Force screen resolution on headless mac-mini

[m021478]

I have a Mac-Mini at the heart of my home media center. For the last couple years when I needed to access the computer, I would simply use OS X's built in screen sharing capabilities, because the Mac-Mini doesn't have a mouse/keyboard connected to it.

A problem that has recently started happen is that when I switch the source input of my A/V receiver to some other source (other then the Mac-Mini) it seems to be causing the Mac-Mini to 'forget' the screen resolution that it should be showing (1920x1080) so that when I come back to it, it instead shows me something all messed up (either too small, or bleeding off the edge of the TV).

I would like to know if there is a software/hardware solution to make my Mac-Mini think it's directly connected to a 1920x1080px monitor so that it stops changing resolutions when I switch away to my TiVo or Blu-Ray player, then back to the Mac-Mini again?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated... Thanks!

 

[tbayrgs]

Sorry, no solution to offer but just wanted to chime in that I've been having the same problem with my Mini for the past 2 years. The confusing part is that this problem doesn't always occur so I haven't been able to identify what's causing the issue--sometimes the resolution is 1080p, other times it's 480p and I have to manually reset the resolution back to 1080p.

 

[FrankHahn]

It may help if you power down your Mac Mini BEFORE you switch the input to the receiver away from the Mac Mini. When you switch back to the Mac Mini, be sure to power up your Mac Mini AFTER the proper connection is made.

 

[tbayrgs]

It may help if you power down your Mac Mini BEFORE you switch the input to the receiver away from the Mac Mini. When you switch back to the Mac Mini, be sure to power up your Mac Mini AFTER the proper connection is made.

Thanks for the suggestion but defeats the purpose of using the mini as a full-time iTunes server and manually switching the resolution would take less time.

 

[hardax]

I have a Mac-Mini at the heart of my home media center. For the last couple years when I needed to access the computer, I would simply use OS X's built in screen sharing capabilities, because the Mac-Mini doesn't have a mouse/keyboard connected to it.

A problem that has recently started happen is that when I switch the source input of my A/V receiver to some other source (other then the Mac-Mini) it seems to be causing the Mac-Mini to 'forget' the screen resolution that it should be showing (1920x1080) so that when I come back to it, it instead shows me something all messed up (either too small, or bleeding off the edge of the TV).

I would like to know if there is a software/hardware solution to make my Mac-Mini think it's directly connected to a 1920x1080px monitor so that it stops changing resolutions when I switch away to my TiVo or Blu-Ray player, then back to the Mac-Mini again?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated... Thanks!

HDMI Detective is the most reliable solution but pricey:
http://www.gefen.com/kvm/dproduct.jsp?prod_id=8005

Here is a free software solution although I cannot contest to it working with more recent versions of OS X or not:
http://blog.1000klub.com/2009/04/mac-mini-hdmi-detection-woes.html