rMBP freezes at startup when connected to 24" cinema display

[coldwaves]

I have a late 2013 15" retina Macbook Pro. If I plug in the 24 inch cinema display and then power up the MBP, sometimes, it will freeze at the white screen with the apple logo. Closing and open the lid does not solve the problem. I have reset PRAM and SMC and that does not help either. If I power up the MBP and then plug in the display, I have no problem. The cinema display has the latest firmware and MBP is updated too.

I only have this problem in recent two or three days. Since the 10.9.4 update comes out on June 30, do you think it is related to the update? Or do you think it is a hardware issue?

 

[T5BRICK]

I'd suspect a software issue since it started happening right after an update. Are you near an Apple store?

 

[coldwaves]

I'd suspect a software issue since it started happening right after an update. Are you near an Apple store?

Thanks for your opinion. The nearest Apple store is about an hour drive. So it is not that close to me. Also, it does not freeze all the time. Sometimes it freeze and sometimes it is totally fine. I might not be able to reproduce it at the store.

 

[T5BRICK]

Thanks for your opinion. The nearest Apple store is about an hour drive. So it is not that close to me. Also, it does not freeze all the time. Sometimes it freeze and sometimes it is totally fine. I might not be able to reproduce it at the store.

Do you have a backup from prior to the 10.9.4 update? You could try reinstalling OSX and restoring from that backup to see if the problem goes away.

 

[coldwaves]

Do you have a backup from prior to the 10.9.4 update? You could try reinstalling OSX and restoring from that backup to see if the problem goes away.

I don't have any backup or early version of Mavericks. I did a clean reinstallation of Mac OS, the problem still persists. Other than that, I haven't seen any performance issue. So I guess it is probably the 10.9.4 updates that cause it. Not a big deal, I can just turn on the laptop until the log in screen appear and then plug in the cinema display. Everything works fine this way.

Plus, I also have a old 20 inch aluminum cinema display. I don't have any problem on that display. This makes me think it is probably nothing wrong with the laptop. It is either software or it is my 24" display.

 

[coldwaves]

I'd suspect a software issue since it started happening right after an update. Are you near an Apple store?

Here are some news things I tried with this issues. It seems if I turn off the computer with both the Cinema Display connected and the laptop open, i.e. two displays in function, it will power on the next time without problem. But if I turn off the laptop in clamshell mode or just use the laptop alone without external display and turn it off, it will struggle to startup next time I power it on with Cinema display connected. This really seems to be software issue instead of hardware issue.

 

[coldwaves]

Here are some news things I tried with this issues. It seems if I turn off the computer with both the Cinema Display connected and the laptop open, i.e. two displays in function, it will power on the next time without problem. But if I turn off the laptop in clamshell mode or just use the laptop alone without external display and turn it off, it will struggle to startup next time I power it on with Cinema display connected. This really seems to be software issue instead of hardware issue.

Another test. I tested my friend's 13 inch rMBP with 10.9.4 and had no problem.