Right, enough of the metablogging, time for some actual content around here.
I got a MacBook a few weeks ago and I’ve been using it connected to my TV with Apple’s mini-DVI to video adapter to watch movies. Having the laptop open next to the TV, with display mirroring turned on (so I can use Front Row) can get a little annoying. The movie you’re watching appears both on the MacBook’s screen and on the TV. Distracting.
Yes, there are a few ways around this. You can turn down the brightness on the MacBook’s display all the way to the bottom, so the display turns off. But that’s a bit fiddly. You could just turn the MacBook around so the screen is facing away from you, but then the remote doesn’t work very well. What would be really nice is if you could simply close the MacBook and carry on watching your movie on the TV.
The MacBook is quite capable of running in lid-closed mode. But according to Apple, you’ll need a keyboard and mouse - either USB or Bluetooth. Well, it turns out Apple are dirty stinkin’ liars.
Don’t forget your MacBook will need to be connected to mains power for this to work. You can’t run in lid-closed mode on battery power.
- Plug in your mini-DVI to video adapter and connect it up to your TV. Set your TV to the correct channel (if necessary).
- If it’s in extended-desktop mode, set your MacBook to video-mirroring mode (using either F7 or Fn-F7 depending on your settings). The resolution will change on your main display to match the maximum resolution of your TV and you’ll see the same image on both displays.
- Close your MacBook. It will enter Sleep mode, and the picture on your TV will disappear.
- Here’s the clever part. Press any button on your Apple Remote. Hey presto, your MacBook will wake up and the image on your TV will re-appear. Press your Menu button to bring up Front Row and start watching movies!
I would imagine this works just as well with the MacBook Pro too.
[UPDATE] Once you’ve set the MacBook to the correct display mirroring settings, you don’t even need to have it open (and awake) to connect up the cables. Just plug in the display connector cable with the lid closed, then hit a button on your remote.
[UPDATE 2] I now have a new TV with a DVI port, so I bought a Mini-DVI to DVI adapter. I can confirm that all these tips work just as well with that.
Thanks. This is very helpful!
Woo! really should read your blogs old boy, never know what i might learn!
Top work!
Super tip! I was just about to install Insomnia. That’s one less piece of software I need slowing down the system.
Hello, you rule so very, very much.
Thank you from a brand-new mac user who had the same problem!
Sadly, I just found out when I use this method the screen still turns off after three minutes.
I wish this would work
All I had to do was change the power saving settings and it now works perfectly, thanks again and sorry for the three seperate comments
Yes, this works perfectly, I found it out one day by accident with my macbook connected to my lcd monitor.
However, if I’m actually using my macbook, and I’m downloading something for example, it would be really nice to be able to close the lid and just treat it like the display is off so that I can keep downloading and stay logged into Adium for example.
I just wish there was an app that WORKED for me that would treat a closed lid like a turned off monitor.
I’ve tried “Doze” and “Sleepless” but none worked for me. It’s a giant pain and my biggest complaint about my macbook.
hey gfar. . .
I have the same complaint with my macbook pro with osx 10.4.8. Insomina will soon be releasing a new version that will work and do just that. It used to work fine but with the 10.4.8 update it doesn’t anymore. Keep an eye out for it over the next month or so.
Hmm, my macbook seems quite happy to run, lid closed. I do use a logitech laser cordless keyboard/mouse. As to why you have to run the macbook on mains with lid closed, the answer seems pretty obvious. It’s the heat. While my fans are rarely on in normal use, When I’m running my mb lid closed the fans are on more often. If you were running the mb off of its battery with the fans on high the battery life would be much less..
How do set up my macbook to recognize the tv?
I am using a dvi. What setting do I need to change on the Macbook, and also on the tv.
I have on rca tv
Angie -
You shouldn’t have to change any settings on your MacBook, it should detect the display when you connect up the DVI cable and it will appear in “Displays” under System Preferences.
Your settings on the TV will depend on the specific model of TV you have - check your manual. As a rough guide, look for an “Input” button on your remote and then try the different options until you see the MacBook display.
So, you don’t need to use the external mouse and keyboard? will it work only with front row?
I recently bought the mini-dvi adapter to hook up to alternate display, and everything works fine, but i still want to close the MB while i’m watching movies on frontrow. So, i got an external mouse and hooked it up, then closed the MB, pressed a button and it worked like a charm. Except for when i went to play the movie off my hard drive. The movie wouldnt show, but the sound would. It was really weird. Once again, i’m playing a movie file off the computer while the MB is closed, but the video wont show, but the sound will still play. Any suggestions???
I read other sites regarding this subject and none of them (surprisingly) mentioned the apple remote. That was the only thing that woke up my macbook.
Thanks for the post, very helpful!
I have the exact same problem as Phil. I can get my Macbook to wake and run the FrontRow interface but when I select a movie file to play I just get the sound. The first indication that things are strange is that the preview to the side of the FrontRow interface is just blank before selecting the movie. By the way, the movie plays fine in full screen mode directly from QuickTime. I’d appreciate it if anyone knows a solution to the problem.
Unfortunately I don’t have this problem and so it’s difficult to advise. Does the video play in Front Row when the laptop is open (ie not connected to the external screen?)
The only suggestion I can think of is to ensure you have a full set of codecs on your machine. Try http://perian.org/
I’m not sure why videos would play in Quicktime but not Front Row though, as I believe they use the same codecs. This sounds like it may be some sort of bug in Front Row.
I have tried searching the Apple website for help, and the only possibly relevant thing I have come up with is this:
Best of luck - the other place you can try is the Apple Discussion forums at http://discussions.apple.com
Jamie
There’s no way to close a macbook without it shutting down. We’ve tried. :/ The second you close it BAM both displays go off, computer shuts off. I hate the way on apple computers you can’t turn the monitor off either, it’s either shut down or nothing. Ridiculous.
Ignore what I said. Spaz moment.
It gets hot though.
yeah minidvi to svhs but very poor output quality in comparsion to a native ati tv output set to “video mode”
Using video Aliases over a network has worked very well for me through Front Row. But I have come to dislike the idea of Front Row always attempting to preview the video. My frustration comes after tryin g to navigate through a 15 episode series with Front Row working against me trying to preview every video I move to over a 1.1MBps wireless connection. Is there a preference setting to eleminate the preview in Front Row?
freakFlag - that annoys me too, no idea if there’s a way round it I’m afraid! Hopefully Front Row 2.0 in Leopard will be much improved (same as AppleTV interface?)
I wish to use the MB to play music through like an Ipod but with the lid closed 24 hours a day. Once a day we’d open it to do other things on it. Is this going to make a short life of the MB from heat and can it work?
Hooray! Thanks for that tip. I might not need to buy a MacMini to go under the telly now
Thanks for the tips. This seems like such a simple thing for Apple to code into the MBs, yet, here I am wasting my time trying to figure out how to get my Mac to behave as well as my old PC.
You’re a legend man…works a treat. Thanking you kindly,
R
Hi! I got the same problem as mentioned above. When I shut the lid and wake up my MBP with the remote, front row will indeed show up on my external LCD. But no video… Seems like my mac still reckon my internal screen is the primary screen and decides to try and display the the video material on that one, even though the lid is closed… Everything else works like a charm in front row tho - pictures, music etc… Any suggestions??
Hi Jeppe,
Looks like you might have the same problem as Paul Dickinson did above. I’ve still not seen a solution to this unfortunately. Good luck!
Jamie
Uh, after goin close to insane last night from trying just about everything there is to get this to work, I finally ended up pairing my apple remote with my MBP, rebooted and…. viola! It now works like a charm. The video content is showing up properly on my LCD-TV. Can’t say for sure if it was the pairing that did the trick or if it was just me being plain lucky (haven’t even tried to unpair my remote yet to prove this, to afraid that it will stop working again tbh).
This might be a tip though for you guys that didn’t get it to work yet.
What I can say for sure though is that changing primary display setting in OS X, Quicktime etc won’t help you a bit if you are having this problem. Or at least it didn’t for me. Just wanted to add this since it was mentioned in other forums…
-Jeppe
For those of you having trouble with the internal dispaly being the main display even when closed.. this may help
This one took me a while to notice, but if you go to the display preferences with the second monitor plugged in, go to orientate, and the two screens show, one has a white bar at the top (the finder bar) drag this to the one representing the external display and drop. this will turn the external into the main dispay. This allowed Quicktime to full screen on the external NOT the MB screen.
- Jaff
Ok, My bad, Even after doing this and quicktime movies working ok, Front-row still doesn’t work, as described above!
I have noticed that in the quicktime preferences (fullscreen tab) if both screens are on when waking, then both screens are shown, and you can select which one to play fullscreen into. but if the lid is closed when waking, then the options don’t show the two screen mimics. (and hence probably assumes the main screen is the MB?) Hmm
I’m not sure if anyone would care at this point, but I use an LCD display with my MBP, and I never bothered setting up mirroring. When I plug in the monitor using DVI, and use the remote to wake up my MBP, the lcd display becomes the primary (only) display that the computer cares about. The dock shows up on this display, so I know that the computer treats this monitor as the primary. Also, since my LCD display and MBP have different resolutions, I dislike the Mirrored Display option. Anyway, I don’t know if this will help anyone, but it’s one less step that is necessary.
Hey man,
First thanks for the help, but I have another problem. How can I make the sound from the movie I’m watching go out of the TV and not from the computer?
Thanks in advance
Kaka - you’ll need to connect the audio output from the computer to an input on the TV. You can buy SCART cables which have a 2.5mm jack suitable for plugging into the laptop as well as a video connector. Check Maplin (if you’re in the UK) or the equivalent in your country.
I don’t want to get a new macbook, but want a larger display. So this is a great idea. However, is it only frontrow that works with the lid closed? All i want is my bluetooth mouse/keyboard and display sitting on my desk, with my macbook put away. But still able to take my macbook with me when i need it. So, would i be able to have regular computer use with the lid closed?
Everything works fine with the lid closed, in fact I’m using my MacBook right now plugged into a 24″ Dell display. Works great.
I have my MBP with OS X Leopard running fine most of the time in lid closed mode. My issue is that every now and then, when I wake my mbp from sleep, my external lcd tv is reverted back to the laptop’s resolution and screen settings. To make matters more irritating, the background reverts to the default OS X Leopard background of space with purple in the middle. To change the resolution to the proper lcd resolution, you go to the display settings and click detect display and, bam, it’s fine. However, you then cannot change the background to any other image other than the default image. When you try to change the background it changes just for a moment then immediately goes back to the default image. The only way I’ve found to fix it is to restart the machine. I don’t like this and really would appreciate any help fixing the issue for good. It only happens occasionally, but does it every time I plug in my ipod when the mbp is asleep.
Can’t say I’ve had this problem - my setup has been fine since upgrading to Leopard. Perhaps it’s a bug which will be fixed in 10.5.1?
So it seems you could use a MacBook with your LCD HD TV as a (thin) media center just like many people are using a MacMini. I would think the MacBook might be better suited for the job since the processor is faster, the video card has more RAM, and the L2 cache is larger too. I was thinking of picking up a MacMini for use with my HD TV, but now a used (eBay) MacBook might be a better choice. Any opinions on this?
I just got one of the new macbooks with 2.4 intel and NO APPLE REMOTE so your trick would not work for me.
BUT, F7 also works to awaken it with the lid closed.
Yay, now where the F**K is my remote apple?
Hey! great tip! but how can i turn on the laptops monitor after i am finished watching a movie on the tv… i had to shut down and start it again.. is there an other way?
how do you make the mouse work in front row? since I don’t have an apple remote, I would like to control front row using the wireless mighty mouse.
Great Tip. I have a USB Hub Thing and the USB Ascpects of it work, ie printer, mouse, etc, but it also has an earphone/speaker jack which, sadly dosent work, and I dont have an external monitor to try, or a usb keyboard, it is the normal key board cable so that dosent fit into my device. So, If i had to say then a anything you can plug into a USB device will work fine, im not sure of the others… YET!
AND, Im glad to know the trick about closing the lid, I use an LCD Projector and it was annoying me having to have the added light from the laptop, knowing it can still work if its connected to a monitor is GREAT! As is he tip about turing the brightnesss down until it turns off! THANKS!
THANK YOU! I just bought the Apple 30″ Cinematic Display and have wondered how to do this without the USB keyboard or mouse.
You, sir, rock!
wicked lil trick mate but i agree with someone else here that it would be even handier if there was a way to just close the lid and have the macbook do nothing like on windows nb very handy when downloading etc as i often like to put my mb away while its still downloading, but i cant as i have to have the lid up always
Nice tip!
Keith
http://www.HDPl.us
Thanks mate!
Thank you very much i can do it with myself.
Love you
I have a macbook pro and an Iphone with the remote App. I would like to hook up my laptop with my stereo and play my itunes music over my outdoor speakers, but It only works if I keep my laptop open. Any suggestions?
Hi Paul,
Unfortunately, as far as I know you *have* to have an external monitor connected to the laptop to allow it to work in lid-closed mode. You could perhaps use something like a Dummy VGA Connector:
http://soerennielsen.dk/mod/VGAdummy/index_en.php
Not sure if this would work or not.
Jamie
Hey just a tip…
I was tyring to get front row to open in lid closed but was having problems. I read the comments to see what was wrong.
You dont need to have display mirroring on. To run in lid closed mode, close the lid, but wait till it falls asleep (snoring sleep light activated) then wake it up with the apple remote.
The comp will wake up on your external monitor as if it were the only monitor; you could use it do do anything, not just front row.
Then push menu on the remote to access front row, just like normally.