Problem with Target Display Mode

Hi there
I just bought a nice new 2013 27-inch iMac and want to use my old late 2009 27-inch iMac as a second display. The new iMac has 2 Thunderbolt ports and the older one has a MiniDisplay port (the connectors are the same). I bought a Thunderbolt cable to connect the two, as I read that the new iMac can connect to older Macs through the MiniDisplay port. When I hit FN-CMD-F2 or just CMD-F2 nothing happens, and I cannot get the older iMac to serve as a second display. I have shut down and restarted, unplugged all other peripherals, and checked the cables are inserted the right way, etc, etc.
Interestingly, when I use the brand-new Thunderbolt cable to connect my two MacBook Airs (both of which have Thunderbolt ports), I can't get Target Display mode (FN-CMD-F2/CMD-F2) to work either.
So, do I need a male-to-male Mini Display to Mini-Display cable instead, or some other sort of connectors to allow the older iMac to work as a second display?
Thanks
Jon

OK, I will try that. Still not sure why Target Display Mode doesn't work with the two laptops though. Target _Disk_ mode works fine with them, when they are connected both ports show as 'connected' under About This Mac/More Info/System Report, but (FN)F2_CMD does nothing...
Jon

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<http://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT202801>
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HI - i had this problem too. see my previous post above. I spent weeks on the phone to apple support.
from memory:
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Additional twist to this...
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japamac-
Thanks so much for your reply. You're right on target for what I'm looking for and that article is VERY helpful! If you don't mind, I do have a couple more questions/clarifications.
1) First, I think that I didn't read the Wikipedia reference concerning DVI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DigitalVisualInterface) closely enough. It includes the following paragraph. If I understand it and what you said, it shouldn't be a problem to connect the male DVI-D of the converter into the female DVI-I socket of my Power Mac. Right?
+The long flat pin on a DVI-I connector is wider than the same pin on a DVI-D connector, so it is not possible to connect a male DVI-I to a female DVI-D by removing the 4 analog pins. It is possible, however, to connect a male DVI-D cable to a female DVI-I connector. Many flat panel LCD monitors have only the DVI-D connection so that a DVI-D male to DVI-D male cable will suffice when connecting the monitor to a computer's DVI-I female connector.+
2) I'm not clear on the difference between the Altona AT-DP200 and the Gefen converter. The Gefen converter is somewhat less expensive, so I'm trying to figure out what the downside is. The article you mentioned says that the ATP-DP200 "doesn't scale images", but that seems to only be an issue if I'm trying to connect other devices (PS3, Blu-ray), not if I just want to connect my Power Mac.
The description of the Gefen converter includes the following drawbacks:
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I'm not clear on what the practical impact of those limitations would be. I don't think the the lack of support for VGA devices or HDCP is an issue for my application. But I'm wondering about the statement that it only accepts one input resolution and outputs only one resolution (1920 x 1200) and the need for the input signal to carry 1920 x 1200. I take it, first of all, that the Power Mac can supply that input resolution. And, what is the impact of the device only having that resolution output to the iMac screen? That is, how would that look on the screen, ugly or okay? Finally, would the Altona device provide a better looking output on the iMac screen because it can apparently handle different resolutions? The manufacturer's description says, "Resolutions: all resolutions up to 1920x1200 (It is Important to select one of the resolutions that display
is capable of displaying, refer to your display’s users manual)."
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Target Display Mode iMac 27 mid 2011 with Mac Mini 2011 bootcamp

Hello,
I can't seem to use Target Display Mode with Bootcamp.
My configuration:
Imac 27" mid 2011 with osx 10.8.4
Mac Mini Server 2011 with osx 10.8.4, bootcamp 5 and Windows7
Both are connected via Apple genuine Thunderbolt cable (2m).
When I boot the Mac Mini into OSX then Target Display Mode works perfectly and I can see the osx installed on the Mac Mini on the iMac display.
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http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3924#8
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Thanks

Yes, it does.
(110549)

Problem with Target Display Mode

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