Mac mini Shows a Black Screen on a TV via HDMI — Fix
Everything was great with my Mac mini: it was connected to a 40-inch Sony panel. But then trouble struck — the TV stopped showing a picture!
While the Mac was booting there was a picture, but after the, roughly speaking, welcome screen — a black screen. Connect a regular monitor — everything’s fine.
I’d seen this problem before with an old TV that couldn’t handle resolutions above 1024 pixels. But this time it’s a modern TV with HDMI, gold-plated cable connectors, the works — and it doesn’t work.
Anyway, after a lot of trial and error, I found the solution.
The fix: delete the display profiles
- Connect a regular monitor for the time being.
- Just in case, copy the folder we’re about to clean out somewhere safe.
- In Finder, open Macintosh HD → System → Library → Displays → Overrides.
- Delete all files in the Overrides folder — these are saved display profiles. The system will ask for an administrator password.
- Shut down the Mac, connect the TV and turn it back on — everything should work!
If that didn’t help
- Reset PRAM: when you turn on the Mac, hold Cmd + Option + P + R until you hear the startup chime a second time.
- Boot with the monitor, choose a resolution your TV definitely supports in System Preferences → Displays (for example, 1920×1080 or 1280×720), and only then connect the TV.
