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external display as primary output device?
Anyone here know if it's possible to configure an external monitor as the primary output device for system startup? If possible, the idea is to bypass the internal display if it ever fails for some reason. For example, you could "blind boot" the system into single-user mode, run a script to select the external monitor as the output device, and future reboots would use the external monitor instead of the internal display. This would allow use of the system without repairing the internal display, which is something I'd really like to do if/when the CRT on my wife's eMac eventually dies.
external display as primary output device?
There used to be a key combination for old Macs that you could use to start from an external display, but all I can find on google are the ones for Quadra AV machines to force using a TV as a monitor (cmd-opt-t-v) and to force an AV monitor to be recognised as one (cmd-opt-a-v). Maybe one of those might work.
Easy
Anyone here know if it's possible to configure an external monitor as the primary output device for system startup? First, what's wrong with the standard feature, which has been there for decades? Prefpane Monitors:Arrange: in the miniature representation of available monitors, drag the menu bar from one to another.
If you want to do it AFTER your main monitor dies, you can have SwitchRes installed and configured beforehand to present you with any number of choices or presets by right-clicking on the desktop (on the monitor that works).
You can also assign a hotkey to open the Monitors prefpane or a script that opens it and drags it to the secondary monitor so that you won't have to grab it blindly.
If you're OK with the command line, you can also install cscreen and memorize its commands (since you wouldn't see the display if it's dead).
Monitor settings being saved in PRAM and in a prefs file somewhere, you could also research ways to set it at boot time using Open Firmware, or switch between 2 preset prefs files using single user mode and reboot, or set the pref using the "defaults" command and reboot. But managing any of that without seing the CLI output would be needlessly hard. What makes you so sure the built-in monitor will die anyway?
Maybe I misinterpreted
Having re-read your question, it seems you want a way to route the display to a secondary monitor IF and AFTER the built-in one dies, but without having it connected by default in normal use.
Maybe I misinterpreted
I'll try temporarily making an external monitor the primary display, then detaching it and seeing if the internal monitor is used automatically. If that doesn't work I'll investigate your other suggestions (thanks!). |
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