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A couple of fixes
Authored by: lekun on Mar 16, '07 08:50:39AM

I usually have my MacBook and Powebook hooked up to external monitors and I too have had the problem when I sleep the computer, disconnect the monitor and then reawaken the computer all I get is a black screen.

Unfortunately there are a couple of reasons this can happen, and each has its own solution.

  1. Already mentioned on this site is to reawaken your computer without the power cord plugged in.
  2. Also already mentioned is if you awaken your computer and you get a black screen, tap the powerbutton once (which brings up Shutdown dialog box, though you can't see it) and then press the "S" key, which will sleep the compuer and try reawakening. This frequently solves the problem.
  3. Lastly, if you have slept your newer-Powerbook or Macbook (standard or Pro) and while it was writing the contents of the memory to disk (ala Safe Sleep) unplugged firewire or USB devices you may have corrupted a preferences file. My guess is it is the Energy Saver or Display .plist file, but I don't know for sure.

When I had the black screen on my MacBook and solutions 1 and 2 weren't working anymore, I didn't have time to troubleshoot and locate the exact corrupt .plist. I didn't narrow the problem down to either a. Hardware problem or b. .plist problem so I did an archive and install to determine a or b and the problem has vanished. So I am guessing it was b. but that is a very good guess.

As for the corruption happening when unplugging USB or Firewire devices while safe sleep is writing contents of memory to disk, that is science but anecdotal. I noticed that when I did this (by accident – I thought the computer was all the way asleep) I started having the black screen problems that weren't solved by solutions 1 or 2 above. Thus my reasoning that the unplugging caused the .plist corruption, but I don't know that for sure.

Anyway, if it happens again, I'll figure out the exact .plist and submit a hint to this site, but until then, I think this comment will help those who have the black screen which isn't solved by 1 or 2.



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