[shifuimam]

I have a 1.7GHz Power Mac G4 with a Radeon 9000 Pro hooked up to a 42" LCD TV via DVI-to-HDMI (no box; just a direct conversion with a single cable). I use it primarily to watch DVDs in my bedroom, using Front Row and an ATI Remote Wonder II remote control.

At night, I'll fall asleep before the end of the DVD, and Front Row will show the DVD menu, which, as far as I can tell, prevents OS X from sending the sleep signal to the display. I'll end up turning off the TV with its own remote at some point at night (or in the morning).

My problem is that when I turn the TV back on, I no longer have video - the DVD menu image is there (or whatever might have been on the screen, for that matter), but it's offset down and to the right and is completely frozen. OS X itself is not frozen - I can start playing the DVD with the remote, changing the volume works (I can hear the clicking sound OS X makes when the volume is changed), etc.

If I unplug the TV from the G4 and attach a normal computer monitor, video displays normally (since OS X detects a different display). If I go back to the TV, the video is frozen. I've also tried putting the G4 in standby and bringing it back, turning the TV off and on, switching inputs on the TV, and using the AppleScript I have mapped to a button on my remote to send the sleep signal to the TV. None of these things have worked. I managed to get it to come back once by using TeamViewer to remote in and change the screen resolution, but that's the only thing that's worked, and not even that works reliably to resolve this. I generally end up having to hard reboot the G4.

I used to use a 21" Dell UltraSharp LCD (to watch DVDs on), and I didn't have this problem, so I'm not sure what the TV might be doing to cause this to happen. It doesn't happen if I just turn the TV off and on (or switch inputs as few times). It seems like the issue is when it's off for awhile.

[reader50]

The G4 must still "see" the TV when the TV sleeps. First guess: the Radeon drivers run through alt resolutions trying to get the TV to respond, and the display output freezes when the list is exhausted. The problem would be caused by AMD and the TV people making different assumptions about how to handle sleep conditions.

Try inserting a conversion box into the video path. But the problem may not be fully solvable. Blocking feedback from the TV will solve the freeze, but will prevent the computer from sleeping the TV.

Or you could buy a smart power strip, so the TV will be powered down whenever the Mac goes to sleep.

[shifuimam]

I love how you're the only person who responds to my posts anymore.

Anyhow.

What I've discovered - something is going on with the signal any time the TV turns on or off. If I'm playing a movie or music and turn the TV off, the audio hiccups until the TV is off. If I turn the TV back on, it hiccups several times - at the TV logo power-on screen, the "no signal" screen, and then one more time when the screen goes black right before the video comes back up, at which point the video is frozen.

I'm going to try using VGA instead of DVI. It seems like something with how DVI/HDMI handles power signals is causing a problem...