External monitor stuck in Power Save Mode

[riker1384]

I have an aluminum iMac. I got a free Gateway LCD monitor on Craigslist. The owner swears it was working two months ago and he wouldn't stand to gain by lying about that, since it was free. It only has a VGA input. When I hook it up and turn it on, it displays a message about power save mode and then goes black.

The System Profiler detects that the monitor is there:
Gateway FPD1730:
Resolution: 1024 x 768 @ 75 Hz
Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Rotation: Supported


Does anyone know what could be wrong? I tried switching the VGA cable AND the DVI to VGA adapter in case one of those was bad, but that didn't help. I only have one mini-DVi to DVI adapter, so I can't try another one of those. (It's obnoxious that Apple doens't use the standard DVI connector.)

 

[waw74]

in a quick look at the adapter on the apple store, it doesn't have the 4 pins around the blade on the one side (c1-c4 on the pin out on wikipedia).

Those are the pins that carry the analog vga signal. check your adapter, if those aren't there it won't work.

 

[riker1384]

My mini-DVI to DVI adapter is Dynex brand. It appears to have those pins.

 

[riker1384]

Okay, I'm trying it with a small LCD television that also has a VGA input, and I'm getting the same thing. The computer detects it, but I get no image on the monitor.

It looks like the Dynex is indeed the problem: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/362518/ What a piece of junk. I wonder if they're trying to save half a cent on construction, or to force people to buy even more adapters.

Thanks for the help. It looks like Best Buy has an Apple mini-DVI to VGA for $22, or a Dynex for $15, and Amazon has some for cheaper.