IMac MiniDisplay Port 2nd Monitor Setup

Looking for advance on setting up a second monitor. My current arrangement is unique in that I currently use my iMac as an external display for my dock HP Laptop via a Displayport to MiniDisplay port cable.
So when I use my docked laptop I have two monitors, one is the iMac and the other is an HP LCD monitor connected via DVI.
What i would like to do is have the HP monitor serve as my iMac's external monitor when I'm not using the laptop. It has an HDMI input, so I've ordered a miniDisplayport to HDMI cable...
What i'm looking for is a switch that would allow me to either manually switch the iMac into the Laptop's external display OR automatically switch when it sees a signal coming from the laptop dock.
I think this would be a MiniDisplay port switch that would allow for two way video.
Any one out there try this?

Hi John,
I really have no idea, but as a test, hold alt key at cold startup, let it set on that screen for maybe a minute or two, then click the startup volume or hit enter... any change?
Also, if you log out & back in does it show up?

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Does the late '09 24" iMac minidisplay port allow for video input as well as output?

Greetings,
I own a 24" 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo iMac with the Nvidia 9400 card. It's nearing the end of it's gaming life but I still want to use it for everything else after I get my new tower. Everything I can find in reguards to using an iMac as a monitor for a different computer references the 27" iMac one model newer than my current computer. Is the minidisplay port on my machine able to accept an input or am I forced to get a subpar monitor for my 2nd machine? Thanks!
~Dan

Only the 27" can be used in target display mode.

Connect iMac MiniDisplay port to VGA or composite projector, PLEASE!??

I have an iMac and an Epson Powerlite 77c projector I am wanting to link up. I need to go from the minidisplay port in the back of the imac to either composite or vga (female) connection. Apple has a minidisplay to vga adapter which i'm assuming will work.
Epson Projector connections - VGA (female,) Video and audio in (composite), S-video
iMac display connections- Mini display port
Would it be better to use vga or composite for watching movies and using the computer through the projector?
And...if i am thinking of the correct cable i'm also going to need an extension to actually get to the monitor. Since the minidisplay to vga cable is female and so is the vga input on the projector, Is there such thing as male-male vga cable and would it send the signal properly from the imac to the projector?
Is there any other way to link these two devices up? Component switch or wireless transmitter?
Thanks

Apple has a minidisplay to vga adapter which i'm assuming will work.
Yes, it will work fine!
Would it be better to use vga or composite for watching movies and using the computer through the projector?
The iMac is not able to connect via composite cable at all. VGA, Mini Display Port, and HDMI (through adapter) are the only types of cabling that will work. Keep in mind that composite is the absolute WORST video quality you could hope for. Here is the scale from worst to best...
Composite, S Video, Component, VGA, DVI/HDMI/MDP (these last 3 are essentially the same quality)
Is there such thing as male-male vga cable and would it send the signal properly from the imac to the projector?
Yes, they are extremely common, and it will work fine. I would be surprised if there wasn't an extra cable of this sort already in the projector bag. It is standard gear for all of my office's projector sets.
Is there any other way to link these two devices up? Component switch or wireless transmitter?
The best connection you can make with the powerlite 77c is through VGA.

Imac not recognizing 2nd monitor

On cold startup, why do I always need to unplug and replug thunderbolt mini display to vga adapter for imac to see second monitor ?
Once I do this, the 2nd monitor is recognized. If I restart, 2nd monitor is recognized.
thanks.. I am worried that the port will be compromised with all the unplug/replugs.
Btw... the "detect displays" function doesn't resolve this issue.
thanks for any help!
~john theaker
windsor ontario canada
iMac 2.8gz quad core 17
Samsung monitor
mini

Hi John,
I really have no idea, but as a test, hold alt key at cold startup, let it set on that screen for maybe a minute or two, then click the startup volume or hit enter... any change?
Also, if you log out & back in does it show up?

IMac miniDisplay Port and USB headset

I have recently purchased the Belkin AV360 in order to use my PS3 on my iMac 27".
It works just fine, both video and sound, but I would like to have the sound output to my USB headset if possible.
When I plug in the USB headset, it continues to output sound from the operating system rather than the video that is being displayed from the miniDisplay Port. I assume that by using an analog headset might fix this but I would prefer not to spend more money on another headset if i am not forced to.
So, does anyone know if it is possible to get a USB headset to play audio when in Target Mode?
as well
If I use an analog headset, would it play audio when in Target Mode?
Thanks in advance for any help/info!

Hi Patrick,
Now test with just the Hub connected, then test by adding one USB device at a time, most likely one of the USB Drives is having problems.

Help!!! Prethunderbolt imac as a 2nd monitor for mid 2012 mac pro

Hi. I have a 2.8 GHz Intel Core i7 imac (pre-thunderbolt) running 10.6.8 and I'd like to use it as a 2nd display for my new mid 2012 2.4 GHz 12 core Mac Pro running 10.8.2.
I bought a mini display to mini display port cable made by NewerTech. Both computers are up and running. I've connected the cable from the Mac Pro to the iMac, hit command f2 on the imac and nothing happens.
Does anyone have any idea why this isn't working?

Forgot to say... help!

24" cinema display with a 27" iMac as a two monitor setup.

I have just purchased a second hand 24" cinema display to use as with my 27" iMac as a twomonitor setup.
Connected it up and weked fine fot two days.
Now it keep flashing on & off never more than a fraction of a second.
I connected it to my MacBook Pro for about an hour and the problem did not appear.
I also tried the other Thunderbolt socket, still happened but not as often.
Any one an idea, hardware problem of software?
Patrick

The 27' iMac is Thunderbolt, less than a year old so under warranty, the 24" display is MiniPort, the Macbook MiniPort about 3 years old.
I have been using the setup since posting this descussion and it hasnt happened once in the past hour and a half, so its obviosly intermitant, the hardest fault of all to find.
Thank you for your reply.
Patrick

Imac as a 2nd monitor

I have a intel duo Imac and I love it. I also have a PC.
Is there a way I can use the Imac as a display for the PC?
Thanks,
Dale

No. You can use the remote desktop thing to control your PC via your iMac. Google it or something.

Jumpy mouse on 27" imac when using 2nd monitor

Exactly as my post suggests, I'm using an acer AL2016 20" monitor via a mini displayport to DVI adaptor at 1680x1050. What's weird is it isn't always jumpy, just sometimes. But only when the second monitor is connected does this happen.
I've tried this with 2 different logitech trackballs and few different mice, it makes it hard to click on anything because the mouse "jumps"... the speed it moves isn't consistent. I've tried cleaning the trackball, even replacing it. Only thing I can think is the difference in resolution between the two monitors(2560x1440 vs 1680x1050) is confusing it.
Message was edited by: MNMinstrel

Join the club my friend...
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2094178&start=30&tstart=0
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2259048&tstart=0
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2229670&tstart=1

HT3382 What if I want to connect the minidisplay port of a mac book air with the minidisplay port of a monitor? Can I use a the thunderbolt cable to do this connections?

Using mac book air (late 2010) minidisplay port and minidisplay port of monitor Monitor Dell UltraSharp de 23.8" Widescreen U2414H.
Can I connect them using a thunderbolt cable or is there a specific cable I can use to stablish this connection?
Thanks

A Thunderbolt cable won't work. Use a Mini DisplayPort to Mini DisplayPort, or Mini DisplayPort to DisplayPort, cable.
<http://www.monoprice.com/Category?c_id=102&cp_id=10246>
(If you use DisplayPort, make sure you use the Input, not Output, port on the display.)

1 Lightning port as both 2nd monitor AND storage SSD? - 21" 2011 iMac

Hello!
I am considering picking up my first SSD drive for use as a work horse for streaming video and audio for my prosumer use. My 21" 2011 iMac only has the one lightning port, which I plug my old 19" LCD monitor into for the extra screen real estate. Not wanting to bottleneck the SSD speed by connecting it to USB 2 or even FireWire, does such a throughput device exist that would allow the one lightning port to support both my 19" display as well as a mounted, external SSD drive? I know that the lightning port had an expandable future, but I'm not sure if this is possible. If it IS possible, I would imagine doing so would still be expensive. Thanks a bunch!

Haha, THUNDERBOLT! Sorry, mate. I must have been thinking of the newer iPad/iPhone connector. Goes to show you how much mind I've paid to apples new port. Anyway, that's great news. Thank you. I was pessimistic about their being enough bandwidth to fully support my 2nd monitor in addition to the top notch speeds of an SSD. I was curious to know where there might be any sacrifices one way or another.

Connecting a 2nd monitor to my 27" iMac

Hi All, I am looking to buy a 2nd monitor to go with my 27" 2.9 GHZ iMac (purchased May 2013) and wandered if anyone could provide some advice on the best way to connect it through a thunderbolt port and is there anything I must ensure the new monitor has or certain specifiction. i am looking to buy a 27" monitor to sit aside my current one. Thanks in advance for any help.

Unless it's an Apple Thunderbolt display or some other Thunderbolt disply you simply connect a MiniDisplay port to (VGA, DVI or HDMI) depending on what the external display has and connect it up. The System Preferences - Diskplays and setup the setting the way you want. This is the ONLY way it will work. There are hundreds of Youtube videos that show you how, here is one example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKkPmJ1lZ4Y

What cable do I need to connect a 2nd Monitor from the thunderbolt port?

Hi I have got one of the brand new iMac's with thunderbolt ports - what cable do I need to connect my Imac to a 2nd display either VGA or DVI - also is there a budget version about as well as I am sure its going to cost a lot from the apple store

Thanks I understand that I need another cable and have that from when I connected my old PC to the 2nd monitor.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB570Z/A?mco=MTY3ODQ5OTY - is this the one I need if going to DVI
I just dont want to waste more money on a cable that says its for an imac to 2nd screen and find it doesnt fit
For info my iMAC is the latest version (27" with the 2 thunderbolt connections and 1 firewire)
Thanks

Mac Pro 2008 with Radeon 4870 video useable resolution on DVI limited to size of minidisplay port VGA when displays are mirrored. Did not have this problem until I plugged in new monitor (miniDisplayport), but now it affects even going back original mon

Have been using the Mac Pro since 2008. Changed to a Radeon 4870 card early this year. Everything was fine.
Running an old KDS monitor from minidisplay port to VGA and a 1400x1050 projector from DVI out. Have used the
two mirrored the entire time with no trouble.
The old kDS monitor looked like it was starting to go bad so I got another monitor. Don't have much room
so it's a 14inchwith widescreen 1328x768 display. Hooked that to minidisplay port as it only has a VGA input.
Immediately the LCD display took over and restricted the output to the projector.
If I turn off mirroring, I can get projector back to normal. But this makes running programs a lot more difficult.
It worked fine with mirroring on before the monitor change. Except going back to old monitor,
now it is affecting things. I pull up display preferences. If the displays are mirrored, even setting the projector
to 1400x1050, it says "usuable resolution 1280x1024." It didn't use to do this at all.
Tried reseting NVRAM - no result.
Any suggestions would be helpful. Just looking at the image on the projector, I don't see any difference from
before.

UPDATE:
As noted in the first post, both of these newer USB DAC work fine at 24/96 on my wife's iMac, so it's clear that they didn't both become defective when I connected them to the Macbook Pro at the same time.
Resetting the Macbook Pro PRAM didn't help, so I removed the hard shell laptop case to get to the battery and remove it, then reset the SMC. After that I could use the original DAC at 24/96 again, but only IF it was plugged into the rear USB port. If I plugged it into the front USB port then the sound was garbled and filled with noise. This was a vast improvement over no sound at all.
Then I switched to the replacement/updated DAC, but I got no sound at all from either USB port at any bit-rate. And returning to the original DAC again now results in no sound again.
Sigh... I will reset the PRAM and SMC again, and see how far I can get with this. I'd still love some help. Thanks!

Losing connection to 2nd monitor when iMac sleeps

I have a 2nd monitor connected to my 21" iMac (late 2013) with Mavericks via displayport/thunderbolt port to HDMI. I had the same one with the same link connected to my old 2010 Macbook Pro, and I never saw this.
What happens is when the computer goes to sleep, all of the windows on the second screen move to the iMac, and my Wacom tablet even goes from being mapped to ONLY my second monitor to being only mapped to the iMac!
This is kind of driving me crazy, and I have searched and Googled and just can't find a solution.
Any ideas would be rad. Thanks.
David

Try a reset > Mac OS X: How to reset the printing system

IMac MiniDisplay Port 2nd Monitor Setup

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