External display issue with known good monitor

[J-C]

I am stumped with this one...although I am very new too Macs, I am very familiar with troubleshooting PCs. Here is the deal. I have three Mac pro. All with the same configuration. Today a user spilled coffee on his keyboard. I removed his hard drive and placed it on a loaner Mac book. All is good with the exception of the external monitor. I cannot get a picture to it.

Before I start describing the symptoms, my Mac pro detects the Dell 2007FP monitor without issue. It shows up on the Display preferences and I see the "arrangements" tab.

On the loaner Macbook pro that is having the issue, this is what I have tried so far. I replaced the mini DV to DVI adapter, restarted, repaired permissions, checked for updates, and tested cable on my Mac as I mentioned above. Every time I connect the DV adapter, the resolution changes to 800x600 and I cannot see the Dell on the Display Preferences windows. Nothing that I have done appears to work.

The user states that he was having intermittent problems with the external monitor prior to the coffee spill. Since it is another Macbook pro and another adapter, could it be a driver issue? If so, how do you uninstall the driver and reinstall it?

Any guidance is greatly appreciated.

J-C

 

[Tom Baker]

I'm no external display expert, but I've had this problem with connecting to external projectors before - nothing showing up in the Display preferences other than my own - but with reduced resolution.

I tried a lot of ideas before inadvertently pressing F7 (two displays together) on the MacBook Pro keyboard. This key usually switches between Mirror Displays and 'extend' display, but it did something to solve my problem.

Give it a try, but it may have been a unique solution.

Good luck!

 

[SFStateStudent]

Yup, F7 seems to satisfy the same situation for me on projectors. Still not sure why your MBP is not detecting your Dell monitor. Definitely give the F7 option a try and keep us advised...

 

[J-C]

Bad DVI cable

Well....I hate these ones. Moving the DVI cable slightly enables the Macbook pro to properly display the picture. I must have touched it just right when I connected my Macbook pro....All is good after replacing the DVI cable. Thank you for the suggestion.

Good to know the F7 keys toggles the display options. I've only had one week with my first ever Mac and I love it. Fusion is great too...love the Unity feature.