Symptom
When starting up an Apple computer from Mac OS X Server 10.1 or later, a display shows an "out of range" message.
Solution
This issue normally happens if a video resolution is specified that the display device is not capable of producing.
First, reset the parameter RAM (PRAM) on the Xserve by holding down the Command-Option-P-R key combination during startup, followed by holding the Shift key during startup. This may allow you to start up normally and change the display resolution using System Preferences. If you cannot, try the steps below, which deal with the video resolution information that is stored in three places:
- PRAM
- /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.plist
- ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.windowserver.xxxx.plist
Note: The tilde symbol (~) designates a user's home folder. The text "xxxx" represents an alpha numeric string, such as "00306549719e".
The following steps will reset the video resolution to default value.
Warning: These steps include use of the "rm" command. Be sure to type the commands exactly. Misuse of the rm command may result in accidental data loss, up to and including all data on the target disk. To be sure you are reading the commands below correctly, you may copy and past them into a text editor for verification.
1. Start up the computer in single-user mode. For help with this step, see technical document, 106388, "Mac OS X: How to Start Up in Single-User or Verbose Mode".
2. This step contains a series of commands, each preceded by the pound sign (#). You should type each, pressing Return after each to execute it before continuing to the next.
# fsck -y
Note: If the result of this file system check is: "***** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED *****" then repeat fsck -y until the result is "** The volume xxxx appears to be OK", Where "xxxx" is the name of the computer's startup volume.
#mount -uw /
#rm /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.plist
#cd /Users/username/Library/Preferences/ByHost
#ls
Note: Using the ls command here lists all the visible files and folders in the ByHost folder. Locate the file named "com.apple.windowserver.xxxx.plist", where "xxxx" is an alpha numeric string.
# rm com.apple.windowserver.xxxx.plist
Note: In place of "com.apple.windowserver.xxxx.plist", use the file name you located in the last step. This step deletes the file located in the last step.
# reboot
Note: This command restarts the computer.
3. Reset PRAM on the next system startup. For help with this step, see technical document 2238, "Macintosh: How to Reset PRAM and NVRAM".
Note: The Xserve has no speaker, so there is no second start up tone to indicate the PRAM has been reset. Instead, watch the system activity lights. When the LEDs start from the middle light and extend out both directions after the initial startup, then the PRAM has been reset.