SOLVED Black screen momentarily after screen saver terminated

[37Shannon]

Since migrating to Catalina, if I go to use the computer after the screen saver has been active, the desktop appears, then the screen goes totally black for about 5 seconds, then reappears. This is a little unnerving, but the desktop always returns and then there are no more blackouts until the next time the screen saver starts and is terminated. This behavior did not occur on El Capitan, and it does not occur when the monitor is attached to a Windows 10 machine.

Is there something that can be done to prevent this? I'm running Catalina 10.15.7 on a late 2014 Mac mini using a Thunderbolt-to-VGA adapter connecting to a Dell 24" monitor (the monitor only supports VGA and DVI-D connections).

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello,

That sounds like the display re-syncing when it gets a signal back. You could perform an SMC reset and see if that helps.

C

 

[37Shannon]

That did the trick - thanks!

 

[Cory Cooper]

Excellent...glad it's resolved.

Be well,

C

 

[37Shannon]

Excellent...glad it's resolved.

Be well,

C

Strangely, this problem gradually returned. Not looking forward to having to unplug/restart the mini every week or so, I went searching for other solutions. Although I did not find a specific solution, several articles I read pointed to settings in the Energy Saver page in Settings.

On looking at the Energy Saver settings, I saw that the display was being turned off by the Mac after a relatively short period. I changed this to "Never" (which it had been on my El Capitan system, hence no problem when running on that), and although macOS warns that this may shorten the life of your monitor, in my case, my monitor sleeps itself after 30 minutes anyway, so I don't need macOS helping out where it's not needed.

Since I did that, I have not had the problem return. Thought I would post this in case it helps someone else.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Excellent follow-up - it's appreciated.

Stay healthy and safe!

C