constantly. The finder and all apps I have seen are affected in the same way. it seems to be an all-the-time problem
the monitor is an OptiQuest Q9, and the system connects via an Apple mini display to VGA adapter (supplied with the mac mini) , then a vga cord into the monitor, which has a native resolution of 1280 x 1024.
The only workaround we have found is to boot the mac with the monitor cable disconnected, then reconnect the monitor cable after boot up is complete. In that case, the monitor does not flash, until the mac is shutdown or restarted again.
Steps I have already tried:
Zapped P-Ram
Reset SMC (shutdown, waited with power unplugged, then reattached power and rebootted
Repaired disk permissions,
repaired disk
re-download and reinstalled mavericks fresh.
changed display prefs for resolution, detected displays, etc.
Changed background picture.
I don't know where to go with this anymore, and it has already taken a lot of time.
Who's got a Fix?    And if there is no fix, how do I revert from Mavericks to Mountain Lion?   The mac mini came with Snow Leopoard.

Problem Fixed!
I found another page that referred to resetting the PMU (http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2183) , which controls things like wake and sleep:
"If the settings in the PMU become corrupted, it can result in operational anomalies such as your computer not turning on, not displaying video, or not waking from sleep, among other things. In these situations, you may need to reset your computer's PMU."
Anyway, it is pracitcally the same proceedure as resetting the SMC (SMC reset= Shut down, disconnect power cord for 10 seconds, reconnect power cord, wait 5 more seconds, turn computer back on)
but it is slightly different:   (PMU REST = Shut computer down, disconnect power cord for 10+ seconds, reconnect power cord WHILE SIMULTANEOOUSLY PRESSING POWER BUTTON, let off power button for a few seconds, then press power button again to restart the mac mini.)
After this the display problem was fixed, but the fan ran at high speed, so I did one more SMC reset as described above. Now everything is in order.   This also fixed the issue of the mac mini not waking from sleep unless the power/sleep button on the mini was pressed (it wasn't responding to the keyboard to awaken). Now it's all good.
Hope this helps somebody else...

Monitor goes dark during gray screen after power outtage

The mini was plugged into a surge protector, but after the power went out, it doesn't get past the gray screen with the swirling disk, then goes black with an out of range message. I took it to the Mac genius today, he diagnosed it with an external drive, did repairs and got it to boot on his monitor. I have been reading the discussion and reset PRAM, unplugged everything, restarted holding the power button and plug at same time, done option start with CD, done a hardware check. Used Disk Utility to do an expended check, repaired everything. The monitor works fine with my G3. Still no screen. Any other ideas?
Mac Mini 1.25 GHZ, View Sonic Va2012 widescreen display. System 10.3.7 (reinstalled).

Well if it worked before and doesn't now, I would try trashing the preference files associated with the display. Use Spotlight and search on the term "windowserver". You should find at least two files with windowserver in the name that end with .plist. One will be com.apple.windowserver.plist and possibly com.apple.widowserver.xxxxxxx.plist where xxxxxxx will be a string of digits and numbers. Throw all such files in the trash, empty the trash and then restart. This should give you a fresh start with the mini and the Viewsonic.

Monitors going dark, then back on

I have two Dell 24" monitors connected to my Mini. Occasionally both monitors (sometimes just one) will go dark, remain dark for 3-4 seconds, then come back on with no noticeable damage done.
It happens maybe once a month on average, but has happened twice this morning.
Is something about to crash and burn? What would cause the monitors to go dark, then come back on?
Thanks for any ideas.

Mini blanking, so many...
https://discussions.apple.com/search.jspa?resultTypes=&dateRange=all&peopleEnabl ed=true&q=monitor+blanking+mac+mini&containerType=&container=&containerName=&use rname=&rankBy=date&numResults=15
Oh, is this perchance after sleeping?

IMac monitor goes dark; 2nd monitor ok

I have a dual monitor setup on my iMac (2009) running Snow Leopard (10.6.8). The iMac monitor had been working great, but now it goes to a black screen. I am able to access it briefly (for about a second) by lightly pressing the power button on the back. The iMac monitor flashes on briefly when I do this and I'm able to quickly click on user. I used this same method to open Settings and drag it over to the 2nd monitor to change the display setting to Mirror mode, so I'd have access to the dock on the 2nd monitor (Dell 2007WFP).
I have tried the following so far:
     checked cables
     restarted by powering off, pressing on/off button for 5 seconds, unplugging for 15 seconds.
     booted in Safe Mode
     reset PRAM (I believe this was reset, but I don't know for sure because I couldn't see anything on the monitors.)
Other information:
     2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
     8 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
     NVIDIA GeForce 9400
Thank you in advance for help with this issue!

Replacing FBDIMMs would be today inexpensive and worth doing.
No one knows if heat is an issue without your using thermal sensor monitor. Probably want to up the default fan speeds while at it.
And because you don't have Lion+ then even more reason to setup a small maintenace volume on another drive with OS X basic system for repairs. In fact you should always have a bootable backup or two you can rely on.
Restarting may work, or it may be you have now new issue with corrupt fies or directory that a safe boot even is no guarantee of fixing.
When in doubt, try a clean new OS install on another drive.
And FBDIMMs: $25 for a 2x2GB set on Amazon.com
You want to get the most out of what you have, a small investment in RAM, maybe recycle those drives for 2-4TB units. And an SSD will have system responding better and perform better.
My guess, the 5870 wasn't needed and was overkill and a 5770 for almost half would have been more than adequate.

The monitor is going dark to light

the monitor is going dark to light and i cannot make is start the computer/
is a g4 tower w/ a 17 inchs monitor

Sorry,
The problem above is solved for me.
With thanks to Joseph.( See discussion Mac Mini 1 feb. 2013.)
Mac mini minidisplay port------>Mini DisplayPort to DVI-D Dual Link (24+1) female ------>
------->DVI-D Dual Link (24+1) to HDMI-------->HDMI port of HP w2207h
Resolution : Best quality.
SY Han

Macbook screen/display comes on and then goes dark; external monitor shows the screen in the mirroring mode; What's wrong, please. Thanks.

My Macbook (Black,August 2008...love it!) screen lights up/comes on and then immediately goes dark; the screen shows on an external monitor in mirroring mode. Any thoughts/suggestions. Many thanks.
Model Name:          MacBook
Model Identifier:          MacBook4,1
Processor Name:          Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed:          2.4 GHz
Number Of Processors:          1
Total Number Of Cores:          2
L2 Cache:          3 MB
Memory:          4 GB
Bus Speed:          800 MHz
Boot ROM Version:          MB41.00C1.B00
SMC Version (system):          1.31f1
Sudden Motion Sensor:
State:          Enabled
Chipset Model:          GMA X3100
Type:          GPU
Bus:          Built-In
VRAM (Total):          144 MB
Vendor:          Intel (0x8086)
Device ID:          0x2a02
Revision ID:          0x0003
Displays:
Color LCD:
Resolution:          1280 x 800
Pixel Depth:          32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Mirror:          On
Mirror Status:          Hardware Mirror
Online:          Yes
Built-In:          Yes
Philips 191EL:
Resolution:          1366 x 768 @ 60 Hz
Pixel Depth:          32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Display Serial Number:          AU11103006796
Main Display:          Yes
Mirror:          On
Mirror Status:          Master Mirror
Online:          Yes
Rotation:          Supported

Hi, firetiger.... i have the EXACT same problem!!! i have the same Macbook aluminum unibody screen also. I have no idea how to fix it. I'm also out of warranty and i've tried everything... resetting the pram, trying to restart in safe mode, trying to boot from a cd... .NOTHING WORKS!!! i can still control brightness itself but ive never tried attaching to an external monitor. I know everything is loaded correctly... i just don't know whats wrong. If you have any ideas.. please let me know. Also, I think apple will fix the macbook pros with a similar issue for free http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2377 but i know this doesnt apply for me. hopefully they work something out because I really love that computer!!!

My monitor is an HP w1907. It suddenly goes dark.

If i turn it off and back on it goes dark again. If I wait for say 1 hour it comes back on for a while.
Is this failing and should be replaced?

Can you test another monitor and/or this monitor at another pc?
If the behaviour follows the monitor then it seems like it's going to die.
*** Say 'Thanks' with Kudos ***

My hp 2338h monitor come on for two second and goes dark black

Every time I turn my monitor on it works for about 1 to 2 seconds and goes dark I think I can see outlined in black the windows OS. how can I lighten it up so I can see it.

I am having the same problem with my hp w2338h monitor and was wondering if you found the solution to your problem? The only difference is I cannot see the image you are talking about on your monitor, my just stays black. Any luck on corecting the problem on your on or with some help? Thank you for your time.

Monitor suddenly goes dark

My monitor has recently started suddenly going dark. I get a little blue box that says "No signal, analog" and then the computer keeps running but the monitor won't come back on till I shut down and disconnect the power cord 2 or 3 times. This happens in Safari, Firefox, and Logic. It may happen in other apps but those are the ones I use most frequently.
My computer is a 2007 Mac Pro dual core intel xeon. The graphics card is an ATI Radeon X1900 XT. The display is a VX2255.
Tanks,
Jon

I get a little blue box that says "No signal, analog"
That message comes directly from your display, not from the Mac.
Consider replacing your aging graphics card with an Apple-firmware 5770, about US$250. It works in every model Mac Pro and drivers are in 10.6.5 and later.

Help! Mac won't start. I hear the ding and see the apple logo but the bar below it never goes further than an inch before the screen goes dark. I have tried unplugging.

Help! Mac won't start. I hear the ding and see the apple logo but the bar below it never goes further than an inch before the screen goes dark. I have tried unplugging.

Hello Templemeads,
Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.
For more information, take a look at:
Troubleshooting: My computer won't turn on
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1367
Have a nice day,
Mario

New cinema display on Mac Pro monitor keeps turning off/going dark. Support told me a keyboard shortcut (something like option R L)... I'd appreciate it if anyone knows it. I had this problem when i 1st bought it 2 months ago.

My new cinema display fro mac pro just went dark. When I 1st bought it, the display wouldn't turn on.I called support and they gave me a keyboard shortcut - something like Option+R+L - that you held down for 2 restart cycles. Then it magically turned on. I can't remember the sequence and I'm afraid to guess! I'd appreciate if anyone knows the trick. I'm also wondering if I should bring this display back...

Cassandra from Apple Support ROCKS!!!! She's a supervisor somewhere and should have a raise. Pleasant, smart and professional with a customer who wouldn't take "I don't know" for an answer.
If your cinema display goes dark:
1. shut down computer
2. restart
3. immediately hold down Command-Option-P-R keys simultaneously for a few minutes (seems forever)
4. keep holding keys for 2 startup cycles
5. release and go back to work if you're lucky to have a restored screen

My monitor goes dark 27 inch 3.1 iMac.

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