Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Waking MBP from sleep + external display = problems?

N

NewSc2

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 4, 2005
1,044
2
New York, NY
I've been having varying issues with my MBP and my external monitor (Dell 2005FPW). I used to plug in the DVI and not turn on the monitor, and my MBP would be frozen on the blue transition screen, but I've since turned on the monitor before I plug in the DVI.

Now sometimes when I remove the DVI while the computer's asleep it won't wake back up. Other times I'll plug in the DVI and wake the computer up and it won't wake up or it goes up in clamshell mode (MBP screen doesn't light up).

My MBP pretty frequently refuses to wake up so I'll have to force shut down and restart. It seems to happen more often when I've connected an external monitor but I can't really tell -- I use my MBP w/ my Dell LCD about 80-90% of the time.

By "frequently" I mean 3-4 times a week, or maybe every 8-10 wakes.
 
NewSc2,

I have the exact same problem with my MacBook CD and ACD through DVI. Exact same symptoms and problems. It's much worse when I connect it to a Samsung LCD through mini-DVI-to-VGA adapter. I haven't been able to find any way to consistenty reproduce this -- it seems to occur rather sporadically. One day, everything will be working great...the next day, I'll be using the force-shutdown numerous times.

Rest assured, you're not the only one. Unfortunately, I haven't found any solution.
 
I have the same problem. Same monitor - 2005fpw

MBP CD 2.16ghz
2gb RAM
100gb HD
256 VRAM

I've sent the laptop in for repair twice. Once because of random shutdown, restart, no wake from sleep, etc - which resulted in a replaced logic board.

The second time was because it wouldn't wake from sleep (the fans would keep running for hours) when my Nitro FW 800 card was plugged into the express card slot. It also had problems waking from sleep in clamshell mode (about 30% of the time) and after I unplugged the sleeping computer from my keyboard/monitor/power, it won't wake from sleep. This resulted in a replaced mother board.

I've had the laptop back from the second repair for about a month now, and I'm still having wake-from-clamshell or wake-from-removed-clamshell-mode sleep problems.

Any C2D users have these problems?
 
Can anybody else share their experiences? Good or bad?

I guess I just want to know if ANY CD MBP can successfully run clamshell
 
trudd: my problems really aren't serious enough to warrant a logic board repair... i hope. My MBP basically seems to have sporadic difficulties waking from sleep, and the problems are usually magnified if I connect it to an external monitor.

It seems as if I pay more attention to removing/connecting the DVI (i.e. make sure nothing CPU-intensive is going on, making sure the LCD is on, etc.), the problem doesn't crop up very often, but if I'm hasty the problems seem to happen a bit more.

What would make it serious is if I left anything open that I needed to save, but that hasn't happened yet *crosses fingers*.

I've had one kernel panic, but so far none since (few weeks back). I really like my MBP but these few problems here and there make me wary.
 
NewSc2 said:
What would make it serious is if I left anything open that I needed to save, but that hasn't happened yet *crosses fingers*.
Click to expand...

That's one of my concerns.

Another concern is this:

I sold my Rev. D 1.67ghz Powerbook to upgrade to the CD MBP. I ran the PB in clamshell with the same monitor, same mouse, and same keyboard and never had this problem.

I'm a film student, and I run the MBP in clamshell over 80% of the time to take advantage of the larger screen.

Here is the dilemma. If I have to force shut down my computer roughly 30-50% of the time I disconnect from clamshell mode (which happens once every day or two. I mean, it's meant for mobility...), then that has to take a toll on the computer. It has been in for repair twice already and is still showing symptoms that should have been fixed. So...

1) The computer already has a history of problems
2) If I want to use the computer the way it is meant to be used, but have to force a shut down daily, that potentially shortens the life of my computer. Without Applecare, I'm not covered for any problems after my warranty expires this summer. BUT, Apple can't even make the computer work properly within the warranty period.

Thanks to my old laptop, I know how clamshell is supposed to work. I just need to find out what to do for it to work properly now.
 
i have the same problem with my 2.0ghz core duo MBP, 2gb ram, 256mb vram. i think something is wrong with the video card cos at times, the screen on the MBP flickers. my 23" ACD gets the output display unconsistently and it really frustrates me cos sometimes my MBP just hangs there and i have to force it to restart/shutdown.
 
Has anybody tried the same with VGA? My MB is significantly worse when connected through VGA ever since I applied EFI Firmware Update 1.0...it will pretty much NEVER output to the correct screen when I plug in an external monitor through VGA. However, DVI is much more stable for me, although it still suffers the occasional hiccup.

I've noticed that I'm the only MB owner here -- everybody else has a MBP. Any other MB owners out there?
 
Macbook C2D 2.0GHz white... blah blah

Anyways, I run my Macbook clamshell to a Dell W2306C monitor via DVI. Now when I first turn it on or restart it the monitor fills nicely all lining up great. However, if I sleep the Macbook, the monitor shifts right about 50px when it wakes back up. This is annoying!

The same things occurs when I switch to a different channel on the monitor like VGA or the coax in. When I switch back to DVI the screen has shifted right.

This may have to do with the monitor, I need to get another one to test it on.
 
I might bring this issue up with Apple. It hasn't frozen on me since this past weekend, and I take my computer off my monitor at least 2x daily.

Just today I opened up my MBP after plugging in the DVI and inadvertantly put the MBP in clamshell mode. The Dell LCD was the only screen that my mouse would go on, and nothing went on on my MBP.

How does Apple respond to requests like this? It's not serious, but would they still take it in for repair? There's an Apple store about 5 mi. away from me.
 
NewSc2 said:
I might bring this issue up with Apple. It hasn't frozen on me since this past weekend, and I take my computer off my monitor at least 2x daily.

Just today I opened up my MBP after plugging in the DVI and inadvertantly put the MBP in clamshell mode. The Dell LCD was the only screen that my mouse would go on, and nothing went on on my MBP.
Click to expand...

That is normal. Just go to Displays under System Prefs and click "Detect Displays."
 
I have had my 12" PB G4 for almost 3 years now, and this has been happening to me since day 1...I have a feeling all Apple laptops have this problem of waking from sleep with an external display plugged in.

I am very surprised that the issue persists when an ACD is used...I would think Apple would have it straightened out with their own hardware at least. I never thought to talk to AppleCare or a Genius about this seeing as I am not using an ACD, but since one of you are, it might be a real problem - not just with me.

I have learned to deal with it...I only put my computer to sleep at night, so lately I have been just shutting it down instead...:mad:
 
spyderracer393 said:
I never thought to talk to AppleCare or a Genius about this seeing as I am not using an ACD, but since one of you are, it might be a real problem - not just with me.
Click to expand...

I spoke with a Genius recently. His response was, "I've never seen this problem before." Nonetheless, he was very nice and offered a few suggestions:

1) If you're running a custom color profile for your displays (ColorSync, Spider, etc), try the default profiles. This did not work for me.

2) Test it under multiple user profiles. I have not yet been able to test this because the computer needs to be running for quite a while before the problem pops up. In the meantime, I need to do work using my regular user profile.

3) Reinstall OS. Wipe it out completely, or do an archive and install. I haven't been able to get around to this yet either. I may have time sometime during the next several weeks though.

4) If the OS reinstallation fails, it theoretically rules out a software problem. At that point, consider sending the MB in for a logic board repair.
 
Seems that the 10.4.9 update fixed this problem with my MB CD. I haven't experienced any problems in the past two weeks since I've performed the update. I don't know if this bug was directly addressed in the update, or if something was overwritten during the process.

Anybody else have this problem disappear with 10.4.9?
 
Temporary Blue Screen (Not BSOD)

I'm having a similar problem, but it might be slightly different. I use my MBP with an external Dell display while keeping the laptop closed up. I have not had any (noticeable) problems with the laptop coming in and out of sleep mode.

I do, however, have a problem where I get this temporary blue screen on my external display and seem to lose my display/computer for a couple seconds. There seems to be no pattern to it.

Does anyone else get this? Any ideas what causes it and/or how to fix it?

I should also note that I use a keyboard sharing program called Synergy to share my keyboard and mouse with another Windows PC. If you haven't heard of synergy, you should give it a try. The interface is down-right horrible, but the functionality is amazing.

Thanks,
Mark
 
brogowic said:
I do, however, have a problem where I get this temporary blue screen on my external display and seem to lose my display/computer for a couple seconds. There seems to be no pattern to it.
Click to expand...

If I'm understanding your description correctly, this blue screen is normal. It happens the first time you wake from sleep after CONNECTING the external display, or the first time you wake from sleep after DISCONNECTING the external display. Subsequent wake-from-sleeps with no change in external display do not show this blue screen because "the computer doesn't detect anything new."

brogowic said:
I'm having a similar problem, but it might be slightly different. I use my MBP with an external Dell display while keeping the laptop closed up. I have not had any (noticeable) problems with the laptop coming in and out of sleep mode
Click to expand...

The problem that people are describing above involves the computer freezing during this blue screen, or freezing before it even gets to the blue screen. I don't think we've come to any conclusion on this problem, but you're not having any wake-from-sleep issues, so you're fine.

Hope that helps. :apple:
 
trudd said:
I have the same problem. Same monitor - 2005fpw

MBP CD 2.16ghz
2gb RAM
100gb HD
256 VRAM

I've sent the laptop in for repair twice. Once because of random shutdown, restart, no wake from sleep, etc - which resulted in a replaced logic board.

The second time was because it wouldn't wake from sleep (the fans would keep running for hours) when my Nitro FW 800 card was plugged into the express card slot. It also had problems waking from sleep in clamshell mode (about 30% of the time) and after I unplugged the sleeping computer from my keyboard/monitor/power, it won't wake from sleep. This resulted in a replaced mother board.

I've had the laptop back from the second repair for about a month now, and I'm still having wake-from-clamshell or wake-from-removed-clamshell-mode sleep problems.

Any C2D users have these problems?
Click to expand...

Crazy, I have the same problem. I also have the Nitro AV FW 800 Express Card. I found when I unplug it and put my computer to sleep and try to wake it up again I don't have any problem. I also have a Dell display hooked up. I am confident the FW 800 card is part of the problem.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back