Mac OS X: No video after changing resolutions in Display preferences

Resolution

Mac OS X 10.2 through 10.3.9

1. Start up in Safe Mode. For more information, please see Mac OS X 10.2, 10.3: How to Start Up in Safe Mode.
2. Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu.
3. Click the Displays preference pane.
4. Select a resolution and refresh rate that is supported by the display.
5. Restart.

Mac OS X 10.0 through 10.1.5

Delete this preference file by following the steps outlined in one of the methods below:

/Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.plist

Method 1

1. Start up the computer with Mac OS 9 (from the hard disk or from a CD-ROM disc).
2. Open the Mac OS X startup disk.
3. Open the Library folder.
4. Open the Preferences folder
5. Drag the icon with the filename "com.apple.windowserver.plist" to the Trash.
6. Open the Startup Disk control panel.
7. Select the Mac OS X System Folder.
8. Restart the computer.

Method 2

This works when Mac OS 9 is not available on the computer's hard disk or on a CD-ROM disc.

Warning:

This section involves use of the "rm" command. Be sure to type the commands exactly. Typographical error when using the rm command could result in severe data loss, up to and including all information on the computer. To verify characters and spacing, you may copy and paste the text from your web browser into a text editor, such as TextEdit.

1. Start up in single user mode by pressing and holding the Command-S key combination when you turn on the computer.
2. At the prompt, type: mount -uw /
3. Press Return.
4. Type: rm /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.plist
5. Press Return.
6. Type: reboot
7. Press Return.

When the computer restarts the preference is recreated with default settings.