Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Help 15" MacBook Pro and Samsung 22"

M

mwewerka

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 30, 2008
5
0
Hey guys, I have a 15" MacBook Pro only a year old. I just bought a 22" Samsung SyncMaster 2232bw. I get the monitor home and plug it in via a DVI-D cable and nothing worked. I get a message that says "Check Signal Cable". I checked my System Pref's. It says a monitor is not connected. I called Samsung and they said they don't support Apple products and they I have to call Apple. So I called them instead, they had me do a PRAM reset, nothing. They ask me if I have a VGA cable, yes I do, so I plug the VGA into the monitor and then I have my DVI-I connector and plug that into my computer. It worked, only one problem, the highest resolution is 1024x768, not even my MBP's native resolution 1440x900. It's was just blurry. The Apple rep said that's cause it's digital. So we got back to the DVI-D cable...still nothing. He tells me to get a new Cable and try it.

So today I go into my office and use a DVI-D cable there and still nothing. Confused, I deciede to try and hook the Samsung up to my office PC via the same cable...BOOM it works no problem, all the resolutions. So I try my office 20"Dell on my MBP with the same DVI cable....it WORKS.

So in closing I have a DVI-D cable that works when connecting the samsung to the PC but not the mac, yet the same cable works when connecting the Dell Monitor to the PC AND MAC.

I noticed on the DVI connection Adapter it has a Flat pin that has 2 pins above it and below it (DVI-I) where as the cable is a DVI-D it has a smaller flat pin and no pins above it or below it. Does this matter...I don't think it should as that cable worked with the Dell.

Please help me out. I have an hour before my lunch and I have to return this monitor. It's Wednesday July 30 2008, 11:00am.

Thanks,

Mike
 
mwewerka said:
Hey guys, I have a 15" MacBook Pro only a year old. I just bought a 22" Samsung SyncMaster 2232bw. I get the monitor home and plug it in via a DVI-D cable and nothing worked. I get a message that says "Check Signal Cable". I checked my System Pref's. It says a monitor is not connected. I called Samsung and they said they don't support Apple products and they I have to call Apple. So I called them instead, they had me do a PRAM reset, nothing. They ask me if I have a VGA cable, yes I do, so I plug the VGA into the monitor and then I have my DVI-I connector and plug that into my computer. It worked, only one problem, the highest resolution is 1024x768, not even my MBP's native resolution 1440x900. It's was just blurry. The Apple rep said that's cause it's digital. So we got back to the DVI-D cable...still nothing. He tells me to get a new Cable and try it.

So today I go into my office and use a DVI-D cable there and still nothing. Confused, I deciede to try and hook the Samsung up to my office PC via the same cable...BOOM it works no problem, all the resolutions. So I try my office 20"Dell on my MBP with the same DVI cable....it WORKS.

So in closing I have a DVI-D cable that works when connecting the samsung to the PC but not the mac, yet the same cable works when connecting the Dell Monitor to the PC AND MAC.

I noticed on the DVI connection Adapter it has a Flat pin that has 2 pins above it and below it (DVI-I) where as the cable is a DVI-D it has a smaller flat pin and no pins above it or below it. Does this matter...I don't think it should as that cable worked with the Dell.

Please help me out. I have an hour before my lunch and I have to return this monitor. It's Wednesday July 30 2008, 11:00am.

Thanks,

Mike
Click to expand...

Return the Monitor and buy a different brand..
 
mwewerka said:
I noticed on the DVI connection Adapter it has a Flat pin that has 2 pins above it and below it (DVI-I) where as the cable is a DVI-D it has a smaller flat pin and no pins above it or below it. Does this matter...I don't think it should as that cable worked with the Dell.
Click to expand...

Those pins are for the analog VGA connection. They aren't used for digital so the DVI-D connector doesn't even have them.

As for it not working, did you try hitting the "detect displays" button in System Preferences > Display?

It sounds like the Samsung isn't signaling the MBP correctly about its display modes. I don't know if there are firmware updates available for the monitor (does such a thing exist?), but you might check with Samsung about that.
 
valvehead said:
Those pins are for the analog VGA connection. They aren't used for digital so the DVI-D connector doesn't even have them.

As for it not working, did you try hitting the "detect displays" button in System Preferences > Display?

It sounds like the Samsung isn't signaling the MBP correctly about its display modes. I don't know if there are firmware updates available for the monitor (does such a thing exist?), but you might check with Samsung about that.
Click to expand...

Yeah I tried the detect display button, I even hit the apple button in the top left, did "about this mac" and clicked more info and down to display...says no monitor is attached. So it's not even seeing it. I can't find firmware for the monitor for the mac and Samsung said Apple was the one that has to support it. I even tried to find Drivers for the video card but again, nothing for the mac.
 
xxMacAttackxx said:
Return the Monitor and buy a different brand..
Click to expand...

and you would recommend what brand over samsung??? dude, when it comes to monitors, u buy samsung lol (forget those overpriced NECs and whatnot, they'll give u more compatibility problems than ever)

EDIT: fwiw, for ANY displays, samsung >>> all
 
Neil321 said:
ACD's or Dell's are just as good as samsung display's
Click to expand...

Seeing as how my office Dell worked, would you recommend just getting a Dell Monitor instead and avoid this hassle?

What about HannSpree, they have those at Best Buy and they are cheap and nice quality the only problem is it's HDMI to DVI do you think that would work on my MBP?

Thanks
 
mwewerka said:
Seeing as how my office Dell worked, would you recommend just getting a Dell Monitor instead and avoid this hassle?

What about HannSpree, they have those at Best Buy and they are cheap and nice quality the only problem is it's HDMI to DVI do you think that would work on my MBP?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Don't have any knowledge of Hannspree so i cant comment on them, but the Dell i use at work is great monitor,i cant remember the model # off hand i think it's 208 or 7 something i'll take alook tomorrow and post it, so yes i would recommend them

edit just remembered it's either a ultrasharp 2407 0r 2408
 
Samsung actually makes few of apples screens as far as i know so its a good brand.
Screens nowadays are just plug and play, and normal screens shouldn't need any drivers etc.

I'm using a Eizo 22 incher now and I had a Viewsonic before, both of them 100% plug and play.

have you tried any other DVI-D screens on your MBP? Seems like its a broken DVI port or smthin fishy.
 
I have a 13" MacBook and the same 2232bw Samsung monitor, and it works fine for me at its native resolution of 1680x1050. It sounds to me like yours should work -- mine worked fine right out of the box (actually I needed a mini-DVI adapter, but you obviously don't).

My guess would be a problem with the cable or DVI port, but if that's not the problem, I dunno.
 
Neil321 said:
ACD's or Dell's are just as good as samsung display's
Click to expand...

wait, ur not serious about the acd's are u? as much as i love apple myself, acd's are grossly outdated. check out the newer samsungs, and u'll be absolutely blown away. If not, check out display forums yourself, you'll hardly hear any mention of acd

and btw, dell's are basically rebranded samsung. they use samsung panels, except i think their one H-IPS (or is it S-IPS?) screen is made by LG display
 
Have you tried connecting your laptop to ANOTHER dvi display?

All macs support analogue that is higher than your display resolution.

OSX typically auto detects the display type and sets resolution accordingly.

Maybe it's hardware problem or software problem resulting from user error (i.e. downloaded some "monitor tweaks", etc.)
 
sk47 said:
wait, ur not serious about the acd's are u? as much as i love apple myself, acd's are grossly outdated. check out the newer samsungs, display
Click to expand...

Yep I'm serious about ACD's they may be old but the colour quality is superb and for what i use it for it's a must, as for the newer samsungs i haven't looked in a while but may well do, I also use a dell ultrasharp 2408 at work that has superb colour quality also but not sure what make the screen is
 
If you plan on getting a 23"/24" replacement get the Apple Display since it uses S-IPS panels, if you want to get a 30" replacement get the Dell 3008WFP since that is just fully featured and it's got S-IPS as well.

20" doesn't really matter--Dell is a lottery between PVA and I-IPS; Apple Display is debatable.
 
I have 24" Samsung and MBP

It took some fiddling and 2 dvi cables but I got it to work and now it is perfect. Shut down your computer. Plug cable into monitor. Plug cable into computer. Startup computer, and shut it. Turn monitor on. Wait. This should work.



mwewerka said:
Seeing as how my office Dell worked, would you recommend just getting a Dell Monitor instead and avoid this hassle?

What about HannSpree, they have those at Best Buy and they are cheap and nice quality the only problem is it's HDMI to DVI do you think that would work on my MBP?

Thanks
Click to expand...
 
Perhaps the Samsung monitor is set to VGA input?

Try switching the monitor to DVI input through its on-screen menu.
 
sk47 said:
and you would recommend what brand over samsung??? dude, when it comes to monitors, u buy samsung lol (forget those overpriced NECs and whatnot, they'll give u more compatibility problems than ever)

EDIT: fwiw, for ANY displays, samsung >>> all
Click to expand...
I would get a dell monitor over a samsung...
 
Hey guys, thanks for all the replies. To answer a few things...I did try another screen. As I mentioned in the first post, the Dell worked when plugged into the MBP. So it wasn't the port. The cable was also tested with the Samsung and Dell so it worked as well. It was the monitor not recognizing the mac, it worked on the PC.

In the end I went to Best Buy and picked up a 22" HANNSpree monitor. It's a HDMI (at the monitor) to DVI-D (at the computer) and boom it worked the first try. I have to say for a brand out of Germany...it's amazing. 3000:1 ratio 1050 resolution. I am simply blown away at the clarity of this screen. I tested it out with Photoshop...I even posted some work I did last night on it on my website http://www.thedesignhive.com under creative.

I also tested it on World of Warcraft....again amazing, no color blur or fading, just crystal clear gaming.

Anyway thanks for the feedback and if anyone asks about a HANNSpree I so far support it.

Mike
 
Sorry to hear your troubles. I myself used the exact same monitor you have (I think..) and it worked flawlessly right out of the box.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back