Mac mini display riddle.. can you explain

[geese]

Me mate just got a Mac mini with Panther installed. He bought a nice Sony lcd with it.

Took it home. Plugged it all in, it works fine. But then this funny problem develops. Whenever you'd minimize a window into the dock it the screen would fade into blue then back again. A strange problem which got gradually worse until the screen would fade into blue momenterily every five seconds.

I tried to reinstall OS X, update Panther, no joy. The screen looked fine when you booted off a CD, but whenever the HD was involved its would relentlessly fade into blue.

Ready to take it back to Apple, I tightened up the monitor cable screws (its an analogue monitor BTW) and the VGA to DVI converter. Then it worked fine.

Can anyone explain? It looked like a software problem when it faded into blue. Why would a loose cable cause OS X to do thiS?

 

[redeye be]

so his problem is solved by securing the vga connection?
Probably just that cable having a bad connection when it wasn't screwed in. Colour shifting is what happens then.

 

[crap freakboy]

Its his vga, I've had the same thing happens for ages. Sometimes it does it in purple...erm thats all I can thing to say on the subject.

 

[geese]

Its was not colour shifting though. You know when you logoff or restart, the Dock, the menu's and everything disappears leaving that default blue screen. Thats whats happening.

Next time you restart your computer, notice after the grey Apple start-up screen, the screen goes blue, then the dialogue box appears that asks for your log-in password. Take note of the 'screen goes blue' bit. This was what the screen was doing, every ten seconds momenterily. The Mac would work normally, apart from the screen.

It wasn't colour shifting as all the dialogue boxes, windows, dock, etc faded away then came back again. When i say faded, I mean in the smooth OS X way.

Do you know what i mean, its puzzling.

 

[redeye be]

Do you know what i mean, its puzzling.

I do now, it is indeed.
You did get it fixed by securing the cable, right?
I don't think i can be of more service when it didn't sry, but good luck.

 

[Benjamin]

well... basically what is happening i believe is that os x since it auto detects monitors when plugged into is having problems with your cable is not connected all the way. It fades in and out because when it re-detects the monitor signal it has to go threw the steps of when you first connect a monitor, in this case it fades blue. I believe as I said before that is what is happening, my only logic points to when I personally connect a external monitor with my power book and both screens fade blue and re-coordinate resolution and desktop space.

 

[Gr8tek]

May have a solution to that.

I had the same problem on a CRT monitor. Don't know if this applies to you but it may be worth checking it out. As funny as it may seems, the culprit was the frequency. If my Mac Mini is set to a frequency above 60hz, what you describe is exactly what happens. I must add and emphasize that I am using a CRT monitor, specifically a Compaq V75, 17" monitor. If after this, your problem still exists, i'm afraid i may not be able to help.

PEACE!

 

[baummer]

I had the same problem on a CRT monitor. Don't know if this applies to you but it may be worth checking it out. As funny as it may seems, the culprit was the frequency. If my Mac Mini is set to a frequency above 60hz, what you describe is exactly what happens. I must add and emphasize that I am using a CRT monitor, specifically a Compaq V75, 17" monitor. If after this, your problem still exists, i'm afraid i may not be able to help.

PEACE!

You know this thread is nearly 4 months old, right?

 

[FocusAndEarnIt]

You know this thread is nearly 4 months old, right?

That is what the search function is for

Better than making a new thread.