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HDMI issue: Wakes with wrong resolution

F23

F23

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jan 4, 2014
800
2,171
New problem I encountered on M1 Mac. Was waking to correction resolution before. However, HDMI always took longer than my DP monitor to wake up. But now when the HDMI monitor wakes, the resolution is at 1080p instead of 1440p and it's not fit to the screen. Half the stuff is off screen like the dock and everything and it's zoomed in.

I'm aware of all the HDMI problems everyone has been having, but it seems everyone has a different type of issue.
Sometimes my DP screen will switch places with my HDMI screen in a flash and then fix itself right away.
I never have a problem with the HDMI monitor not waking, it always wakes, just slow to do so.

It's so annoying that we have to use the HDMI port for dual displays.

Is there a fix for the resolution change issue?

Thanks
 
This isn't "a fix".
Just a suggestion as a possible "workaround".

Before going further, consider for a moment:
How much more power does the Mini consume when "idling", instead of "sleeping"?
My guess is the difference is negligible, almost nothing at all.

So...
I NEVER "put the Mini to sleep".
Instead, I put the DISPLAY to sleep, and just leave the Mini "idling, but awake".
I believe you can do this in
System Preferences --> Desktop & Screen Saver --> Screen Saver

Set the "start after" where you like, then click "hot corners".
Pick a corner (I like the upper-right-hand corner) to put the display to sleep.

In "Energy Saver", you can also "set a time to turn the display off".
I put a checkmark into "prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off".

With it set up this way:
- The Mini "idles", but doesn't "sleep"
- I can activate the screen saver immediately by pushing the cursor into the upper-right-hand corner
- After about 25 minutes, the display will go dark.

When I come back to the Mini, a right-click wakes the display back up.

No guarantee that this will solve your "resolution problems".
But it might be worth a try.
 
I just tried this. Definitely wakes up much faster and closer to simultaneous between the HDMI and DP displays. But the resolution on the HDMI was again changed to 1080p and I had to manually change it again.

Basically, I have to fix my resolution every time I want to use my mac lmao. So stupid.
But thank you for the suggestion as it definitely fixes the slow HDMI wake.
 
F23 said:
Anyone else experience this?
Click to expand...
Similar issues here, along with the other DP issues propelled noted. The HDMI issue doesn’t happen every time, but has happened a handful of times over a week or two. LG 27UK600. Even if it comes back to the right resolution, it first was at a different wrong resolution for a split second after waking from sleep. It’s almost like it goes down to 1080p when it first wakes up. Every time. And sometimes stays there.
 
bwb said:
Similar issues here, along with the other DP issues propelled noted. The HDMI issue doesn’t happen every time, but has happened a handful of times over a week or two. LG 27UK600. Even if it comes back to the right resolution, it first was at a different wrong resolution for a split second after waking from sleep. It’s almost like it goes down to 1080p when it first wakes up. Every time. And sometimes stays there.
Click to expand...
turning the monitor off and on fixes it or leaving the screen on with a screensaver. just a simple function that is very annoying and is being overlooked
 
Marcys said:
Same problem when connecting Mini M1 with NEC PA271Q USBC -> USBC .
Click to expand...
wow even USB C has this issue? interesting. I thought it was just HDMI. I'm still having this issue daily. Along with kernel panics. I wake up to both my monitors on the login screen bc it restarted over night. Mac Mini is a disaster and always has been, from bluetooth issues to monitor issues. idk what to do anymore bc the actual performance is great when the computer works
 
I'm seeing this issue with my new M1 Mini too. Dual displays, one HDMI -> HDMI (HP 27"), one USB-C -> DP via OWC Thunderbay 3 DP port (Eizo 27"). Everything was the correct 2560x1440 60hz on initial setup. First time the mini went into sleep mode and I logged back in the Eizo switched to 1080p resolution. Restarting and disconnecting and reconnecting "fixes" it but as soon as it sleeps again it downscales again. I'm seeing reports on the Apple Forums that 11.2 beta 2 fixes it. Not sure if anyone else here has tried?

Mac Mini (M1) dual display doesn't work. - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com discussions.apple.com
 
Hey first time poster here, I'm having the same issue as OP - I'm on my new M1 Macbook air, I'm using USB-C to Displayport. When I wake from sleep, most of the time it loads the monitor screen in low resolution, but seemingly zoomed in with a top left alignment. So I can't see the dock or right hand side of the menu bar. Even when changing resolution it doesn't work, I have to unplug the USB C and plug it back in to reset it. Sounds like it might be a Mac software issue which can be repaired, rather than a problem with my new 4k monitor, thankfully. If anyone finds a solution I'd be very grateful!
 
Yea looking at other posts this seems to be an issue with Big Sur as i've seen people complain about this with MBPs as well as Minis too.
 
I also noticed it was only happening when I tried to wake quickly after putting to sleep, and if I give the monitor time to power off (30 seconds) it didn't seem to happen. Anyway I think I've found a workaround - I changed my monitor from Source Input: Auto to Manual. I now can't seem to make the issue happen again. It's a pain for when I use other devices and have to manually change but this seems to have fixed the issue for now. Maybe the monitor was downscaling to allow for any other device connected via HDMI and waking the Mac (instant wake) was interrupting that process and causing an error.
 
Same issue here. Mac mini M1 with HDMI > HDMI on LG 32UN650-W. Using HiDPI scaled to "look like 2560 x 1440" with actual resolution being 4k (3840 x 2160). Consistent issue, wake-up causes the 2560 x 1440 resolution to appear on the upper left corner using only that portion of the full 4K display. So basically it is not scaling the HiDPI properly. Changing the Mac resolution setting fixes it for that single time only. Alternately, shutting off the monitor and turning on, or switch to a different source and switching back fixes it. This occurs from any monitor sleep situation (even if the Mac mini stays awake). Frustrated and hoping 11.2 resolves it as it is an annoying problem.
 
jimithing1 said:
I'm seeing this issue with my new M1 Mini too. Dual displays, one HDMI -> HDMI (HP 27"), one USB-C -> DP via OWC Thunderbay 3 DP port (Eizo 27"). Everything was the correct 2560x1440 60hz on initial setup. First time the mini went into sleep mode and I logged back in the Eizo switched to 1080p resolution. Restarting and disconnecting and reconnecting "fixes" it but as soon as it sleeps again it downscales again. I'm seeing reports on the Apple Forums that 11.2 beta 2 fixes it. Not sure if anyone else here has tried?

Mac Mini (M1) dual display doesn't work. - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com discussions.apple.com
Click to expand...
So knock on wood but it looks like 11.2 might fix this issue I was seeing. Installed it and did a couple of tests putting the Mac Mini to sleep and waking it up. Both times I tried everything was the correct 2560x1440 60hz waking from sleep with the same setup I posted above.
 
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jimithing1 said:
So knock on wood but it looks like 11.2 might fix this issue I was seeing. Installed it and did a couple of tests putting the Mac Mini to sleep and waking it up. Both times I tried everything was the correct 2560x1440 60hz waking from sleep with the same setup I posted above.
Click to expand...
great. right after i returned my 4k display bc of this issue and bought a 1440 p display. smh dammit. well at least they fixed it thank god
 
Whelp that didn't last for long. Woke it from sleep this morning and my second monitor (Eizo 27") had downscaled to 1080p. Simple unplug/plug in fixed it. Strange yesterday after multiple wake from sleeps it was fine.
 
I have similar issues when my mac is coming back from sleep with 4 external screens attached. Sometimes wrong resolution. Sometimes wrong display arrangement. Very annoying.

I use now https://github.com/jakehilborn/displayplacer to go back to my saved config. Made an alias. At least a workaround when your terminal is open and you don't want to spin up the SysPref Panel.

Hope that helps
 
Same issue with my Mac Mini M1 and my S2721QS Dell monitor. I have the resolution scaled at 2560x1440 60hz but when the Mac goes to sleep, it wakes up at 1920x1080 and half the screen is gone. It's an easy fix to go into System Preferences --> Displays and change it back...but it's a pain.

BTW i've also updated to MacOS 11.2.3; no joy. Same issue.
 
My issue is resolved with the help of Apple support techs. First I created an additional account and confirmed it was not happening with the new account. Then I went back to the original account and dumped the windowserver prefs from both the system library and user library. Empty trash and reboot. Problem never repeated, and this was with 11.1. I have since updated to 11.3 beta 4, 5, and now 6. Never saw this issue again. So I am pretty confident that dumping the two prefs was the fix since the bug was very consistently happening. Hope this helps others out there!
 
MtCat said:
My issue is resolved with the help of Apple support techs. First I created an additional account and confirmed it was not happening with the new account. Then I went back to the original account and dumped the windowserver prefs from both the system library and user library. Empty trash and reboot. Problem never repeated, and this was with 11.1. I have since updated to 11.3 beta 4, 5, and now 6. Never saw this issue again. So I am pretty confident that dumping the two prefs was the fix since the bug was very consistently happening. Hope this helps others out there!
Click to expand...
Where exactly on disk is the windowserver prefs?
 
The first one I can tell you for sure. It's in the main system library:
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.displays.plist

The second one, in the user library, I am no longer sure of since I don't have the notes anymore. But I found one here: /Users/uri/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.windowserver.displays.[unique code].plist. The [unique code] will be unique on your system. Take a look in the there and perhaps dump it as part of the this for good measure.

BTW the problem has never recurred since dumping those two prefs. It was happening every time before that. I am currently on 11.3 beta 6.
 
I have this issue on LG 27UL850-W. Sometimes the display won't wake up at all.
 
MtCat said:
The first one I can tell you for sure. It's in the main system library:
/Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.displays.plist

The second one, in the user library, I am no longer sure of since I don't have the notes anymore. But I found one here: /Users/uri/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.windowserver.displays.[unique code].plist. The [unique code] will be unique on your system. Take a look in the there and perhaps dump it as part of the this for good measure.

BTW the problem has never recurred since dumping those two prefs. It was happening every time before that. I am currently on 11.3 beta 6.
Click to expand...
Deleted them and rebooted. Didn't work for me. On restart second monitor went back to 1920x1080. Unplugged DisplayPort cable from monitor and plugged it back in, back to 2560x1440.
 
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