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2018 Mac mini & dual monitor issues driving me INSANE!

M

mrbrown

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 27, 2004
567
241
Springfield, Missouri
I have had the 2018 Mac mini since it came out. I have two Spectre 27" 4K monitors, both the exact same model, hooked up to the mini via USB-C to DisplayPort cables. They are set up to be extended desktops, with desktop 1 on the left and desktop 2 on the right.

Very regularly, when the computer wakes up from sleep, it will reset the positioning - Desktop 2 will be on the left and Desktop 1 will be on the right. I'll have to go into Displays and fix the positioning. It happens very frequently.

I've tried a variety of solutions, short of moving the actual monitors around. I've got a script that I found on GitHub that allegedly will reset the monitor positioning, but it doesn't work (probably because they are the same model monitor). I've manually reset the positioning. I've reset the computer. I've changed the cables and what ports they used.

Anybody have any ideas? Running the latest version of Catalina.
 
I am on Mojave but I have a similar setup and had issues with the same thing. Since I use 1 HDMI out on Mini and 1 USB-C Out on the Mini I have not had the issue at all.
 
Only other suggestion might be to get a USB-C Hub and see if that helps since it would be going into 1 port on the Mac mini.

Or change the monitor placement moving the one on the left to the right and see if it sticks
 
Others have reported similar issues. If you still have AppleCare open a case. Maybe if they get enough complaints they will fix the problem.
 
It's a weird issue that shouldn't exist. But if I were in your shoes, I'd have just physically moved the monitors already. "Life's too short" and all that.
 
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"I've tried a variety of solutions, short of moving the actual monitors around."

Why don't you try that... and then get back to us...?
 
Why the color temp difference depending on the connection? I would try and investigate that as well so you can use HDMI port on mac mini. I think then the swapping around won't happen. I have same issue on my MacBook Pro when I connect two USB-C displayport cables.

My mac mini I don't have this issue - one is using HDMI port, the other display usb-c to hdmi 2.0
 
I have a Mac Mini 2018 with two OWC m4v SSD boxes, each with a DisplayPort port which I use with two old rotating Dell 19" 1080p monitors. I keep the 2nd one vertical to work on music sheets and will rotate it horizontal for video editing when needed. They don't support HDMI to DisplyPort so I can't use the Mini HDMI port, and I broke the USB-C to DisplyPort cable so went to DP to DP cable I had.

On that setup when the Mini launches,, it starts on the 2nd monitor not vertical until about half way through, then switches to the main monitor to start up normally. When I was using the USB-C to DP cable on the main monitor, often startup would only be on the verticle 2nd monitor but horizontal and the main monitot would not come on at all. Being forced to change cables fixed that.
 
Fishrrman said:
"I've tried a variety of solutions, short of moving the actual monitors around."

Why don't you try that... and then get back to us...?
Click to expand...

Because that is only a solution until it isn't. Inevitably, the displays will likely switch at some point, as they have done many times in the past. While the trend is that Desktop 1 gets shifted to Monitor 2 and vice-versa, that still means desktops are getting shifted, regardless of where the monitor is placed.

Ideally, Apple would issue a fix that keeps the desktops in place.
 
This is not a Mini issue, it's Mac OS that is somewhere in stone ages in regards of multimonitor setups. Happens to me on a Mac Pro quite often, a bit better since installing Catalina, though.
 
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Where I work, we have a couple thousand touchbar MacBook Pros and people are issued two 4K displays. Every morning, none of your application windows are where you left them the day before, and I think its because two identical monitors connected in same manner (both USB-C to displayport), the OS gets confused which display is which. I don't know. Its a common complaint.

I don't have that issue on my Mac Mini - and I think it has something to do with one being on the HDMI port, and one being USB-C to HDMI. Different connections so easier to identify? Not sure, but my suspicion.
 
Nütztjanix said:
I had the exact same issue with my two LG 31MU97Z-B, until I moved them from the same Thunderbolt bus (ports 1 & 2) to different Thunderbolt buses (ports 1 & 3). Since then, I didn't have the problem again.
Click to expand...

This appears to have worked! The desktops have not been switched since I moved them to different Thunderbolt buses!
 
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I believe I have this same/similar issue: m1 mac mini, two identical (hp zr2440w) monitors, one on native hdmi, one on thunderbolt > anker hub > hdmi. Positions of monitors intermittently/frequently switch locations, after sleep|shutdown|restart. I power off my system at night using a switched power strip, so all power to mac is lost. Might this be the source of the issue, perhaps due to losing some content stored in volatile memory? This started happening some months after purchase, and now does this almost every time (sleep|shutdown|restart). Tried using displayplacer, which appeared to work consistently for several weeks; now works less than 1/2 time.

This is my first mac; a bit disappointed...
 
These are teething pains of a first generation product. There’s a reason why the intel Mac Minis are still available to buy.
 
Maybe ..., but I've been seeing many folks complain of a very similar sounding issue, with dates going back many years (at least 2013), so either this specific flavor of this issue is new for m1 Mini and similar to an older issue, or the issue persists.
 
bobkster said:
I believe I have this same/similar issue: m1 mac mini, two identical (hp zr2440w) monitors
Click to expand...

The 2018 Intel Mini has more ports and supports more monitors, the M1 Mini has it's own issues and there are a number of other threads about that. One problem is that you must use the HDMI port for one monitor and thunderbolt port for the other on the M1. On the 2018 Mini, you can use thunderbolt for all the monitors if desired. From what I've seen here, the HDMI port is more prone to monitor issues on the Mini. I believe the same HDMI controller chip is used on both.
 
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