Solution: mac mini and lcd

Hello there
For several days, I have read all of your postings regarding to display and Mac Mini.
I must admit I was about to send my Mac mini to Apple and get my money back, however, fortunately I found a small tool called SwitchRes X. Neither Apple Technical Service nor retailer were able to fix my mac so that the solution had to be found by my own.
I use my Mac mini in combination with Samsung SyncMaster 193P (DVI). Since date of delivery, I had not been able to use my mac in resolutions: 1280x960 and 1280x1024 60 Hz, 75 Hz till today. Now, it is working in 1280 x 1024, 57Hz/58 Hz without any problem at all.
This useful tool helps you manage the frequency and resolution of all monitors. Its enormous advantage is to create new resolutions that Apple doesnt display natively.
You can try SwitchRes X without any limitation for a persiod of 10 days after that, the software must be registrated. I am sure that most of reported issues can be resolved by SwitchRes.
For more information, please go to www.madrau.com
I would be happy to hear some positive experience you made with.
Greetings from Germany
Thomas
Nochmal für die deutschen User:
Für alle die Probleme mit Ihren Mac mini Computern haben, hier ein Tipp: sollte das Bild flackern oder sollten Artefake (oder schwarze Blanks) entstehen, so könnte ihr dieses Problem mit SwitchREs X beheben. Bei mir flackerte das Bild immer in den Auflösungen 1280 x 960 bzw 1024 bei 60 Hz und 75 Hz. Nachdem ich mit SwitchResX die Widerholfrequenz auf 57-58 Hz reduziert habe, erscheinen keinerlei Artefakte oder Flimmern am Bildschirm.
Das Programm lässt sich automatisch mit dme Booten des Systems starten und behebt alle Inkompatibilitätsprobleme am Mac mini.
SwitchRes X lässt sich 10 lang kostenlos testen. Nach den ersten 30 Minuten ließ ich dieses Programm bei mir registrieren.

How do find the Samsung SyncMaster 193P? I'm considering purchasing a similar monitor for my new mini (when I get it hopefully next week).
But I understand that the 193P+ (which is the one available here) can only be adjusted (wrt brightness, for instance) with software. Is this true for your 193P and, if so, do you find the Mac version of Samsung's MagicTune fully functional?
The Samsung Syncmaster 193P is the best monitor I ever had. Up to now, I have worked with Hyundai, Sony, Belinea, EIZO and NEC. Before buying I tried several LCD monitors and couldnt believe Samsungs quality on my Win XP and Mac as well.
As you wrote, it can unfortunately be adjusted with software which also is available for Mac OS X. MagicTune for Windows supports more functions you can modify frequency for example. With MagicTune for Mac you can only adjust brightness and contrast for instance. In spite of Samsungs confirmed Mac contability I needed to install SwitchRes X to correct some issues regarding to frequency (DVI).

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Mac Mini and LCD TV, changed resolution and now cannot use the screen anymo

hello,
I have a Mac Mini and and LCD TV which is connected via HDMI cable. I was playing around with the resolution settings (not very smart in hindsight) and managed to select a resolution that my TV does not support. I do not have another monitor or Macbook. Is there anything I can do to reset the resolution settings? I tried to reset the PRAM, but that didnt seem to solve the problem. I also tried starting in Safe mode but that didnt do the trick either.
Appreciate your help!

Arie, it may be possible to get to System Preferences via the keyboard. But you have to be sure the Finder is the foreground application. Is your Mac set to boot straight into your account or does it pause waiting for a password? If it boots straight into a user account, you can try the following procedure:
\- Restart the Mac (It should be hooked up to the misbehaving display in case that's not clear)
\- When it is done booting, type Cmd-Tab and then Cmd-Q. Do this several times. (Cmd-tab will step the Mac through all the programs that might be running. Cmd-Q quits them. Doing this several times ensures that only the Finder is running since the Finder can't be quit. This is important for the next step)
\- Type Shift-Cmd-a (This should open the Applications folder)
\- Type "sys" quickly (System Preferences within the Applications folder should now be highlighted)
\- Type Cmd-o (This should open System Preferences)
\- Type out the word "screen settings" completely (This should cause Displays to be highlighted in the System Preferences main panel)
\- Hit the Return key (This should open Display Preferences)
\- Hit the Return key again (This will clear any alert box that may have popped up)
\- Hit the Tab key once (This will shift the keyboard focus to the resolutions list)
\- Now start using the up (or down) arrow on the keyboard one press at a time. Each press of the arrow key moves to the next resolution in the list. Wait at least five seconds between arrow key presses for the resolution change to take effect. Hopefully, at some point, the monitor will light up with a stable image and you are back in business.

Mac Mini and LCD TV - Screen looks pink

I am using a Fujitsu-Siemens Myrica V27-1 LCD TV as the monitor of my Mac Mini. They are connected by a VGA cable through the Minis DVI/VGA adapter.
The screen looks pink although the Mini detects the Myrica correctly. When I open Displays from the system settings (hope everything is translated right since I am using the German version of OS X 10.4.5), switch to the colors tab there is already a color profile called Myrica V27-1.
I tried to calibrate again starting from that profile - but with no success. Still the white looks pink. The TV as such works perfect.
Has anybody a hint? Could it be a solution to use DVI to DVI (The TV also has a DVI input)?
Thanks in advance
Falk

It was indeed the VGA connection. I bought a DVI to DVI cable and now everything looks great.

Mac mini and lcd tv displays

I currently have a g3 ibook and a g4 imac. I've been debating on what i should buy as an upgrade. I've been torn between virtually all macs including the powerbook, ibooks, imac, and the mac mini. I'm moving in a couple of months to a temporary residence where space will be limited. I just purchased a very nice philips 37 inch lcd display with vga inputs and hdmi inputs. After much thought this is what i think i'm going to do.
Sell the G4 imac or give to my parents. Keep the G3 ibook but install the max ram for it (is 512mb the max for this old cpu) and replace the old airport card with a new airport extreme card. Buy an extreme base station. Get a mac mini w/ wireless mouse and keyboard and run it through the philips. Any thoughts?
If i go this route i keep the ibook for portability and the mac mini gives me a more powerful at home cpu. This would keep costs down and not take up as much space. Anyone have their mini hooked up to their lcd tv?

Hi Martin,
I appreciate your thoughts : I have a G3e key Lime Clamshell 466MHz iBook, I put a 256MB SIMM in to take the iBook up to 384mb and it's now OK for Tiger - I used the Apple Video Out cable to a sony CRT TV via SCART and was able to struggle thru Bridget Jones 2 on DVD , but got a headache! Wife was UNHAPPY. suggestion is avoid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(maybe sell your iBook at a premium on an online auction website?)
I'm pretty sure that Airport Extreme cards - being a different size and shape from the old ones won't allow you to upgrade that way. I did buy an Airport Extreme enabled Mac Mini 1.25GHz 40GB 1GB RAM for driving my Dell 26" LCD TV/Monitor. It is F A N T A S T I C ! The Dell W2600 came with DVI to DVI cable which plugged straight into the Mini's DVI with no adaptors. The Dell was recognised and a profile was loaded by 10.3
Most important point :-
I adjusted the Mac Mini screen output resolution to EXACTLY the Dell W2600 Native Resolution of 1280 x 768 (WXGA) (720p HDTV).
with a mismatched native resolution the modern TV's like your Philips 37" will start to resample and might make artefacts (mine did!)
The Mini's 32MB video RAM will not drive much higher screen resolutions than 720p anyway!
Well, after some playing , and loading of helper programs like VLC and MTR , then you'll find that Mac Mini to big LCD is the best ever quality that you've seen your DVD's played. When you download the Apple QT7 H.264 HDTV 720p trailers, you'll have seen the best ever TV quality imaginable!!!!
for extended use as a desktop PC, the Mac Mini would be better firing into a 17-19" LCD,
the 26-42" displays are so big that you have to stand 6+ feet away from them at least !!
I used a BT dongle (I had it lying around) and the Apple BT keybd and mouse work well, in fact, I can type from the other end of the garden - just I can't see what I'm typing!
I bought my 3rd & last Mac Mini tonight for Euro 399 (£264!!!) as the blowout of the Rev.A 1.25GHz 40GB 256RAM 32 VRAM models. My main Mini really uses its 1GB ramstick when encoding MPG4 via the EyeTV200, but the sub £300 price makes the Mini phenomenal, unbeatable and so versatile!
I'm sure you'd be happy with the Rev.B with the BTO options until Rev.C comes out!
what's the native resolution of your Philips LCD? is it video protected path?

Mac mini and lcd tv

I currently have a g3 ibook and a g4 imac. I've been debating on what i should buy as an upgrade. I've been torn between virtually all macs including the powerbook, ibooks, imac, and the mac mini. I'm moving in a couple of months to a temporary residence where space will be limited. I just purchased a very nice philips 37 inch lcd display with vga inputs and hdmi inputs. After much thought this is what i think i'm going to do.
Sell the G4 imac or give to my parents. Keep the G3 ibook but install the max ram for it (is 512mb the max for this old cpu) and replace the old airport card with a new airport extreme card. Buy an extreme base station. Get a mac mini w/ wireless mouse and keyboard and run it through the philips. Any thoughts?
If i go this route i keep the ibook for portability and the mac mini gives me a more powerful at home cpu. This would keep costs down and not take up as much space. Anyone have their mini hooked up to their lcd tv?

37PF7320A/37
http://www.consumer.philips.com/consumer/catalog/catalog.jsp?activeCategory=TVGR_US_CONSUMER&fhquery=fh_location%3D%2F%2Fconsumer%2Fen_US%2Fcategories%3Ccatal og_us_consumer%2Fcategories%3Ctv_gr_us_consumer%2Fcategories%3C%7Bflat_tv_ca_us_ consumer%7D&fhquery=fh_start_index%3D10&clickEventData=fh_location%3D%2F%2Fconsu mer%2Fen_US%2Fcategories%3Ccatalog_us_consumer%2Fcategories%3Ctv_gr_us_consumer% 2Fcategories%3C%7Bflat_tv_ca_usconsumer%7D&fredhopperpage=lister.jsp&language=en&country=US&catalogType=CONSUME R&proxybuster=E5JLWKPDGNS3BJ0RMRESHQFHKFSEKI5P

Mac Mini and thunderbolt/vga to LCD TV

Hi All,
Here is an interesting one......
I have just taken delivery of 5 new Mac Minis which have the thunderbolt port on them. The Mac Minis each connect using displayport tb/vga adapter to a switch then on to 5 LCD TVs.
The HDMI/DVI is not used.
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If I connect a standard PC monitor to the tb/vga adapter and reboot, the screen shows correctly on the monitor. If I then change cables without a reboot, the LCD TVs show correctly!
I can add the PC monitor as a second monitor using HDMI/DVI and ensure that the outputs are mirrored AND that the VGA display is the primary. However, on reboot it's as if the details are all forgotten!
Searching around it seems that there are issues with Mac Minis and VGA connections to LCD TVs. That said, I wanted to put my environment out there and see if anyone had an ideas.
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Hey Spost!
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Hi, a dvd got stuck in my mac mini and after looking at solutions online and attempting some not only has the dvd not ejected but my mac wont turn on properly, there is simply a white blank screen, can anyone help me please? thanks

Hi, a dvd got stuck in my mac mini and after looking at solutions online and attempting some not only has the dvd not ejected but my mac wont turn on properly, there is simply a white blank screen, can anyone help me please? thanks

Hi Claire, sounds dire, but some things to try...
Have you done a PRAM reset, CMD+Option+p+r...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
In fact, do 3 in a row, takes a bit of time.
Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964

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when you say "Mac flat screen LCD", do you mean this:
http://www.ares-woo.com/christmas2005/images/pc_cine.jpg
if it is, you might wanna try this:
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB570Z/A?mco=MTY3ODQ5OTY

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hello. I bought the mac mini and philips tv, but I get pink screen. looking at various forums that this is a known issue between apple and philips.is there no solutions to this problem?

Hi, what all inputs does the Phillips have, & how is it conected now?

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To my knowledge, no.
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Current Mac Mini and HD decoding

Hi there,
I am considering buying a Mac Mini as an HTPC to connect via DVI->HDMI to an LCD TV. I was wondering if any of you has experience in playing HD content on a current generation Mac Mini and how does the Mini cope with it. Please note that I am not talking about BluRay since the drive only supports DVD, but rather .MOV, .MKV or .AVI videos encoded at 1080p using codecs like H.264 or similar. Can the Mini decode those without missing any frames on a 1920x1080 LCD TV?
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480p seems to be the minis domain with H.264
The processor hits 100% in spots and can find a safe cushion of 9% free CPU from time to time. It seemed to lock on fine at 24fps constant, with the smallest of climbs to 24.57fps on the BBC Motion Gallery Andes Film [848 x 480 resolution].
Full screen locked on fine but I didn't have any fps readouts up. Only stuttered once for a short while, could have been the end of the download stream.
Compression artifacting is still readily visible on this particular 480p encoding when viewed on the much sharper 2005FPW LCD monitor.
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Jan J.

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Does anyone agree that Apple needs to add another model between the Mac Mini and the iMac? I think they need something like a Mac Mini Plus. Two models, one with the 1.83GHz Core Duo and one with the 2.0GHz Core Duo. The unit itself would be slightly larger than the standard Mini and include a PCI Express slot with several video card options and a faster (7200RPM) hard drive. Personally, I hesitate to buy an iMac because of the built in monitor. I would prefer to buy a separate LCD flat panel monitor that I could keep for years and use with different Mac models as I upgrade. As for the current Mac Mini, it's video and processor options are on the low end, albeit perfect for the casual user, but for someone that wants to do some gaming or video editing, they don't quite cut it.
Don't get me wrong here, I love the elegant design of the iMac, but I think Apple needs to offer something that allows us to have the iMac equivalent computing power without the built in monitor and without having spend a thousand more on a PowerMac.
Athlon XP 1800+ Windows XP Pro

Yes, I'd love something in the form of a Mac Mini that was closer in spec to the iMac.
Honestly, the only reason I won't buy an iMac CoreDuo is the built-in monitor.
And, the only reason I won't buy a new Mac Mini is that they are underpowered.
I have owned two iMac G5 systems, and both had serious faults with their built-in LCD panel.
The first would permanently etch in anything on the screen for every hour of intensive use.
It wouldn't etch it in in normal use. But, if I did any of my audio work, it would heat up the system so hot that the image on the screen would literally cook into the LCD panels plastic surface.
It literally looked like you took a razor blade, and precisely carved the exact image into the surface of the screen. Pretty nasty looking. Nothing would get rid of it, and it would happen every time I did my audio editing / processing work for an hour.
Naturally, the more work I did, the worse it got. I only got two editing sessions out of an LCD panel before having it replaced.
After going through that for a while, I sold the system after having a fresh panel installed under warranty.
I got tired of damaging the screen after every hour of work.
The second iMac G5 was purchased a year later. That one also suffered permanent damage to it's LCD panel. But, not quite as noticeable.
I know that there are a bunch of people getting ready to hit me with the "Image Persistence" explanation. But, trust me, I know about Image Persistence, and this wasn't it.
I was seeing actual permanent screen burn-in (which is not supposed to happen on LCD panels).
The service tech was absolutely amazed at the appearance of my screen. And, yes we verified it was the actual panel that was damaged. He wouldn't replace it without verifying that it was the panel itself.
Anyway, I called to arrange service on the second system again, and before I could get it in there, the backlight started flickering. And, I had already had tons of other stuff fixed on the machine. So, I sold it and bailed-out.
Now, after all the problems I've had with the built-in screens on the iMac G5 systems, I don't want another Apple product with a built-in screen. I want to use my own LCD panel.
I have an LCD panel that I'm using now. It's about 3 years old, and only cost me $200. And, it doesn't have even the slightest indication of image burn-in or image persistence. I use it every day, and use it just like I did the iMacs.
So, what I want now, is a machine comparable to the iMac CoreDuo, but without the built-in screen.
The current Mac Mini's cost way too much for their very low specifications.
I already have a Mac Mini G4. It's underpowered as well. But, no worse-off than the current Mac Minis.
Now, if Apple produced a Mac Mini with identical specs to the iMac, I'd gladly buy it.
Even better for them, I'd pay the same price as the current iMac to get it without the built-in monitor.
Yes, that's right, I'd pay the full price of the iMac to get a Mac Mini without a monitor if it was of the same specifications otherwise.
The current Mac Mini is obviously stripped-down to prevent competition with the iMac. But, I think they'd find that they would simply expand their user base if they offered a better Mini.
With their product line as it is, the current Mac Mini is not a compelling machine, and the iMac is not an option because of it's built-in monitor.
Get me a high-end Mac Mini and you've got a sale.

Mighty Mouse problem with duo core intel mac mini & 26" LCD/TV display

I have an Olevia 26" LCD/TV display connected to my Intel Duo core mac mini and I have been using a Mighty Mouse with it from the start but all of a sudden the mouse pointer will not come out of the upper right corner. It moves out a little and then pops back into the corner.
I connected the Mighty Mouse to my g4 PowerBook and it tracks and scrolls fine. I've also cleaned it and tried it on a solid, dark service while connected to the mac mini and those things don't help either.
Any suggestions anyone. I've been using the Mighty Mouse for months and I love especially the ability to scroll horizonitally as I use Final Cut Pro and that features is GREAT in the timeline window.
I can't seem to find anything here in the discussions specifcally with this issue so any guidance would be appreciated!

hi there--
if all is fine on the install disk, run disk repair http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=302672. if not, i would reset the open firmware. do this by holding apple-option-o-f on keyboard while you start up and you get a screen that says "welcome to open firmware". type in following commands, without quotations-- "reset-nvram" (hit return) and "reset-all" (hit return). second command restarts the computer. good luck.[:)]

Mac mini and macbook air startup takes hours

When I restart my mac mini, it takes approximately 16-18 HOURS to boot. During this time the grey screen is displayed with the Apple logo, and the turning wheel is turning and turning but nothing happens.
I updated the mac mini to Mountain Lion.
What is funny, my macbook air has exactly the same problem. So I dont think that this is a hardware related problem. My macbook air takes about 8-10 hours to restart.
Anybody has the same experience or has a solution?
Again, both my mac mini and macbook air have this problem.
Thanks!!

Whew, this is incredible!?
See if the Disk is issuing any S.M.A.R.T errors in Disk Utility...
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH7029
Open Activity Monitor in Applications>Utilities, select All Processes & sort on CPU%, any indications there?
How much RAM & free Disk space do you have also, click on the Memory & Disk Usage Tabs.
Open Console in Utilities & see if there are any clues or repeating messages when this happens.
In the Memory tab of Activity Monitor, are there a lot of Pageouts?
Open console in Applications>Utilities, check the system log for the date/time of the last Startup for clues.

Solution: mac mini and lcd

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