Apple Cinema Display 23" HD Monitor Logo
Posted on Oct 31, 2008
Answered by a Fixya Expert

Trustworthy Expert Solutions

At Fixya.com, our trusted experts are meticulously vetted and possess extensive experience in their respective fields. Backed by a community of knowledgeable professionals, our platform ensures that the solutions provided are thoroughly researched and validated.

View Our Top Experts

Apple Cinema Display 23"

Now the light signal is one short, one long and one short again and that repeats... when connected to my Mac Book Pro the laptop has a black screen and when I disconnect the Cinema Display the laptop screen comes on.

5 Answers

Moozler

Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

MVP:

An expert that got 5 achievements.

Governor:

An expert whose answer got voted for 20 times.

New Friend:

An expert that has 1 follower.

  • Contributor 3 Answers
  • Posted on Oct 27, 2009
Moozler
Contributor
Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

MVP:

An expert that got 5 achievements.

Governor:

An expert whose answer got voted for 20 times.

New Friend:

An expert that has 1 follower.

Joined: Oct 27, 2009
Answers
3
Questions
0
Helped
22996
Points
64

Hi all,
I had the “short long short” blinking led problem with my
23′ ACD after a power outage which left my screen blank and
my cheek wet with a tear for my baby. I read somewhere that
a guy was getting a 1 volt reading on the middle pin of his
damaged 90 watt power block. I figured maybe the display might
work if I could somehow block the middle pin. So I cut a small
strip of paper wide enough to block just the middle pin and long
enough to cover both sides and it looked like a “W”. I gingerly
pressed it into the brick receptacle with a toothpick leaving
just a little slack so it would not tear when I pushed in the
small white plug. It was a bit of a tight fit but guess what.
IT WORKED… I am now enjoying my beloved monitor anew and saved
$$$ on replacement brick or repair.
If you want to try it and you feel you’ve nothing to lose, make
sure you cover just middle pin (both sides) and you may have to try a couple of times. It worked for me, I hope you have good luck too.
Regards, Moozler

  • roger821 Jan 07, 2011

    WORKS!
    Unbelievable, I thought; ' impossible' but worth a try; and it works again!
    Did it with a small strip electrical tape...

    Strange thing is, I have two the same monitors and bricks swapping didn't work...
    But don't care, it works now!

  • w a p Jun 20, 2011

    Moozler is a genius! I tried his paper trick after I got the short long short error code blinking light. Covered the center pin on the brick power input. Plugged it back in and turned it on and it was like there was never anything wrong with it. I was told by my apple authorized service center that all they could do was test it with a new brick which they did and if that didn't fix it then there was nothing they could do. Of course it was still dead after that so I took it home and have been staring at it on my desk for a month wondering what to do. Thought I'd try it one more time but no go. Got on the net and found apples repair guide and noticed the short long short blinking light error code and its meaning. Means it the wrong brick for the monitor. Course we know thats not true so did some more surfing and stubbled accross this site and read Mozers fix and praise the lord halleuhaaaaaa he is a prophet!!

    On a side note you can't tell me apple doesn't know about this problem. Their fix is to sell you a new monitor for something as simple as this. Well I will not buy another apple monitor after this. When this one blows its the competition whos gonna get my loot.

×

Anonymous

Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

Mayor:

An expert whose answer got voted for 2 times.

  • Contributor 1 Answer
  • Posted on Feb 24, 2010
Anonymous
Contributor
Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

Mayor:

An expert whose answer got voted for 2 times.

Joined: Oct 08, 2009
Answers
1
Questions
1
Helped
2646
Points
2

I am having these morse-code blinking power light issues with my cinema display right now. I just found the 3 top blinking patterns and what they mean on Apple's site: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2811

Ad

Bud Martin

Level 3:

An expert who has achieved level 3 by getting 1000 points

Superstar:

An expert that got 20 achievements.

All-Star:

An expert that got 10 achievements.

MVP:

An expert that got 5 achievements.

  • Master 11,361 Answers
  • Posted on Jan 13, 2012
Bud Martin
Master
Level 3:

An expert who has achieved level 3 by getting 1000 points

Superstar:

An expert that got 20 achievements.

All-Star:

An expert that got 10 achievements.

MVP:

An expert that got 5 achievements.

Joined: Oct 24, 2009
Answers
11361
Questions
1
Helped
3368625
Points
33650

The root cause of the problem is due to bad 3.3V Voltage regulator VR3 on the main board, it is putting out more than 3.3v which caused the mointor sensing circuits which is use to find out if the correct power supply is being used with monitor to malfunction. If you do not change the regulator, it will cause more damage since the voltage will be too high. Taping off the pin is a band aid fix but more damage will occur.
http://s807.photobucket.com/albums/yy352/budm/MAC%20Monitors/MAC%20CINEMA%20HD%20Display/

Anonymous

Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

New Friend:

An expert that has 1 follower.

  • Contributor 1 Answer
  • Posted on May 19, 2011
Anonymous
Contributor
Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

New Friend:

An expert that has 1 follower.

Joined: May 19, 2011
Answers
1
Questions
0
Helped
2646
Points
1

I thought you were "full of it" when I read this post but I figured what the heck, might as well try it. It worked!!
Thanks for the unorthodox resolution. :-)

Anonymous

Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

  • Contributor 3 Answers
  • Posted on Jan 11, 2009
Anonymous
Contributor
Level 1:

An expert who has achieved level 1.

Joined: Jan 11, 2009
Answers
3
Questions
0
Helped
7851
Points
3

This sounds like a backlight invertor error! it means it could go soon and is expencive to fix.

bit of help here, different screen but same guidelines:
http://macguild.org/display-repair.html

Add Your Answer

×

Uploading: 0%

my-video-file.mp4

Complete. Click "Add" to insert your video. Add

×

Loading...
Loading...

Related Questions:

0helpful
1answer

Aple HD Cinema Display 23" is dead, no front LED light or back display light

Contact Apple support by phone 1 (800) 204-4427 US toll-free or chat, set up a repair, or make a Genius Bar appointment for iPhone, iPad Apple Mac Technical Support Phone Number 1 800 204 4427
1helpful
1answer

My 23" Apple cinema display (2002) has black screen and code flashes three short flashes. How do I find out if the monitor is dead or the power supply?

The only way to test is to use a known working power supply or known working cinema display with the parts you already have.
2helpful
1answer

Apple 23" cinema display

thats supposed to mean theres a faulty powerbrick, however i have the same problem on mine and replacing that didn't solve it
5helpful
3answers

Apple 23" Cinema HD Display went off

Hey - I just got done with 30 minutes of trying my cinema HD on my macbook pro and plugging and unplugging. When I plugged it into an extension cord in another socket the monitor started right up. I've had this configuration in my office for years with no problem...until today. Did mac send us a system upgrade that caused a problem with the monitor's power source???? Good luck!!!!
1helpful
2answers

Apple Studio Display Flashing Power Button

For the brave of heart, You can disassemble the monitor. After you get in to the inside of it, you'll see a circuit panel with 6 ballast coils on it. On my Cinema display, what happened was that the solder joints on some of those coils had cracked, causing intermittent connection. After hitting all the connections with a soldering iron to heal the cold solder joints and re-assembling it, it is working perfectly fine now.
0helpful
1answer

Screen resolution.

Hello there!

It's fortunately quite easy to adjust the resolution your MacBook Pro sends over to your external display.  Try this:
  1. Click the blue Apple icon, at the top-left of your display (while connected to your 23" external monitor).
  2. Click on "System Preferences".
  3. Click on "Displays" in the "Hardware" row.
  4. A display preferences window should now open on each display... one on your laptop, and one on the 23".
  5. In the "Display" tab of this preference window, specifically the one located on your 23" display, should be a list of resolutions available.  Scroll down and select the highest resolution, which for a 23" should be 1920x1200.
This should adjust your resolution to the maximum.  To make these settings easier to get to in the future, check the box in the display preferences labeled "Show displays in menu bar".  You'll see a small icon, meant to look like a display, appear in your menu bar.  Going forward, you can click on this to set/change resolution settings without going through all the above steps.

Hope this helps!
Not finding what you are looking for?

2,656 views

Ask a Question

Usually answered in minutes!

Top Apple Computers & Internet Experts

Paul Carew

Level 3 Expert

3808 Answers

Grand Canyon Tech
Grand Canyon Tech

Level 3 Expert

3867 Answers

Paul Bade

Level 3 Expert

1818 Answers

Are you an Apple Computer and Internet Expert? Answer questions, earn points and help others

Answer questions

Manuals & User Guides

Loading...