Hi ,

I just picked up a macbook last week, after a long time in windows land, and
hooked up an external display. With the lid closed the display works fine,
but I have a question that I haven't been able to find an answer to.
Actually two calls to Apple care yielded two answers that contradicted each
other...
My question: With the lid closed and an external display attached, should
the little white 'sleep' light on the front of the laptop be a solid whit,
or should it be off, which it is when the laptop is operated with the lid
open and no external monitor is attached?

Thanks very much- I appreciate it.

Chuck

In article <W_KdnbsO1a5vmg3anZ2dnUVZ_r-vnZ2d@giganews.com>,
"chuck" <bezdeti******.com> wrote:

> Hi ,
>
> I just picked up a macbook last week, after a long time in windows land, and
> hooked up an external display. With the lid closed the display works fine,
> but I have a question that I haven't been able to find an answer to.
> Actually two calls to Apple care yielded two answers that contradicted each
> other...
> My question: With the lid closed and an external display attached, should
> the little white 'sleep' light on the front of the laptop be a solid whit,
> or should it be off, which it is when the laptop is operated with the lid
> open and no external monitor is attached?
>
> Thanks very much- I appreciate it.

It should be what it is. I am guessing that the sleep light should be on
when the MacBook is asleep, even if the lid is up or down.

Thanks Shawn,

Just so that I understand... when the lid is down and the external display
is attached, the macbbok isn't in sleep mode, I am using it with an external
keyboard and mouse.. When it is in sleep mode, the white light pulsates..

Thanks,
Chuck
"Shawn Hirn" <srhi@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:srhi-DF8BAB.21125917012008@newsgroups.comcast.net...
> In article <W_KdnbsO1a5vmg3anZ2dnUVZ_r-vnZ2d@giganews.com>,
> "chuck" <bezdeti******.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi ,
>>
>> I just picked up a macbook last week, after a long time in windows land,
>> and
>> hooked up an external display. With the lid closed the display works
>> fine,
>> but I have a question that I haven't been able to find an answer to.
>> Actually two calls to Apple care yielded two answers that contradicted
>> each
>> other...
>> My question: With the lid closed and an external display attached, should
>> the little white 'sleep' light on the front of the laptop be a solid
>> whit,
>> or should it be off, which it is when the laptop is operated with the lid
>> open and no external monitor is attached?
>>
>> Thanks very much- I appreciate it.
>
> It should be what it is. I am guessing that the sleep light should be on
> when the MacBook is asleep, even if the lid is up or down.

In article <bb6dnX2p5_t_kQ3anZ2dnUVZ_judnZ2d@giganews.com>,
"chuck" <bezdeti******.com> wrote:

> Thanks Shawn,
>
> Just so that I understand... when the lid is down and the external display
> is attached, the macbbok isn't in sleep mode, I am using it with an external
> keyboard and mouse.. When it is in sleep mode, the white light pulsates..

Right. That's what I would expect.

chuck <bezdeti******.com> wrote:

> I just picked up a macbook last week, after a long time in windows land, and
> hooked up an external display. With the lid closed the display works fine,
> but I have a question that I haven't been able to find an answer to.
> Actually two calls to Apple care yielded two answers that contradicted each
> other...
> My question: With the lid closed and an external display attached, should
> the little white 'sleep' light on the front of the laptop be a solid whit,
> or should it be off, which it is when the laptop is operated with the lid
> open and no external monitor is attached?
>
> Thanks very much- I appreciate it.

I've observed that my MacBook Pro has the white LED illuminated (solid)
when it is awake with the lid closed, e.g. when using an external
display.

The presence of an external display doesn't directly affect the LED: if
there is an external display it just prevents the computer from sleeping
with the lid closed. If you managed to make the computer stay awake with
the lid closed without an external display connected, the LED would
still be solid white. It goes through this state briefly when you close
the lid, before it goes to sleep.

The LED pulses while the computer is on but sleeping (whether or not the
lid is closed).

The LED is off while the computer is awake and operating normally with
the lid open.

The LED is also off while the computer is off, and there are some states
where a black screen is being displayed (or the brightness is turned
down) that might be confused for the computer being off.

--
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz

Thanks David- I appreciate it!
"David Empson" <dempson@actrix.gen.nz> wrote in message
news:1iaxevg.1lrje5q1u3moygN%dempson@actrix.gen.nz ...
> chuck <bezdeti******.com> wrote:
>
>> I just picked up a macbook last week, after a long time in windows land,
>> and
>> hooked up an external display. With the lid closed the display works
>> fine,
>> but I have a question that I haven't been able to find an answer to.
>> Actually two calls to Apple care yielded two answers that contradicted
>> each
>> other...
>> My question: With the lid closed and an external display attached, should
>> the little white 'sleep' light on the front of the laptop be a solid
>> whit,
>> or should it be off, which it is when the laptop is operated with the lid
>> open and no external monitor is attached?
>>
>> Thanks very much- I appreciate it.
>
> I've observed that my MacBook Pro has the white LED illuminated (solid)
> when it is awake with the lid closed, e.g. when using an external
> display.
>
> The presence of an external display doesn't directly affect the LED: if
> there is an external display it just prevents the computer from sleeping
> with the lid closed. If you managed to make the computer stay awake with
> the lid closed without an external display connected, the LED would
> still be solid white. It goes through this state briefly when you close
> the lid, before it goes to sleep.
>
> The LED pulses while the computer is on but sleeping (whether or not the
> lid is closed).
>
> The LED is off while the computer is awake and operating normally with
> the lid open.
>
> The LED is also off while the computer is off, and there are some states
> where a black screen is being displayed (or the brightness is turned
> down) that might be confused for the computer being off.
>
> --
> David Empson
> dempson@actrix.gen.nz