Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

mamlukman

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 5, 2013
41
1
I woke up this morning to a blank (black) Apple Cinema Display screen. I thought it was asleep as usual, but it didn't respond. I turned off the computer and turned it back on. The screen flashed in a horizontal line and then went black. After that one flash, subsequent re-startings of the computer have done nothing to the screen.

I have a Apple Cinema Display and a MacPro computer, both c. 2011 or 2012. I bought them through Craigslist 2 1/2 years ago, and they have worked fine until today. The MacPro is running the latest El Capitan system.

I thought I would test the display with my Macbook (early 2011)—so I plugged in the display plug (thunderbolt + USB cable that came attached to the display) to my laptop. Nothing. It seems to see it in systems preferences because if you go to "displays" it says "LED cinema display". But is there something else I need to do to get the display to come to life? Some mysterious command, or turn the laptop on and off??

Then I thought I would check the computer itself. When I turn it back on, there is the familiar "ding" as it boots up, but that's it. I tried accessing it through wifi and my laptop, but when I go to "connect to server" the laptop doesn't see it. So I can't get to the computer.

So now I'm completely baffled--is the problem the display or the computer? Or both? What do I do???

I should add I have read all the Apple help material. It wasn’t helpful. It assumes you haven’t plugged the equipment in, or you have messed with the cables, etc. etc. This has been set up the same way for 2 ½ years and has worked fine until this morning.
 

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
29,279
13,377
Time for a new display, I sense… :(

Edit:
Glad that you found out it was only a cabling problem!
(guess that's something one should always check first)
 
Last edited:

mamlukman

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 5, 2013
41
1
Problem is "solved"--I gave up trying to get the display to work on my laptop, so I plugged it back into the Mac Pro. Magically, it turned right on.

So that leaves me scratching my head over two things:

1) Why didn't it work earlier? No one had moved the computer…connections hadn't come loose. So why would plugging it in again "fix" it?

2) Why wouldn't the display come up on the laptop? (and no, I'm not about to tempt fate by unplugging the display and trying again with the laptop.


Anyway, Thanks to those who responded, and if anyone can answer my two questions above, I'm all ears.
 

chscag

macrumors 601
Feb 17, 2008
4,622
1,946
Fort Worth, Texas
Problem is "solved"--I gave up trying to get the display to work on my laptop, so I plugged it back into the Mac Pro. Magically, it turned right on.

So that leaves me scratching my head over two things:

1) Why didn't it work earlier? No one had moved the computer…connections hadn't come loose. So why would plugging it in again "fix" it?

2) Why wouldn't the display come up on the laptop? (and no, I'm not about to tempt fate by unplugging the display and trying again with the laptop.


Anyway, Thanks to those who responded, and if anyone can answer my two questions above, I'm all ears.

The symptoms you describe point to cabling problems. Do you have access to spare adapters and cables that you can try?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.