To use an external display only when watching a movie on an external TV or projector it’s nice to not show the video on your Mac’s main display since it’s distracting. Closing the lid on a MacBook Pro makes it go to sleep and the only way to prevent the MacBook from sleeping with the lid closed is through some serious kernel hacks.
Apple’s Front Row has a feature that makes the secondary screen will go blank and dark when the Front Row is started. The trick to make your main MacBook display go blank when outputting Front Row to the secondary screen is to make your secondary screen the primary display. This is done through System Preferences => Display Preferences.
When you have the DVI to Video Adapter connected to your MacBook Pro and connected to a TV or other type of external display, open up Display Preferences. Within Display Preferences, choose Arrangement. You should see two blue squares that represent each display, main and secondary. On the main display you’ll notice a bar along the top. Simply click and drag this bar from the Main Display (usually on the left and large) to the secondary display, to make it the Primary or Main display. Close Display Preferences. Launch Front Row by hitting Apple key + Esc or by hitting the Menu on your Apple Remote. Front Row will launch and turn off the MacBook main display so that you can enjoy a distraction free viewing experience for your movies and videos on an external display.
Enjoy.
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Tags: DVI to Video, external display, front row
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May 14, 2008 at 11:55 am
Pingback from Hot MacBook Pro Temperature « Mac OS X Leopard & Tiger Dual Boot
May 14, 2008 at 11:33 am
uublive
this is the ONLY feature I missed from Win based notebook. I still don’t know why is osx you can’t pause the sleep, is it maybe for heat?
May 14, 2008 at 11:40 am
deckard
I’ve read on various forums that it is in fact a heat dissipation issue.
Considering how much heat my MacBook Pro (Santa Rosa model) produces… I’d have to say, it might be a good idea to force sleep when the lid is closed. Maybe a solution would be to increase fan speed when the lid is closed…
As an aside I use SMC Fan Control to boost my default fan speed to keep the internal temperature around 50C or below. Otherwise it would be hovering around 55-60C; A little hot for my taste.
June 28, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Arnav
Just throwing this (somewhat related) question out there - would appreciate feedback. Can you choose when to disable/enable an LCD display (e.g., a projector?). Sometimes when giving a presentation, I have a few minutes during which I like to make some edits after everything is connected.
I could do this with my PC (choose which display I want to make active) but don’t know how to do it with the Mac.
Thanks.
July 9, 2008 at 7:47 am
Pierre Bernard
You may use your MacBook Pro with the lid closed by following theses instructions:
1. Plug in power supply
2. Close lid and wait for machine to sleep
3. Attach external display
4. Use a USB keyboard to wake you may. Other USB devices may work too.
BTW, this is not a hack but a documented feature of the MacBook Pro. Ample cooling is provided by the rear vent.
Best,
Pierre Bernard
Houdah Software s.à r.l.
August 3, 2008 at 12:15 pm
Jordan
How do you get the MacBook pro’s monitor to turn BACK on after shutting it down as described above. The only thing I’ve been able to do is turn it off and restart.