Start both MacBook & External Display simultaneously?

Hi there,
Was wondering if someone could provide some advice. I have a 13.3 MacBook connected to a very old non-widescreen display (plan to update soon!) - The problem I have is that while I can connect the display to my MacBook once the MacBook is booted etc. - this can prove to be a frustrating process! Even if I start my MacBook with the DisplayPort/VGA Cable connected, I have to remove the cable and plug it back in (sometimes repeatedly) to get a connection...
Can someone tell me if there is a way of having both start simulataneously - i.e - have the screen connect as the MacBook starts to boot?
Many Thanks!

Sure. To be honest, I've never actually seen graphics performance decrease for any system in a dual display scenario over a single display. Basically it'll work or it won't work in dual display extended desktop mode.
The MacBook does so you should expect the same performance all round.

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MacBook & external displays

I am looking at a system upgrade and am tempted by the new MacBook. However, it is not immediately evident whether (as per the MacBook Pro) you can use the MB with the lid shut and connected to an external (larger) keyboard and larger display. Does anyone know what the answer is?
I would like to combine the portability of the MB with the ability to hook it up to a larger VGA/DVI screen. Any views on the merits of the more expensive DVI monitors?
Thanks in advance to anyone who can respond to these questions.
iMac DV 400 Mac OS X (10.2.x)

Hello
Glad to help.
First up, if you take a look at the main specification page, it confirms the MacBook will drive an external display, either as the main display (with MacBook closed) or as an extended display (with MacBook open).
It will work at these resolutions:
Extended desktop and video mirroring: simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 1920 x 1200 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colours.
You will need to also purchase a Mini DVI-DVI cable or a Mini DVI-VGA cable depending on what external monitor you plan to use.
I have tried a lot of monitors;
Apple Cinema - superb, but you pay for it.
NEC 20WGX2 - looks nice, horrible display.
CTX - I forget the model number, but nice.
Belinea 10 20 35W - absolutely superb and stunning value.
Link:
http://www.jigsaw24.com/proddesc.asp?ITEM=X670AKA
hope this helps.

MacBook external display problem with Panasonic projector

MacBook (September 2006, Intel 945) with Boot Camp and XP Pro won't display externally from Boot Camp to a Panasonic PT-DW5000U projector using VGA (via the MiniDVI-to-VGA adapter/dongle). I tried 640x480x8-bit and 800x600x16-bit and 1024x768x16-bit. I tried unplugging and replugging the adapter. I tried shutting down and restarting into Win XP while all video cabling was connected. I tried pressing F7, Fn+F7, Shift+F7, FnShiftF7, as well as other key combinations involving F7. I tried checking the checkbox called "Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor." I installed Apple Software Update 2.1. None of these troubleshooting attempts worked. It works fine in OS X to the same projector (using the same VGA dongle). And, while Win XP starts in Boot Camp, the projector displays the Windows XP startup screen (black background and blue progress indicator), but after about a minute that disappears, I get a login dialog on the laptop screen, and the projector then displays only a blank blue screen.
Other displays: It works fine with Boot Camp to a Samsung SyncMaster 940T monitor using DVI (via the MiniDVI-to-DVI adapter/dongle). It works fine with Boot Camp to a Panasonic LC50 monitor using VGA (via the MiniDVI-to-VGA adapter/dongle).
We also have Panasonic PT-D5500 projectors, but I haven't tried them yet.
1. Is this a problem in the Intel drivers supplied with Boot Camp?
2. Are there settings on the projector that need to be set to make it work?
3. I'm also now missing the Intel system tray icon that looks like a slanted computer screen -- how do I get it back?
Any suggestions? Thanks!

Based on the substantial research I've done regarding this issue, here's what the problem could be (without me knowing more):
If your working with an integrated graphics card (Intel 945?), chances are that it doesn't support the "resolution" of the projector - which is information embedded in to your other devices. Furthermore, the "refresh rate" is another piece of information usually "embedded" in to the device your connecting to, and the projector may not have either piece of information accessible to your card, or, vice versa.
Additionally, the drivers required by XP to make it all happen while using your particular video card, may not be installed. Basically, it could be a driver issue as well.
I wish I had a solution for you, however, everything I've read seems to conclude that XP within boot camp has little or no support for external displays (especially when talking about larger resolutions).
Humorously, when I addressed the "Mac Genius" at the Apple Store regarding this question, he told me to go buy a PC - so I did. Already have a Mac Pro, needed a laptop...

Early 2011 Macbook external display issues after firmware update

I have a 2011 MBPro 15". After performing the firmware update in late April, I have continual issues when I connect my monitor. The screen is blank and I can move the mouse tap the keyboard etc. The display may come up for a scond and then it will close and the machine goes back to sleep. More wiggling and the process starts over.
If I raise the lid it may bing up the external display. Restarting is the only sure fix.
I also was unable to make a presentation today because the projector I was connected to would not show the MBP display.
I tried all the key combinations, detect display etc. and nothing.
Can I somehow go back to the prior firmware? Other solutions?
SMC Version (system): 1.69f1
EFI Driver Version: 01.00.521

I recently did a software update to my MacBook pro and had a similar issue, on restart it gets to the apple logo then just shuts off, after multiple hours on the phone with apple care they told me that it was coincidence that it happened at the same time as the update and it would be costly to repair as it was either something to do with display or logic board. I took my MacBook into my retail location I bought it from and was told that they have had MULTIPLE people bring in macbooks with the SAME issue (I live in a really small city so the amount of people is quite large proportion wise) and that they could fix the issue by remotely resetting the MacBook at a cost of $130-$150. Relatively cheap considering what I was fearing, but if this is a common problem related to Apples update why are we paying to fix it and why is apple support saying its something major???

Macbook - External Display - Closed Lid

Hi there,
I know full well that the powerbooks and the macbook pro run monitors in lid closed mode... but does the Macbook?
I would only do this without a hack as I do not want to destroy warranty.
If it doesn't, it may be time for me to look into a 12" powerbook G4.
I had to sell my iBook and I want something for presentations and to travel with. If I sell my iMac, I'll need a big display as I am not going to just look at a laptop display all day.
Thanks, Martin

"it'll run in closed book mode with the external display. it may overheat however, so i'd be careful."
I don't want to sell my iMac and then break a macbook...
I used to have an iBook G4. Then I bought an iMac. Now I want a laptop, but know that if I get one, I'll want a desktop again...
What monitor do you use? I can't find any white ones...
20" iMac G5 REV A, 160GB HD, 1GB RAM, Mighty Mouse Mac OS X (10.4.6) 12" iBook G3, 20GB HD, 640MB RAM, 2GB iPod Nano White, 20GB iPod 3G

Macbook External Display

I've replied to a similar problem to this in one of the other catagories, but I thought I'd make a new thread in the display catagory.
I've been reading about people having issues with external displays not showing up on macbooks, for no apparent reason in some cases. That seems to be my issue as well but I have two points that people may find interesting.
Point 2 in particular I think should get some attention! Something "just works" in XP but not OS X?
Firstly the issue is with a Macbook black c2d late 2006, and a 19" xerox monitor connected using a mini-dvi connection into a vga apapter to the monitor's integrated dvi connection (the vga adapter is there because the mini-dvi to dvi adapter doesn't fit. The monitor has a dvi-i connection - it has extra pins and doesn't fit into the apple mini-dvi to dvi connection (this is dvi-d), which I discovered after I had already bought the useless connection!)
1. When I did initially connect the monitor the screen did show up, but while I was arranging the monitor and macbook around the desk I knocked out the mini-dvi adapter. I could never get the screen back after that, but it still does show up in the Display Preferences Panel. (no it's not damaged, see point 2.) No amount of pressing F7, rebooting, switching resolutions, or changing Display profiles seem to bring it back.
2. I'm a switcher (Macbook black c2d - really impressed by the way, just this one issue) so to smooth the process I used bootcamp to put xp on a small partition. The screen works perfectly in XP, in various different resolutions. Which is very annoying - I didn't buy a macbook to use xp!
I think that I have addressed all the obvious ways to pick up the display, and I have gone through the suggestions from other posts, but nothing. Not even a flicker. I don't have another Mac to test the screen on, but I do have another XP laptop, and again that works fine.
Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
Macbook Black c2d, early 2007 Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Update: Well unfortunately my credit card has taken enough of a hammering lately (I'm only home from my honeymoon a few weeks), so not having an apple care plan on the Macbook I didn't get too far with Apple support.
The new plan of action is... give up. I have to assume that the issue is just something to do with OSX not liking the mini-dvi -> vga adapter -> dvi adapter that I had to use, and MS just doesn't have a problem with it. A pain, but it is a nice monitor so I don't think I will have a problem giving/selling it to one of my MS using mates.
I'll mark this one answered - kinda
Macbook Black C2D (late 2006) Mac OS X (10.4.10)

External display crash

Hi,
I have the Unibody MacBook from late 2008. My problem is that when I connect an external display and using extended desktop, the external display crashes randomly. Sometimes I can watch movies or photos for hours and sometimes it crashes after 3 minutes. However, the MacBook itself does not crash so when I unplug and insert the mini-displayport -> DVI adapter, the computer starts up the external display again.
Does anyone have a clu about this issue?
Regards,
Anders

Hi,
I have the Unibody MacBook from late 2008. My problem is that when I connect an external display and using extended desktop, the external display crashes randomly. Sometimes I can watch movies or photos for hours and sometimes it crashes after 3 minutes. However, the MacBook itself does not crash so when I unplug and insert the mini-displayport -> DVI adapter, the computer starts up the external display again.
Does anyone have a clu about this issue?
Regards,
Anders

Macbook Pro - Applications wont start without External Display

Hi all,
Apologies if this question has already been answered, but I have spent a lot of time Googling to no avail...
I have an early 2011 15" MBP with the following spec:
Model Name:          MacBook Pro
Model Identifier:          MacBookPro8,2
Processor Name:          Intel Core i7
Processor Speed:          2 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:          MBP81.0047.B24
SMC Version (system):          1.69f1
AMD Radeon HD 6490M / Intel HD Graphics 3000
Snow Leopard Mac OS X 10.6.8
I normally use the MBP with a 27" Cinema Display connected (mini display port/thunderbolt connector) and the clamshell shut. All is fine.
However, if I remove the external monitor and want to use the MBP with just its own display, some applications will not start. They bounce int he dock for a while and then hang, and need to be forcibly killed. Not all applications behave this way, but so far I have experienced this with Aperture 3.2, Omnigraffle, Parallels, Pixelmator.
Does anyonw have a clue whats going on and how to fix?
Thanks

Hi Grant & Bob
Thanks for your responses.
The adaptor has been removed from the Mac, and I have tried all the obvious solutions (like using detect displays), but to no avail.
I will try and investigate some other scenarious (like using a different external display) and see what happens.
Thanks

HT204621 Is this related to the Reconnecting phenomenon which I encounter regularly during sessions when I am mirroring my Macbook Air display on my iMac? This started happening after Yosemite OS u/g. Both using the same bluetooth keyboard/magic mouse per

I'm suffering from a reconnection problem which impacts my ability to use mirroring of my Macbook Air display on my iMac display. Both are using Yosemite OS and sharing the same bluetooth peripherals via the iMac. This did not happen much before Yosemite but I get a Reconnecting display about once every 15-20 minutes now when I am accessing my macbook in a session. Connection to the Macbook Air via a Thunderbolt cable also seems a little flaky, may or may not connect. Often improved by opening (waking) up the macbook if no response. Occasionally I get a Failed to Authenticate Macbook Air error which appears to be a hard error, typically after not having been using the laptop for sometime, e.g. overnight!

Yes but there's no point doing it here. As the Terms of Use make quite clear this is a User to User forum. It's Users like you talking to other Users. It's not a channel to communicate with Apple.
Regards
TD

Connecting a MacBook to an external display or projector

I have tried to connect my MacBook to a projector and to a TV using the mini-DVI to Video adapter, both with the same poor results. Here's the steps I took:
- Turned on the TV
- Connected the video cable to the TV "video in"
- Connected the video cable to the MacBook with the mini-DVI to vieo adapter
- Opened the MacBook
- Turned it on
The MacBook boots up, the MacBook resolution changes and the video on the TV is distorted, showing essentially three images of the MacBook display. Any attempt to adjust the resolution using system preferences just makes it worse.
Has anyone had success using a MacBook for presentations using either a TV or a projector and, if so, what procedure do you use to connect?

Greetings from Hong Kong-
I have a major presentation to give in a couple of days and have NOT been successful connecting to an external display. I am starting to freak out. Any instructions would be helpful!

How to restore display on MacBook Pro to original settings after faulty external display connection

Rookie question, 2009 MacBook Pro. We bought a dvi-VGA adapter to connect to an external display. Got a picture on the external monitor but very poor resolution. Meanwhile the display on the MacBook Pro re-set itself and we were not able to restore it to normal even after we disconnected the external monitor. We now have our MacBook Pro with messed up resolution and display, AND no external display. How do we get the MacBook Pro back to its default display settings? Any help greatly appreciated!

this is from another discussion:
jk10003
Re: MacBook doesn't sleep when closing lid with external monitor attached with Lion Oct 14, 2011 7:01 PM (in response to admgtz)
I would like to offer this solution. I have a MacBook Pro with an external monitor, and, for a year and a half both displays slept when I closed the MBPS. This behavior stopped when I installed Lion. They would sleep when I removed the power cord, but what a pain that would be. The command "pmset -g assertions" gave no indication of which process ought be preventing sleep.
I contacted Apple support, and after some searching, the guy working with me found this thread, which was flagged as an Apple-approved solution:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3190417?start=165&tstart=0
This is the important part:
Correct AnswerRe: How do I tell Lion to disable the LCD screen even when the lid is open?
Aug 31, 2011 9:56 AM (in response to Bob_viking)
Here's the command to make your laptop behave like it did Pre-Lion (courtesy of my friend):
sudo nvram boot-args="iog=0x0"
Works perfectly for me. If it screws up your system, just zap the PRAM next boot (cmd-opt-p-r) and you'll be back to the default Lion state. Or if you can still get into terminal, this command will get you back to Lion's default state as well:
sudo nvram -d boot-args
Enjoy!
One snag was that I had to run it with the external monitor disabled, but it worked great!

Windows 7 Bootcamp and Thunderbolt to VGA Adapters for External Displays MacBook Pro i5?

Is it possible to connect an external moniter to a MacBook Pro using a Thunderbolt to VGA adapter in Windows 7 (professional)? I have tried and tried, when booting, both moniters (both laptop and external) show the "Starting Windows" page, but the external blacks out on the user selection screen. That gives me hope... is there a driver out there that will let me use the external display in Windows 7?
MacBook Pro
i5, 4gig, 750gig.
Windows 7 Pro
Mac OSX Lion
LG Flatron Wide
DisplayPort to VGA adapter (not apple brand, purchased on eBay).
Thanks.

You shouldn't require a driver. I would try booting as usual, then plugging in your external display. In windows, you can hit "command-P" to toggle between your external display options (mirror, extend, etc.). Once you do that, you should see the new display show up.

External display issue when Macbook wakes up

Hi there,
I have an external display (Samsung 920nw) used as an extension of my desktop. When I go to sleep so does my Macbook... I close the lid and the computer goes to sleep mode within seconds (the white led on the front right slowly flashes confirming that the computer got to sleep).
The problem starts in the morning when I wake up the Macbook. The white led is still and not flashing anymore and when I lift the lid only the external display works with a poor resolution. The macbook display remains off. To solve the problem I need to detect displays and rearrange everything again between the screens.
I am not sure but I believe that sometime during the night the Macbook wakes up and he thinks that I am using the external display as the only display.
I want to lift the lid and both displays to be working as they were before going to sleep mode. Is anyone facing the same problem and/or have any clue of what is happening?
I have a bluetooth mouse and a usb hub with printer, pen drive, external hard drive attached to the macbook.
Thanks for helping.

Could be caused by a backup drive or some other application running in the background. There's no way to be sure without looking at your crash logs. I keep my computer on but I always close down my apps at night to protect them from power outages.
Nancy O.

Windows 7/vista & macbook pro & external display unrecognized on reboot

Hello,
I have my new macbook pro 13 with an external display, keyboard and mouse connected. With MacOs that's ok, when I reboot the macbook closed the image comes to the external display all the time (booting the system, too).
But when I do the same on windows Vista or seven (I installed both with the same result) I just can't do it. I have to wait windows to be booted, disconnect the minidisplay to vga cable and connect again, and then, it's again recognized.
I don't know why it does not recognize the external display without doing this. Is there any way to do it?

I figured out that you are referring to booting in Windows, and inserting the Snow Leopard DVD, launching the Windows installer. The Boot Camp drivers installer is therein.
I ran this installer, and when I rebooted to Windows, I got a couple BSODs, the display was reset to 640x480, and one time it hung during boot. I managed to view the display adapter driver, and it was blank! I installed the latest NVidia display driver, and it resolved the crashes and hangs, but the external display is still unrecognized when the lid is closed. The best that I can do is to configure dual monitors in the NVidia control panel, and move application windows over to the external display. This isn't useful while the lid is closed because the start menu is located in the MacBook display.

How can I disable the internal display on my MacBook Pro with connected external display?

I used this metod with the MagSafe power cable connected (see http://osxdaily.com/2012/06/15/yet-another-way-to-turn-off-internal-lcd-display- of-macbook-pro-with-lid-open/).
Open System Preferences and click “Mission Control”, then click on “Hot Corners”
Select a hot corner and pull down the menu to select “Put Display to Sleep”
Now connect the external display to the Mac and move the cursor to the newly created sleep corner to turn off the internal display
Close the MacBook lid and wait a few seconds before opening the lid again, the internal display should stay off while the external display will be powered on
This worked great under Mac OS X 10.7.4, but after the last update to 10.7.5 it doesn’t work more. The built-in display turns off really, but a few seconds after opening the lid it lights up again. Do you have any suggestions? Dimming the brightness or clamshell mode is not very useful.
MacBook Pro 13-inch,
2,7 GHz Intel Core i7,
Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 (11G56)
Thanks!

I have the same problem: not able to work with my external display mirroring the internal one - while shutting the internal display off.
I believe there is an issue with Mac OS X Lion 7.5 that Apple needs to solve, since apparently it does not happen with this version of the OS only...
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4315808?start=45&tstart=0
Or any other way to solve it?
Mac Book Air, 13-inch Mid 2011
Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5 11G63
Thank you!

Start both MacBook & External Display simultaneously?

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