screen wont work on mac

johnjohn · 09-30-2005, 04:36 PM

got a mac mini install,couple it to a 7"touchscreen and boot it up but doesnt recognise screen.boot it up on a crt monitor then transfer it to the 7" and it works fine untill it wakes from sleep and doesnt recognise it again.me,my brother,his freinds have all tried to rectify this problem(i am not computer literate but my brother is a graphic designer and has been using macs for years so knows his way around them).screen works fine on a pc and the mac works fine on any monitor except a 7"vga(tried on a linitx and a gain)anyones help appreciated.thanks in advance

MINI4cathy · 10-06-2005, 10:54 PM

What settings are you using in the Displays prerences?

johnjohn · 10-07-2005, 10:26 AM

tried different settings.try to detect monitors and the screen blanks out.

MINI4cathy · 10-07-2005, 12:52 PM

You may need something like DisplayConfigX to give you more control over how your Mac handles this monitor. http://www.3dexpress.de/

johnjohn · 10-07-2005, 03:42 PM

have allready tried using that,unfortunately didnt work.tried both the monitors on another mac mini and both work fine yet on my mini neither of them are recognised which leads me to assume its either the mini itself or a software issue,yet i can transfer the video to either of these screens if booted up on a crt monitor.

MacMobile · 10-08-2005, 12:25 PM

If the Mini can send data to the 7" VGA screen after being started with a CRT monitor, I guess it mean that the hardware is OK. You have to start looking at software.

After installing DisplayConfigX I had many little problems and my screen went black also.
Have you tried your monitor before installing DisplayConfigX and did it work then?

You can remote control your Mac using Apple remote desktop in System Preference - Sharing - Apple remote desktop or ShareMyDesktop as server and Chicken of VNC as client. I was able to do a lot of testing while my screen was black. You will be able to see what display setting is being use after the computer wakes-up and you will be able to try different setting.

There use to be a small battery holding the setting in PRAM. If the battery is dead, it might not retain setting and turn back to a setting that Is not compatible with your monitor. Does you Mini can keep the setting of your CRT if you choose a higher resolution and restart?

Others things you might have already tried:

If there is no more trace of DisplayConfigX in your system, then you could try to reset the both level of PRAM and NVRAM (hold CMD-ALT-P-R while you restart the mini with your special monitor until the Mini restart 2 times) http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238 (for NVRAM info type nvram -p into the terminal: I just found that out but not much info for us there).

if there is still trace of DisplayConfigX, did you kept any original setting or did you let DisplayConfigX install all it's configuration. If you do not have original Apple configuration you might have to do a Clean install.

DisplayConfigX can be tricky to use. I think you have to have the monitor you want to use plug into the mini while you create the new setting. You can't do it with another CRT plug into the mini. It is in DisplayConfigX readme I think. I had some problem with refresh rate because they were too high and it cause the screen to go black. Try low refresh rate in he 60 now in the 100 like mine was set-up.
MacVroom give many good information. http://www.macvroom.com/node/39

There use to be a small battery hold your PRAM setting. If the battery is dead, it might not retain setting and turn back to a setting that Is not compatible with your monitor. Does you Mini can keep the setting of your CRT?

If it still does not work, then maybe there is something wrong with the hardware but I doubt it.

I hope you find the solution soon.
Good luck

Franco

johnjohn · 10-08-2005, 03:52 PM

hey franco,thanks for a very indepth reply.i have now taken the easy option and swapped my mini for my fathers and its working perfectly.i am now believing it was a hardwear fault but as my dad uses his mini in the home with a crt it will be fine for him.thanks again for everyones time(and patience)!!!