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Can I tell my MacBook Pro to forget all previously known external displays?

I use a 2020 MacBook Pro M1 13" for work, where I work from home for a few days of the week. In both environments, I use external display, keyboard, and trackpad, with the MacBook lid closed standing in a vertical mount.


My desk at home has a LG 34GP950G monitor (3440x1440, 180Hz) which I've been using with a USB-C to HDMI cable for a few weeks now with absolutely no issue. The cable itself is HDMI 2.1 certified, but my monitor is only HDMI 2.0, so I was only getting 100Hz refresh rate.


When I sat down to work at home this morning, my LG monitor simply would not show any picture, instead showing a "no signal" message. When I opened the lid of my MacBook, the external display turned on for a moment, and I see my macOS desktop for about 2 seconds before it goes back to "no signal". Meanwhile, the Settings > Displays page still shows the external display as connected and active. Changing resolution and/or refresh rate does not do anything.


As an alternative, I do also have a USB-C dock with an HDMI output, but this has severe limitations that make life difficult... More specifically, this limits my LG monitor refresh rate to 50Hz and I see what I can only describe as "constant color shifting" as I switch between applications.


Furthermore, I accidentally selected an incorrect refresh rate for my LG monitor while connected through my USB-C dock while my MacBook Pro lid was closed, and now it will only work in this configuration while I have my MacBook Pro lid open.


This was not an issue because I prefer to use my USB-C to HDMI cable anyway, but now that this has stopped working, I'm stuck with only this crappy USB-C dock with the laptop lid open and horrible colors everywhere.


How can I tell macOS 15.1 to just forget about all previously connected external displays? I want it to think it's never seen my LG monitor before in ANY configuration, so that I can have a "fresh start" of sorts for this. With all the issues I'm running into here, I feel like this is the best solution.



MacBook Pro 13″

Posted on Nov 12, 2024 12:16 AM

Reply
3 replies

Nov 19, 2024 9:13 AM in response to NortechDev

I managed to get one of my issues resolved, using "BetterDisplay Pro" I could use the "Configuration Protection" feature to keep my LG display refresh rate at a viable setting when I close the laptop lid, which at least allows me to use it without having my laptop open all the time.


But I am still unable to get the USB-C to HDMI connection working after the macOS 15.1 update. It still turns on briefly when I connect my display, then after about 1 or 2 seconds I get the "no signal" message and it turns off. Meanwhile, the Settings app (and BetterDisplay Pro) still shows the display as connected, even though it thinks it's not receiving any signal. This seems like a macOS issue, not misconfiguration.


Over 40 "views" of this thread and nobody has responded... Is nobody able to help with this?

Can I tell my MacBook Pro to forget all previously known external displays?

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