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Random Black Screens
- Thread starter harvester32
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I agree,a Poll on what connection you are using and not having problems with would be interesting.
I was using the HDMI to HDMI and had 1 black screen in 7 hours.
Last night I switched to the T/Bolt HDMI because it was said it didn't have problems,so far all is OK.
Alan
I was using the HDMI to HDMI and had 1 black screen in 7 hours.
Last night I switched to the T/Bolt HDMI because it was said it didn't have problems,so far all is OK.
Alan
Looking to get a Mini soon. Would like to know if it's the HDMI port itself or is it an HDMI to HDMI issue? As I understand it, the Mini comes with an HDMI to DVI adapter - which is what I need since my monitor doesn't have an HDMI input. Anyone out there using the supplied HDMI/DVI adpater? If so, are you also seeing the black screens issue or not?
Switched over to mdp to DVI a few days ago and haven't had one black screen or snowy screen.
Apple actually sent me a different hdmi to DVI cable to test and within 10 minutes I had a black screen. It's definitely in the port itself and not the adapter.
Apple actually sent me a different hdmi to DVI cable to test and within 10 minutes I had a black screen. It's definitely in the port itself and not the adapter.
Some people are having problems using the DVI adapter from the HDMI port too.
The solution seems to be to use the MDP (Thunderbolt) port, and then using it as MDP or converting to HDMI/DVI depending on what your monitor takes.
So far every comment I've seen has been "Using MDP to HDMI adapter fixed it."...
I am one of those. Bought my first mac mini last week and for the first time 5 minutes ago I got the blank screen for 2 seconds and 1 second of snow. Then it went away.
I am very upset as I love the operating system and how quiet the Mac mini is but for a very expensive product and all the apple hype I find this quite disappointing.
Plus I bought an HDMI cable from Apple for 1 million pound
which upsets me on principle!!So my issue is HDMI to HDMI. Got this only once after 5-6 days of usage. I got it simply switching from Safari to Finder.
I am not sure whether returning it would show Apple that just like the maps, siri etc they messed up
I will call Apple tomorrow and see what they say.
Sorry for the negativity but I am disappointed.
Another HDMI to HDMI guy who's had the problems too.
It was a sneaky one, it didn't show up until I'd been using the Mini for ten or eleven days but I suddenly found I was getting black screens, snow/static and also, the screen got a weird, violet hue until it was restarted.
My Mac Mini was doing media duties and I was booting off a Seagate Thunderbolt GoFlex so it doesn't suit my set up to choose the MDP to HDMI alternative, so I'm returning my Mini tomorrow, albeit with a heavy heart.
I'll keep watching the forums, in the hope of a fix and if there is one, I'll probably consider buying again but this is a deal-breaker for me and there are clearly many, many people (on different platforms too, by the sounds of it) who have been affected by the problem.
It was a sneaky one, it didn't show up until I'd been using the Mini for ten or eleven days but I suddenly found I was getting black screens, snow/static and also, the screen got a weird, violet hue until it was restarted.
My Mac Mini was doing media duties and I was booting off a Seagate Thunderbolt GoFlex so it doesn't suit my set up to choose the MDP to HDMI alternative, so I'm returning my Mini tomorrow, albeit with a heavy heart.
I'll keep watching the forums, in the hope of a fix and if there is one, I'll probably consider buying again but this is a deal-breaker for me and there are clearly many, many people (on different platforms too, by the sounds of it) who have been affected by the problem.
Not happening for me. The power supply is setup in a way that there shouldn't be any contact with the casing.
Interesting that no-one has had any problems when using the MDP/Thunderbolt port with a HDMI adapter. I can't thing what would be different to the native HDMI port really
which makes me think maybe it's hardware not software/firmware at fault?
Has anyone tried getting sound from the MDP/Thunderbolt port with an HDMI adapter yet?
Has anyone tried getting sound from the MDP/Thunderbolt port with an HDMI adapter yet?
Yes, that part works fine assuming you have an adapter that passes the audio, some of the older ones did not
Encouraging results with one stick of RAM!
I received my 2012 Mac Mini (i7 version) on Nov. 5 and immediately noticed dropouts in the display and audio for about one second using HDMI out to my TV. The screen would go black, then come right back on (no indication on my receiver or TV about loss of signal). This happened like clockwork after about 15 minutes after turning it on or resuming from sleep mode. After that initial blackout, I had not seen it occur again until the next reboot or wake. This is the same setup that I had been using an HP laptop on for over a year, and I never had any blackouts. I merely plugged the HDMI cable into the Mini instead of the laptop.
I boot exclusively into Windows 7 using BootCamp. This issue seems to happen regardless of the OS. I had upgraded to 16GB of RAM, though this was also happening with the 4GB it came with. I removed one RAM stick (the outer one), leaving 8GB. I'm pleased to say that I have not experienced any signal dropouts yet.
I have been glued to the screen for over 45 minutes now, and have rebooted once. I'm confident that this may be a workaround of sorts (though I'd like to be able to use both RAM slots, 8GB is okay for now).
It is a shame that there is a bug like this in such an otherwise unique machine. I think it is the perfect HTPC due to size, power and noise considerations. I really want to keep my Mac Mini, because there is nothing else quite like it, and it suits my needs very well as I don't game or do intensive work on it. Playing 1080p video smoothly is my main concern, and it works very well.
The fact that removing one stick of RAM seems to fix the blackout issue for me leads me to believe that this may not be a pure HDMI or Intel HD4000 issue and that the HDMI port is capable of displaying an image without blacking out during the first 15 minutes. I hope there will be a firmware/EFI update to fix this. So if you upgraded the RAM, or are willing to give it a shot with only one stick, let us know if it resolves the issue.
I'm not too keen on using MDP/Thunderbolt to HDMI as a workaround, and I hope that Apple doesn't consider the "fix" to be using such an adapter, even if they sent one for free.
I'm curious if others will have the same experience that I did. I'll hang on to it for a while longer, at least until t can established if the issue is fixable or not. I sincerely hope it is. I've watching this forum since I first noticed this issue, and I thought I would share my thoughts and experiences so far.
I received my 2012 Mac Mini (i7 version) on Nov. 5 and immediately noticed dropouts in the display and audio for about one second using HDMI out to my TV. The screen would go black, then come right back on (no indication on my receiver or TV about loss of signal). This happened like clockwork after about 15 minutes after turning it on or resuming from sleep mode. After that initial blackout, I had not seen it occur again until the next reboot or wake. This is the same setup that I had been using an HP laptop on for over a year, and I never had any blackouts. I merely plugged the HDMI cable into the Mini instead of the laptop.
I boot exclusively into Windows 7 using BootCamp. This issue seems to happen regardless of the OS. I had upgraded to 16GB of RAM, though this was also happening with the 4GB it came with. I removed one RAM stick (the outer one), leaving 8GB. I'm pleased to say that I have not experienced any signal dropouts yet.
I have been glued to the screen for over 45 minutes now, and have rebooted once. I'm confident that this may be a workaround of sorts (though I'd like to be able to use both RAM slots, 8GB is okay for now).
It is a shame that there is a bug like this in such an otherwise unique machine. I think it is the perfect HTPC due to size, power and noise considerations. I really want to keep my Mac Mini, because there is nothing else quite like it, and it suits my needs very well as I don't game or do intensive work on it. Playing 1080p video smoothly is my main concern, and it works very well.
The fact that removing one stick of RAM seems to fix the blackout issue for me leads me to believe that this may not be a pure HDMI or Intel HD4000 issue and that the HDMI port is capable of displaying an image without blacking out during the first 15 minutes. I hope there will be a firmware/EFI update to fix this. So if you upgraded the RAM, or are willing to give it a shot with only one stick, let us know if it resolves the issue.
I'm not too keen on using MDP/Thunderbolt to HDMI as a workaround, and I hope that Apple doesn't consider the "fix" to be using such an adapter, even if they sent one for free.
I'm curious if others will have the same experience that I did. I'll hang on to it for a while longer, at least until t can established if the issue is fixable or not. I sincerely hope it is. I've watching this forum since I first noticed this issue, and I thought I would share my thoughts and experiences so far.
I have the same machine (same build week), and experienced the same black outs with HDMI and HDMI->DVI. Seems to occur most often about 10 minutes coming out of sleep. This problem dates back to June on the Intel forum with the Win/Linux crowd, and Intel is trying to fix with MRC updates, indicating a memory alloc problem, but users still reporting issue with latest updates, possibly indicating a hardware issue with the HD4000. I RMA'd mine, and buying a 2011 Mini.
Duh. Intel already knows.
Direct quote from Intel regarding the same problem on PCs with BIOSes, back in September:
"This issue is a BIOS issue specifically with the Memory Reference Code (MRC) version 1.4.0.0 or older. Please contact your system or motherboard manufacturer for a system BIOS update for your system or motherboard that includes MRC 1.5.0.0 or newer.
If you have a system with 2 or more memory modules and are comfortable with removing all but one of them so that your memory is in single channel mode, try and remove all but one of them and the issue will go away. This can be used as a workaround until you are able to update your system BIOS from your system or motherboard manufacturer that includes MRC 1.5.0.0 or newer."
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Is this working for anyone else? If it does I'm going to buy the machine and be happy with a 8gb stick.
Is this working for anyone else? If it does I'm going to buy the machine and be happy with a 8gb stick.
If you like bad performance that is...
You have no dual channel memory anymore = Less performance.
More info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-channel_memory_architecture
I'm pretty sure further back in this (or one of the other threads) that a few people with black screens tried the memory 'fix' and still found that they got the problem....
For any new arrivals here to this problem and have doubts as to how common it is, just head on over to this forum:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4472316?tstart=0
There are updates daily from people reporting the same.
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4472316?tstart=0
There are updates daily from people reporting the same.
So basically removing one block of RAM or using the Thunderbolt port solves the problem.
Id strongly suggest people invest in a thunderbold > whatever cable and the problem will be gone instantly.
Im using thunderbolt > displayport and I have an awesome flicker free picture.
Id strongly suggest people invest in a thunderbold > whatever cable and the problem will be gone instantly.
Im using thunderbolt > displayport and I have an awesome flicker free picture.