Filed under: Accessories, Mac mini
Simple fix for the USB monitor black screen of doom
If you use a USB display adapter to add a 2nd screen to your Mac, you may have noticed that ever since Mac OS X 10.5.7 came out, they have been mysteriously failing. This morning, after logging out and logging back in, the black-screen-of-doom scenario happened on my Mac mini's second monitor. By searching around, I came across a DisplayLink FAQ that seemed to provide answers.
Mind you, I don't own a "DisplayLink". I use an eVGA UV Plus on my mini. Like many other external monitor devices, however, my eVGA uses the DisplayLink chipset and drivers. So even if you think this solution doesn't apply to your USB monitor solution, it very well may.
I didn't just upgrade to 10.5.7 yesterday. It's been running on my system for ages. So why did everything fail after my log-out/log-in? I seriously have no idea. Following the suggestions on the DisplayLink site and on several Mac support boards, I re-installed the 1.1 drivers and rebooted. My monitor is now back to life.
So, bottom line, if you are using an external USB-powered display on your Mac and it stops working, try re-installing drivers. You'll find the latest Mac drivers here, plus the newest beta releases. You'll need to agree to the DisplayLink EULA before you're permitted to download the software. And you will need to reboot. However, on an annoyance scale between 0 (everything working) and 10 (losing access to your second monitor), a simple reinstall & reboot clocks in at about a 3.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
TwistedPixel said 6:15PM on 6-09-2009
I've been looking for this very monitor solution for a long time and never stumbled upon this. This is brilliant!
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balls said 7:51PM on 6-09-2009
Awesome. Thanks Erica for doing the dirty work for this.
Now plz to be finding the fix for the Mini Display Port to Dual Link DVI problem.
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Kit Yeung said 9:15PM on 6-09-2009
I also got a DisplayLink-powered adapter from IOGear, but seem everytime I reboot my machine, the adapter stop working, it only display a black screen (monitor seem got the signal), then I'll have to reinstall the driver again and reboot to get it working!
That mean now everytime I reboot my machine, I'll need to reinstall the driver and reboot again! Annoying, DisplayLink, please fix your driver, you've got a nice hardware product but the driver really sucks.
BTW, I never got my Energy Saving mode work on my LG monitor, it work when I connect to my mac directly, but once via the adapter, it just show black screen!
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Carl said 9:27PM on 6-09-2009
"a simple reinstall & reboot clocks in at about a 3."
Now you know how it feels to be a PC user... all the time.
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Michael Jones said 1:26AM on 6-10-2009
Well, that, and your BSOD is usually blue instead of black.
SCOTT said 1:05AM on 6-10-2009
Well...I got the eVGA plus thing the other day...and I had that same problem with it...black screen that flickered a little...
I then went back to the web site and downloaded the beta version...installed and rebooted and it works great now...
it's really cool...only problem is it doesn’t work with Apple Cinema displays of 22", 23", or 30"...because the default resolution is too high for it...but I see from the Display Link site that there is a newer chip that should work with at least the 23"...thinking about getting the Leveno USB to DVI adapter...but it's $129...so I'm not ready to do that yet
but I love having a second monitor on my mac mini
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Maddy said 1:14AM on 6-10-2009
Searching around, I came across a DisplayLink FAQ that seemed to provide answers .
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johnfulwider said 8:33AM on 6-10-2009
Recently I've been having the "*flashing blue* screen of death." MacBook Pro with external monitor hooked up; whenever I move the mouse, both screens flash blue. This is the same blue flash that used to happen just once when I first hooked up the monitor.
Now it happens repeatedly, rendering both screens unusable until I unplug the VGA cable for the external monitor from the MacBook Pro, at which point things return to normal.
Any ideas?
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Brandon said 11:04AM on 6-10-2009
Not to hate on you or anything, but why exactly did you feel it was necessary to post something like this. I understand there may be many people having this problem.... but seriously.... the solution is to reinstall the driver?
I'm no rocket scientist, but everyone should know to try that first and if they don't than a simple google will produce this same information. I like to read this blog but IMHO this kind of information belongs in a FAQ somewhere, not front page during WWDC week.
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Byrdman said 11:51AM on 6-10-2009
Completely agree. This is not news. This is the easiest way to try and fix an issue you may be having with a device.
And to top it off, there are people here who think that it is "Brilliant!" Are mac people really that stupid that they think that reinstalling a driver is a revolutionary new solution to a problem? I use OS X on a daily basis, but its people like that that make mac users out to be idiots who know absolutely nothing about how their computers work. I swear that the next time I hear that OS X "doesn't get viruses or crash and everything just works" I'm gonna kill someone. Learn about how the products you use work and then we wouldn't have posts like these.
STFU said 6:56PM on 6-10-2009
Look, unless you're an editor who works for TUAW, why are you people even commenting on whether or not something should be posted here? Get a life. If you don't like a post, then move right along to something else. Stop burdening the rest of us with your indignant commentary about what TUAW should be publishing. Start your own damn blog and dazzle everyone with your never ending supply of nothing but pearls of wisdom. Everyone will then flock to your blog and stop reading TUAW, which will wither and die as a result.
Go on. We're all waiting.
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jonathan said 4:00PM on 6-17-2009
doesnt work me for but once!
i reinstall , reboot it works
upon next restart, screen is black again!
help!???
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Ben said 1:43PM on 7-29-2009
mimomonitors.com
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