I have a Mac Pro (tower) with 2 Apple 21″ cinema displays attached side-by-side.

It would appear that we might have had a power cut over the weekend, the Mac was off but wouldn’t reboot. Tried a few times, it would sometimes come on but only 1 monitor worked and the whole thing would randomly shut down. I did the usual, zapped the PRAM etc, and it seems to be running but with only 1 monitor.

I’ve tried unplugging and swapping leads etc but can only get the righthand one working. The Mac now thinks that the r/h monitor is the l/h one!

Can anyone suggest what might have happened, and how the hell dual monitors work? cos I can’t seem to work out what is powering what and in what order!!

Thanks

[edit] Also, whilst trying to reboot it, the fans came on full monty and blew a cloud of dust out of the front panel!

Switch off. Unplug one monitor. Switch back on. Then connect the second. It should find it and work normally. Or at least mine did when I had a similar problem.

Thanks Iolo, I’ve tried that and the l/h monitor won’t come on at all… The power light blinks but nothing on the screen – not even the grey or blue screen…

I think my monitor is cooked… 🙁

When I plug in monitor No.2, it works but the Mac thinks it’s monitor 1…

I think my monitor is cooked…

Have you physically swapped over the monitors (so left is right and vice versa) to see which monitor then comes on? If it’s still the LH one it’s not the monitor.

I’ve tried it every way, tried swapping the power, USB and firewire leads in turn to try and isolate it. The only constant is that the l/h monitor won’t work…
Looks like I’ll have to replace it. 🙁

I loved my matching pair of cinema displays, looks like I might have to try fleabay…

It might be worth seeing if you can get it repaired or even have a go at repairing it yourself, plenty of spares for apple stuff on ebay normally and if it is broken you’ve not lost a lot having a go.

That’s a good point Somouk… It’s a bloody good monitor so definitely worth fixing.

I woudn’t know where to start myself, do people still fix these things?

😥 sad times op, that’s bad luck. Others have already suggested things I would have tried. Have you tried a new fuse in the monitor plug (swap from other) and/or if it’s got an external power brick switch those over ? I am a bit surprised a surge would have killed a monitor but not the Pro to be honest but happy it didn’t kill the computer.

if power light blinks, it won’t be the fuse.
probably not the PSU either if it lights.
surge affecting one device and not another happens. all depends on how robust each PSU (or fuse) is, and some pop quicker than others.

The power light is flashing on the dead monitor, just nothing at all on the screen…

More worrying though, the Mac keeps switching itself off… No warning, just trips out completely.

Any ideas anyone? It’s a twin 2.8gHz Quadcore (intel)…

Claim on home insurance? Sounds like it’s donald ducked.