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2009-2010 Target Display Mode - awesome

A

akm3

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Nov 15, 2007
2,252
279
I looked for lots of information about Target Display Mode and the information just isn't that good. I'm pleased to say that it works better than I'd expected.

I took a PC with a DisplayPort output, got a displayport to mini-displayport output and plugged it in. Upon booting it is instantly recognized by the imac and it switches over to Target Display mode where it worked as expected.

As a bonus, I couldn't find confirmation that the iMac will also use audio - it does. The GTX970 in the PC (and most video cards recently) can put audio through the displayport.

So, I have audio, video it works perfect. Hit CMD-F2 on the iMac keyboard and it switches back to Mac. The audio and brightness keys on the Mac keyboard still work. It's a perfect solution EXCEPT I think the external (Firewire and USB) drives disconnect from the iMac when it is in target display mode. Has anyone seen this behavior?
 
they shouldn't disconnect or anything.

Essentially all you're doing with Target Display mode is switching output options.
For example, a TV with multiple devices (game console, Apple TV, other device), you're just selecting a different source, the iMac peripherals should not be affected.
 
That's one of the great things about the 2009 and 2010 27" iMacs. After getting a cheap Mini DisplayPort cable I was able to use the 2010 iMac's display for anything with Mini DisplayPort or Thunderbolt ports.

With the 2011, sadly, they partially crippled it by requiring Thunderbolt.

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akm3 said:
It's a perfect solution EXCEPT I think the external (Firewire and USB) drives disconnect from the iMac when it is in target display mode. Has anyone seen this behavior?
Click to expand...

As mentioned above, they shouldn't. The iMac remains running unaffected by Target Display Mode.
 
I need to test it but my Drobo decided to start rebuilding so I was worried that it had been badly disconnected during the TDP testing and I haven't tried it again with external drives attached. if I can get that piece solid, then A+ on Target Display mode and i hope it makes a comeback in the future without being crippled by Thunderbolt requirements.
 
drobos are inherently known for their issues. definitely get a good backup and consider other storage solutions. otherwise you got a nice set-up going!

now if only 5K iMacs had TDM :cool:
 
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