g r o t t o 1 1

Peeve Farm
Breeding peeves for show, not just to keep as pets
Brian Tiemann
Silicon Valley-based purveyor of a confusing mixture of Apple punditry and political bile.

btman at grotto11 dot com

On My Blog Menu:

InstaPundit
USS Clueless
James Lileks
Little Green Footballs
As the Apple Turns
Entropicana
Cold Fury
Capitalist Lion
Red Letter Day
Eric S. Raymond
Tal G in Jerusalem
Secular Islam
Aziz Poonawalla
Corsair the Rational Pirate
.clue

« ? Blogging Brians # »





Book Plugs:


Buy 'em and I get
money. I think.
BSD Mall




 4/12/2004 -  4/14/2004
  4/5/2004 -  4/11/2004
 3/29/2004 -   4/4/2004
 3/22/2004 -  3/28/2004
 3/15/2004 -  3/21/2004
  3/8/2004 -  3/14/2004
  3/1/2004 -   3/7/2004
 2/23/2004 -  2/29/2004
 2/16/2004 -  2/22/2004
  2/9/2004 -  2/15/2004
  2/2/2004 -   2/8/2004
 1/26/2004 -   2/1/2004
 1/19/2004 -  1/25/2004
 1/12/2004 -  1/18/2004
  1/5/2004 -  1/11/2004
12/29/2003 -   1/4/2004
12/22/2003 - 12/28/2003
12/15/2003 - 12/21/2003
 12/8/2003 - 12/14/2003
 12/1/2003 -  12/7/2003
11/24/2003 - 11/30/2003
11/17/2003 - 11/23/2003
11/10/2003 - 11/16/2003
 11/3/2003 -  11/9/2003
10/27/2003 -  11/2/2003
10/20/2003 - 10/26/2003
10/13/2003 - 10/19/2003
 10/6/2003 - 10/12/2003
 9/29/2003 -  10/5/2003
 9/22/2003 -  9/28/2003
 9/15/2003 -  9/21/2003
  9/8/2003 -  9/14/2003
  9/1/2003 -   9/7/2003
 8/25/2003 -  8/31/2003
 8/18/2003 -  8/24/2003
 8/11/2003 -  8/17/2003
  8/4/2003 -  8/10/2003
 7/28/2003 -   8/3/2003
 7/21/2003 -  7/27/2003
 7/14/2003 -  7/20/2003
  7/7/2003 -  7/13/2003
 6/30/2003 -   7/6/2003
 6/23/2003 -  6/29/2003
 6/16/2003 -  6/22/2003
  6/9/2003 -  6/15/2003
  6/2/2003 -   6/8/2003
 5/26/2003 -   6/1/2003
 5/19/2003 -  5/25/2003
 5/12/2003 -  5/18/2003
  5/5/2003 -  5/11/2003
 4/28/2003 -   5/4/2003
 4/21/2003 -  4/27/2003
 4/14/2003 -  4/20/2003
  4/7/2003 -  4/13/2003
 3/31/2003 -   4/6/2003
 3/24/2003 -  3/30/2003
 3/17/2003 -  3/23/2003
 3/10/2003 -  3/16/2003
  3/3/2003 -   3/9/2003
 2/24/2003 -   3/2/2003
 2/17/2003 -  2/23/2003
 2/10/2003 -  2/16/2003
  2/3/2003 -   2/9/2003
 1/27/2003 -   2/2/2003
 1/20/2003 -  1/26/2003
 1/13/2003 -  1/19/2003
  1/6/2003 -  1/12/2003
12/30/2002 -   1/5/2003
12/23/2002 - 12/29/2002
12/16/2002 - 12/22/2002
 12/9/2002 - 12/15/2002
 12/2/2002 -  12/8/2002
11/25/2002 -  12/1/2002
11/18/2002 - 11/24/2002
11/11/2002 - 11/17/2002
 11/4/2002 - 11/10/2002
10/28/2002 -  11/3/2002
10/21/2002 - 10/27/2002
10/14/2002 - 10/20/2002
 10/7/2002 - 10/13/2002
 9/30/2002 -  10/6/2002
 9/23/2002 -  9/29/2002
 9/16/2002 -  9/22/2002
  9/9/2002 -  9/15/2002
  9/2/2002 -   9/8/2002
 8/26/2002 -   9/1/2002
 8/19/2002 -  8/25/2002
 8/12/2002 -  8/18/2002
  8/5/2002 -  8/11/2002
 7/29/2002 -   8/4/2002
 7/22/2002 -  7/28/2002
 7/15/2002 -  7/21/2002
  7/8/2002 -  7/14/2002
  7/1/2002 -   7/7/2002
 6/24/2002 -  6/30/2002
 6/17/2002 -  6/23/2002
 6/10/2002 -  6/16/2002
  6/3/2002 -   6/9/2002
 5/27/2002 -   6/2/2002
 5/20/2002 -  5/26/2002
 5/13/2002 -  5/19/2002
  5/6/2002 -  5/12/2002
 4/29/2002 -   5/5/2002
 4/22/2002 -  4/28/2002
 4/15/2002 -  4/21/2002
  4/8/2002 -  4/14/2002
  4/1/2002 -   4/7/2002
 3/25/2002 -  3/31/2002
 3/18/2002 -  3/24/2002
 3/11/2002 -  3/17/2002
  3/4/2002 -  3/10/2002
 2/25/2002 -   3/3/2002
 2/18/2002 -  2/24/2002
 2/11/2002 -  2/17/2002
  2/4/2002 -  2/10/2002
 1/28/2002 -   2/3/2002
 1/21/2002 -  1/27/2002
 1/14/2002 -  1/20/2002
  1/7/2002 -  1/13/2002
12/31/2001 -   1/6/2002
12/24/2001 - 12/30/2001
12/17/2001 - 12/23/2001
Wednesday, April 14, 2004
12:25 - Black Screen of Annoyance Update

(top) link
By the way, just in case anybody is wondering for no adequately explored reason...

Some time ago, I outlined a problem with my new dual-2.0GHz G5, a problem that I'd discovered later had been widely reported on the various support forums as the "Black Screen of Annoyance". Apparently, on some first-generation G5s with DVI or ADC monitors attached (such as my 22" Cinema Display), if you put the machine to sleep, unplugged/replugged the monitor, or changed video modes, the monitor would go black and never come back to life. Even if you rebooted.

The first time this happened, I frantically tried to track down the problem by taking the monitor (which I suspected as the culprit) down into the garage and plugging it into the old G4; it didn't turn on, so I assumed the monitor was indeed dead, called AppleCare, and sent it in for service. A few days later, it showed up on my doorstep again with a note that said NO DEFECT FOUND, and a charge on my credit card for $300.

I plugged it back in, and seemed to work; but a few days later, the problem recurred, and I was back to blackness. So I sent the monitor back in, and this time it came back with a whole bunch of internal components having been replaced-- circuit board assemblies and the like-- and at no charge. I plugged it in, it seemed to work... and that was that.

...Or so I thought. It turned out not to be fixed at all; the problem happened again shortly afterwards. But by this time I'd figured out a cheat that got my monitor back to working order: if it went black, I'd shut down the computer (blindly), unplug the monitor from the computer and from its external power supply (this is a DVI monitor, not one of the spiffy later ADC ones that they're apparently thinking of dropping, which would be such a pity), wait about fifteen seconds, plug it back in, and boot it up. The monitor would usually come to life again if I did all that, so I just sort of lived with the occasional monitorial crapulence for the next several months.

But about a week ago, something new happened: my UPS went kerplooey. It shut itself down, stopped feeding power to the computer and monitor, and emitted a thin nasal whining beeeep... beeeep.... beeeep.... while flashing its "Replace Battery" light. Now, this is the second time in a year that my UPS's battery has died. What could possibly be causing this? ...Well, it turns out that the UPS in question simply wasn't designed to support a full workstation-class computer; the G5's power supply draws 600 watts (!), and the UPS is only rated for 200. A-heh-heh. Okay. So.

I bought a cheapo surge-protecting power strip to plug the computer into while I tried to dig up a reason that will convince myself that I need a UPS for my computer. (I was unable to think of one, aside from power conditioning, which can be had for much lower cost than a full prosumer-class UPS.) And booted up the G5. Annnnnd.... the monitor didn't come on.

I tried the power-cycle-with-unplug trick. Didn't work.

Hmm.

I tried it a few more times, stressing out the G5's journaling filesystem every time, I'm sure; but to no avail. The monitor was well and truly dead.

Or was it? I knew, in the back of my mind, that this problem had only started after I'd bought the G5; the monitor was fine before that. So I called AppleCare. They had me reset my NVRAM, and then reset the PRAM, which worked temporarily; but then, just after I hung up the phone, as I was unplugging the cables to get everything back to where they were supposed to be after being all tangled up during testing, the sleep cycle got zapped and the monitor died again.

So that was it. I took both the G5 and the monitor in to the Valley Fair Apple Store, where the guy behind the Genius Bar chuckled and mentioned ruefully that he'd seen the dead-monitor problem quite a bit with early G5s. I left the equipment with him and headed back to the office.

Early the next morning, the store called to let me know that it was all fixed. "Video card," the guy said.

In some of the early G5s, the video card—ATI Radeon 9600—was defective in its wake-handling behavior. At the store, they'd tried plugging in their own test monitor, and it didn't come up. So they knew right away that it was the computer's problem; they didn't even need to start down my lengthy list of suggestions for how to reproduce the problem (juggle the cords while the computer is asleep; change video modes; turn on the iTunes visualizer; wiggle your fingers and go booga-booga-booga). When I went in that afternoon to pick it up, the Cinema Display was still happily dormant, its cord wrapped around it like the tail of a sleeping cat. The G5 was running a diagnostic, using an in-store monitor connected to its new, third-generation Radeon card. All looked well.

It was all under warranty, so I paid nothing. And since then, there has been no recurrence of the problem. Fingers are crossed. But now I know what to tell any hapless person who has a G5 whose monitor occasionally goes black and never comes back to life.

And let me tell you something else: I remember a time when the monitor was the most difficult part of your computer to carry in from your car. That G5 is frickin' heavy!


Back to Top


© Brian Tiemann