why does my Thunderbolt display not wake from sleep

Solution 1:

I have managed to isolate the problem.

It seems every time a mac connected to a thunderbolt display enters automatic sleep mode, it somehow screws up the PRAM and prevents it from operating normally.

There is a work around.

  1. Set "Display Sleep" to "Never" from "Energy Saver" menu in "System Preferences".
  2. Turn off "Automatically adjust brightness" from "Display Preferences" (Note: The settings will appear to reset and your brightness setting from keyboard will stop working"
  3. Shutdown the mac.
  4. Perform a PRAM reset by simultaneously pressing CMD+Option+P+R when booting up, keep keys pressed until you hear a second chime.
  5. Power cycle your Thunderbolt Display by remove plug from socket, waiting 10seconds then plugging back in.

Your brightness keyboard button should be working now, and if you select "Sleep" from shutdown menu, the display will wake up upon key press normally.

You can also restart the station and it should perform normally.

SYSTEM Mac Mini Mid 2011 - High Sierra Thunderbolt Display 27inch

Solution 2:

You can go to "Displays". There Gather Windows, the Analog window will come. select some another valid lower resolution. The second monitor will start working now(wake up). Now set back to your desired resolution.