External display goes black when I use the volume control

Question

External display goes black when I use the volume control

I don't know if this can be solved but, when I use the volume control my 27" LED Cinema Display (minidisplayport) goes black for about 2 seconds, or blinks to black several times before the display works properly again. Using the volume control is the only thing that does this, and it happens no matter whether I use the control on the screen or on the keyboard. It's not life threatening but it's ****** annoying and can't be good for the display

2020 Mac Mini / 27" Apple LED Cinema Display - mini display port version

Posted on Oct 4, 2024 11:49 AM

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Answer 1

lanstrad1

Level 2

480 points

Oct 5, 2024 6:02 AM in response to pineapple-sandwich

Are you using a renote volume control ? (I would assume yes).

Since it’s all Apple stuff, i would assume it’s compatible.

can you go to Utilities, Audio and MIDI, and see what appears for sound output: device, format if visible ?

Could the display be connected thriugh HDMI port instead? (HDMI will carry image and sound, not sure about miniDisplay port, i’ve never really used it).

Here you’re playing with different technologies : bluetooth, physical connexion, perhaps rfid for volume control ? We need to simplify if possible.

Many tiny details like this you may need to try to troubleshoot.

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Answer 2

Oct 6, 2024 7:31 PM in response to BDAqua

Thanks BDAqua. It seems to be some bluetooth / Wacom tablet thing. Wacom updated the software for the tablet, which I discovered reset the pen to its most sensitive levels, and just making them less sensitive largely eliminated the blacking out problem. I can't make the keyboard recreate the problem at all now, and the on screen control is blacking out 90% less. The problem isn't completely solved but this is definitely a significant improvement

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

245,507 points

Oct 4, 2024 8:59 PM in response to pineapple-sandwich

Whew, we may never find out as you say, but...

Are you running any VPN, Anti-Virus, or Cleaning apps?

We need to see what all is running, a report from this will not display any personal info...

Using EtreCheck - Apple Community

EtreCheck is a FREE simple little diagnostic tool to display the important details of your system configuration and allow you to copy that information to the Clipboard. It is meant to be used with Apple Support Communities to help people help you with your Mac. It will not display any personal info. Give it Full Disk Access.

https://www.etrecheck.com/

Give etrecheck Full Disk Access before running.

Thanks for Old Toad’s etrecheck instructions…

Slow iMac 2017 - Apple Community

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