Help! External monitor with MBP 2015

[Its Me Marius]

So my macbook pro 13 inch early 2015 has a cracked lcd and is showing all sorts of colours.
I was wondering how I can connect it to an external monitor when I can’t see anything on the mbp’s screen.
I have done this to other macbooks, but the real problem here is that it is at the setup page, start as new mac, and doesn’t give me any signal at either hdmi or vga through thunderbolt.
Anyone who knows how to solve this?

 

[casperes1996]

Well, you could run through the setup using VoiceOver, same as a blind person would

 

[Its Me Marius]

Well, you could run through the setup using VoiceOver, same as a blind person would

Thanks, i’ll try that I suppose the voice just starts talkng when turning it on, but sometimes when I boot it up i can barely see a flashing folder with a questionmark....
A friend of mine «wiped» the mac and now I am not completely sure if the mac actually is at the «new mac» screen...

 

[casperes1996]

Thanks, i’ll try that I suppose the voice just starts talkng when turning it on, but sometimes when I boot it up i can barely see a flashing folder with a questionmark....
A friend of mine «wiped» the mac and now I am not completely sure if the mac actually is at the «new mac» screen...

Well, if it does bootup into Setup Assistant, Voiceover should start talking a short bit after bootup.

 

[iPhonagain]

I'd like to know how this works out for you, just in case.... Good Luck !

 

[Its Me Marius]

I'd like to know how this works out for you, just in case.... Good Luck !

Thanks, I’ll let you know
[doublepost=1548312272][/doublepost]

Well, if it does bootup into Setup Assistant, Voiceover should start talking a short bit after bootup.

Ok, thanks Casper! But what if it is not at the Setup page? I’f I have to do Internet recovery to install the macOS into the harddrive again? Thought that flashing folder ment the harddrive was removed, but I belive only on the earlier models you could remove it , so what does it mean?

This is not flashing every time I start it up, but I really cant see anything on the screen...

 

[casperes1996]

Ok, thanks Casper! But what if it is not at the Setup page? I’f I have to do Internet recovery to install the macOS into the harddrive again? Thought that flashing folder ment the harddrive was removed, but I belive only on the earlier models you could remove it , so what does it mean?

A flashing folder means "Can't find the system folder". If no OS is on the hard drive, there'll be no System folder to find, but if no hard drive is there or the flex cable or something is broken, it obviously can't find it either.

You have a few options here. Nr. 1) Is to see if VoiceOver works in Internet Recovery - I don't actually know if it does. The keyboard shortcut to enable VoiceOver is ⌘+F5.

2) Install and set up macOS through a different computer, and through a cable clone the installation to the computer with a malfunctioning screen. Now it has a functioning system on it and should work with an external monitor no problem

 

[Its Me Marius]

A flashing folder means "Can't find the system folder". If no OS is on the hard drive, there'll be no System folder to find, but if no hard drive is there or the flex cable or something is broken, it obviously can't find it either.

You have a few options here. Nr. 1) Is to see if VoiceOver works in Internet Recovery - I don't actually know if it does. The keyboard shortcut to enable VoiceOver is ⌘+F5.

2) Install and set up macOS through a different computer, and through a cable clone the installation to the computer with a malfunctioning screen. Now it has a functioning system on it and should work with an external monitor no problem

Ok. Thank you Casper I think the easiest step is to install the macOS from another computer. I have a similar macbook pro i could use, but how do I transfer it? Do I use Migration Assistant or something?

 

[casperes1996]

Ok. Thank you Casper I think the easiest step is to install the macOS from another computer. I have a similar macbook pro i could use, but how do I transfer it? Do I use Migration Assistant or something?

Connect to the hard drive in the malfunctioning Mac with Target Disk mode and just do a full clone, either using something like dd, Disk Utility or whatever you fancy

 

[Its Me Marius]

Connect to the hard drive in the malfunctioning Mac with Target Disk mode and just do a full clone, either using something like dd, Disk Utility or whatever you fancy

Thanks, I’ll try that. But first I will have to order a thunderbolt cable. Will an ebay cable for 5 bucks work as well as the original 35 dollar cable?
I’m not that good with software, but if I understand you correct I will start my malfunctioning macbook pressing «T» and then from the other computer wipe it and clone it? Do you have any step by step instructions on how to clone it in target disk mode? Can’t unfortunatelly find any myself...

 

[casperes1996]

Thanks, I’ll try that. But first I will have to order a thunderbolt cable. Will an ebay cable for 5 bucks work as well as the original 35 dollar cable?
I’m not that good with software, but if I understand you correct I will start my malfunctioning macbook pressing «T» and then from the other computer wipe it and clone it? Do you have any step by step instructions on how to clone it in target disk mode? Can’t unfortunatelly find any myself...

I don't know about eBay cabling. I've never tried my luck with it. I just have an Apple branded one.

If memory serves it's ⌘T, but it may very well just be T, yeah.

To be honest, it's been a while since I've done something like this with a graphical interface. I usually use the Terminal.

Disk Utility has a button called Restore though. That should let you select a target and a source, where the target will be identical to the source.
The way I'd do it is as follows in Terminal:

1) diskutil list
This will get you a list of all drives and partitions. Note down the device BSD names for the target and source

2) sudo dd of=/dev/target if=/dev/source
You'll be prompted for your password (nothing will show but input is registered). Target and source must be replaced with the BSD names from last command. dd stands for copy-clone or something like that (cc was already taken as a name, so they just went to the next letter in the alphabet). if= stands for input file. of= stands for output file.
Optionally you can install pv to the command line first, and then run it like this:
sudo dd if=/dev/source | pv | sudo dd of=/dev/target
The input file from the first dd will be sent to pv which reports how much data has been sent through it, and then send it along to the second dd process which writes it to the target. This will allow you to keep an eye on the progress. pv is not installed by default unlike dd, so this is more of an advanced mode. It is adviced to also run
sync
after dd is complete. The command will seemingly do nothing, but it makes sure that all data has been written to the drive and no writes are still in progress. This is 99.9% of the time not needed though.

 

[Its Me Marius]

I don't know about eBay cabling. I've never tried my luck with it. I just have an Apple branded one.

If memory serves it's ⌘T, but it may very well just be T, yeah.

To be honest, it's been a while since I've done something like this with a graphical interface. I usually use the Terminal.

Disk Utility has a button called Restore though. That should let you select a target and a source, where the target will be identical to the source.
The way I'd do it is as follows in Terminal:

1) diskutil list
This will get you a list of all drives and partitions. Note down the device BSD names for the target and source

2) sudo dd of=/dev/target if=/dev/source
You'll be prompted for your password (nothing will show but input is registered). Target and source must be replaced with the BSD names from last command. dd stands for copy-clone or something like that (cc was already taken as a name, so they just went to the next letter in the alphabet). if= stands for input file. of= stands for output file.
Optionally you can install pv to the command line first, and then run it like this:
sudo dd if=/dev/source | pv | sudo dd of=/dev/target
The input file from the first dd will be sent to pv which reports how much data has been sent through it, and then send it along to the second dd process which writes it to the target. This will allow you to keep an eye on the progress. pv is not installed by default unlike dd, so this is more of an advanced mode. It is adviced to also run
sync
after dd is complete. The command will seemingly do nothing, but it makes sure that all data has been written to the drive and no writes are still in progress. This is 99.9% of the time not needed though.

Ok, well that's a handful, but I'll try once I receive my cable. I'll let you know how it goes and if I have any more questions Thanks a lot!

 

[casperes1996]

Ok, well that's a handful, but I'll try once I receive my cable. I'll let you know how it goes and if I have any more questions Thanks a lot!

I mean, I'm sure you'll be able to do it more easily with Disk Utility's restore button, but just in case I added the Terminal commands
Good luck with it all.
Cheers

 

[Its Me Marius]

Connect to the hard drive in the malfunctioning Mac with Target Disk mode and just do a full clone, either using something like dd, Disk Utility or whatever you fancy

Thanks, I’ll try that. But first I will have to order a thunderbolt cable. Will an ebay cable for 5 bucks work as well as the original 35 dollar cable?
I’m not that good with software, but if I understand you correct I will start my malfunctioning macbook pressing cmd t

I mean, I'm sure you'll be able to do it more easily with Disk Utility's restore button, but just in case I added the Terminal commands
Good luck with it all.
Cheers

Hi!
So I got a good deal on a new display and I ended up replacing it.
But here is the problem...
When I boot the macbook normally, the folder with the questionmark shows up.
When I try booting it in disk utility (cmd+r) a lock shows up, so it has a firmware lock. My friend, previous owner doesn’t know this password, or how it ended up like this.

Do you have a solution to this?

Cheers

 

[pshufd]

I installed macOS on a 2008 MBP by hooking it up to an external monitor (I might have had to close the lid). Another approach would be to build a macOS on an external drive USB drive and then try to boot of that using the Option key.

 

[Its Me Marius]

I installed macOS on a 2008 MBP by hooking it up to an external monitor (I might have had to close the lid). Another approach would be to build a macOS on an external drive USB drive and then try to boot of that using the Option key.

Hi!
I did this to my mid 2012 macbook pro which also had a non working lcd, but do you know if it will work when the mac has a firmware lock?
Btw. I replaced the display, so that’s no longer an issue. Just need to download the macOS

 

[pshufd]

Hi!
I did this to my mid 2012 macbook pro which also had a non working lcd, but do you know if it will work when the mac has a firmware lock?
Btw. I replaced the display, so that’s no longer an issue. Just need to download the macOS

I don't know on the Firmware lock. I suppose that I could try it but I don't have the 2008 hooked up (it's been replaced by a 2015).

 

[casperes1996]

Thanks, I’ll try that. But first I will have to order a thunderbolt cable. Will an ebay cable for 5 bucks work as well as the original 35 dollar cable?
I’m not that good with software, but if I understand you correct I will start my malfunctioning macbook pressing cmd t

I don't know about the cables. I've only used the original. And apparently just holding T is enough, but yes.

When I boot the macbook normally, the folder with the questionmark shows up.
When I try booting it in disk utility (cmd+r) a lock shows up, so it has a firmware lock. My friend, previous owner doesn’t know this password, or how it ended up like this.

Do you have a solution to this?

I'm sorry to tell you this, but unless we go back to really quite old Macs, there's no way around a firmware lock. Not unless you know the password. If you can provide proof of ownership, Apple may be able to unlock it, but you can't do it yourself in any way known to anybody as far as I'm aware.