PB external display/sleep problem

[rpet]

Hi there. I just recently came back into the Mac fold, and am an OS X novice.
I have a new 12" PB. I'm currently using a Mac external keyboard, an old Sony CRT external monitor and a mouse.

I had no problems closing the lid on the PB and using only the external monitor, keyboard and mouse for the first two weeks that I had the PB.

But, that's no longer working. Now, whenever I close the lid on the PB, the external display goes black and the computer stays on (does not Sleep).

I can't figure this out. I tried resetting the PRAM and trashing some of the preferences files (windowserver and another one I believe).

I think this started happening after I accidentally set the external monitor to a resolution that the monitor couldn't support while the PB lid was closed. The resolution is now corrected and the ext monitor works fine as long as the lid is open. Are there separate display settings for the external monitor: one for when lid is open; one for when lid is closed?

Any other ideas? Which files stores the Display settings? How good is Apple tech support?

thanks.
-rob in SF

 

[LeeTom]

Try this and see if it doesn't work:
Have everything set up like you like it, with the powerbook on, and the external monitor working. Then, shut down the powerbook. Turn it on again, and quickly close the lid, so it starts up with the lid closed.

Does that work?
Lee Tom

 

[rpet]

no.. but almost.

No - nice try, though!

When I try that, the external monitor goes on and I get the grey start up screen with the spinning circle graph on the external monitor for about 10 seconds.
Then the external monitor goes into sleep mode.

My uneducated guess is that during early startup, the ext monitor is maybe on a different (basic) resolution... then a little before the blue login screen appears, it attempts to switch to an invalid resolution or color depth, fails to do so and the video signal dies or the monitor just goes to sleep as it's not getting any input (never to awaken).

At this point the laptop is running with the lid closed, but there is no video to be seen.

any more ideas?

-r

Try this and see if it doesn't work:
Have everything set up like you like it, with the powerbook on, and the external monitor working. Then, shut down the powerbook. Turn it on again, and quickly close the lid, so it starts up with the lid closed.

Does that work?
Lee Tom

 

[LeeTom]

yeah, hmmm... if it is the case that you turned it to a invalid resolution when the lid was closed, then it may be trying to go to that, and thus gets fouled up.
If that's the case, you may need to delete some display preference file or something.

Try this:
create a new user, login to that user account, then try setting up the monitor with the lid closed. I believe the monitor preference is stored in your user dir, and if so, this will determine that for sure!

Lee Tom

 

[rpet]

no dice

Same scenario as with my default/Admin login.

-r

yeah, hmmm... if it is the case that you turned it to a invalid resolution when the lid was closed, then it may be trying to go to that, and thus gets fouled up.
If that's the case, you may need to delete some display preference file or something.

Try this:
create a new user, login to that user account, then try setting up the monitor with the lid closed. I believe the monitor preference is stored in your user dir, and if so, this will determine that for sure!

Lee Tom

 

[LeeTom]

AHA!

rpet:
I found this on the newsgroups, give it a shot!:

You need to boot in single user mode (Cmd-S during reboot) and delete the
file /library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.plist. Then reboot. I had
tried modifying that file earlier, but I didn't do it in single user mode. I
think that's the trick.

Lee Tom

 

[rpet]

Success!

This last method worked! After 3 weeks of grief I can now get the lid closed and the external monitor to stay on!

(I had to figure out how to mount the volume, etc... my unix skills are about 8 years rusty.)

love ya!

-rob in SF

PS - PBs rule.

rpet:
I found this on the newsgroups, give it a shot!:



Lee Tom

 

[LeeTom]

Another mystery solved by...

Lee Tom!