Wrong VGA monitor resolution set on desktop

How can I change the monitor resolution before start commences. The resolution that the desk top is set for will not display on my monitor and therefore I can not reset it. I need to interrupt startup to reset the monitor resolution before it sets up the desk top. How can I do this?

You can boot into safe mode (hold down Shift key during bootup until you see the spinning gear) which will force a generic, low resolution (SVGA I think) which should work with most any monitor. However, I don't know if you can alter resolutions from safe mode and have them stick during a normal boot. Good luck.

Similar Messages

External monitor resolution setting is not saved

I use an external monitor as an extended desktop for my macbook pro.
The problem is that whenever I turn on the mbp, the resolution of the external monitor reverts back to the default resolution. Is there any way to set the resolution of the external monitor and have the mbp save it even after turning the mbp on and off?

tar8584 wrote:
Hello all,
After installing the 10.5.2 update, my Macbook Pro's boot time increased. So, after researching this issue, I decided to reset the PRAM. This solved the boot time problem, as my Mac now boots as quickly as it did prior to the update. But now, the brightness setting is not saved and the brightness level returns to the maximum value each boot up. Other settings, like audio level, are saved properly. The brightness seems to be the only problem. Any ideas on how to correct this?
Thanks,
Anthony
Besides staying with 10.5.1 has anyone found a real solution to this? I want to install Aperture and I need to have 10.5.2 installed in order to instal Aperture v2.x.
Thanks!

Any way to restrict certain monitor resolutions for normal desktop usage?

I have an issue when switching monitors where everything is set to 1024x768 which screws up my desktop and makes me manually adjust it, and I noticed in Screen Resolution (from desktop right-click in Windows 7) multiple resolutions listed but only some are available, and I want to disable some so that the desktop will never switch to that. In fact if I could have all monitors be the maximum resolution all the time (except when a specific program requests it like a video game) that would be perfect.

Thanks for the input everyone. Through trial and error, I found a few useful tips I will share.
1st, you can disable any of the viewable streams, yet still retain the ability to click on them while doing a live mix. You don't see the image (duh) but it my case this resolved the issue.
I was doing a mix of 2 stationary cameras and 3 operated cams (recording a band live at a theatre), so I didn't need to preview the stationary cams. I turned them both off in preview (the tiny eye in the setup sequence) which meant only displaying 3 streams instead of five. I was able to use full playback resolution with no lag at all.
I also tried enabling 4 cams, which worked while reducing the playback qaulity to 1/8th, and this too seemed to work fine. It seems im my case, 5+ streams is the limit.
This was 1920x1080 @ 60 frames.
Also based on my system monitor, RAM and CPU were not in any short supply. I feel the issue lies in the HD or bus, but have no way to test this.
Anyway, thats it on my end. Super stoked I can use this feature, it makes life so much easier.
On that same note, in my next computer build, I want a machine capable of handling more streams. Any suggestions on the best RAID configuration when it comes to multi cam HD? I am also curious to see if splitting the files onto an external drive(s) and the internal storage would make a difference. Cheap hack, but if it works........

How do you plug a VGA monitor to a Mac mini (mid 2011)

I used my older Mac mini (mid 2007) with a VGA LCD monitor through an "DVI to VGA" adapter with no problems.
However, this older adapter does not fit in the "HDMI to DVI Adapter" supplied with my new Mac mini (mid 2011).
There are no receptacles (holes) in the "HDMI to DVI adapter" for the four pins located around the flat tab on one hand of the older adapter .
Any suggestion on how to plug a LCD VGA monitor to a mid 2011 Mac mini?
I know there is a Thunderbolt port and a HDMI port,
but being able to use an inexpensive VGA monitor for set-up and periodic maintenance,
without having to fire up a huge plasma screen each time, would be nice.
There is no displayport on this mid 2011 Mac mini.
There does not seem to be any HDMI to VGA nor Thunderbolt to VGA adapters on the market.
Any suggestions?

The > Apple - Thunderbolt Port is the same as and doubles as a Mini DisplayPort.
Look down at the bottom of > Mac mini (Mid 2011) - Technical Specifications in the Accessories / Displays and Graphics section or on page #33 of your User Guide.

Mini-DVI to VGA maximum resolution?

I have an external monitor with only VGA input, and it's resolution is 1680 x 1050. Will my MacBook be capable of using this display at it's native resolution using a mini-DVI to VGA adapter?
The display is the HP w2007v in case anyone is interested.
Thanks

Hi Josh,
taken from Apple Video Developer Note found here:
http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Hardware/Conceptual/HWTechVideo/Articles/Video_implementation.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40003994-SW741200331181
External Display Modes
The default display mode setting on the MacBook is extended desktop display. To toggle between the two modes, press the F7 key, or go to System Preferences>Displays>Arrangement.
A scaling function is available when the internal display and an external monitor are both operating and the mirror mode is selected. However, the external monitor could have black borders during mirroring, depending on the supported timings between the two displays and on the monitor’s selection algorithm. Black borders are not seen on VGA displays.
Both displays show full-sized images when the display resolution for the external monitor is set to the internal display’s native resolution: 1280 by 800. Both displays can operate with other resolution settings, but in mirror mode, one of the displays may be smaller than the full screen and have a black border around it. With the resolution for the external monitor set to less than 1280 by 800, the image on the internal display is smaller than its screen. For resolution settings larger than 1280 by 800, the image on the external monitor is smaller than its screen.
In mirror mode, the maximum size of the external display is 1280 by 800 at 60 Hz. In extended desktop mode, the maximum size of the external display is 1920 by 1200 at 60 Hz.
So in extended mode the 1680x1050 resolution should be avaiable.
Hope it helps
Stefan

Wrong display manager resolution

Hi!
I installed Arch with LXDE as desktop environment and LXDM as display manager (as I did on two other machines before with perfect result).
Strangely enough, on this machine the screen resolution was not set automatically to the monitor's default (I am using the xf86-video-nouveau driver for my mx440 nvidia card). But chosing "default" in LXDE for the resolution changed it successfully from 1024x768 to 1680x1050 (so the native screen resolution is recognized, if not set, automatically). But LXDM or rather its login screen still comes in 1024x768 and looks aweful.
I suspected an Xorg issue and changed the 10-monitor.conf as proposed in the Xorg Arch wiki to my desired resolution. But that does not have any effect on LXDM's login screen.
Any ideas what might be wrong? Thanks
Best

Back up the file somewhere, then you should remove the comments (everything after the "#" symbol, including the "#" itself), and remove the pseudo-mode (the "Modes" line). You don't need it. Xorg will set your desktop to the native resolution based on your monitor's EDID information.
This is my 10-monitor.conf:
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "DELL"
ModelName "U2311H"
HorizSync 30.0 - 83.0
VertRefresh 56.0 - 76.0
Option "DPMS"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Device0"
Driver "nouveau"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Device0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection
Is there any reason you want 16 bit colour depth? See: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/FA … a_video.3F

Mini-DVI to VGA connector resolution isses.

Hi all.
I have a Packard Bell 19" Monitor that supports 1440x900 75hz Resolution and bought a Mini DVI to VGA cable to connect it to my MacBook(Late 2007). When I attempt to calibrate its resolution there is no 1440x900 option at all. Ive read online that this is due to the VGA adapter? Is this true? and would I be better swapping my adapter for the mini DVI to DVI adapter (Which I would rather not use as my windows desktop connects to this thus equaling more faf.)

VGA maximum resolution I think is about 1200 x 800. If you want 1440 x 900, DVI to DVI would be the best way to achieve this. KVM switches, and A/B boxes exist for DVI that would allow your PC to share with the MacBook the display.

Mac mini late 2012 not working with small VGA monitor

I got a mac mini (late 2012 10.8.4 all updates installed) and it is working fine with samsung b2230 via VGA adapter. There is a small VGA monitor (PL8006 max at 1024*768) which works fine when connected to a PC.
When I connect the small VGA monitor to mac mini it is not displaying anything (monitor shows blue screen with letters VGA so I assue it is not getting any signal). Mac's resolution is set to 1024*768 with 60Hz (even tried with 800*600 without any success). Monitor is also not working with win 7 installed in mac mini using bootcamp.
Any thoughts?

i just found that when the VGA cable of the small monitor is slightly inserted into the VGA adaptor it works fine (this is not usable because there is no way to keep the pins at that level) and when the pins inserted fully / moved little it is not working. Since this happens only between these two devices can't find which one is faulty.

Est. external monitor resolution

I am trying to set up a samsung syncmaster 191Tplus as an external monitor on my macbook from early 2008 running 10.6.8. When I plug it in, both screens flash (not just a flicker) as shown in this youtube video posted by someone else, but my problem is the same
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-Yz-Em2GU4.
I am using the mini-DVI to VGA adaptor. The resolution of the samsung is 1280x1024, which is not listed in my choice of display resolutions. Is this the cause? What can I do? I can't access settings to change anything after the monitor is connected, and I can't find settings for the external monitor before it is connected. Would using SwitchResX work to create a monitor resolution preset before plugging in the second monitor?

OK, here is something to try. Go into System Preferences and select Displays. In the window that opens will be a checkbox for "Show displays in menu bar." Put a checkmark there and make it active. There should now be a little icon of an Apple display on the right side of the menu bar at the top of the screen. If you click on it, it will drop down and give you a short cut to different resolutions. There should be a checkmark next to the currently active resolution. Is it set to 1440 x 900? If not, set it there.
If you are still getting that message from the monitor, well, I don't think the Mac is lying about sending 1440 x 900. If the screen doesn't look right to you, try using the Auto Adjustment feature on your Viewsonic monitor. It could just be that the image needs adjusting.

Jaguar refuses to display on external VGA monitor

Hi,
I have a PowerBook G3 that I would like to set up for printing. I installed OS 9 on it and it displays just fine on my external VGA monitor. I also tried installing OS 10.1 on it which seems to work fine but when I try to install OS 10.2 the monitor goes off after the disk loads up (after the Apple logo goes away). It will not display on my monitor and I cannot use the built in display since it's broken. What's wrong?
Thanks

Apple Rules,
Did you make sure to download the firmware update (if you PowerBook G3 is a firewire model) before upgrading.
List of available firmware updates
What type of disk is the 10.2 Jaguar disk that you are trying to use to install? Is it a machine specific disk or a full retail install disk?
littleshoulders

G4 iMac thinks an external VGA monitor is attached.

My first Mac is the 17 inch G4 iMac. I'm fairly sentimental about this machine.
The iMac running 10.4.11 thinks that there is an external VGA monitor attached to it. The iMac also assigns this "ghost VGA monitor" as the main screen. Every few minutes the screen will flicker from blue, to black and to white before resetting itself. This flickering will continue at random intervals thereafter. Under the Display settings there is no option to turn off mirroring or to arrange the screens.
Years ago I used to use one of those honking CRT Studio Displays. That thing died a long time ago though. Is there some old preferences file that could be screwing with my iMac?
I have also attempted to zap the NVRAM + PRAM. It did not solve the issue.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I don't think there is a way to undo the firmware update, until the installer from the developer has an uninstall option, or there was an uninstall program included with the install program. You can download it again and see.
However, now that you have it working partially (it's acting like you have another display attached), try resetting the PRAM again. You did that as a byproduct of resetting the PMU, but things were not working +almost correctly+ at that time. This is the reset PRAM procedure.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
That might help, because some display settings are stored in PRAM, so the one that indicates a second display could be corrupted.
Also, when I changed display settings on my Mac (such as resolution or arrangement), these are the files I saw getting updated.
<home folder>/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.windowserver...plist
<home folder>/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.preference.displays...plist
<volume root>/Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.plist
(There is a random-looking alphanumeric string where I put the dots - probably different for each system.)
So you might try dragging those preference files to the Desktop to let the system create new ones. Then restart. Note: The above files are for Leopard; could be different if you are using Tiger.

Ultra 10 with Creator 3D and VGA monitor

On the back of my Ultra 10 there are two connectors for monitors: one is the usual VGA connector and appears to be connected to the motherboard, the other is the traditional 13W3 Sun connector, apparently located on a Creator 3D card that came with the system.
I have a Sun monitor, and I can use it with the Ultra 10 using the 13W3 connector; unfortunately, however, it is quite old and would like to connect the box to a newer monitor. So I tried to simply unplug the Sun monitor and plug in a VGA one, but nothing happened. Uhm, what am I forgetting to do?
Incidentally, another silly question: supposing I do manage to connect a VGA monitor, what device will generate the display? The Creator 3D (that does NOT have a VGA connector) or the onboard device, whatever that is (since the VGA socket is connected to the motherboard, apparently). This could be relevant for the speed of graphics rendering, I suppose.

This topic seems to re-appear every so often.
<img src="images/smiley_icons/icon_cool.gif" border=0 alt="Cool">
The UPA framebuffer will be more capable that the onboard ATI Rage chipset,
which only has 4mb of video RAM and you will not get 24bit color if you set its resolution higher than 1152x900.
You could also consider reconfiguring the system to run dual monitors.
Search these hardware forums, keyword "xservers" (plural)
I just saw about 35 hits.
Then when you're ready, review the complete contents of the following file (case sensitive):
<b>/usr/dt/config/Xservers</b>
Depending on how you customize that file, you choose which monitor is console and which is the 'other one' ; you decide which is the left output and which is the right-hand screen; you could even run the output in a monitor spanning single GUI mode, although with disparate monitor models and different framebuffer chipsets, that may not be pleasing to the eye.
( see the man page for Xinerama )
If I recall correctly, you can also find the user profile for a contributor named <u>ultraspec</u> and glance through a few of their postings, where they mention a DB13W3 to HD15 adapter cable.
Edit: Oh, until such time as you do invoke the Xservers file within Solaris, I think the onboard circuit is disabled so long as the Creator card is physically inside. Remove the Creator card and the onboard is spontaneously your graphics output.

Automatic TV Mirror resolution Setting

Whenever I plug my PowerBook G4 to an external TV monitor and switch to mirroring, the resolution automatically changes to 800x600, which really ticks me off because not only is it not what I want--I want 1024x768--but it's so small that I can't even access the Monitor icon in the menu bar! I have to go to the Apple menu, open System Prefs, go to monitors, and reset it there.
How can I set the system so that every time I plug into a TV and start mirroring, it automatically goes to the resolution setting that I want?

Dan O'Donnell wrote:
Greetings,
When you reset the resolution does the entire frame show up on the TV?
Yes.
It sounds like the computer is detecting the default resolution of the TV.
I don't think that's the case, or if it is, then it's irrelevant. I connect to two different TVs; one does the right resolution, the other one does the wrong one. I seem to recall having this same problem last time I installed a new OS, and somehow I overcame it.
Whether or not it's detecting the TV's resolution (unlikely, as it's NTSC and the resolution is 525 lines), I need to find a way to get it to automatically jump to the resolution I want when I plug it in.

T42 resolution - set to 1400x1050 without panning.

I have a need to set my resolution to 1400x1050, so i installed the driver updates http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/MIGR-41918.html which talks about the feature given below:
(New) The external monitor resolution can be set to 1400x1050 without panning.
But after installations, i am not able to see this resolution and only able to go upto 1024x768.
Can someone reply to me urgently, since i need to demo something
regards
Muthu

Use DVI or HDMI.
VGA runs out of steam after a while.

Ghost VGA Monitor

Hi all,
I have a Mac book Pro 15"(latest non Multi touch version)to whom I sometimes attach the S-Video adapter to see some films or Slide shows on my TV.
Since a couple of days Leopard sees a VGA monitor attached to the MBP even though nothing is physically attached.
This is quite annoying as leopard wants to use it to either extend the desktop (giving me a part of my physical desktop I cannot see) or duplicate it (in which case I cannot use the standard LCD resolution, not recognized by the VGA settings) and unfortunately I could not find a way to deactivate it.
When I connect the S-Video cable he recognizes it, making the VGA monitor disappear, but as soon as I unplug it, the ghost comes back.
I already tried to hot plug or cold plug the S-Video as well as the VGA cable, with no result.
The situation is really annoying and I could not find a way to solve it, I hope that you can help me sort this out.
Thank you in advance,
Regards,
Amdonati

I don't think there is a way to undo the firmware update, until the installer from the developer has an uninstall option, or there was an uninstall program included with the install program. You can download it again and see.
However, now that you have it working partially (it's acting like you have another display attached), try resetting the PRAM again. You did that as a byproduct of resetting the PMU, but things were not working +almost correctly+ at that time. This is the reset PRAM procedure.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
That might help, because some display settings are stored in PRAM, so the one that indicates a second display could be corrupted.
Also, when I changed display settings on my Mac (such as resolution or arrangement), these are the files I saw getting updated.
<home folder>/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.windowserver...plist
<home folder>/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.preference.displays...plist
<volume root>/Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.plist
(There is a random-looking alphanumeric string where I put the dots - probably different for each system.)
So you might try dragging those preference files to the Desktop to let the system create new ones. Then restart. Note: The above files are for Leopard; could be different if you are using Tiger.

Wrong VGA monitor resolution set on desktop

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