Mac mini black screen brand new - should I do anything?

[TorontoSS]

Hello - my husband got a Mac mini and it got delivered today. He turned it on, used it etc was great. However whilst listening to Spotify the mini restarted itself and updated. The Apple logo came on with the bar. But then now it’s been about an hour and the screen is just black.

Nothing else. The screen periodically comes on but with nothing on it (no logo) and shuts.

Is this normal with a new mini? As in brand new (came today).

Thanks!

 

[Fishrrman]

I'd put it right back into the box and send it back.
If you call and talk to someone on the phone, mention what went wrong.
But... be aware that both the problems you mention have been experienced by others.

 

[TorontoSS]

Thanks Fishrrman. Actually my husband took out the HDMI and put it back in, or did something else and it started working. It’s apparently a known glitch when updating to Catalina.

Thanks!

 

[AZhappyjack]

Check your monitor and see if there are any other options for connecting it to your Mini... There's a known issue with HDMI on those machines (I personally experienced it multiple times). Display Port seems to work well if that's an option... and a USB-C to DP cable cost me $15 on Amazon and solved the issue for me.

What monitor are you using?

 

[Madmic23]

I just got a new Mac Mini and experienced the same thing. The screen was just black after the update. I held down the power button to reboot it and everything came back to normal.

The same thing happened when I woke the mini up a couple of days later. I know the mini was awake, because my Apple Watch told me it unlocked the mini, but the screen was just blank. I have it hooked up to a 4K monitor with an HDMI cable, but I'm going to switch it to the Display Port cable.

 

[djc6]

I experienced same upgrading to Catalina... Somtimes I wonder if Apple does any testing...

 

[TorontoSS]

Just happened again. It seems to be an HDMI issue as many here have alluded to.

 

[D.T.]

Just happened again. It seems to be an HDMI issue as many here have alluded to.

See post #4.

You might also see if there's an input auto vs. manual select on the display itself (and manually set if for HDMI) before I switched to mDP (again, post #4 ), that made a difference for me.

 

[LeeW]

Just happened again. It seems to be an HDMI issue as many here have alluded to.

Well known issues, get an HDMI to USB-C cable and use it instead, will solve your issues. I mean, it's not ideal and Apple should have fixed this by now but if you want to resolve the issue that is the way to do it. Downgrading the OS will not rectify it.

This is the one I have been using and zero issues since I started using it.

uni USB C to HDMI Cable【4K@60Hz High Refresh Rate】Type-C to HDMI Cable [Thunderbolt 3 Compatible] for MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iPad Pro 2018, Surface Book2, Galaxy S20, and More - Grey - 6ft/1.8m

uni USB C to HDMI Cable【4K@60Hz High Refresh Rate】Type-C to HDMI Cable [Thunderbolt 3 Compatible] for MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iPad Pro 2018, Surface Book2, Galaxy S20, and More - Grey - 6ft/1.8m

www.amazon.co.uk

 

[TorontoSS]

Well known issues, get an HDMI to USB-C cable and use it instead, will solve your issues. I mean, it's not ideal and Apple should have fixed this by now but if you want to resolve the issue that is the way to do it. Downgrading the OS will not rectify it.

This is the one I have been using and zero issues since I started using it.

uni USB C to HDMI Cable【4K@60Hz High Refresh Rate】Type-C to HDMI Cable [Thunderbolt 3 Compatible] for MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iPad Pro 2018, Surface Book2, Galaxy S20, and More - Grey - 6ft/1.8m

uni USB C to HDMI Cable【4K@60Hz High Refresh Rate】Type-C to HDMI Cable [Thunderbolt 3 Compatible] for MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iPad Pro 2018, Surface Book2, Galaxy S20, and More - Grey - 6ft/1.8m

www.amazon.co.uk

Thank you. What we're using is a view sonic monitor. and it only has DVI or VGA ports. so that means we can use DVI to USB C or VGA to USB C cables? Don't have any in the house to check. but if it's easily fixable can just get on amazon.

 

[ivnj]

Or just get a new monitor with hdmi. They are not super expensive.

 

[D.T.]

Thank you. What we're using is a view sonic monitor. and it only has DVI or VGA ports. so that means we can use DVI to USB C or VGA to USB C cables? Don't have any in the house to check. but if it's easily fixable can just get on amazon.

You'll want to use DVI (VGA is analog so it's not a simple matter of just a cable). There are HDMI_to_DVI adapters, I've got a couple around here somewhere, or just a USB-C_to_DVI cable like you said.

 

[TorontoSS]

Thanks everyone. We got a USB C to DVI cable. At first it didn't work. But then we removed file vault. I don't know what got me to think this was an issue. it may not have been but it did work magically after that.

we tried restarting, shut down and starting and shutting the screen to see if it would turn on, on it's own. All worked fine with the USB C connection.

this was yesterday and today turned on the mac again, no issues. so it was solved by getting a USB C to DVI cable. thanks everyone!

 

[casperghst42]

I've also just ordered the UCB-C to HDMI to see if that will solve my problem with my EIZO CS2730.

But I found the issue, when the screen is black on can via another computer take over the screen, goto System Preferences -> Displays and change the refresh rate, and it will bring back the screen. It looks like something is not telling the monitor that it's back (reset the HDMI connection) after the screensaver has been active. This looks to be more of a driver problem than a hardware problem.