How to use your computer in closed clamshell mode with an external display

[Tex-Twil]

Hi,
I tried ti use this guide to run my mbp in clamshell mode with an external display but it doesn't work. My MBP goes to sleep, I wake it up with an external keyboard, the external display show everything fine but after 5 sec the mbp goes back to sleep

What am I doing wrong ?

cheers

 

[marshallbedsaul]

I have a 2010 macbook pro I see you have a i7 model so it should be similar

1. have you set your macbook to be woken up via bluetooth device such as a keyboard or a mouse?

2. Did you keep the charger plugged in when the macbook is closed trying to wake the system?

3. Sometimes with mine once I close it and select hdmi channel and the data retrieves to find the macbook pro. It finds nothing than I just hit space bar on my keyboard and it works perfect.

 

[Tex-Twil]

2. Did you keep the charger plugged in when the macbook is closed trying to wake the system?

I think this was the problem. I was running the mbp on the battery.

thanks.

Btw, I'm connecting the display with a mini display port - hdmi adapter and I have to reboot the mac so that the screen picks up a signal. Is this "normal" ?

cheers
Tex

 

[xristos]

+1

I use an external LCD monitor half the time via DVI. I have a blue-tooth Apple wireless keyboard & 3-rd party wireless mouse. I mirror the displays & dim the brightness on the the macbook screen all the way off. When I see users pic's of their macbook setup's, I see the lids closed. I haven't tried to wake it up by tapping the wireless KB or mouse. I'll try it in the morning.

@Tex... the external display should be picked up right away. I went into my system preferences/ keyboard & checked the option to see the display notifier on my notification bar. From there I setup my external display.

 

[miami013]

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hello tex and curious to know which mini port/hdmi adapter you're using - seems like the only one I have been able to find locally is one made by moshi and they seem to be getting sketchy reviews...

 

[Pballer110]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

hello tex and curious to know which mini port/hdmi adapter you're using - seems like the only one I have been able to find locally is one made by moshi and they seem to be getting sketchy reviews...

try monoprice.com

 

[Zman5225]

Another vote for monoprice.com

I got mine there and it works like a champ and costs a fraction of the OEM one from Apple.

 

[laser71]

If you have a mouse/keyboard attached, you can use the computer in clamshell mode.

Moshi HDMI adapter works fine for me plug it in and it "just works", so no complaints.

 

[duffer6]

I think this was the problem. I was running the mbp on the battery.

thanks.

Btw, I'm connecting the display with a mini display port - hdmi adapter and I have to reboot the mac so that the screen picks up a signal. Is this "normal" ?

cheers
Tex

Nope set your monitor to detect the signal to HDMI manually not auto. Then you should be set. A lot of monitors look for DVI first then HDMI under auto scan.

 

[Tex-Twil]

Nope set your monitor to detect the signal to HDMI manually not auto. Then you should be set. A lot of monitors look for DVI first then HDMI under auto scan.

I do have my display set to HDMI input. My adapter is a SendStation.

cheers,
Tex