Mac Mini 2018 HDMI failes after OS upgrade / patch

[watakoola]

I went back to the following setup:
main display attached to HDMI, and my second display running off the eGPU.
10.15.4 bought back the (once or twice) daily 'snow' when the main display comes back from sleep. I hit the display's power button off/on and normal service resumes.

It's annoying but not a deal-breaker. I'm waiting for 10.15.5 in the (vain?) hope I can run BOTH displays via the eGPU.

 

[normd1954]

The monitor issue is the only one I have and and I have four Mac mini's (two desktops, one NAS and one music server). No problems with any of the others. I could just get another monitor since it is an antique VGA Dell/ I figuring that Apple will probably get the issue fixed soon, but I can live with it since I reboot very infrequently.

 

[Dameatball]

It's for sure software. At least the issue I'm speaking to with the EGPU. Mojave worked without issue and Catalina requires me to turn on the EGPU after I boot the mac.
This is the issue that's been common place memntioned quite a bit. I dont know of any other display issues and I dont have an issue connecting the mac to any monitor.
This issue is avoided by not upgrading to catalina until this is fixed or by totally resetting your mini to factory settings with the original OS.

State of eGPU for Macs – Catalina 10.15 Update - eGPU.io

Overview Today Apple releases Catalina 10.15, two years after the launch of macOS High Sierra 10.13 that introduced eGPU functionality. While there were no major changes to external GPU support in macOS, we’ve seen notable refinements in day-to-day use. Better app-level optimization, improved...

egpu.io

 

[Em St]

I was having similar issues. I have triple monitor 4K 60 hz setup. One HDMI monitor was working, one HDMI and one t3 was also working, one HDMI and 2 t3...fails to detect the HDMI monitor. Annoying AF. This is on a brand new Mac mini. The only way I was able to get it to work was to install Mojave, and now all is good? Does anyone know what version of Catalina could I update to that doesn’t have HDMI issues?

 

[MevetS]

... Does anyone know what version of Catalina could I update to that doesn’t have HDMI issues?

I am on 10.15.4 and do not have HDMI issues.

 

[Em St]

Do you know how I can upgrade to Catalina 10.15 ? I want to try and gradually update and backup upto 10.15.4

 

[watakoola]

I went back to the following setup:
main display attached to HDMI, and my second display running off the eGPU.
10.15.4 bought back the (once or twice) daily 'snow' when the main display comes back from sleep. I hit the display's power button off/on and normal service resumes.

It's annoying but not a deal-breaker. I'm waiting for 10.15.5 in the (vain?) hope I can run BOTH displays via the eGPU.

So, I updated to 10.15.5 and then applied the supplemental update that popped up today. No more 'snow’ but running off only the eGPU brings back the bug of the fans randomly going full-bore. Putting the mini to sleep will sometime solve it, otherwise a reboot is required.

I'm now working with Apple Support and supplying diagnostics - let's hope they can fix it!

 

[MevetS]

Do you know how I can upgrade to Catalina 10.15 ? I want to try and gradually update and backup upto 10.15.4

Depending on what version of MacOS you are on you can go to the Mac App Store or system preferences (I forget when it changed) and check for OS updates. I don’t know how to get specific point releases though. You can search the forums for further info. Good luck.

But also realize these issues may not be OS version dependant. My HDMI port has always worked.

 

[Em St]

Depending on what version of MacOS you are on you can go to the Mac App Store or system preferences (I forget when it changed) and check for OS updates. I don’t know how to get specific point releases though. You can search the forums for further info. Good luck.

But also realize these issues may not be OS version dependant. My HDMI port has always worked.

I understand. Though there seems to be too many coincidences to show that it is not a software issue. The issues are the same, even if I connect all three monitors via TB3. Although, now that you are mentioning it, two Samsung monitors that connect with the same cable from DisplayPort to TB3 always work. The Asus monitor, always has the issue, either connecting via HDMI or TB3. And issues always happen only when all 3 monitors are connected, not when the monitor is on its own.

 

[Em St]

I believe I got it all working, one HDMI plus 2 TB3 monitors. The issue seems be the display adapter firmware installed by Catalina. Mojave's version works fine. This is what I did :

1. Install Catalina. Catalina has the faulty 2.19 firmware adapter version. We know this is not going to work.
2. Install Mojave on a separate partition. This will install 2.0a firmware adapter version. This is the good version we need.
3. Delete Mojave partition. Don't need this.
4. Do a NVRAM reset, had to do this as I was getting a blinking ? on boot as it couldn't find Mojave.
5. Verify in Catalina , firmware adapter version is 2.0a

Now I disabled automatic updates as I do not want my firmware adapter version to be updated to an unstable one. Does anyone know how I can manually update it to a version I want to or event block it from being updated?

 

[Stas_R]

I believe I got it all working, one HDMI plus 2 TB3 monitors. The issue seems be the display adapter firmware installed by Catalina. Mojave's version works fine. This is what I did :

1. Install Catalina. Catalina has the faulty 2.19 firmware adapter version. We know this is not going to work.
2. Install Mojave on a separate partition. This will install 2.0a firmware adapter version. This is the good version we need.
3. Delete Mojave partition. Don't need this.
4. Do a NVRAM reset, had to do this as I was getting a blinking ? on boot as it couldn't find Mojave.
5. Verify in Catalina , firmware adapter version is 2.0a

Now I disabled automatic updates as I do not want my firmware adapter version to be updated to an unstable one. Does anyone know how I can manually update it to a version I want to or event block it from being updated?

Is it possible to replace the driver in less difficult way?

 

[macfix17]

Exaclty - is there any way to get that driver and replace it without having to install the whole thing with Mojave?

 

[filbert42]

This is a bit of an old thread now but I only got my MacMini a few weeks ago and started having problems with the HDMI output after the update to 10.15.5 - after the Mac had gone to sleep, the only way to get the display to work again was to power off (I did this via screen sharing), disconnect the power to reset the SMC and restart.

However, I have now started using a Thunderbolt to HDMI adaptor and that doesn't seem to have the problem.

 

[tstimper]

did the problem with the HDMI port of your MacMini 2020 starts after a second OS update?
I found that the first OS update never broke HDMI, only the second OS update.
After that i was not able to recover my MacMini 2018 from this issue.
[automerge]1594791242[/automerge]

I believe I got it all working, one HDMI plus 2 TB3 monitors. The issue seems be the display adapter firmware installed by Catalina. Mojave's version works fine. This is what I did :

1. Install Catalina. Catalina has the faulty 2.19 firmware adapter version. We know this is not going to work.
2. Install Mojave on a separate partition. This will install 2.0a firmware adapter version. This is the good version we need.
3. Delete Mojave partition. Don't need this.
4. Do a NVRAM reset, had to do this as I was getting a blinking ? on boot as it couldn't find Mojave.
5. Verify in Catalina , firmware adapter version is 2.0a

Now I disabled automatic updates as I do not want my firmware adapter version to be updated to an unstable one. Does anyone know how I can manually update it to a version I want to or event block it from being updated?

interesting, i will try that. My MacMini 2018 is not used for month now, we only test if any new update is available. Catalina 10.5.4.and 10.5.5. did not fix that.
Where did you get the information of the faulty 2.19 firmware adapter firmware?
Do you know if there beta of a fixed version for testing?

Thomas

 

[filbert42]

Mine is a MacMini 2018 and I only started having the problems after the 10.15.5 update.

 

[tstimper]

today i updated the MacMini2018 to Catalina 10.15.6. I did SMC reset four times, no succes
HDMI is still broken at start.
Display adapter firmware is 2,19, Catalina 10.15.6 dis not update it.

So i shut it down and wait for the next release or a fix....

 

[filbert42]

today i updated the MacMini2018 to Catalina 10.15.6. I did SMC reset four times, no succes
HDMI is still broken at start.
Display adapter firmware is 2,19, Catalina 10.15.6 dis not update it.

So i shut it down and wait for the next release or a fix....

It’s well worth trying a thunderbolt to hdmi adaptor. Not too expensive and might get you up and running...

 

[tstimper]

sure, but i need a fix, not a workaround.

 

[djc6]

I had to do SMC reset several times and plugging/unplugging HDMI after 10.15.6 update - I have to do this dance every update

 

[Fishrrman]

OP wrote:
"sure, but i need a fix, not a workaround."

Sometimes there IS NO "fix" for a hardware incompatibility.

You need to try a different connection scheme.

In your post 4 you said:
"As i wrote Thunderbolt always works."

Then... that's what you need to use.

Either use "what works", or... go on being frustrated.
The choice is yours.

 

[tstimper]

OP wrote:
"sure, but i need a fix, not a workaround."

Sometimes there IS NO "fix" for a hardware incompatibility.

You need to try a different connection scheme.

In your post 4 you said:
"As i wrote Thunderbolt always works."

Then... that's what you need to use.

Either use "what works", or... go on being frustrated.
The choice is yours.

"Sometimes there IS NO "fix" for a hardware incompatibility."

This is not a hardware incompatiblity, its a software / firmware issue only starting after a second macOS update or supplemental update. For me it never happens on a brand new Mac mini or a brand new replaces logic board.
The issue only starts after the second update.

"Then... that's what you need to use."

Thunderbolt at startup time only works if FileVault is not enabled.
If FileVault is enabled, than username / password needs to be typed in blindly.
We used voice over, but sorry, thats not the way how it suppose to work.

"Either use "what works", or... go on being frustrated.
The choice is yours."

Yes, its frustrating. Our tests with the new mac mini 2018 started in January 2019 and we did run into this HDMI problem.
We are delaying Mac mini orders for nearly a year.
We where in no hurry but now we would like to replace our Mac mini 2010 / 2011 devices in the near future.

The new Mac mini 2018 works great with the Apple HDMI / DVI Adapters and the monitors of our Mac mini 2010/ 2011 devices.

But only until the second macOS update or supplemental update was applied.

Today i got a call from apple that i missed. i rescheduled it to Wednesday. We will see...

 

[tstimper]

Today i got a call from an Apple support engineer, we created diagnostic files, took pictures of the setup, described the issue. I am now very optimistic that this issue will be solved.

 

[oviuan2]

Today i got a call from an Apple support engineer, we created diagnostic files, took pictures of the setup, described the issue. I am now very optimistic that this issue will be solved.

Well? Was it solved?
I have a similar issue, when I power up my Mac mini, I get color noise all over the screen until I unplug and plug hdmi back...

 

[tstimper]

I will have a have a second support call this evening to run diagnostic binaries.

 

[oviuan2]

I will have a have a second support call this evening to run diagnostic binaries.

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Please let us know how it went, if it's no trouble to you