Chosen Solution
Hi, I have a MBP that recently had a bit of an accident and the display died. I don´t want to replace the display, but rather use the MBP to replace an old Mac Mini I have. The problem is that with the display broken I can only access it through the HDMI cable when I mirror the MMBP´s display. But, I have a couple of partitions, one Linux and one Windows that I need to access every once in a while and it’s complicated to do it. Basically, I would rather do without the original display present, so the question is, what would happen if I remove the display completely, will I be able to use the HDMI monitor from boot in order to access the other partitions ?? Will it be selected as default when the original display is not present ?? Thanks Manuel
Sadly you’re damed! First your system leverages thermal sensors within the lid to manage the systems cooling. With these missing the system will go into Safe Mode, ramping up the systems fan’s as well as lower the CPU’s clocking to reduce its heat. SMC controls this and you can’t alter its reaction. So removing it won’t help you. There is still a way to use your system but not in the way you are thinking! Instead use the external display, keyboard & mouse/trackpad with the display lid closed! Your system will run in this mode using the external as the active monitor. You can also achieve this by placing a magnet on the uppercase where the Hall sensor is located faking out the system. But as you don’t have a working display it will be hard to know if you got it in the right place. Using a steel paperclip slide it on the face of the bezel along the right side it should be just across from the headphone jack (just a bit forward of it). Use the paper clip to index the lid to the uppercase to mark the location. Tape a thin rare earth magnet on the face of the uppercase to engage the sensor.
