Thunderbolt Display - Dead?

[cosmichobo]

G'day,

A couple nights ago we had a power outage, and in the morning my Apple Thunderbolt display started to be rather flaky - sometimes it would wake with the computer, sometimes it would only wake after I signed in and it had a moment or two to ponder its life decisions, sometimes I pulled the connector cable out and plugged it back in.

Now, 3 days later, it's totally non responsive.

Setup:
Mac Mini 2020, with the Thunderbolt connected via an Apple Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt2 adapter, and also an Apple Cinema Display with DCI to HDMI adapter.

Is it dead?

I have tried:
Pulling the thunderbolt cable
Pulling the power cable
Restarting
Shutting down for several hours (as Silicon doesn't have SMC)

Also pulled out only thing plugged into the Thunderbolt Display (a USB hard drive tower).

Any suggested remedies?

At this point I'm ready to go find 2 non Apple displays for the first time in my life... Moving to Silicon has been a pain in the ass.

Thanks,

cosmic

 

[Bigwaff]

I have had multiple TBDs over the years as well. The built-in TB2 connection is known to flake out with age. You can bring many TBD back to life by replacing the built-in connector or by using a separate TB2 cable plugged into one of the display's TB2 ports instead. I'm currently using separate TB2 cable with a TBD right now. Might also be the TB3 > TB2 adapter. Swap/test your only option.

 

[cosmichobo]

I have had multiple TBDs over the years as well. The built-in TB2 connection is known to flake out with age. You can bring many TBD back to life by replacing the built-in connector or by using a separate TB2 cable plugged into one of the display's TB2 ports instead. I'm currently using separate TB2 cable with a TBD right now. Might also be the TB3 > TB2 adapter. Swap/test your only option.

I've seen videos on replacing the built-in cable... Saw plenty with frayed cables when I was looking to buy. This one has some heat shrink around the connector end of the cable, so - would make sense that there could be a loose connection.

I had not thought about just getting a Thunderbolt cable and using the port/s on the back! Thanks - at least that gives me a fairly easy test option.

Especially since - I was working at my desk all morning, went to lunch, come back and - it's "awake" again.

 

[Bigwaff]

Especially since - I was working at my desk all morning, went to lunch, come back and - it's "awake" again.

Yup. Typical indicator of flaky internal TB cable.

 

[ToniCH]

My TBD 27" is the kind that does not wake up every time. And the behavior is totally random. It might wake up just fine now but the next try it doesn't. Then I need to unplug the TB cable and/or reboot the computer. Does the same thing with the stock cable and another cable connected to the display. Totally annoyed with this.

It is worth nothing broken and repairing it can get expensive as the new cables are no longer easily available and their prices have gone up to the level its not economically viable anymore.

There are driver board kits to convert 27" iMacs to monitors. Are similar kits sold for the TBD or is the panel basically the same as some year of iMacs so I could use one made for a iMac? Where to get a compatible kit if one is available?

 

[PaulD-UK]

@ToniCH "There are driver board kits to convert 27" iMacs to monitors. Are similar kits sold for the TBD or is the panel basically the same as some year of iMacs so I could use one made for a iMac? Where to get a compatible kit if one is available?"

The 27" iMac 2K conversion kit will work, but you have to get one with the right cables for your monitor's screen panel:

So you need one for a LM270W1 (SD) (B3) panel. The B3 bit is the thing that changes for different monitors, so get cables for B3.

A link to an eBay source the oldest of these boards, with HDMI input:

VGA LCD monitor Controller Driver Board Kit for imac 27" 2K A1312 LM270WQ1 HD-MI | eBay UK

So that the engineer make sure about it ,and send you the right kit. Video Input: HDMI VGA. Audio Output: Speaker out (The 3.5mm audio jack in this kit cannot be used. Board Size:82mm x 60mm x 5mm. ).

www.ebay.co.uk

Another one with DP input:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005008500719479.html

A problem is that the backlight driver board that comes with the kit may not give a bright enough backlight when connected to your panel.
The original A1407 TBD backlight inverter panel might be usable, connected to the Chinese video driver board, but no one has reported doing the conversion...

There is a long thread about converting a 2009-11 27" iMac to get full brightness:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/display-brightness-of-my-old-imac.2366331/post-33639738

Another way a Thunderbolt Display has been converted to a monitor is to fit the 27" 5K display panel from a LG Ultrafine 5K monitor - LM270QQ2 (SP)(A1), and use a 5K video conversion board.

5K Apple Thunderbolt display build

In summer 2020 I saw this DIY video and wanted to do something similar, but I had some reservations about the way that it has been done with an iMac chassis. Obviously, these types of displays look fantastic, but as a self-avowed Apple devotee, I just couldn’t stomach the idea of just having a...

forums.macrumors.com