Dual displays problem

Hi,
I just bought two new displays (2x BenQ FP222, 22" widescreen) to use with my new Mac Pro 2.66 (GeForce 7300 GT), but here's the problem: When only the first display is turned on the computer is fine, but when both displays are switched on the picture on both displays goes black every few seconds and then comes back.
I have connected both displays to the computer via 5-metres DVI-cables, which my dealer said would be ok. I understand that I only have the standard graphics card, but as far as I know that shouldn't be a problem unless I try to use dual 30 inch displays.
It sounds to me like it could be a problem with the computer not having enough power to run the two displays (they both use 1680x1050)? Or could it be a faulty DVI-cable?
Has someone got any idea what might be the problem?
/Neworld
Mac Pro Dual 2.66 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Have you updated the firmware on the nvidia to the latest? Just a thought, but to your comment about powering all the cards...... the power supply will give only 5 volt for each PCI interface rail. The monitors get their power from the AC outlet. As robust of a machine the Mac Pro is, I doubt it will have any issues powerwise even if all of the slots are full. The ATI card requires an additional power cable because it is a much faster card and requires more power than the slot it is in can give it. The nvidia card is smaller and has no fan, only a heatsink. It isn't drawing near the current that the ATI card will, and I haven't seen many, if any posts about dual displays not working on the ATI. Flickering, yes...... but not that it doesn't work. I agree with the other folks that have posted, it's a hardware issue with your video card, or the cables used to hook up the monitors, or possibly the displays are not standard in the way they use the DVI signal.... You can troubleshoot by trying your known good Apple CD on each DVI output, then place it on one DVI and try the BenQ on the other DVI. Make sure you power down in between your tests. This is to make sure you don't blow something, and the video card can reset itself to which display is hooked up. Do either of the BenQ displays work with DVI on either output?..... once you layout your results, you may see a pattern that will help you explain the problem to Apple. I think they may need to send you a replacement video card, but I'm not there to see what is happening. Playing out the scenarios you tested usually makes them pay attention, instead of calling and saying it doesn't work. They put all these issues into a database that they search when customers call with issues. Wow, have I been long-winded!
Good luck
Michael

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Another dual display problem - GeForce FX 5200

I've seen lots of questions about dual display problem, situation when trying to connect two non-apple vga displays to your graphic card.
I have GeForce FX 5200 graphic card, with 2 display output's. And two DELL 17" vga LCD displays.
I manage to connect 1 display regulary with dvi to vga converter, but for other display I tried several difrent converters ADC to DVI to VGA, and it just did NOT work.
G5 could see other display in display settings, in arrange option I coud see two identical displays, but I don't get anu picture (desktop) on other display???
Is it problem with output's on my graphic card (Gforce FX 5200), could it be soloved with some ADC to VGA converter?
P.S. Dr. Bott ADC VGA Extractor is not compatible with GeForce FX 5200????
G5 dual 2.1Ghz Mac OS X (10.3.4)

I've seen lots of questions about dual display
problem, situation when trying to connect two
non-apple vga displays to your graphic card.
I have GeForce FX 5200 graphic card, with 2 display
output's. And two DELL 17" vga LCD displays.
I manage to connect 1 display regulary with dvi to
vga converter, but for other display I tried several
difrent converters ADC to DVI to VGA, and it just did
NOT work.
This won't work if the ADC to DVI adapter is not passing through the analog signals needed for VGA.
G5 could see other display in display settings, in
arrange option I coud see two identical displays, but
I don't get anu picture (desktop) on other
display???
Is it problem with output's on my graphic card
(Gforce FX 5200), could it be soloved with some ADC
to VGA converter?
Yes.
P.S. Dr. Bott ADC VGA Extractor is not compatible
with GeForce FX 5200????
It should work. On Dr. Botts web-site it says:
"VGA Extractor is compatible with any video card with an ADC port in a PowerMac G5"

Dual Display Problems - No Signal After Sleep

So, I just set up my hexacore Mac Pro with stock ram and the ATi 5870. To go along with it, I purchased two Dell U2311H monitors from Dell so that I could finally have dual displays. I then purchased two 6' minidisplayport to displayport cables from Monoprice. Also went with the Apple wireless keyboard and Magic Mouse.
Upon initial start-up, everything worked fine. The monitors needed to be calibrated, but dual display mode worked perfectly without any extra steps. I had some fun messing around for a little bit and then decided to take a break. I put the computer to sleep.
I came back 15 minutes later (couldn't stay away for long), and clicked the mouse to wake the computer back up. I heard the tower humming, but the monitors stayed black. I tapped the keyboard. Still black. Assuming it was some issue I wasn't prepared for with the wireless peripherals, I futzed around with them for a while and had no luck. Still not image on the monitors. I turned the monitors off and then back on only to get an error message explaining that the monitor was in Power Save mode. Some further exploration revealed that the monitors were allegedly getting NO SIGNAL from the computer.
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I have the exact same issue. Here's the forum I've got going: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2686085&tstart=90
I called AppleCare because this issue was out of the box. Engineering wanted to capture some logger information so I ran the logger and sent it off to them.
I am running a Dell 27" via a DisplayPort to Mini-DisplayPort cable (also purchased through Monoprice) and a Dell 22" via DVI to DVI (have also tried with the DVI to DVI cable connected to an Apple DVI-MiniDisplayPort adapter and the same issue arrises). When I boot the computer with any of these cables, I get no video. Only when I boot with a Dual-Link DVI (DVI-D) cable from the 27" monitor do I get any video on screen. At this point, I can then plug in the DisplayPort to Mini-DisplayPort cable and the regular DVI (not Dual-Link) after unplugging the DVI-D cable and I get video. If I restart the computer, no problem. However, if the computer goes to sleep or if I power down and then power back up, I am back to square one with no video and have to resort to using the Dual-Link DVI cable.
Because this was DOA out of the box, they ended up just RMA'ing the machine and re-ordering my CTO Mac Pro 6-core. Still waiting for it to be built, I'll let you know how it goes on the second machine when it arrives.

Dual Display Problem with new MacBook Pro

Hi All,
I just got a new MacBook Pro Core 2 Duo and a 30" Dell LCD Monitor. Both are AWESOME products, BTW. But I am having a weird issue with running both displays.
If I sleep/wake the computer so that I'm never running with dual displays, everything seems fine. However, no matter what I try, I eventually get a system hang if both displays are active at once.
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When I took it back to the store, I was unable to reproduce the problem for the mac Genius.
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10.10.3 dual display problems

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I did not mention this before, but i have another system based on the MacBook Pro and this issue does not appear on this unit.
This system is a registered system on the Public Beta program so i thought it may not be relevant.
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Hey guys, I'm having a bit of a hard time right now. Here's my situation. I'm using my Mac Pro with a primary HD Apple Cinema Display 23". I just recently stumbled upon a Sony HS95P. I've used this monitor before as a second display a few years back. I bought a " DVI 24+1 male to VGA female adapter DVI-D DVI-I DVI-A " and plugged it into my computer, no problem. Display shows up in system preferences, when I check mirror displays it takes the resolution of the 2nd display and the Sony flashes. However no screen, Blacked on the Sony. When I set up the displays to run into eachother, I can venture my mouse over onto where the other monitor would be, however it's black on the Sony.
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I'm back. Got my Mac Pro back from repair today. Ahhh...25" screen. However, they (the Apple Repair People) have put a new GeForce 8800GT in, to replace the old one.
And the final bill was $380 CDN ($40 for work, the rest for the card, around $300.)
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Dual display problem (again)

Ok. The short version:
A few weeks ago my old graphics card on my Mac pro 2007, 8 core stopped working.
I got a new Geoforce GT120 with one DVI and one MDP port.
My displays are two Samsung 20, with only VGA and HDMI inputs.
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Now the DVI out works perfect (with a DVI to VGA adaptor). BUT, to connect the MDP (Via MDP to HDMI apple adaptor) I have to spend at least 15 minutes plugging out and plugging in every time i start the computer.
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Well usually nvidia's detonators perform the best for nvidia chipset based graphics cards, those also include the support for multiple displays (just as long as your graphics card supports it)
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I am running Linux Fedora core 15 on an HP laptop that I use for presentations. I have dual displays set up and run my presentation software (opera and acroreader) in the external monitor in full screen mode. This works fine for opera, but when I try to use acroreader, it only appears on the laptop's built in monitor when in full screen mode. Any suggestions on how to get it on the external display?
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Dual display color and other related issues...

I have posted this on painter forums, though some of the issues coming together here are directly related to issues w/ Snow Leopard and dual displays. Thought I would try here....
This is so bizarre. When I ever I run P11(I think this is going on in P10 too?) w/ the OS X (snow leopard, 10.6.2 on quad core Intel Xeon Mac Pro, 10 GB of RAM) menu bar on my Eizo(making it the main display), and the Apple Cinema display left as the #2 monitor, I get very annoying brush cursor artifcats left randomly on the Eizo screen after strokes. One cannot predict when the cursor will leave it's gray "marks", but it will do it, sometimes 5 strokes in a row, sometimes after 15 strokes or so? If I move my brush back over them, or change the image percantage view, they vanish, obviously new ones coming back, as I work.
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So, you can see my trap - Accurate color, or annoying cursor artifacts left on the screen (sorry, it really bugs me as I work) as I work in Painter.
Attempted fixes: Trashed all of Painter's prefs, all of Wacom's Intuos 4(latest driver) prefs and software, switched plug ins on the back of the mac for the displays(lots of restarts), ran cache cleaning Cocktail and DiskWarrior, etc. -- no change, as I can duplicate the issue w/ the above set up. A sidebar or maybe be very related note: I have an iMac w/ max amount of ram (model not very old -- maybe 1 or 2 old) and I have had a long standing issue working on the iMacs we have had w/ this brush cursor artifact problem (in Leopard and Snow Leopard). I am on one monitor w/ the iMac, so you know here the menu bar is...hmmmmmmmm.....?
Thanks!, T

I have posted this on painter forums, though some of the issues coming together here are directly related to issues w/ Snow Leopard and dual displays. Thought I would try here....
This is so bizarre. When I ever I run P11(I think this is going on in P10 too?) w/ the OS X (snow leopard, 10.6.2 on quad core Intel Xeon Mac Pro, 10 GB of RAM) menu bar on my Eizo(making it the main display), and the Apple Cinema display left as the #2 monitor, I get very annoying brush cursor artifcats left randomly on the Eizo screen after strokes. One cannot predict when the cursor will leave it's gray "marks", but it will do it, sometimes 5 strokes in a row, sometimes after 15 strokes or so? If I move my brush back over them, or change the image percantage view, they vanish, obviously new ones coming back, as I work.
However I put the OS menu bar on the AC display, yet work back on the Eizo, this does NOT happen. No cursor artifacts. Well, at least I can summon the issue
The reason I am doing this is Snow Leopard has bad color issues w/ dual displays (well documented, much to Photoshop CS4 users frustrations, and mine). Apple needs to fix it... but for me to see the right color on the Eizo(this is my main color and superior display), it needs to be the main monitor(menu bar) in 10.6.2.
So, you can see my trap - Accurate color, or annoying cursor artifacts left on the screen (sorry, it really bugs me as I work) as I work in Painter.
Attempted fixes: Trashed all of Painter's prefs, all of Wacom's Intuos 4(latest driver) prefs and software, switched plug ins on the back of the mac for the displays(lots of restarts), ran cache cleaning Cocktail and DiskWarrior, etc. -- no change, as I can duplicate the issue w/ the above set up. A sidebar or maybe be very related note: I have an iMac w/ max amount of ram (model not very old -- maybe 1 or 2 old) and I have had a long standing issue working on the iMacs we have had w/ this brush cursor artifact problem (in Leopard and Snow Leopard). I am on one monitor w/ the iMac, so you know here the menu bar is...hmmmmmmmm.....?
Thanks!, T

Dual Display on Mac Mini

Hi there,
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Thanks!

Which Mac mini? The new one has two video outputs on it, so two displays is not a problem.

Dual Displays and Windows XP

Hello,
I have a MBP with the Radeon X1600 graphics card. Under OS X I can run dual displays without a problem, either extended or mirrored. Using Bootcamp to boot to Win XP, I can only get the 2nd monitor to run extended, I can't get it to run mirrored. What really drives me nuts (short trip) is that I have run it in mirrored mode before when I teach. I go to the Display dialog box and "see" both monitors, but the only way I can get anything now on the 2nd is to run extended? I could update Radeon driver on the Windows side, but I thought BootCamp took care of that and I don't want to mess up my laptop?

It is definitely best to reinstall anytime you make a major system change. You will have to do at least a windows repair although I am not sure if it will fully enable the dual core.
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The first strange thing is that the display works perfectly with another 1.25 GHz 15" Powerbook I have to test it on. In both cases, I have connected the monitor to the Powerbooks with a new Apple brand powered DVI to ADV Adapter.
The second strange thing is that the display seemed to act fine until I reinstalled my Wacom tablet driver so that it would work with dual displays. I've uninstalled the driver, but it the problem is still there.
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angus.
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As for the power sensor button thing, they wanted me to plug the monitor into a different system, either at a Genius Bar or a friend or whatnot to see if it would behave in the same manner - not wanting to activate. I took it to school with me and hooked it up to one of my teacher's G5 and it behaved the same way. It took like 15 times touching the sensor to bring the system up.
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Dual Display, 2 Monitors - Extended Desktop

Hello Everyone:
There isn't a clear cut answer or solution in connected a Macbook Air to 2 external monitors in an attempt to create an extended desktop. I have read older posts that it's either doable or not doable. My questions are the following:
-Is it possible to connect a new Macbook Air to 2 external monitors for extended desktop purposes?
-Some users have reported lag issues (mouse dragging , delays, etc.). Will this happen for sure with a Macbook Air or is it a monitor issue?
-What's the best non-Apple monitor brand that would work best with a Macbook Air for dual display purposes? I've read that Dells have a problem in this regard.
-What would be the advantage or disadvantage of using a dock station in setting up a dual display environment? Would this add to the lag, latency factor?
I'm thinking of investing in a new Macbook Air, but I want to make sure I dont end up with silly issues - such as latency, monitors, etc.
Thank you for all your help and advise.
Best,
G.

Yes, extended desktop works with monitors set to differant resoultions. the Monitors pref pane allows you to select relative arrangements and rez of all monitors composing the extended desktop.
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Dual displays problem

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