Hooking iMac to external display when LCD is broken

Per the Genious bar people at the Apple store, the LCD display on my iMac is broken. She told me I could hook it up to an external display and use it or I could get it fixed. I decided to hook it up to an external display, but from searching other forumns, it looks like it is only extending what is on my desktop and not mirroring it because all I see is the background of my desktop, no icons. Apparently, I need to go into System preferences and change something. How can I do this if nothing is showing on the iMac LCD display? Is there a shortcut key on the keybord or something?

CMD F1 was the keyboard shortcut....

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Okay, let us move on. Disconnect the external monitor, remove battery from the laptop, unplug laptop cable for a few minutes, put everything back on and press the following combination in the this exact order: Fn+F3+Caps. If that does not help either, try to perform steps from this thread: https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/Lenovo-3000-and-Essential/G555-help-enable-external-display-from-BIOS/t...
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It has worked perfectly since I bought it and suddenly the external display will no longer work. There is nothing wrong with the Fujitsu because I have tested it on other computers but will no longer work with the iMac.
I have checked all connections, running current update and I am now at a loss as to what to do next.
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Hi Canaryguy
1. Shut everything off display, computer and disconnect everything.
2. Reset the iMac's SMC > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
+● Shut down the computer.+
+● Unplug the computer's power cord.+
+● Press and hold the power button for 5 seconds.+
+● Release the power button.+
+● Attach the computers power cable.+
+● Press the power button to turn on the computer.+
3. Now first reconnect the DVI or VGA cable to the Display.
4. Then connect the Mini DVI to ??? to the Cable coming from the Display.
5. Lastly plug the Mini-DVI adapter into the iMac.
6. Then turn the Display on and startup the iMac.
If that does not work try a different Mini-DVI to ??? adapter and cable, or test your adapter, cable and display with another iMac.
If all of the above fail, then the iMac needs to be serviced.
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How do I set MacBook to an external display when the plug and play doesn't recognize it? I am trying to set my Samsung 530 LCD as a monitor but HDMI and VGA cords (and the adaptor for them) doesn't seem to work.

I have tried everything I can find on line but they all claim that the plug and play works, and they don't for me. I tried the mini dvi to HDMI and a HDMI cord and that was not recognized no matter which unit I rebooted first. I found someone who said that my Macbook might be too old for the HDMI technology so I returned the cords and went to the VGA cord and adaptor.
I tried this first with the HDMI setup:
http://support-us.samsung.com/cyber/popup/iframe/pop_troubleshooting_fr.jsp?idx= 167919&modelname=LN40C650L1F&modelcode=&session_id=NDhJrD0DQT0Z8KRsm62yhxJxqnyPy SKhlhpB8vQ6h9Q7R2BZJGzj!-1089109758!1761676444!7501!-1!434477884!1761676348!7501 !-1!1292098185857
Then I tried this with the VGA setup:
http://support-us.samsung.com/cyber/popup/iframe/pop_troubleshooting_fr.jsp?idx= 167901&modelname=LN40C650L1F&modelcode=&session_id=NDhJrD0DQT0Z8KRsm62yhxJxqnyPy SKhlhpB8vQ6h9Q7R2BZJGzj!-1089109758!1761676444!7501!-1!434477884!1761676348!7501 !-1!1292098185857
I contacted Samsung support and they said I needed to set the display settings to external display on the mac. I went to the display settings and moved the icon to my status bar. When I click on search for displays or whatever it says (I'm not at my Mac right now) it does nothing.
What am I missing?

I am using MAC OSx 10.5.8 (9L31a) as my operation system. The TV says "No signal. Check connected device's power, cable connection and source selection." Seems to me that that goes in hand with what the Samsung tech said about the Mac needing to be forces to use the external display. But how do I do that?

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I'm trying to use my iMac as an external display.
When I plug in my early 2011 Macbook Pro into my Mid 2010 iMac via a Belkin Mini DisplayPort to Mini DisplayPort, the iMac screen flickers with static and there's random crackling noises.
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Here's a quick video demonstrating what I'm talking about - http://youtu.be/xxTXVRffWwE
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Target Display Mode: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - Apple Support
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I know...
This has been posted before, but I have as of yet not found a straight answer. Mostly peoples recommendation is: "Buy a display".
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Have a nice day

but I have as of yet not found a straight answer.
I think you are getting the straight answer. You need "buy a display" because a display has a video input port. An iMac has a video output port, but NO video input port. Therefore, you cannot use it as an external display, like a regular display.
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http://www.screenrecycler.com/home.html
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but I have as of yet not found a straight answer.
I think you are getting the straight answer. You need "buy a display" because a display has a video input port. An iMac has a video output port, but NO video input port. Therefore, you cannot use it as an external display, like a regular display.
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http://www.screenrecycler.com/home.html
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Using iMac as external display, keyboard, mouse

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21.5” iMac mid-2011

dwh wrote:
I would like to use my iMac as an external display, keyboard, and mouse for my windows laptop. Is there a gizmo that will allow me to do this?
When I am using my work computer (windows laptop) at home, I prefer to have a full size display, keyboard and mouse and would like to see if I can use my iMac for this purpose.
21.5” iMac mid-2011
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Hello gstern1994,
Yes you can. Form the article below you should be able to do that, just make sure that you plug in those devices when you have already set up the Target Display Mode on the iMac.
Target Display Mode: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
http://support.apple.com/en-us/ht3924
Regards,
-Norm G.

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Hooking iMac to external display when LCD is broken

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