Mac OS X 10.4.9 Black Screen Workaround

· by · Tips

Mac OS X 10.4.9 reintroduced an especially annoying problem for me: Occasionally when my Powerbook wakes up, my display stays black. Luckily, I found a workaround to this problem that has the added bonus of improving my Macis security.

Setting my PowerBook to require a password when waking from sleep or screen saver has allowed my display to come back to life without forcing me to restart my computer. Hereis how to enable Tigeris password on wake feature:

  • Launch System Preferences. You can find it by choosing Apple Menu > System Preferences.
  • Select the Security Preference Pane.
  • Check Require password to wake this computer from sleep or screen saver.

Requiring a password on wake overcomes Tigeris black screen bug.

Any time your Mac goes to sleep or your screen saver launches, you will have to enter your user password to regain access to the Desktop and any open applications - and if you are experiencing the display wake up failure bug, your display should also function normally.

The upside is that you wonit have to force your Mac to restart, which could potentially damage Mac OS X, and your documents are protected from prying eyes. The downside is that you have to use a workaround to overcome a system bug - something I find very annoying as a Mac user.

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Jeff Gamet

Jeff Gamet

Jeff is the Mac Observer's Managing Editor, and co-host of the Apple Context Machine podcast. He is the author of "The Designer's Guide to Mac OS X" from Peachpit Press, and writes for several design-related publications. Jeff has presented at events such as Macworld Expo, the RSA Conference, and the Mac Computer Expo. In all his spare time, he also co-hosts the We Have Communicators podcast, and makes guest appearances on several other podcasts, too. Jeff dreams in HD.

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