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

Any idea why my 2018 Mac Mini connect to monitor after being in Sleep mode?

Fluttershy462

Fluttershy462

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 19, 2019
62
36
Albuquerque, NM
Specs:

MacOS 11.2.2 Big Sur
i7 3.2Ghz
32gb RAM
Magic Keyboard
Magic Mouse 2

Monitor: 4K Hisense hdtv

So the issue is that after I put the mini into sleep mode, it does not seem to want to connect the video output upon wake. The light on the Mini itself comes on but theres not even a flicker on the screen.

I will have to hold the power button on the Mini to turn it off and then when I turn it back on. I do get the black screen with the white Apple logo and status bar. HOWEVER, at about halfway the status bar fills up, I get a blank screen with no input source message and if I am not hammering the keyboard or ,moving the mouse, the log-on screen never shows up and I just get the blank screen again.

Any ideas as to why this happens? I have two other Windows computers hooked up to the same TV and they don't have this problem. Is it because the resolution is 4k?
 
If I understand number of complaints here and elsewhere, some TVs or monitors do not work well with Minis, especially on Big Sur. Just check number of reports in last days/weeks here. There is even chain of "which monitor WORKS with mini" even though this is for M1 mini.
Seems like there are some issues with specs not properly satisfied. On my 2018 i5 mini we leave it on all the time and power down our 4k TV (different brand). And it all works fine with HDMI-to-HDMI connector (same setup else).
Some suggest getting different cable (USB-C/display port to HDMI or even just different HDMI-HDMI), some have no luck with whatever TV/monitor they have. It does not look like more expensive cable is solution.
I had issues with my M1 mini and 4k monitor and had to plug HDMI into usb-C-to-HDMI convertor to wake up reliably. Go figure.
Looks like there is more than one HDMI standard or someone (either mini or TVs/monitors) do not follow the standard as expected.
Complain to Apple by submitting bug report.
And rebooting your mini by hard reboot is not good for it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fluttershy462
My 2018 Mini running Mojave is a turd when it comes to monitors.
It crashes from waking with the eGPU plugged in and cannot startup with the eGPU plugged in.
The HDMI feeds into another monitor and it doesn't like it either, it won't wake from sleep either.

I've just come to accept crap QA from Apple as of late.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fluttershy462
There are a distributing number of threads about this issue with a variety of displays - since the 2018 mini came out. M1 mac mini seems to suffer from same problems.

A lot of people have had success using a USB-C to HDMI adapter or cable, and not using the built in HDMI port.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fluttershy462
djc6 said:
There are a distributing number of threads about this issue with a variety of displays - since the 2018 mini came out. M1 mac mini seems to suffer from same problems.

A lot of people have had success using a USB-C to HDMI adapter or cable, and not using the built in HDMI port.
Click to expand...
Does USB C to HDMI still use the UHD 630 the same way it does over straight HDMI?
Will it work the same through a dock or chain?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fluttershy462
My standard reply to folks who are having problems with sleeping a 2018 Mini, and then having the display "stay dark" upon waking:

DON'T PUT THE MINI TO SLEEP.
Instead, just "leave it idle, but not sleeping", and put THE DISPLAY to sleep instead, or just turn it off.

The difference in power consumption between a "sleeping" and an "awake, but idling" Mini is so negligible as to be all-but-nonexistant. You're not "saving electricity", nor are you "protecting the environment".

At night, TURN OFF the Mini.
Turn it back on again the next day.
 
  • Like
Reactions: OCLP76 and Fluttershy462
Fishrrman said:
My standard reply to folks who are having problems with sleeping a 2018 Mini, and then having the display "stay dark" upon waking:

DON'T PUT THE MINI TO SLEEP.
Instead, just "leave it idle, but not sleeping", and put THE DISPLAY to sleep instead, or just turn it off.

The difference in power consumption between a "sleeping" and an "awake, but idling" Mini is so negligible as to be all-but-nonexistant. You're not "saving electricity", nor are you "protecting the environment".

At night, TURN OFF the Mini.
Turn it back on again the next day.
Click to expand...

Alright I ordered a USB-C to HDMI cable and in the mean time I am just gonna use this method!

Thanks for al the replies everyone!
 
Fishrrman said:
My standard reply to folks who are having problems with sleeping a 2018 Mini, and then having the display "stay dark" upon waking:

DON'T PUT THE MINI TO SLEEP.
Instead, just "leave it idle, but not sleeping", and put THE DISPLAY to sleep instead, or just turn it off.

The difference in power consumption between a "sleeping" and an "awake, but idling" Mini is so negligible as to be all-but-nonexistant. You're not "saving electricity", nor are you "protecting the environment".

At night, TURN OFF the Mini.
Turn it back on again the next day.
Click to expand...
I currently do that, just leaving it on and putting the displays to sleep. I do turn it off at night but having everything reload never totally works.
My main issue with the lack of sleep is that I've come back after an hour or two and some rouge process buried under layers of browsers or applications is running the fans at full speed and its in the 180 degree range.
I wish it would just click itself to sleep like my old Mac Pro did.
 
Fishrrman said:
My standard reply to folks who are having problems with sleeping a 2018 Mini, and then having the display "stay dark" upon waking:

DON'T PUT THE MINI TO SLEEP.
Click to expand...
I never put the mini to sleep, only the displays to sleep - and 20-30% of the time they don't wake up. I've since resorted to manually turning both displays on/off, and using a screen saver of a blank image in case I forget.

There was recently a front page story about this issue on the M1:

www.macrumors.com

M1 Mac Mini Won't Wake Connected Displays, Some Owners Complain

Some customers who have purchased an M1 Mac mini have been experiencing an issue that causes the machine not to wake a connected third-party display...
www.macrumors.com www.macrumors.com

Both the 2018 and M1 mac mini use the same MegaChips MCDP2920A4 DisplayPort 1.4 to HDMI 2.0 converter chip inside to operate the HDMI port, what I believe is the commonality of the issue between both models of mac mini.
 
There has been a lot of discussion of HDMI issues on the 2018 Mini and I suspect that using the USB-C to HDMI cable will fix your problem. FWIW, I have never experienced this problem on my 2018 Mini. I am using a 32" BenQ 1440p monitor connected to the Mini with a USB-C to Displayport cable. I have my Mini set to never sleep, just the display. When I'm finished for the day with the Mini, I do a complete shutdown.
 
Update: I got the Belkin USB-C to HDMI adapter yesterday and so far my Mini has connected back to the monitor from Sleep mode without a hitch.

From both restarts to fresh power on and sleep mode from a few minutes to a few hours. Finally it's working as I think it should.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Polochamps, Fishrrman and Boyd01
I just got a USB C-Displayport adapter and now my secondary monitor I use as a bootscreen takes around a minute to boot unlike the near instantaneous boot of HDMI. Any ideas as to why this is?
 
Solved my own problem. Figured I'd share it incase anyone has issues later.
I was chaining the display off a hub, this is I guess a no-go.
 
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