Macbook + mini-DVI to video adapter problems!

Hi,
My roommate and I both have Macbooks - I got mine in June '06, it's one of the older black 80 gb models and hers is a white 120 gb that she got in August '07. We bought a mini-DVI to video adapter so we could watch DVDs and video files on our TV, but have been having some trouble with it lately. At first, it worked perfectly with her computer, but in the past few weeks has been malfunctioning - when she plugs it in, the default background shows up on the TV screen but nothing else, any windows she has open only show up on the TV if she drags them to the right on her screen until she can't see them on her computer anymore, so we're unable to watch anything fullscreen. Any tips on how to fix this?
Also, the adapter has never worked with my computer - any time I plug mine in, my computer display becomes enlarged and slightly distorted, and on the TV screen is distorted by horizontal lines that move up and down the screen. Any ideas here?
Thanks so much for the help!

Hi cbeth,
welcome to macbook forum.
For your friend macbook, try to press F7 back and forth to switch between mirror and expanded mode.
Try to update your macbook hardware firmware and software using software updater and repair permission after that...application/utilities/disk utility/repair permission.
Also reset your PRAM and PMU.
Open your friend system preference / display and try to compare and set yours similar to hers, including resolution, color depth, refresh rate.
Good Luck.

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Does the adapter work if you're in OS X? If so, you may get better help over in the Boot Camp forum here:
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I recently purchased a Mini DVI-to-Video Adapter (the one with Composite and S-Video output) to use with my MacBook to use my computer to watch movies on my TVs. The TVs are very late model, so they may not work, but when I plug the Adapter into my computer and then plug the Composite Video cord into my TV, the TV's picture is black and white and has four replications of the desktop. It is very fuzzy but the TV is clearly receiving some input from the desktop. Does anyone have any ideas of how to correct this, or is it just because the TVs are so old? Thanks for the help.
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Welcome to Apple Discussions, schumawm.
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Turn mirroring off. That way the two displays can run independently from one another. The mirroring check box is in Displays Preferences under the Arrangement tab.

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Will the Apple mini DVI to video adapter work with a macbook? What to Buy?

I went to my local Apple Reseller and asked for a mini dvi to video adapter to use to connect my macbook to a tv using either s-video or the yellow RCA cable. I was told that they only had the one that was for an ibook and Power book and that this would not work with a Macbook. I would need a different one. Is this correct. If so, what do I need? I have looked on the online Apple Store and cannot find anything that fits this description. They only list one type of Mini DVI to tv adapter? I just want to be able to connect my Macbook to a TV.

As it happens, I just bought the mini-DVI to video connector for my wife's Macbook (C2D) yesterday. I am in Australia (which is a PAL country), but I didn't see anything on the device or the packaging which indicated it as being PAL-specific. In fact, in Display Preferences when it is connected to the Mac and TV and in use, the panel relating to the TV output (which is shown by the Mac on the TV screen) is where you select between PAL-50Hz and NTSC-60Hz, so I'd guess it is a single worldwide device, rather than their being separately-manufactured PAL and NTSC variants of the connector.
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ted.h.
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Your probably not doing anything wrong. There are thousands of users with Similar issues and it seems to be with many different adapters.
We have Mini DP to VGA (3 different brands) and they all fail most of the time. This seems more prevalent with LCD Projectors. I've tested some (50+) with VGA Monitor (HP) and they all worked, LCD Projector (Epson, Hitachi, and Sanyo) and they all fail, DLP Projector (Sanyo) and one worked.
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Link
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Message was edited by: Mike N. (nahyunil)
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It means that the issue resides in your existing Library.
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I want to hook up my macbook (late 2008 model) to my tv. Will the Apple Mini-DVI to Video Adapter
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The new MacBooks that use the NVIDIA 9400M video chip do _not_ support output to analog TVs. Thus, with the current MacBooks the only way to get output to an analog TV is with a third-party VGA-to-analog TV converter box -- you can't just use one of Apple's cables (although you'll need the mini display port to VGA adapter cable to connect to a third-party VGA-to-TV converter box).
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Apple Mini-DVI to Video Adapter Questions

I'm in the processing of producing an instructional video using an Intel Core Duo iMac and iMovie. This content will be distributed primarily via broadcast over cable TV. Considering this, I'd like to be able to edit and view my dv footage on a TV monitor as I work.
I was told by the Apple Store person that the Apple Mini-DVI to Video Adapter (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/6314001/wo/jY18n ncCp3Nx2tYjws52iCaPkH1/1.0.21.1.0.8.25.7.11.2.3) will enable me to
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core duo Mac OS X (10.4.6)
core duo Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Ditto to Karsten's post:
"Mirroring" a Mac's output to a TV, or plugging in an adaptor to provide a display on a Mac's screen and simultaneously on a TV ruins the Mac's display while this is happening by lowering its resolution. Ugghhh! (..I've tried this several times, in order to get a 'TV' signal out, showing the Mac's desktop, but it's hopeless..)
Karsten's method is the best - output to camcorder via the normal FireWire cable, and plug a TV or monitor into the camcorder's A/V Out socket!
[..Note, though, that Matti has pointed out that - what was it..? - during editing, some updating of the TV-thro-camcorder display doesn't work correctly. I can't remember exactly what the problem was, and I don't see it mentioned on Matti's Bugs Page, but there was some slight oddity. Nevertheless, this is still the best way of viewing on a TV or monitor..]

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Bought the Apple Mini-DVI to Video Adapter to hook up my Macbook to my TV. I tried it when it first arrived and it worked within minutes of setting up. Great! I go to set it up and use it again a week later, and it wouldn't work at all. I went through every possible setting I could to try and get it to work, nothing. Do these things have a tendency to go out or short out or something? I'm getting nothing but scrambled screens, grey screens, etc. Nothing seems to work.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/M9319G/A?mco=MTY3ODQ5OTY
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Hey Rob,
Is your profile information accurate? The MacBook 2,1 was introduced in November of 2006 and discontinued in May of 2007, so the mini-DVI to video adapter ought to work.
What, exactly, do you see on your screen? Are all of the connections nice and snug? Do you have another RCA cable you can try? You can use a white or red one if you want; they all will work as long as you're connecting the video adapter to the yellow port on the TV.
~Lyssa

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Your probably not doing anything wrong. There are thousands of users with Similar issues and it seems to be with many different adapters.
We have Mini DP to VGA (3 different brands) and they all fail most of the time. This seems more prevalent with LCD Projectors. I've tested some (50+) with VGA Monitor (HP) and they all worked, LCD Projector (Epson, Hitachi, and Sanyo) and they all fail, DLP Projector (Sanyo) and one worked.
My Apple Mini DP to DVi works most of the time. My Mini DP to HDMI (Generic non Apple) works every time.
The general consensus is that Apple broke something in the OS around 10.6.4 or 10.6.5 and its not yet fixed. As we are a school we have logged a case with the EDU Support group so will see what happens.
Dicko

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x

Macbook + mini-DVI to video adapter problems!

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