Discussion:
External monitor not waking
(too old to reply)
Daniel Cohen
2018-04-25 07:15:20 UTC
Permalink
My Mac is a 2011 MacBookPro running OS 10.13.4. This is connected by
Thunderbolt to a Belkin dock, which in turn is connected to a Dell
U2414H monitor.

Most of the time this works fine, but recently (not sure if it started
when I went to 10.13.4 or whether it had happened on 10.13.3) the
monitor sometimes refuses to wake up when I wake the computer from
sleep. That is, the monitor insists on remaining in Power Save mode, and
in fact says "entering power save mode" when the computer wakes.

So far I have solved it by a mix of turning monitor on and off,
disconnecting power cable of monitor and reconnecting it, and restarting
the computer. But I haven't found a consistent set of steps to get it to
work.

Any ideas for more diagnostic steps, or even a solution? As I said, this
is an occasional problem, usually the monitor becomes active as soon as
the computer wakes, but it occurs often enough to be troublesome.
--
<http://www.decohen.com>
The Labyrinth of the Heart: Changed Myths for Changing Lives
book and e-book <http://www.decohen.com/labyrinth.htm>
Send e-mail to the Reply-To address, not the From address.
nospam
2018-04-25 09:22:32 UTC
Permalink
Post by Daniel Cohen
My Mac is a 2011 MacBookPro running OS 10.13.4. This is connected by
Thunderbolt to a Belkin dock, which in turn is connected to a Dell
U2414H monitor.
Most of the time this works fine, but recently (not sure if it started
when I went to 10.13.4 or whether it had happened on 10.13.3) the
monitor sometimes refuses to wake up when I wake the computer from
sleep. That is, the monitor insists on remaining in Power Save mode, and
in fact says "entering power save mode" when the computer wakes.
So far I have solved it by a mix of turning monitor on and off,
disconnecting power cable of monitor and reconnecting it, and restarting
the computer. But I haven't found a consistent set of steps to get it to
work.
Any ideas for more diagnostic steps, or even a solution? As I said, this
is an occasional problem, usually the monitor becomes active as soon as
the computer wakes, but it occurs often enough to be troublesome.
the first thing to try is get rid of the belkin dock. belkin relabels
cheap chinese crap.
Daniel Cohen
2018-04-25 12:41:09 UTC
Permalink
Post by nospam
the first thing to try is get rid of the belkin dock. belkin relabels
cheap chinese crap.
May be the ultimate solution, but definitely NOT the first thing.

You are suggesting I spend a great deal of money when the answer may be
something much simpler.
--
<http://www.decohen.com>
The Labyrinth of the Heart: Changed Myths for Changing Lives
book and e-book <http://www.decohen.com/labyrinth.htm>
Send e-mail to the Reply-To address, not the From address.
Neill Massello
2018-04-25 14:23:08 UTC
Permalink
Post by Daniel Cohen
May be the ultimate solution, but definitely NOT the first thing.
You are suggesting I spend a great deal of money when the answer may be
something much simpler.
Connecting the display directly to the Mac, rather than through the
dock, should definitely have been one of the earliest diagnostic steps.
Jolly Roger
2018-04-25 14:46:47 UTC
Permalink
Post by Neill Massello
Post by Daniel Cohen
May be the ultimate solution, but definitely NOT the first thing.
You are suggesting I spend a great deal of money when the answer may be
something much simpler.
Connecting the display directly to the Mac, rather than through the
dock, should definitely have been one of the earliest diagnostic steps.
Yep.
--
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR
nospam
2018-04-25 15:51:55 UTC
Permalink
Post by Daniel Cohen
Post by nospam
the first thing to try is get rid of the belkin dock. belkin relabels
cheap chinese crap.
May be the ultimate solution, but definitely NOT the first thing.
absolutely the first thing to try.
Post by Daniel Cohen
You are suggesting I spend a great deal of money when the answer may be
something much simpler.
what money?

according to what i found online, that display supports hdmi and
minidisplayport.

you said your mac is a 2011 macbook pro, which has thunderbolt &
mini-displayport in the same connector.

a mini-displayport cable is a few bucks and an hdmi adapter only
slightly more. you might even have either or both already. there are
plenty on ebay if you don't want to pay retail price, but it will take
a couple of days to get it, at a minimum.

if it solves the problem, you know it's the belkin. if not, then
further investigation is needed.
Jolly Roger
2018-04-25 16:19:04 UTC
Permalink
Post by nospam
Post by Daniel Cohen
Post by nospam
the first thing to try is get rid of the belkin dock. belkin relabels
cheap chinese crap.
May be the ultimate solution, but definitely NOT the first thing.
absolutely the first thing to try.
Post by Daniel Cohen
You are suggesting I spend a great deal of money when the answer may be
something much simpler.
what money?
according to what i found online, that display supports hdmi and
minidisplayport.
And according to Dell, it comes with a DisplayPort cable in the box:

<http://www.dell.com/ed/business/p/dell-u2414h/pd>
Post by nospam
you said your mac is a 2011 macbook pro, which has thunderbolt &
mini-displayport in the same connector.
So he can connect it straight to the computer.
Post by nospam
if it solves the problem, you know it's the belkin. if not, then
further investigation is needed.
Yep.
--
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR
nospam
2018-04-25 16:23:08 UTC
Permalink
Post by Jolly Roger
Post by nospam
Post by Daniel Cohen
Post by nospam
the first thing to try is get rid of the belkin dock. belkin relabels
cheap chinese crap.
May be the ultimate solution, but definitely NOT the first thing.
absolutely the first thing to try.
Post by Daniel Cohen
You are suggesting I spend a great deal of money when the answer may be
something much simpler.
what money?
according to what i found online, that display supports hdmi and
minidisplayport.
<http://www.dell.com/ed/business/p/dell-u2414h/pd>
even better.

total cost: $0
Post by Jolly Roger
Post by nospam
you said your mac is a 2011 macbook pro, which has thunderbolt &
mini-displayport in the same connector.
So he can connect it straight to the computer.
Post by nospam
if it solves the problem, you know it's the belkin. if not, then
further investigation is needed.
Yep.
Daniel Cohen
2018-04-26 07:09:56 UTC
Permalink
Post by nospam
Post by Jolly Roger
Post by nospam
Post by Daniel Cohen
Post by nospam
the first thing to try is get rid of the belkin dock. belkin relabels
cheap chinese crap.
May be the ultimate solution, but definitely NOT the first thing.
absolutely the first thing to try.
Post by Daniel Cohen
You are suggesting I spend a great deal of money when the answer may be
something much simpler.
what money?
according to what i found online, that display supports hdmi and
minidisplayport.
<http://www.dell.com/ed/business/p/dell-u2414h/pd>
even better.
total cost: $0
Well, yes, for diagnosis, that's fine. But it would mean not having my
external drives connected for a while, which would be a hassle.

If I find the issue annoys me enough (most of the time everything is
fine, but just from time to time it happens), that's what I will have to
try.

Any equipment can fail over the years,, though most fail early if they
are going to fail, so it could be the Belkin or the cables.

But it has been solid until recently, and I think the change occurred
after the upgrade to 10.13.4
Post by nospam
Post by Jolly Roger
Post by nospam
you said your mac is a 2011 macbook pro, which has thunderbolt &
mini-displayport in the same connector.
So he can connect it straight to the computer.
Post by nospam
if it solves the problem, you know it's the belkin. if not, then
further investigation is needed.
Yep.
--
<http://www.decohen.com>
The Labyrinth of the Heart: Changed Myths for Changing Lives
book and e-book <http://www.decohen.com/labyrinth.htm>
Send e-mail to the Reply-To address, not the From address.
nospam
2018-04-26 14:31:39 UTC
Permalink
Post by Daniel Cohen
Post by nospam
Post by Jolly Roger
Post by nospam
Post by Daniel Cohen
You are suggesting I spend a great deal of money when the answer may be
something much simpler.
what money?
according to what i found online, that display supports hdmi and
minidisplayport.
<http://www.dell.com/ed/business/p/dell-u2414h/pd>
even better.
total cost: $0
Well, yes, for diagnosis, that's fine.
that's the point - diagnose the problem.

once you know what's causing it, you know what needs to be replaced.
Post by Daniel Cohen
But it would mean not having my
external drives connected for a while, which would be a hassle.
only until you isolate the problem.

you may be able to connect them in some other way until you figure out
what's going on.
Post by Daniel Cohen
If I find the issue annoys me enough (most of the time everything is
fine, but just from time to time it happens), that's what I will have to
try.
intermittent problems are difficult to diagnose and most annoying.
Post by Daniel Cohen
Any equipment can fail over the years,, though most fail early if they
are going to fail, so it could be the Belkin or the cables.
a hub is more likely to fail than a cable.
Post by Daniel Cohen
But it has been solid until recently, and I think the change occurred
after the upgrade to 10.13.4
10.13.4 is unlikely to have made a difference.
Chris Ridd
2018-04-29 10:20:02 UTC
Permalink
Post by Daniel Cohen
Post by nospam
Post by Jolly Roger
Post by nospam
Post by Daniel Cohen
Post by nospam
the first thing to try is get rid of the belkin dock. belkin relabels
cheap chinese crap.
May be the ultimate solution, but definitely NOT the first thing.
absolutely the first thing to try.
Post by Daniel Cohen
You are suggesting I spend a great deal of money when the answer may be
something much simpler.
what money?
according to what i found online, that display supports hdmi and
minidisplayport.
<http://www.dell.com/ed/business/p/dell-u2414h/pd>
even better.
total cost: $0
Well, yes, for diagnosis, that's fine. But it would mean not having my
external drives connected for a while, which would be a hassle.
If I find the issue annoys me enough (most of the time everything is
fine, but just from time to time it happens), that's what I will have to
try.
Any equipment can fail over the years,, though most fail early if they
are going to fail, so it could be the Belkin or the cables.
But it has been solid until recently, and I think the change occurred
after the upgrade to 10.13.4
There were some extensive graphics subsystem changes in 10.13.4 to
support external GPUs, and I wonder if one of those changes has bitten you?

It has certainly bitten some DisplayLink users:
https://support.displaylink.com/knowledgebase/articles/1849327-important-information-on-macos-10-13-4-update
--
Chris
Daniel Cohen
2018-04-29 18:15:20 UTC
Permalink
Post by Chris Ridd
There were some extensive graphics subsystem changes in 10.13.4 to
support external GPUs, and I wonder if one of those changes has bitten you?
Could be. Do you know how I could test for that.

For the moment I am trying MartinC's suggestion, which is very easy if
it works.
--
<http://www.decohen.com>
The Labyrinth of the Heart: Changed Myths for Changing Lives
book and e-book <http://www.decohen.com/labyrinth.htm>
Send e-mail to the Reply-To address, not the From address.
Chris Ridd
2018-04-30 16:35:47 UTC
Permalink
Post by Daniel Cohen
Post by Chris Ridd
There were some extensive graphics subsystem changes in 10.13.4 to
support external GPUs, and I wonder if one of those changes has bitten you?
Could be. Do you know how I could test for that.
Sorry, not without looking into it more deeply.
Post by Daniel Cohen
For the moment I am trying MartinC's suggestion, which is very easy if
it works.
If that doesn't work, then maybe the 10.13.4 changes (and the link I
sent) can get your investigations going in the right direction.
--
Chris
Wade Garrett
2018-04-25 19:46:09 UTC
Permalink
Post by nospam
Post by Daniel Cohen
My Mac is a 2011 MacBookPro running OS 10.13.4. This is connected by
Thunderbolt to a Belkin dock, which in turn is connected to a Dell
U2414H monitor.
Most of the time this works fine, but recently (not sure if it started
when I went to 10.13.4 or whether it had happened on 10.13.3) the
monitor sometimes refuses to wake up when I wake the computer from
sleep. That is, the monitor insists on remaining in Power Save mode, and
in fact says "entering power save mode" when the computer wakes.
So far I have solved it by a mix of turning monitor on and off,
disconnecting power cable of monitor and reconnecting it, and restarting
the computer. But I haven't found a consistent set of steps to get it to
work.
Any ideas for more diagnostic steps, or even a solution? As I said, this
is an occasional problem, usually the monitor becomes active as soon as
the computer wakes, but it occurs often enough to be troublesome.
the first thing to try is get rid of the belkin dock. belkin relabels
cheap chinese crap.
...as opposed to some other companies that relabel expensive Chinese crap;-)
--
The fastest way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.
Jolly Roger
2018-04-25 14:38:23 UTC
Permalink
Post by Daniel Cohen
My Mac is a 2011 MacBookPro running OS 10.13.4. This is connected by
Thunderbolt to a Belkin dock, which in turn is connected to a Dell
U2414H monitor.
Most of the time this works fine, but recently (not sure if it started
when I went to 10.13.4 or whether it had happened on 10.13.3) the
monitor sometimes refuses to wake up when I wake the computer from
sleep. That is, the monitor insists on remaining in Power Save mode, and
in fact says "entering power save mode" when the computer wakes.
So far I have solved it by a mix of turning monitor on and off,
disconnecting power cable of monitor and reconnecting it, and restarting
the computer. But I haven't found a consistent set of steps to get it to
work.
Any ideas for more diagnostic steps, or even a solution? As I said, this
is an occasional problem, usually the monitor becomes active as soon as
the computer wakes, but it occurs often enough to be troublesome.
Which model Belkin dock is this?
--
E-mail sent to this address may be devoured by my ravenous SPAM filter.
I often ignore posts from Google. Use a real news client instead.

JR
MartinC
2018-04-26 11:27:56 UTC
Permalink
Post by Daniel Cohen
Most of the time this works fine, but recently (not sure if it started
when I went to 10.13.4 or whether it had happened on 10.13.3) the
monitor sometimes refuses to wake up when I wake the computer from
sleep. That is, the monitor insists on remaining in Power Save mode, and
in fact says "entering power save mode" when the computer wakes.
This happens here with a MacPro 2013 and an EIZO monitor (Thunderbolt),
about once or twice a month.

I did a google search for it and found that it happened quite frequently
in the past to a lot of people. At that time EIZO claimed that it's a
problem on the Apple side of Thunderbolt, and Apple claimed it's on the
EIZO end of the cable. Since it went away for the majority, someone
probably fixed something, somewhere, sometime.

Anyway, it does happen here rarely every now and then, and after some
more troublesome attempts like re-booting, unplugging cables I
eventually found out that a simple second "wake up call" to the monitor
always fixes it.

So if it stays black, I just hit CTRL-SHIFT-EJECT (which triggers the
screen energy saver) followed by "any key" to wake it up again.

This takes 2 seconds and never failed, so I actually just do it now once
every two weeks without really thinking about it anymore...
Daniel Cohen
2018-04-27 06:30:19 UTC
Permalink
Post by MartinC
Anyway, it does happen here rarely every now and then, and after some
more troublesome attempts like re-booting, unplugging cables I
eventually found out that a simple second "wake up call" to the monitor
always fixes it.
So if it stays black, I just hit CTRL-SHIFT-EJECT (which triggers the
screen energy saver) followed by "any key" to wake it up again.
I've had various sensible suggestions about diagnosis. But they are
somewhat inconvenient.

At last I have a suggestion that is easy to try and with no downsides.
--
<http://www.decohen.com>
The Labyrinth of the Heart: Changed Myths for Changing Lives
book and e-book <http://www.decohen.com/labyrinth.htm>
Send e-mail to the Reply-To address, not the From address.
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