Well, this sucks
Just as I had almost finished writing the blog post for Apple Bug Friday! #56, my display blinked off. “Rats—here comes a power failure”, I thought.
But the computer didn’t turn off, nor did the lights.
By listening to the hard drive, I was able to establish that my computer was not only still on, but working. I even restarted (forcibly, as I had xterms running and X11 always complains when you try to quit when xterms are running)—the display still did not come on.
My display is an Apple Studio Display 17″ LCD, from 2003 (IIRC, I bought it just after they discontinued the Studio Display). Because of its age, it uses ADC, rather than DVI, to connect to the computer. My Mac Pro has DVI, so I had to buy the DVI to ADC Adapter to use the Studio Display.
I had the Studio Display long before I had the Mac Pro; I’d been using it on my G4 Cube for years. I still have the Cube, so I had a way to test whether it was the display that crapped out, or the adapter (or the video card). So I unplugged the display from the adapter, fished my Cube and its power supply out of the Mac Pro box (where it normally inhabits, with all the other peripherals that I bought for it that my Mac Pro has built-in), and set it up in the kitchen.
To quote the operator on the Zero Wing, “WE GET SIGNAL !!”
So either my DVI-to-ADC adapter is borked, or my video card is borked. Later today Monday, I’ll head on down to the Apple Store and find out which. Fortunately, they’re both still under warranty.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering what I’m typing this on: my mom’s iBook G4, which I borrowed to help pass the time.