Apple Support aware of MacBook external monitor issues in Mac OS X 10.5.5

We recently reported on an issue in which MacBook users are experiencing difficulty with external monitors after applying the Mac OS X 10.5.5 update. Users have found that either the internal or the external monitor does not function correctly, with some users reporting one or the other displays only a white screen. Other users have experienced distorted "psychedelic"-looking displays.

Users have contacted Apple about the problem, and it appears that the company is aware of the issue and working on an update that addresses it. Until then, the only official suggestion is system downgrade via reinstallation.

Apple Discussions poster Chris Blackstone writes:

"I updated my 10.5.4 Macbook with a working External Display to 10.5.5 and the external display no longer works. I called Apple Support and they couldn't fix the issue except for telling me to do an archive and install. They did confirm that they have received a lot of calls about this."

While this suggestion is one possible workaround to the problem, users should also be able to restore their systems to previous states if they are currently using Time Machine or other system cloning backup software package such as "Carbon Copy Cloner" or "SuperDuper". These options will also work for users who have had other issues with any update and have not been able to fix the problems.

Workarounds Downgrade the system using an Archive and Install To perform an archive and install, boot off the Leopard DVD and continue thorugh the setup until the volume list appears for selecting where to install OS X. Click the desired volume and then click "Options". When the drop-down window appears, select "Archive and Install" and be sure to also select "Preserve Users and Netowrk Settings" to ensure home directories are still active. For a detailed procedure, see this tutorial.

Restore from Time Machine backup Users can also use previous backups from Time Machine to restore their systems to the state just before updating. To do this, boot off the Leopard DVD and advance through the OS X installer until the "Utilities" menu is available. From this menu, select "Restore from Time Machine Backup" and continue through the process, selecting the last backup before the update to 10.5.5.

Use a cloned backup Using SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner, users can restore their drives by booting off the backup drive and cloning the drive back to the main internal hard drive.

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