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About a year ago I bought a used Apple Cinema Display 23” (A1082) and a Cinema Display 90W power adapter (A1097). The screen has been working flawlessly until recently, when the screen stopped working. In the beginning, although the screen didn’t turn on, the power lamp would light up, when the power button was touched. Now the light is completely switched off. What I find particularly weird is that whenever I plug the Cinema Display’s USB connector into my laptop and my external Apple USB Keyboard into the Cinema Display’s USB inputs, the external keyboard is fully functioning and able to control my laptop. I guess this could mean that the screen does get power to some extent and is not fully dead? I wanted to test the power adapter with a multimeter, but does this mean that I need to take the power adapter apart to do so? I’ve tried ‘the Jacobeon method’ (covering the middle pin with tape) with no success. Furthermore, I’ve considered buying a 150W adapter to test if it can make the screen work, but as I’ve only spent 35$ on the screen and 90W adapter in total I’m a bit hesitant to spend more than 50 $ on Ebay on a used power adapter that may not fix the problem. It could also be a faulty logic board…. What should I do? Can I fix it myself (I’m a rookie in electronics), should I try to get it fixed by a professional or is it more reasonable to simply toss this beautiful yet fairly old screen?
The ‘Jacobeon method’ blocking the middle power line pin of the power brick is when the displays LED is blinking in a Short - Long - Short blink. If the displays LED is not lighting at all then you have a power brick issue. As far as the displays USB ports power can flow from the MacBook back to the display besides from the displays power adapter via the USB connection. So that is not offering anything helpful diagnostically. Lets get a better idea on what’s happening by installing this app CoconutBattery take a snapshot with the displays MagSafe connected to your MacBook and post it here for us to see Adding images to an existing question
@mcbiernes I don’t think your power adapter is the issue here. Let’s see where the next steps a taking you.
Hi The repair manual I have says this: 3. Check to see if the computer recognizes the display: • Plug the display into a known-good computer with a known-good video card and DVI display port. Connect a second display (or use a PowerBook or iBook). Start up the computer and allow enough time to finish startup. • From the desktop, select the hard drive, and under the apple icon click About This Mac. Click the More Info button to open System Profiler. In the System Profile menu under Hardware, check the hub to see if the display is listed. – If the display is not listed, replace the main board. – If the display is listed, go to the No Video symptom. Link to the 23 Inch DVI display manual, I have both and they are identical. http://www.applerepairmanuals.com/monito… Hope this helps
