Disabling MB display when connected to external monitor

[roncron]

It turns out that upgrading to Lion made me lose a feature I need. I'm hoping the collective wisdom of the MacRumors community can help me figure out a solution.

I have a 2010 MB Air and an external display.

I'd like to disable the Air's display without running the Air in clamshell mode, so that I could use the Air's keyboard and trackpad.

Before upgrading to Lion, I used a method explained by MacRumors forum member pinkoos, in this thread:
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20060607121656766

However, this trick works only in Snow Leopard, not Lion (which I'm running).

In fact, near the bottom of Apple's support page on clamshell mode,

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3131

it says that when you open the Macbook, what happens next depends on your OS. If Snow Leopard, the MB's display stays off (which is what I want). If Lion, the MB's display turns blue for a second, then comes back on, and I'm right back where I started.

If absolutely necessary, I will acquire an Apple bluetooth keyboard and trackpad and run my Air in clamshell mode. But I'd rather not spend the money if I can avoid doing so.

If any of you can help, I'd be grateful!

Thanks,
Ron

 

[Detrius]

http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

 

[enigma2k]

here is an easy solution that works even easier than the previous:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5nTGlyWpTM (this video is for the MBA 2011)

 

[roncron]

here is an easy solution that works even easier than the previous:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5nTGlyWpTM (this video is for the MBA 2011)

Thanks, enigma2K. That does work. (For others who want to learn this trick, you can skip ahead to about the 7:00 minute mark in the video.)

It is really a shame that we have to resort to putting magnets on our macbook cases, when Windows has had this simple feature for at least 10 years.

Detrius, thanks, I followed your link and left feedback requesting this simple feature. I hope someone reads it!