I currently have an Early 2011 Macbook Pro (MBP) running OS X Mavericks 10.9.1. I usually connect this laptop to two external displays
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A Thunderbolt (TB) Display, which is connected directly to the MBP via the Thunderbolt cable.
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A projector, which is daisy-chained to the TB Display through a Thunderbolt hard drive, and a DisplayLink to HDMI adapter.
My exact setup is as follows:
MBP -> TB cable -> TB Display -> TB cable -> TB HD -> DisplayLink to HDMI adapter + HDMI cable -> Projector.
My setup works fine except for the fact that graphics card goes berserk since it is effectively handling three screens at once. Since I only use one display at a time, I am hoping to alleviate this issue by turning off the displays that I do not use.
Specifically my questions are:
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Is there a way to turn off the MBP screen without closing the lid (e.g. a command-line prompt or a program that I can install)? Closing the lid actually sets off a kernel panic as it MBP overheats.
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Is there a way to turn off the "connection" to the projector? For some reason, I can still see the projector as a display option under Display Settings even when I have the projector powered off.
Best Answer
http://www.cultofmac.com/176329/turn-off-internal-lcd-display-of-your-macbook-air-os-x-tips/
You can try these, Tip 1 has worked for me however you must close the lid during start-up/reboot before the logo appears. Once the login screen appears you can open the lid and the screen should be off. Can check with the brightness control buttons.
This is not an ideal solution as closing/opening the lid every time can be quite bothersome but it works (more info below). An option from Apple to turn this off with external monitors connected would be ideal.
Link: http://gizmodo.com/5938452/a-trick-to-make-using-an-external-monitor-with-your-macbook-way-better