Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

badlydrawnboy

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 20, 2003
1,531
418
When using an application that records video (like Facebook Live, or BeLive TV) and Chrome I am experiencing monitor blackouts with my iMac that last for about 15-45 seconds, or sometimes more. The iMac screen, as well as my external monitor (connected via Thunderbolt to MiniDisplay cable), both go completely dark and the iMac is unresponsive to keyboard or mouse commands.

I did not experience this with 10.13.3 on my iMac, and I don't experience it with 10.3.3 on my Macbook Pro that is connected to an LG 5k display via Thunderbolt.

Anyone else seeing this? I found a few similar reports on Apple Discussions, and I did submit feedback to Apple. I believe that most of those reports mentioned an external monitor, and I saw some other reports suggesting that there may be an issue with 10.13.4 and displays.
 
There's a known issue with 10.13.4 and DisplayLink. A large amount of docks/adapters use usb 3.1 over usb-c to a DisplayLink chip that converts it to a video signal for hdmi or DP. After updating to 10.13.4 the chip no longer supports the signal and updating to the most recent drivers causes it to be in clone only mode. DisplayLink is aware of the issue and they reported it to Apple.

It doesn't sound like you're using one of the affected adapters but it's possible that the same thing that took out DisplayLink is affecting you. I'm assuming DisplayLink broke in the pursuit of better support for eGPUs.

My dock uses DisplayLink inside so I've already TimeMachine back to 10.13.3.
 
  • Like
Reactions: badlydrawnboy
There's a known issue with 10.13.4 and DisplayLink. A large amount of docks/adapters use usb 3.1 over usb-c to a DisplayLink chip that converts it to a video signal for hdmi or DP. After updating to 10.13.4 the chip no longer supports the signal and updating to the most recent drivers causes it to be in clone only mode. DisplayLink is aware of the issue and they reported it to Apple.

It doesn't sound like you're using one of the affected adapters but it's possible that the same thing that took out DisplayLink is affecting you. I'm assuming DisplayLink broke in the pursuit of better support for eGPUs.

My dock uses DisplayLink inside so I've already TimeMachine back to 10.13.3.

Thanks for responding. I didn't mention that I am using a Thunderbolt 2 dock. My external monitor (NEC MultiSync EA 275 UHD) is connected to that dock (via a MiniDisplay to Thunderbolt cable). Does this suggest that I'm affected?
[doublepost=1522884237][/doublepost]Sorry, check that. It's a Thunderbolt to DisplayPort cable.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.