MacBook Pros exhibiting locking up with second displays?
By Conrad Quilty-Harper 
posted October 7th 2007 9:54AM
posted October 7th 2007 9:54AM
Here's another Apple Support forums conundrum for ya: a small group of users are reporting that their Santa Rosa MacBook Pros are locking up sporadically when attaching or disconnecting a second display or projector. This post is currently being typed on a Santa Rosa MacBook Pro, which is regularly hooked up to a Dell monitor sitting on the desk: no problems here. That said, there are several dozen responses on this one thread, so feel free to weigh in if you're seeing these freezing issues too.
On another note, my 15in is working fine... and I've run it over with my car. Maybe mine doesn't count though because I don't have two displays, only my Sony CRT through DVI out.
Also, you guys might want to try plugging in now monitors/projectors when the computer is asleep vs. or when it is awake. Some computers are picky about this. Just find the one that works, hopefully, for you. I believe the problem with this error is that the Apple product automatically tries to recognize the display and what resolutions and refresh rates it can accept, and then chooses the optimal settings. This could take some time and resources, which could cause the computer to freeze, or seem like it is frozen.
No problems with my Santa Rosa 15 incher.
I have also had issues with my MacBook Pro (15"/2.16 GHz) and a ProView 22" Widescreen HD display. Working with both the laptop display and external display running at the same time has been fine, but anytime I boot the laptop up closed just with the external display, I have to do a series of restarts and re-plugging and unplugging the display to get the computer acting normally. Hopefully Apple will present a software update?
Ok, so like 3 of the posts in here are actually related to the dual screen freeze issue, and the rest are simply talking trash about Apple? Don't people have better things to do, like try to get girlfriends? (I'm sick right now, no gfs for me)
That actually happened to me yesterdaym the very first time i even used the DVI-port on my MBP. No problem after a restart though..
I have a 4 year old Gateway that will sometimes refuse to acknowledge an external monitor until I restart the machine. I can sit and refresh all day to no avail. Is this news? OF COURSE NOT, SO WHY IS ENGADGET WRITING ABOUT THE MBPs doing the same thing?
And anyway, my money is that it is something that can be resolved via a firmware update or an archive and install...what ever happened to people actually troubleshooting something before whining about how a product is crap?
To piss you off.
This is something that occurs often to me. I plugged my mbp closed to an apple cinema display. When I unplug it sometimes fails to go back to sleep instead ending up in "sleep of death mode" where the sleep light is steady, the fans are blasting, the heat is rising, and the mbp can not be wake up.
PC users swarm around every problem on the Mac and astroturf it up at Apple's forums and elsewhere.
Obviously, Apple computers have problems. But not nearly as many as PCs. Which is why you don't get a whole bunch of Apple fanboys swarming around every little PC problem. But the Apple hateboys take a day off whenever an Apple product has a bad day.
So why do the Apple hateboys get so excited when an Apple product gets a bug? It's just wierd. It's probably because there's quiet agreement that Apple is superior that it gets knocked for failing to be perfect. If the Apple hateboys didn't honestly believe in Apple's superiority, why would they make such a big deal out of a trivial bug?
Incidentally, I just bought a digital camera. The instructions on how to use it with a PC went on for pages and pages, and included a CD with various applications for linking the computer with the camera. The instructions for how to use it with a Mac were one sentence: plug it in with supplied cable.
Thank you for posting that. People who keep making fun of the "it just works" slogan need to read this post. That is what they are talking about when they say that. All computers or electronics are going to have some problems, that is why there is a warranty. No manufactured product can be without defect on every single one. The slogan is referring to the use of the computer. You can just plug it in and it works. I can just plug in my camera and it just works, I can plug in my printer and it just works, I can plug in my video camera and it just works. That is what they are talking about, not every single computer off of the assembly line will work forever without any hardware defects in any of the units. Give me a break no company would ever claim that. All products have their strengths and weeknesses, some people put up with some weaknesses because the strengths are what are important to them, so don't be an ass and realize that to some people simplicity of use is more important than being able to install every program ever made or build a computer from individual components. I personally like that I can buy a computer and it comes with almost all of the software I need out of the box and as soon as I plug it in and turn it on it is ready to go, there are no drivers to install to get my camera to work or my microphone or anything else that I personally use.
had same issues with my old 1st bacth macbook, with sony 19" external LCD (4:3).
Same problem when plugging into external projectors. I haven't seen it much with my 30 inch dell display. I suspect the problem has been corrected with the latest update but i don't dare plug it in because i have had parts of my file system wrecked by these lockups.
the big story here is the article answered the biggest question of all that has been bothering all us non-apple fanboys for the las 6 months. engadget is a bunch of apple fanboys who put emphasis on apple news over all others because they in fact use apples full time. you should have kept that bit of info to yourself as now we know where your true alliances are. don't even bother trying to convince us you are not being paid to write a minimum amount of apple content every day/week/month. your worse then wired!
I've seen this with every Tiger based PowerBook and Macbook Pro I've used.
However, it hasn't happened to me since I started using that which is expected to be released Oct 26.
Get your $129 ready.
Yes, I have the same problem as everybody. My G4 Powerbook was working perfectly and when I bought a brand new MacBook Pro I can't do slideshows anymore.
It also crashes sometimes when I plus in my USB Headphones + Mic.
Mine has done this before when I plugged into a projector, It kinda sucked to have to restart and clear the PRAM in front of 1100 people.
I am typing on my SR Macbook pro, which i normally use connected to my 22" Hanns G monitor... it works fine. I haven't had a problem yet...