[mkral]

OK, I jut bought a Mac Mini running 10.4.2. So far so good. Works great, no problems, etc. Last night I hooked it up to our TV using the DVI port. (42" Plasma) worked great, but it was running in 1024 x 768. I clicked on the displays preerence tab & two other options came up 1920 x (something) in both 50 & 60 Hz. I clicked on the 60 Hz one & the screen went black. I can't see anything. Since the Mac OS seems to store display options, I can't seem to find a way to change back to 1024 x 768. If I plug the mini into a regular monitor, it works great, no problems at all. If I plug the mini into the TV, it will boot up fine, I see the apple, then the screen with the blue bar running underneath the apple, telling me that Mac OS X is booting up, then as soon as that screen finishes, it goes black. If I boot using the shift key, everything works fine on the TV, bu I can't seem to modify the display options from there & as soon as I boot normally, I get the black screen again.

Any ideas on how to reset the display back to 1024x 768? Thanks in advance.

[LightWaver-67]

This has (almost) nothing to do with your question... but I feel the need to share the (mis?)information. I cannot verify it's validity, but I've been told to NEVER connect your Mac (or any PC) directly to the DVI-looking port of a consumer TV... unless the manufacturer's instruction EXPLICITLY say so. Most SONY TVs give clear warnings NOT to connect a computer directly as failure may result.

I am getting my information 3rd-hand from someone who works at an Audio, Video, Home Theater company who says it is a common and sometimes costly mistake. I apologize for not remembering the TYPE of damage that occurrs nor if it is to the TV, the Mac or BOTH.

I THINK it has something to do with the 2-way-communication (or lack thereof) between the two items. Computer monitors send-back status communications while TVs do not - something like that.

Again... I know my warning is vague and quite-possibly incorrect... but I felt the need to share what I think "might" be true.

Peace.

[NeilCharter]

mkral
I think it is possible to connect you TV while the mac is on. I suggest you try this: boot you mini when connected to the monitor. Set the display option to 1024x768. Disconnect the monitor and connect the mini to the TV. This should work.

Also sometimes if the screen goes black hitting the spacebar returns the screen to a usable setting.

In light of what Lightweaver wrote, I cannot guarantee if the above will work or not damage your TV, mac or both.

I have successfully connected my PB via component video to my DLP, but haven't tried the DVI connection yet so I can't tell you if that does work.

Apple do sell an adaptor for connecting DVI to TV via composite or S-Video ($19). Of course this isn't digital

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL....1.1.1.0.1.0.1

Also check some other posts in the mini section - I'm sure I've seen people do this using DVI directly.

Good luck.

[mkral]

lite-thanks for the heads up. Lots of people over on 123macmini.com have big screen setups, so I was assuming this was safe. I"ll keep an eye on it & make sure that nothing bad happens.

Neil, thanks for the tips. Nothing worked. I ended up calling Apple (didn't realize I got 90 days of tech support) Turns out that the mini doesn't support anything over 1028 x 768 on a 42" screen (or at least that's what the support rep said. Anyways, got it all fixed up now.