Mac Mini 2018 HDMI failes after OS upgrade / patch

[tstimper]

on friday i got the feedback from the Apple support employee working on my case that now the engineers responsible for the firmware are working in that issue.
So every newly reported case helps to find out whats going on and provide a fix.

Thank you all for helping.

 

[Cookie18]

I have been having the same issues. I would have intermittent “snowy” screens, sometimes there’s no picture on the display, on wake up etc. This has all been on my 28” 4K monitor. I actually didn’t realise it was the Mac Mini, I thought it was just the monitor.

The other day my new gaming monitor arrived and I’m using it with my Mac Mini too as a second display. I got it all set up and working after a few headaches of trying to figure out what cables should go from what device to what port to have the optimal set up between my Mac Mini and my gaming PC. Anyway, I got the Mac Mini set up and then just shut it down. I spent the rest of the day playing games on the gaming monitor and using the original 4K one as a second monitor for Windows. I never had a single issue.

The next day I turn my Mac Mini on to start work and I got nothing on either monitor. After a few minutes the gaming monitor came on but it was the second screen, not the main one. Nothing I did would get a picture onto the 4K display, unplugging HDMI, cycling the monitor channels etc. Eventually it came on but I’d already missed a work call by that point. I had to use my gaming PC for work for the rest of the day.

After work I got down to troubleshooting it. I tried a new HDMI, I tried a different port, I triple checked how the monitors behaved when using my gaming PC. I tried it with just the USB C-HDMI cable into the gaming monitor. That worked. I tried it with just the USB C-HDMI cable into the 4K monitor. That worked. I went hunting for my USB C-HDMI/USB/USB C adapter and plugged the other HDMI into that. That worked.

Since running both cables from the USB C slots instead of the HDMI slot I have had zero problems. Wake up is a couple of seconds, the monitors haven’t gone off, I haven’t seen the snow and I haven’t had problems when booting up.

I know the issue is annoying, it isn’t ideal and it shouldn’t be happening nor should it be accepted. However, for the cost of a new USB C-HDMI cable (€15) the issue has completely disappeared.

It seems rather masochistic to spend so much time having problems and stresses over something that can be fixed very easily. Also, I don’t see the issue with just fixing the issue temporarily while waiting for Apple to offer a permanent fix. At least then you have a fully working-as-designed computer and no headaches. I will gladly take one day of stress and troubleshooting before finding a workaround over 9 months of back and forth with Apple.

That’s just my two cents on how to fix it anyway.

 

[Jason Andre Henderson]

Tried something new: In Settings>Energy Saver, I set the "Turned Display Off after" to "Never". Been working for about a a few hours (hat was this morning). I think it only blitzed out once-while I was in that Energy Saver window mucking around....

 

[Em St]

Updated to Big Sur Beta and the same issue with the HDMI. The adapter firmware version is still 2.19. Although noticed another item that may help with this. When turning on the mac, keep the HDMI monitor only powered on, the other monitors powered off, then when the Mac boots in and then turn on the other monitors, then all 3 monitors work. No need to re plugin cables, I guess that can work too.

 

[tstimper]

Tried something new: In Settings>Energy Saver, I set the "Turned Display Off after" to "Never". Been working for about a a few hours (hat was this morning).

I have tested this, doesn't help for me with the HDMI port and Apple HDMI to DVI adapter

 

[tstimper]

An update this thead:

I a running internet recovery now (Shift + Option + Command + R) to reinstall macOS Mojave.
The problem here is that even with disconnect / reconnect the HDMI port never works in this very early stage of macOS in recovery mode. Putting a Apple Thunderbolt to HDMI adapter between the Mac mini 2018 and the Apple HDMI to DVI adapters works.

This is so annoying, getting a Mac mini 2018 which was original working with a original Apple HDMI to DVI adapter with was and is perfect working with Mac mini 2010 and 2011 here in the office with this HDMI to DVI adapters to our 16:10 office monitors.

Back to the original story. This was working for about 2 month, the Mac mini 2018 was in the lab for deployment test.
Then after two macOS updates / patches the HDMI in port broke.
The only way to get the Mac mini 2018 back to a working HDMI adapter was to change the logic board.
This was done twice. The replacement logic boards came with macOS Mojave and after two updates the HDMI port reproducible broke.

This device is now 19 month old, we where only able to work this this device for testing for 2 month.

Five weeks ago i remembered the stories the Steve Jobs sometimes responded to customers emails so i tried to email to Tim Cook. The outcome was interesting. After four days i got a call and an email from a Apple Executive Liaison manager who coordinates this issue now. And three days later i was nearly daily working with a Apple support engineer working on this problem. Doing tests, collecting diagnostic files. Making photos and videos of the issue.
Testing with different monitors, testing with HDMI connected projectors to compare.
Taking diagnostic files again and again. But no success.
We know that the issue starts with a update of the adapter firmware.
We do not know if its possible to install an older firmware version.
So for now it looks like the only way to get a Mac mini 2018 with working HDMI port with Apple HDMI ti DVI adapter
is to replace the logic board or replace the Mac mini 2018 with a fresh one and never update.
The support engineer tries to find out if it would possible to block especially the graphic adapter firmware and lets run the other macOS updates.

No i reinstalled macOS Mojave from the internet recovery and the issue is the same.
The interesting point is, that directly after the macOS Mojave installation the graphics adapter firmware was 2.35 and after my tests with filevault and voiceover to unlock my Mac mini 2018 it is now 2.0a.

Now i am updating to the latest macOS Mojave version which is 10.14.6, lets see what happened.

So we have reproduces the problem. Even if i use a Apple Thunderbolt to HDMI connected with a Apple HDMI to DI adapter, which did show a screen with Filevault disabled, there is now no screen visible.
Its impossible to unlock a HDMI broken Mac mini 2018 which has Filevault enabled without using voice over to hear where and when you need to type in username and password to boot up the mac.

What do next?

The Mac mini 2018 we have is now 20 month old. Still not working properly.
It was physically repaired twice by replacing the logic board.
It has gone through many hours of testing in the lab and with Apple support team.
It has Apple Care for 36 month, to there are 16 month left to get a working device....

And there are many users which reports the same or similar issues here in the forum.
Using a second adapter is possibly ok for many users.

But the need to enable voice over and let anybody in the office hear when you start your Mac mini 2018
and type in your username and password is not an option.

This is #macmini2018hdmigate. That needs to be fixed.

We need to replace our older Mac mini devices. But we will not throw out all of our office monitors because of an broken HDMI port of the Mac mini 2018.

 

[tstimper]

still waiting for Apple to come back with a fix.

 

[AE_stc]

An update this thead:

I a running internet recovery now (Shift + Option + Command + R) to reinstall macOS Mojave.
The problem here is that even with disconnect / reconnect the HDMI port never works in this very early stage of macOS in recovery mode. Putting a Apple Thunderbolt to HDMI adapter between the Mac mini 2018 and the Apple HDMI to DVI adapters works.

This is so annoying, getting a Mac mini 2018 which was original working with a original Apple HDMI to DVI adapter with was and is perfect working with Mac mini 2010 and 2011 here in the office with this HDMI to DVI adapters to our 16:10 office monitors.

Back to the original story. This was working for about 2 month, the Mac mini 2018 was in the lab for deployment test.
Then after two macOS updates / patches the HDMI in port broke.
The only way to get the Mac mini 2018 back to a working HDMI adapter was to change the logic board.
This was done twice. The replacement logic boards came with macOS Mojave and after two updates the HDMI port reproducible broke.

This device is now 19 month old, we where only able to work this this device for testing for 2 month.

Five weeks ago i remembered the stories the Steve Jobs sometimes responded to customers emails so i tried to email to Tim Cook. The outcome was interesting. After four days i got a call and an email from a Apple Executive Liaison manager who coordinates this issue now. And three days later i was nearly daily working with a Apple support engineer working on this problem. Doing tests, collecting diagnostic files. Making photos and videos of the issue.
Testing with different monitors, testing with HDMI connected projectors to compare.
Taking diagnostic files again and again. But no success.
We know that the issue starts with a update of the adapter firmware.
We do not know if its possible to install an older firmware version.
So for now it looks like the only way to get a Mac mini 2018 with working HDMI port with Apple HDMI ti DVI adapter
is to replace the logic board or replace the Mac mini 2018 with a fresh one and never update.
The support engineer tries to find out if it would possible to block especially the graphic adapter firmware and lets run the other macOS updates.

No i reinstalled macOS Mojave from the internet recovery and the issue is the same.
The interesting point is, that directly after the macOS Mojave installation the graphics adapter firmware was 2.35 and after my tests with filevault and voiceover to unlock my Mac mini 2018 it is now 2.0a.

Now i am updating to the latest macOS Mojave version which is 10.14.6, lets see what happened.

So we have reproduces the problem. Even if i use a Apple Thunderbolt to HDMI connected with a Apple HDMI to DI adapter, which did show a screen with Filevault disabled, there is now no screen visible.
Its impossible to unlock a HDMI broken Mac mini 2018 which has Filevault enabled without using voice over to hear where and when you need to type in username and password to boot up the mac.

What do next?

The Mac mini 2018 we have is now 20 month old. Still not working properly.
It was physically repaired twice by replacing the logic board.
It has gone through many hours of testing in the lab and with Apple support team.
It has Apple Care for 36 month, to there are 16 month left to get a working device....

And there are many users which reports the same or similar issues here in the forum.
Using a second adapter is possibly ok for many users.

But the need to enable voice over and let anybody in the office hear when you start your Mac mini 2018
and type in your username and password is not an option.

This is #macmini2018hdmigate. That needs to be fixed.

We need to replace our older Mac mini devices. But we will not throw out all of our office monitors because of an broken HDMI port of the Mac mini 2018.

Really good post thank you
this issue is absolutely ridiculous. I’m keeping mine on Mojave’s until it dies, I can’t believe a company like Apple would have this issue

 

[cRuNcHiE]

I also have this exact same problem with HDMI monitor randomly not working.
thought it was just me!

The only thing that I find fixes it with Catalina is to shut down the Mac mini, unplug the Mac mini power lead, press the power button with it power lead unplugged ( might not be necessary) then plug back in and turn in.

restarting doesn’t help.

luckily I have Splashtop remote installed so I can remote in and shutdown gracefully

for reference I’m on 10.15.6 and graphics adapter firmware says 2.19

edit also just noticed something weird with reported resolution. Sys info says


DELL U2718Q:
Resolution: 6016 x 3384
UI Looks like: 3008 x 1692 @ 60 Hz


it’s a 4K monitor so that resolution is reported wrong. I get the same HDMI I issue with another monitor (2k)

 

[tstimper]

Really good post thank you
this issue is absolutely ridiculous. I’m keeping mine on Mojave’s until it dies, I can’t believe a company like Apple would have this issue

We have to get Apple to fix the problem with HDMI on the

As we learned from the past Mojave will be out of support and not getting security updates perhaps in 2021 when Apple will release there next macOS after Big Sur. Thats because Apple only delivers macOS updates and security updates to the current and two latest macOS versions
And the Mac mini 2018 will run Big Sur and perhaps at lets guess at least the next two macOS versions.
At this time we will be in 2022 and based on this calculation the Mac mini 2018 will get macOS updates until 2024.
Thats really good, we where able to run some Apple devices like Mac Mini 2011 and Macbook Pro 2011 until this year because there are still updates for macOS High Sierra. I expect that will end when Big Sur arrives later this year.
Thats ok, some of our devices ar 8 or 9 years old. Its ok to replace them now.

But if we stay on macOS Mojave to have a working HDMI port we loose three years of supported lifetime of the Mac mini 2018.

I my opinion this is not acceptable.
If possible please call Apple support, point them to this thread .
They have to fix this. Otherwise all who see this issue and can't live with this situation should return their Mac mini 2018 and request their money back.

 

[tstimper]

The only thing that I find fixes it with Catalina is to shut down the Mac mini, unplug the Mac mini power lead, press the power button with it power lead unplugged ( might not be necessary) then plug back in and turn in.

I was able to fix the issue once by having the Mac mini 2018 in the car over a cold night. Not frozen, but cold.
I went to the Apple partner next day, we waited some minutes and that started the Mac mini 2018 and HDMI worked with HDMI to DVI adapter. But that only helped once.
Could be that putting the Macmini 2018 into a refrigerator over night could fix the problem.

DELL U2718Q:
Resolution: 6016 x 3384
UI Looks like: 3008 x 1692 @ 60 Hz


it’s a 4K monitor so that resolution is reported wrong. I get the same HDMI I issue with another monitor (2k)

That strengthens my belief that it has something to do with reading the right resolution out of the Monitor / Adapter.
In your case its multiplied by 2.
Can be that a simple typo in the code for the adapter firmware cause this issue.
Perhaps one of the developers of the adapter firmware can check this.

 

[cRuNcHiE]

I’ve gotten mine to report correct again now. The Apple support agent I was in touch with advised some apps like Duet, teamviewer and Splashtop were known to cause this issue.
Despite me running the uninstall properly for these apps, I think some junk was left behind.
I cleared out /Library/launchagents and launchdaemons , and also found some left over cache for teamviewer.

My monitor is now reporting correctly

Have you got any remote access apps installed?

 

[tstimper]

Have you got any remote access apps installed?

No, we use this Mac mini 2018 only for the tests to fix the HDMI issue.
We only do fresh installations of macOS and create diagnostic files and create fotos and videos of the issue and send that to Apple support.
There is no other software installed.

 

[ElioEfra99]

Hello everyone,
I have the same HDMI issue, when I turn my computer on I see no image in my monitor until I do the "Cmd + control + eject" command sequence in my keyboard in order to restart my computer and being able to have video response.
This happens all the time, I can go away for hours and keep my Mac mini off and it will just happen over and over again.

There's another weird issue, when setting my refresh rate to 144hz I see a green vertical line in the right side of the screen, this was not there before, maybe after some software update this happened. It is important to note that the green vertical line is only visible when 144hz, not when 120hz, nor 85hz nor 60hz.

I contacted Apple support and told me to do some things such as PRAM reset and macOS reinstall, but none of this worked for me, after that, they told me to visit a certified apple technical center (here in Mexico), in order to get my Mac fixed or replaced, they ran some MRI tests and full system tests. They just found nothing and the failure wasn't detected by these tests, they charged me aproximately 20USD (520MXN) just for doing the diagnosis.

I don't have such a thunderbolt connector, but the thing is that I don't understand why one feature from a product like this is even acceptable.

I am running my Mac Mini in a MSI 2k monitor that supports 144hz.
I've got another windows computer and none of these weird errors running. The windows computer runs on 2k 144hz, the same resolution as MacMini.

I'll be looking forward to contact Apple Support again, expecting to get some news and a possible solution.

I attached an image of how the green line looks like.

 

[Fishrrman]

tstimper wrote:
"What do next?
This is #macmini2018hdmigate. That needs to be fixed."

Once again, I request you re-read my post 115 to you.

This "problem" may NEVER be fixed by Apple, probably because they can't figure out what to do about it. Or, perhaps they have an idea what it is wrong, but realize that it "can't be fixed by software".

I believe the core of the "Mini blackout problem" is something that lies "deep down within" the UHD630 graphics of the Mini, which is not properly interacting with the rest of Apple's motherboard or perhaps with the OS itself. I sense "graphics hardware" because numerous subsequent attempts by Apple to tweak the OS to resolve or work around it... don't work.

The problem may be instigated by "external" hardware that individuals are using.
By that I mean:
- adapters
- cables
- displays
- and the various combinations thereof.

Since there are so many possible "combinations" of the above, it's impossible to create a software "fix" that addresses all of them.

That's why the OP had one connection scheme that worked (according to post 4 of this thread), vis-a-vis others that DON'T work.

The only possible solution I see for this must be taken "at the personal user level".
That means that a user experiencing the problem will have to take the time and trouble to try various combinations of cables and adapters to overcome it -- perhaps even changing the display if necessary.

Otherwise, I predict that the "Mini blackout" syndrome will become a bane of 2018/20 Mini users so long as they have those boxes (I have one myself and I made changes to deal with it).
In the same vein that 2016-19 MacBook Pro users are saddled with the quirks and fallibilities of the butterfly keyboards...

 

[AE_stc]

tstimper wrote:
"What do next?
This is #macmini2018hdmigate. That needs to be fixed."

Once again, I request you re-read my post 115 to you.

This "problem" may NEVER be fixed by Apple, probably because they can't figure out what to do about it. Or, perhaps they have an idea what it is wrong, but realize that it "can't be fixed by software".

I believe the core of the "Mini blackout problem" is something that lies "deep down within" the UHD630 graphics of the Mini, which is not properly interacting with the rest of Apple's motherboard or perhaps with the OS itself. I sense "graphics hardware" because numerous subsequent attempts by Apple to tweak the OS to resolve or work around it... don't work.

The problem may be instigated by "external" hardware that individuals are using.
By that I mean:
- adapters
- cables
- displays
- and the various combinations thereof.

Since there are so many possible "combinations" of the above, it's impossible to create a software "fix" that addresses all of them.

That's why the OP had one connection scheme that worked (according to post 4 of this thread), vis-a-vis others that DON'T work.

The only possible solution I see for this must be taken "at the personal user level".
That means that a user experiencing the problem will have to take the time and trouble to try various combinations of cables and adapters to overcome it -- perhaps even changing the display if necessary.

Otherwise, I predict that the "Mini blackout" syndrome will become a bane of 2018/20 Mini users so long as they have those boxes (I have one myself and I made changes to deal with it).
In the same vein that 2016-19 MacBook Pro users are saddled with the quirks and fallibilities of the butterfly keyboards...

When we’re forced to changes OS's, does that mean an eGPU will be pretty much the only solution?

 

[Em St]

I have been having this problem. Apparently "magically" it seems to heal it self. Not sure what happened, but for the past few days all has been working fine. I will walk you through the series of events.

- Initially my solution was to use 2.0a adapter firmware from mojave in Catalina.
- Then I upgraded to Big Sur, unfortunately, the display firmware was updated as well to 2.19 (Catalina shows same version)
- Had to fully wipe out my mac, because Big Sure was buggy and somehow I wasnt able to restore from backup.
- Was too lazy to go through installing Mojave then Catalina to get the adapter firmware, so installed Catalina traditionally.

Till here classic case scenario, I guess.

- Then, I thought , Upon bootup, I will have only the HDMI monitor powered on and then when logged in power up my 2 other monitors. All worked well.
- Then got a handy remote plug, where two TB3 monitors were plugged, to make it easier for me, so i dont have to reach for two monitor power buttons and on shutdown turn plug off and on boot turn plug on, this is a little better now.
- Of course then I would forget to turn off the monitors, so i remember then the HDMI issue coming up, then I have to unplug and re plug the monitors to the mac to get it all working.
- Finally, recently I forgot again to turn off the monitors, however to my surprise, all monitors powered on come up as expected, no HDMI issues, while occasionally I noticed the monitors do come up fine in the past, upon next boot the problem will arise again. For the past few days, the mac mini has been booting up with all 3 monitors fine and did not notice any issues. It will be sweet if I don't get the HDMI issues again.

I am really hoping that with so many combinations of trying to resolve it maybe I triggered a piece of software somewhere in the MacOS that now makes all monitors work as expected.

Will keep you posted for any changes

 

[harriska2]

I do get blackouts every few days. Out of the blue, the screen blacks out for about 2-3 seconds and comes back on. I'm on a 4k 40" Samsung using an HDMI cable. It hasn't bothered me yet but it is weird.

 

[YellowFlashOfTheLeaf]

Yeah, I’ve been having the issue where I have to unplug or turn my monitor off then on again after sleep. Now, I can’t get either of my monitors to work at all. I’ve tried different cables, rebooting my Mac Mini (2018), etc. I’d like to tell you what firmware I’m running, but I can’t see anything...

I have FileVault and login on reboot/sleep. I’d turn those settings off, but I can’t...

 

[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

Btw the egpu issue I spoke of here has been corrected with one of the recent releases

 

[Adam Ellis]

What about using a EDID emulator/manager? Would that solve the problem?

 

[tstimper]

What about using a EDID emulator/manager? Would that solve the problem?

I have already thought of that.
I have tried to borrow some for testing, but none of my colleagues have them. So I guess I'll have to buy some. There are those for DVI and for HDMI and in combination we should be able to find out when the monitor detection of Mac mini 2018 fails on the HDMI port.

 

[Adam Ellis]

Yeah. Would be interesting to try. It seems like it might be an issue with low power output on the HDMI port. When connected via HDMI to VGA adapter it usually works but it flickers and black screens intermittently. It also forgets the order of the screens on boot up. When connected via genuine Apple HDMI to DVI adapter the Mac sees the screen but the screen detects no signal and turns off. Again, low power signal from the Mac maybe? An EDID emulator might at least wake the Mac and screen up and maybe help with compatibility issues. Or a powered adapter/DVI cable might give the extra power needed.

 

[tstimper]

Yeah. Would be interesting to try. It seems like it might be an issue with low power output on the HDMI port.

That would explain why Apple do not fix this.
Can be that they would need to replace the Mac mini 2018 hardware witch an updated version which provides more power at the HDMI port.
But its still confusing that the HDMI port works perfect with a factory new Mac mini 2018 or logic board running macOS Mojave.
Perhaps one of the later macOS updates accidentaly burn some on board or on chip fuses......
We would need more details about the UHD630 graphics the Mac mini 2018 uses as part of the Intel cpu.

 

[AE_stc]

That would explain why Apple do not fix this.
Can be that they would need to replace the Mac mini 2018 hardware witch an updated version which provides more power at the HDMI port.
But its still confusing that the HDMI port works perfect with a factory new Mac mini 2018 or logic board running macOS Mojave.
Perhaps one of the later macOS updates accidentaly burn some on board or on chip fuses......
We would need more details about the UHD630 graphics the Mac mini 2018 uses as part of the Intel cpu.

That’s exactly what doesn’t make sense. Works perfect on new Mojave, but not on later OS's