Keyboard shortcut to ”Detect Displays”?

vanakaru · 05-14-2012, 11:15 AM

My monitor connected MBP sleep will put desktop to that monitor instead. To get my Desktop back to where it belongs and try to sleep the beast again I need to detect displays. It is real pain that have plagued me for some time(years and different OS Xs) and actually cost me one logic board fried.
So now I have to wait by the MBP to be sure that it really goes sleep instead of hanging and overheating.
But I do not have time to this sometimes and when the Desktop would be thrown to the monitor I have to go through the dance once again. If I could use keyboard combo to detect displays in this case would give me a precious minute saved.

NaOH · 05-14-2012, 11:34 AM

Not as direct as you'd like, but I'll put this out there just in case. I accomplish this using Keyboard Maestro (US $36). With it, I have a keyboard shortcut that launches System Preferences > Displays then automatically presses the Detect Displays button. The cost of Keyboard Maestro probably doesn't justify this one goal of yours, but the software can do loads and loads more, so you may want to download the trial version and see if its capabilities make it worthwhile to you.

macosnoob · 05-14-2012, 02:24 PM

Try Cmd-F2 as a keyboard shortcut to Detect Displays.

NaOH · 05-14-2012, 02:48 PM

I forgot all about that shortcut. Thanks, macosnoob.

vanakaru · 05-15-2012, 08:19 AM

It turns mirroring on actually, but is as helpful. Cmd-F1 turns it off again. Great!

NaOH · 05-15-2012, 09:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vanakaru


	Cmd-F1 turns it off again. Great!

And I didn't know that one. Thanks for the thread, vanakaru, I got a lot out of it.

macosnoob · 05-15-2012, 11:37 AM

I never know which shortcuts--especially those involving F-keys--will work from one system to the next. Apple continues to change F-key assignments and keeps me guessing. Using a MBP1,1 and a wired Apple external aluminum keyboard with keypad (model A1243), pressing Cmd-F2 on the external keyboard (or the MacBookPro's keyboard) triggers Detect Displays. Your particular setup may require a different keystroke to get the same result. You might want to experiment with the full range of Cmd-F-keys (and more complex combos) to see whether one does Detect Displays. But if mirroring also provides what you need, great!

Used to be in the PowerBook days and with earlier versions of MacOS that Cmd-F1 toggled mirror mode and Cmd-F2 detected a newly connected display. Some parts of that system remain, though I don't count on the shortcuts to work uniformly on every Mac that I touch.

05-14-2012, 11:15 AM	#1
vanakaru All Star Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 610	Keyboard shortcut to ”Detect Displays”? My monitor connected MBP sleep will put desktop to that monitor instead. To get my Desktop back to where it belongs and try to sleep the beast again I need to detect displays. It is real pain that have plagued me for some time(years and different OS Xs) and actually cost me one logic board fried. So now I have to wait by the MBP to be sure that it really goes sleep instead of hanging and overheating. But I do not have time to this sometimes and when the Desktop would be thrown to the monitor I have to go through the dance once again. If I could use keyboard combo to detect displays in this case would give me a precious minute saved.

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05-14-2012, 11:34 AM	#2
NaOH Hall of Famer Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 3,642	Not as direct as you'd like, but I'll put this out there just in case. I accomplish this using Keyboard Maestro (US $36). With it, I have a keyboard shortcut that launches System Preferences > Displays then automatically presses the Detect Displays button. The cost of Keyboard Maestro probably doesn't justify this one goal of yours, but the software can do loads and loads more, so you may want to download the trial version and see if its capabilities make it worthwhile to you.

05-14-2012, 02:24 PM	#3
macosnoob MVP Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 1,751	Try Cmd-F2 as a keyboard shortcut to Detect Displays.

05-14-2012, 02:48 PM	#4
NaOH Hall of Famer Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 3,642	I forgot all about that shortcut. Thanks, macosnoob.

05-15-2012, 08:19 AM	#5
vanakaru All Star Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 610	It turns mirroring on actually, but is as helpful. Cmd-F1 turns it off again. Great!

05-15-2012, 11:37 AM	#7
macosnoob MVP Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 1,751	I never know which shortcuts--especially those involving F-keys--will work from one system to the next. Apple continues to change F-key assignments and keeps me guessing. Using a MBP1,1 and a wired Apple external aluminum keyboard with keypad (model A1243), pressing Cmd-F2 on the external keyboard (or the MacBookPro's keyboard) triggers Detect Displays. Your particular setup may require a different keystroke to get the same result. You might want to experiment with the full range of Cmd-F-keys (and more complex combos) to see whether one does Detect Displays. But if mirroring also provides what you need, great! Used to be in the PowerBook days and with earlier versions of MacOS that Cmd-F1 toggled mirror mode and Cmd-F2 detected a newly connected display. Some parts of that system remain, though I don't count on the shortcuts to work uniformly on every Mac that I touch.