Random Black Screens

sno1man · Nov 22, 2012

majkom said:
Guys, I do seriosly need an answer for my quiestion, does any of problems mentioned here (snowhite, blackout...etc) occur while using TB port instead of HDMI?

And, does this occur on previous gen mac mini wit ati graphics?

?

thx.

I can partially answer these. Using the TB port with a TB port to HDMI adapter, I DO GET black screens. Using the TB port with a TB to VGA adapter, no black screens

Using the same Dell monitor on the systems that blacks out on the 2012 mini was working fine on the older ATI mini

PS: there are other issue with HDMI being reported including washed out images and poor color balance that are occurring even you dont get the black outs. For Photoshop, that could be a deal breaker

majkom · Nov 22, 2012

sno1man said:
I can partially answer these. Using the TB port with a TB port to HDMI adapter, I DO GET black screens. Using the TB port with a TB to VGA adapter, no black screens

Using the same Dell monitor on the systems that blacks out on the 2012 mini was working fine on the older ATI mini

Thx, seem I will recommned to buy refurb ATI mini... sad that apple discontinued ati graphics in mini

sno1man said:
PS: there are other issue with HDMI being reported including washed out images and poor color balance that are occurring even you dont get the black outs. For Photoshop, that could be a deal breaker

But, again, it does not occur on previous ATI unit, am I right??? Even using HDMI?

calvol · Nov 22, 2012

majkom said:
Guys, I do seriosly need an answer for my quiestion, does any of problems mentioned here (snowhite, blackout...etc) occur while using TB port instead of HDMI?

And, does this occur on previous gen mac mini wit ati graphics?

Frined of mine is choosing his firt mac, it WILL be mac mini, and I gave him two options - either mac mini with intel HD4000 or refurb mini with ati (last gen), that is why I am asking...

He plans to do photo related stuff (photoshop) on the mini, as I understand, quadcore would be better, but if there are unsolvable problems with graphis output, previous gen mini seems better choice for me.. so?

thx.

I ordered a 2012 Mini 2.6, had it for 10 days with numerous blackouts and snow screens using HDMI-> Samsung TV and HDMI->DVI to Dell 2412m monitor. I dumped the 2012, and bought a 2011 Mini 2.5 with Radeon GPU, and so far, in two days, no problem with HDMI to same Samsung TV. This is going to be a HTPC, so I'm sticking with the 2011.

Mac... nificent · Nov 22, 2012

sno1man said:
Using the TB port with a TB port to HDMI adapter

Do you have a part number/brand/model of this adapter?

Mac... nificent · Nov 22, 2012

Rob.G said:
I think if they could fix it, they would.

I agree 100%. It's happened before and ended being a GPU firmware issue but if that's the case with the mini then Apple first needs to wait for Intel to write new firmware code, and even then it will need to be tested before Apple can release it. This all takes time, and that's the last thing people in this thread want to hear

Rob.G · Nov 22, 2012

FWIW, I've had one black screen going from TB -> TB 27" Display, and 2-3 snowy screens on my Samsung 24" secondary monitor using an HDMI -> DVI cable I got from Newegg (I didn't realize the Mini came with its own adapter).

When the snowy screen happens, power cycling the monitor fixes it. But the one black screen so far was a total system crash that I had to hard power the thing off and back on.

Rob

Mac... nificent · Nov 22, 2012

Rob.G said:
I've had one black screen going from TB -> TB 27" Display

Black screens are typical of refresh rates set too high. The reason the screen turns black is because it doesn’t fully support that rate. Try playing around with that. Your display manual should have more information regarding this.

When the snowy screen happens, power cycling the monitor fixes it

While the screen is snowy do you lose audio?

maxira · Nov 22, 2012

here is the solution!
Echo Express Pro
http://www.sonnettech.com/Product/echoexpresschassis.html

or http://www.hwtools.net/Adapter/TH05.html

Rob.G · Nov 22, 2012

Mac... nificent said:
Black screens are typical of refresh rates set too high. The reason the screen turns black is because it doesnt fully support that rate. Try playing around with that. Your display manual should have more information regarding this.

While the screen is snowy do you lose audio?

Didn't notice; when it happened, I cycled it pretty quickly and didn't pay attention to sound. 'Course there's no sound passing through the HDMI port in this case, so it'd just be the speakers plugged into the back of the mini, or the sound going through the TB cable to the speakers in the TB display, which I never use.

Rob

majkom · Nov 22, 2012

OK, so I will recommend refurb ATI mini... last question, do you have any experience with refurb mac computers? is it risky? or shoul I await same quality as with the new macs??

Rob.G · Nov 22, 2012

The refurbs are just like new ones. When Apple takes a machine back, they replace anything that needs it. Usually, the battery in a laptop gets replaced, the case will get replaced if there are any dings or nicks, the keyboard, etc. Plus it has the full year warranty and is eligible for AppleCare. Oh yeah -- they also give it a new serial number.

Rob

calvol · Nov 22, 2012

Mac... nificent said:
I agree 100%. It's happened before and ended being a GPU firmware issue but if that's the case with the mini then Apple first needs to wait for Intel to write new firmware code, and even then it will need to be tested before Apple can release it. This all takes time, and that's the last thing people in this thread want to hear

This is true, but last June this issue popped up on Win/Linux machines using the HD4000, and Intel has NOT fixed the issue with two releases of Memory Resource Code (MRC 1.5, 1.6), which indicates this may be a hardware issue with the HD4000 silicon. If that is the case, a mass recall of mobo's would be in order with updated HD4000 chips. That's why I'm sitting out this version of the Mini till we know something. Apple should plan on an early 2013 Mini update with Radeon GPUs just in case... may be less risky than relying on Intel to fix their crappy HD4000.

----------

majkom said:
OK, so I will recommend refurb ATI mini... last question, do you have any experience with refurb mac computers? is it risky? or shoul I await same quality as with the new macs??

Apple refurbs are great--- have a 2010 13 MBA refurb, still running great, received it with 3 cycles on the battery. The 2011 Mini refurb is from a 3rd party reseller, and received it with only about 200 hours of uptime on the disk, so far, so good.

Snowcake · Nov 22, 2012

masterbaron said:
Guys - I'm with you on this as I have an old 2010-2011 Mini with the same HDMI issues and since this has been going on for so long it's obvious Apple isn't listening.

Perhaps they will listen if it hits the New York Times. I wrote the following letter to David Pogue, New York Times, Technology Columnist.

"The Apple Halo Effect - With Horns

David - I'm an avid reader of your columns and while I don't always agree I enjoy the light you shed on various products and services.

It's no mystery that Apple fans have come to expect excellence and cutting edge technology from Apple whether it's hardware, software or accessories like cables and connectors.

Supporting all this great technology there's something that reins even higher on the list of customer satisfaction and that would be Service to include acknowledgement of troubles, bugs and issues that are shared by a significant percentage of the user base - and with all this customers expect the Truth.

The truth is . there are some things Apple doesn't want to share or acknowledge in terms of their products. I'd like to introduce the issue where users are experiencing screen blanking, screen blackouts, snow and other artifacts when connected via HDMI on the Mac Mini product line.

I'm writing you because Apple really doesn't want to acknowledge this issue whether you call Customer Support, visit a Genius Bar or escalate to an engineer. There's a very high percentage of users out there (I'm one of them) experiencing this issue with brand new Mac Mini's as well as earlier versions of the machine.

The problem manifests itself at random intervals and the blanking, flashing or snow lasts for a second or two and everything resumes as though nothing happened. The trouble only seems to appear with users who use their HDMI port.

My primary concern is that Apple hasn't let customers know this is an ongoing issue that hasn't been resolved in several software or hardware releases. We deserve better we deserve the truth and we deserve a fix for this ongoing issue.

I'm writing you because thousands of posts on forums, message boards and Apple support sites hasn't brought a resolution or even acknowledgement from Apple - this is WRONG!

I tend to believe if it gets printed in the New York Times it gets traction!

I'm inviting, asking, begging you to do the research, confirm and reveal this nasty set of horns that Apple has. I'm asking for your help on this because I believe it's time Apple get's the spotlight they deserve and your light does shine.

Thank you for your support!

Warm Regards,"

Great!

But there are more problems, it is not just blinking black screens:

Washed out colors, very ugly bad image.

You can't see light tints/shades anymore, for example in finder you can't see the light colors in finder anymore on the lines.

Sorry, but there is more...

1 The Intel HD3000 and HD4000 have a 23.976fps and a 23.976HZ bug.

2 A issue with creating/saving/maintaining the correct brightness levels (0-255 vs. 16-235) and or EDID overrides.

3 And of course the biggest new bug introduced in Ivy Bridge is the failure with certain 1080i50 streams (look in the graphics area). Especially the last one makes it currently unusable for users having the appropriate kind of premium content (mostly live-TV).

Just google it...

Mac... nificent · Nov 22, 2012

calvol said:
This is true, but last June this issue popped up on Win/Linux machines using the HD4000, and Intel has NOT fixed the issue with two releases of Memory Resource Code (MRC 1.5, 1.6), which indicates this may be a hardware issue with the HD4000 silicon.

Yes that may be the case. The HD 4000 seems to have MANY issues across MANY types of hardware, not just Apple. With all that I have read about it I am surprised that Apple even decided to use it. Having said that I am also finding that ALL (or at least most) Macs are currently having HDMI issues because of 10.8.2. An update was released two days ago, but it's too soon to know if it's a fix for this issue.

Mattjeff · Nov 22, 2012

This is irritating as a life long apple user. My last purchase was 2007 MBP that had the failing GPU 8600. it died twice in its short life and now I have a $2500 external HDD. I really hope this gains traction and apple does something about this. I pay good money for the quality this brand used to stand for.

MJL · Nov 22, 2012

Gents, I have not gone through the whole thread however I like to add this:

I presently have the 2010 Mac mini server (Nvidia GPU) and had some black screens when I connected my Dell U2412M through a HMDI => DVI cable. Using a mini display => HDMI adapter and same cable (HDMI => DVI) gives no problems.

Please note that I am running windows 7 under bootcamp.

I did find this thread on the Intel support website with a solution for Windows 7: http://communities.intel.com/thread/29246?start=195&tstart=0 where Mantas offers a solution for Windows 7. I suspect that a similar solution is possible for OS X.

(PS the UAC prompt can be bypassed using a utility called TweakUAC-v-1.0-setup.exe )

To me this suggests a HDMI timing issue and is perhaps more aggravated in the later models because of the faster responses of the faster CPU-GPU.

Hopefully this is of some use.

nifmus · Nov 22, 2012

Hi guys, I've experienced the washed out colour issues, as mentioned in my own mac mini 2012 HDMI issue thread. But I haven't experienced the black screen or snow at all.

One thing I have noticed though, if I "Share Screen" on the 2012 mini after it has been idle for a while, the shared screen comes up black, either on my iMac or iPad (using VNC app). If I start moving the mouse around, it's like it is painting the image back onto the screen. Grab a window and it's like you're using a larger paint brush to paint the screen back.

This is not really an issue for me as I only connect this way if I need to use the mini remotely from another room but it's only ever happened with this 2012 mini and not the other OS X devices in the house.

Just an FYI.

Cheers,
Steve

drewe2000 · Nov 22, 2012

Westyfield2 said:
For those correctly saying that not all HDMI cables are created equally... care to recomend any brands?

I've always peronsally just bought the cheapest HDMI cables available, but I did see last month a HDMI cable giving a friend problems with their Blu-Ray player, and changing HDMI cables fixed it. But their problem cable was a $$$ Monster one .

Monoprice.com consistently has very high quality cables and equipment (plus iPhone cases, etc) at rock bottom prices. I'm not sure how they do it (not much markup I guess), but it's awesome stuff.

OldSchoolMacGuy · Nov 22, 2012

drewe2000 said:
Monoprice.com consistently has very high quality cables and equipment (plus iPhone cases, etc) at rock bottom prices. I'm not sure how they do it (not much markup I guess), but it's awesome stuff.

Cables cost pennies to produce. Even at their low prices, they're making a 1000% markup in most cases.

Working at Radio Shack almost 20 years ago, it cost the store 3¢ for a 100ft ethernet cable. They sold for about $50 at the time.

attis · Nov 23, 2012

majkom said:
Thx, seem I will recommned to buy refurb ATI mini... sad that apple discontinued ati graphics in mini

But, again, it does not occur on previous ATI unit, am I right??? Even using HDMI?

I have the 2011 2.5GHz i5, with 6630M. Have tried one monitor/projector through HDMI with/-out DVI-adapter, aswell as how I normally run it - with two simultaneous Eizo S2433Ws, where one of them previously was a Dell U2412M.

No probs whatsoever with flicker or anything like that. I do think 256MB VRAM is on the low side for that much real estate though. Works fine with one monitor, and probably better with one 27" 2560x1440 instead of two 'fullhd'. The 2011-MM is probably better for more graphic intense tasks, if limited to relative small screenspace, but i really hope they fix the HD4000, so that we can take advantage of the 768MB-ability for 'normal' work on multiple monitors.

The safest bet right now seems to be a 2.7GHz i7 with 6630M, if 256MB is enough for your usage.

Fishrrman · Nov 23, 2012

"1. You then have to disconnect the entire chain, remove a device, and reconnect it to run the display again if you want to take a hard drive with you, for example
2. The HDMI port is right there, but unreliable, and many people are rightfully dissatisfied with an expensive, new device with a prominent flaw
Now, if they'd just given us 2 or 3 Thunderbolt ports and skipped the HDMI jack, I'd be a happy camper. Maybe on the next model."

BIG MISTAKE on Apple's part to combine the Thunderbolt and Display ports.

The best monitor connection solution is through DisplayPort, but doing so "blocks" the Thunderbolt port (unless one has a highfalutin' accessory like the Thunderbolt display).

But providing buyers a DisplayPort-to-monitor connecting cable would have cut off use of the Thunderbolt port for those who use 3rd-party displays. So Apple took "the easy way out" and bundled an HDMI-based display cable instead. Only problem is, running the display through HDMI is less reliable than through the DisplayPort (which is intended from the get-go to provide the best display connection method).

They would have done much better by scratching the Mini's HDMI port in favor of a second Thunderbolt port (or perhaps the 2nd T-Bolt port could replace the Firewire 800 port).

Perhaps Apple ought to offer a Thunderbolt "Y-cable" so users can connect BOTH a 3rd-party monitor AND external T-Bolt drive without having to buy an expensive outboard "box" by which to do so.

jollino · Nov 23, 2012

Mac... nificent said:
Black screens are typical of refresh rates set too high. The reason the screen turns black is because it doesn’t fully support that rate. Try playing around with that. Your display manual should have more information regarding this.

Can anyone change the refresh rate of their screens when using the HDMI port? On my system it shows 75 Hz, but I can't select it.

Mac... nificent · Nov 23, 2012

Fishrrman said:
They would have done much better by scratching the Mini's HDMI port in favor of a second Thunderbolt port

Are you serious? Do you know how many people use HDMI ports? Thunderbolt is new and not many people have adapted to it yet. Their best move would have been to add a second Thunderbolt port but they haven't done that with ANY Apple product and the mini wouldn't have been the first. Apples biggest mistake was choosing the Intel chip. It has a long history of having problems, yet they chose to use it anyway? If making a quality product was their goal, then using the HD 4000 was a poor choice on their part.

Perhaps Apple ought to offer a Thunderbolt "Y-cable"

As I have read at this point it's not feasible. They need to add 'chips' to the cable (much like the new Lightning cables) and that isn't cost effective form 3rd party manufactures just yet.

jollino · Nov 23, 2012

Mac... nificent said:
As I have read at this point it's not feasible. They need to add 'chips' to the cable (much like the new Lightning cables) and that isn't cost effective form 3rd party manufactures just yet.

Just make it another $49 / 49 Apple cable for the (admittedly few) people who need it and call it a day.

Mac... nificent · Nov 23, 2012

jollino said:
Can anyone change the refresh rate of their screens when using the HDMI port? On my system it shows 75 Hz, but I can't select it.

Yes, I have two other options that I can enable but they are lower than 60HZ, which would cause flicker (right now I have no flicker). What you see is display dependent so everyone would show something different. I'll look into why it's grayed out for you. Most likely some display software needs to be updated. What kind of display are you using (make/model)?

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jollino said:
Just make it another $49 / 49 Apple cable for the (admittedly few) people who need it and call it a day.

Have you seen how much Thunderbolt hubs cost? I doubt it would be only 49.00

Random Black Screens

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