MBP & External Monitor Help

arty

arty

arty

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
6,799
Location
Cambridge
I'm having trouble figuring out exactly how to get my external monitor working reliably as the primary and only display with my MBP.

When the MBP is either powered from the mains / charging or running batteries, my external monitor works as a secondary screen with the laptop lid open. When I close the lid, whilst running the InsomniaX utility which prevents it from sleeping, the laptop screen switches off but my external monitor is still treated as a secondary display, which means I get no Dock or menu bar.

Is there a way to set the primary display in OS X? What would be ideal is if I can get it to use the external monitor as the primary one when the MBP lid is closed and the MBP screen as the primary when it's open. Suggestions welcome :)

I'm getting on very well with my shiny new MBP otherwise - it's a lovely machine :)

arty
 
OMG, just found this out after trying to work it out for about 4 days. You can drag the inconsequential-looking little white bar at the top of the relevant display in the System Preferences -> Displays -> Arrangement tab between displays to set the one on which the menu bar and dock appear. Genius! :cool:

I think I'm all set now :D

arty
 
EVH said:
Well done, that's a commonly asked question too :)

Who'd have thought it was as easy as drag n drop
Click to expand...

I couldn't find any mention of it in the Mac Help, that's the funny thing. For everything else I've looked up the in-built help has actually been helpful, so I was surprised that no mention of this was made and thus assumed it would require hackery to work.

I'm still chuffed even this morning. This tip should definitely be added to the Sticky! :)

arty
 
I have a new query: does anyone know whether there are any problems in running a MBP largely from the mains whilst the battery is still in? For fairly long periods of time mine will be used on the desk where it charges and it's convenient to just leave it plugged in, but I'm concerned that it might affect battery life. So far I've been unable to find a definite answer to this on the Internet, so any links to articles would be most helpful. Thanks :)

arty
 
Thanks for the replies, all - that's good news to hear that it's bypassed. It will get used without being connected to the mains fairly often, but not all the time, so this is useful information :)

arty
 
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