LCD died. Is there a key cmd to mirror displays for Ventura?

[markyt]

Description:

A 2019 16" (A2141) shows rainbow-colored vertical lines. On the first two or three occasions, the display was normal until the lid was opened more than about half-way, but now only the vertical lines are shown.

(This is my dad's laptop. He thinks he's on Ventura, but isn't positive.)

Steps Taken:

1. I reset the NVRAM and the SMC.
2. I was able to connect an external monitor using HDMI which shows wallpaper and "Desktop 2", and I can move the mouse pointer onto the external screen.
3. I tried Cmd-F1 to mirror the display. That didn't work.
4. I tried "Hey, Siri, mirror my display." That didn't work, either.

Questions:

1. Is there a keyboard shortcut to mirror displays on a touchbar laptop running Ventura?
2. If no, is there another way to mirror displays without seeing the screen? (e.g. cmd-space t-e-r-m defaults write blah blah)
3. LCD shows only rainbow-colored vertical lines, but computer does boot. Can I be fairly certain that replacing the display assembly is the fix?

Thanks in advance.

 

[adrianlondon]

Open the machine and disconnect the cable which connects the screen to the system board.

ifixit or whatever will have pictures.

I did this for a 2013 MBP which had a broken display and it now boots perfectly well to an HDMI connected display as the sole display. As the external display is now the only one connected, you can do the usual system recovery stuff etc that would usually go to the built-in display only.

 

[MBAir2010]

for those keeping score at home a " 2019 16" (A2141)" is a MacBook Pro 2019
and the ifixit link
now back to the game!

jeez, a newish MacBook as well, I hope everything works out!

 

[markyt]

Open the machine and disconnect the cable which connects the screen to the system board.

ifixit or whatever will have pictures.

I did this for a 2013 MBP which had a broken display and it now boots perfectly well to an HDMI connected display as the sole display. As the external display is now the only one connected, you can do the usual system recovery stuff etc that would usually go to the built-in display only.

Yep, that worked. Awesome possum. Thanks @adrianlondon !

And @MBAir2010 thanks too for clarifying/translating my post.

To summarize, I was able to get a 2019 MacBook Pro with a broken LCD (which was just showing vertical lines) to boot to a connected HDMI display by following the instructions in the ifixit screen replacement manual to disconnect the display board cable. With the cable disconnected, the MacBook Pro treats the external monitor as its primary.

 

[adrianlondon]

Yep, that worked. Awesome possum. Thanks @adrianlondon !

You're welcome.

I was getting annoyed connecting my laptop to the TV (I didn't have a monitor at the time) and it would keep switchibng primary back to the smashed internal LCD.

Since disconnecting the cable it's worked well. I would really like to remove the display completely, but (a) I can't be bothered to buy the correct tools (I managed to get the bottom case off with a small flat-bladed screwdriver!) and (b) I read that the WiFi antennae are wrapped around the display.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/headless-mac-book-pro-with-no-monitor.1984628/?post=23165052#post-23165052

As it's a 10 year old laptop, I don't use it much - just for fun really, although I have totally removed MacOS and am running Ubuntu on it. It runs very well.

Handy tip: Don't slam the lid of your laptop closed when there's a pen resting on the keyboard, unless you - like me - also want a smashed LCD display.