Monitor going black for a few seconds

[persephone]

My monitor is going black for a few seconds every so often any ideas what is happening?

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hi,

-What model Mac?
-Which version of OS X?

C

 

[persephone]

Hi again cory, you have helped me previously so it is good to chat again.

 

[persephone]

I have late 2012 mac mini 2.6 Ghz Intel Core i7 16GB Intel HD Graphics 4000 and am running OSX 10.9.5

 

[Cory Cooper]

Yes, I recognized your name.

-Since it is a mini, what brand/model display is attached, and how is it connected - HDMI or Thunderbolt/Mini DisplayPort with adapter?
-Is it totally random?
-Does it matter what applications are running?

C

 

[persephone]

Hi Cory, yes lets give you some more information. I have two monitors running and checked all connections so know this is not the issue. Also I noted what applications were running, being Maya at the time it first happened, so I immediately thought ok Maya is the problem. So I checked on my 3D forums and am am able to rule Maya out as the culprit after lots of mini tests via suggestions from other Maya users. Also dumped Maya preferences via HD hidden library and relaunched to make sure new preferences for Maya loaded up. Next time the screen went black for a few seconds, Maya was not even open and I was using Word so it leads me to believe something to do with Mavericks OS. What do you think?

P

 

[persephone]

Oh I also did the first resort advice from OS X Mavericks The Missing Manual that is my bible as I want to know as much as I can about the OS. This involved running Disk Utility, and what files needed repairing were sorted out via this neat little tool.

 

[Cory Cooper]

It could be the OS, but I have seen cabling and displays themselves causing that issue before. I have a friend who has an iMac with an external display that recently would intermittently go black/blank. He had the display checked out, and its internal board had started to fail. He replaced it, and the issue has not come back.

Do both monitors go black, or just one?

I would try running the external displays one at a time, and/or swapping their connection ports if possible to see if that resolves the issue.

C

 

[persephone]

Hi Cory
Will come back to see your reply another day as I have to log off now. Any advice you can give will be gratefully received. Have a nice weekend. Bye Persephone

 

[persephone]

Hi Cory I shall do your recommended test of the different monitors. Thanks. Regards Persephone