This function was working without a hitch before: it was just plug and play. Now when I plug my MacBook Pro into the TV using HDMI, all I see on the TV screen is my desktop photo. Nothing else on my desktop appears, and no iTunes, browser, DVD player, etc. Just the desktop.
If I open Display Preferences and click "Gather Windows", I see the Preferences window for my Samsung TV up on the TV, on top of the desktop photo, but still nothing else. If I activate my slide-show screen saver I'll see that (different slide on the TV than on the desktop, but that's normal). But again, nothing else. The rest of my system is completely blind on the big screen, and the built-in Retina screen doesn't automatically change resolution when plugged in, as it did before. It just blinks once.
Plugging and unplugging the HDMI cable, restarting the system, turning TV on and off, switching from cable back to HDMI on the TV, using new HDMI cable, forcing resolution changes from System Preferences, all have no effect. Still just the desktop picture and nothing else.
I posted this text on Apple Support and got a HAL 9000 redirect to a boilerplate "what to do if you can't connect with HDMI" webpage. The one I started with, that said all that stuff about restarting, etc., which I tried before I posted to support. And there's no apparently no way to post a follow-up question. Apparently they no longer have human beings tending those boards.
So, any hints?
If I open Display Preferences and click "Gather Windows", I see the Preferences window for my Samsung TV up on the TV, on top of the desktop photo, but still nothing else. If I activate my slide-show screen saver I'll see that (different slide on the TV than on the desktop, but that's normal). But again, nothing else. The rest of my system is completely blind on the big screen, and the built-in Retina screen doesn't automatically change resolution when plugged in, as it did before. It just blinks once.
Plugging and unplugging the HDMI cable, restarting the system, turning TV on and off, switching from cable back to HDMI on the TV, using new HDMI cable, forcing resolution changes from System Preferences, all have no effect. Still just the desktop picture and nothing else.
I posted this text on Apple Support and got a HAL 9000 redirect to a boilerplate "what to do if you can't connect with HDMI" webpage. The one I started with, that said all that stuff about restarting, etc., which I tried before I posted to support. And there's no apparently no way to post a follow-up question. Apparently they no longer have human beings tending those boards.
So, any hints?