Help connecting 2nd monitor to Mac Mini?

[burninglegs]

Have a late 2012 Mac Mini. Have a Apple Thunderbolt Display as my primary monitor and have a old Dell monitor I want to connect. It has a VGA cable and I have an Apple VGA to mini display adapter. I have tried using that VGA to mini display adapter setup, but it doesn't seem to work. I have the mini display adapter plugged into the back of the Thunderbolt display, as the Thunderbolt display is plugged into the Mac Mini.

Am I doing things wrong?

 

[burninglegs]

I should also mention that I have a Belkin HDMI/VGA adapter that I have plugged into the HDMI on the Mac Mini. That also doesn't seem to work.

 

[Celerondon]

I should also mention that I have a Belkin HDMI/VGA adapter that I have plugged into the HDMI on the Mac Mini. That also doesn't seem to work.

A simple HDMI/VGA adapter will not work for you unless it is a more expensive powered converter. Why? Because the HDMI signal from your mini is a digital signal and you need an analog signal for VGA.

Perhaps you should try something like this converter: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...-Index-_-AudioVideoSplitters-_-12699001-L019B

 

[Celerondon]

I have the mini display adapter plugged into the back of the Thunderbolt display, as the Thunderbolt display is plugged into the Mac Mini.

Am I doing things wrong?

You probably are burninglegs. Check this information from Apple Insider: http://forums.appleinsider.com/t/13...t-display-will-not-daisy-chain-cinema-display

"However, users with an existing Mini DisplayPort external monitor will not be able to daisy chain the screen from the back of the new Thunderbolt Display, despite it being physically compatible with the port. Apple notes that "Mini DisplayPort displays will not light up if connected to the Thunderbolt port on an Apple Thunderbolt Display."

Existing Mini DisplayPort screens, such as Apple's LED Cinema Display, have never previously supported daisy chaining multiple screens to a single Mini DisplayPort interface, but the screens are supposed to work at the end of a Thunderbolt chain if there are no other displays in the chain."

Your MDP adapter will work in some configurations but not when daisy chained after an Apple Thunderbolt Display.


The good news is that the USB powered adapter I mentioned in the prior post is only $29!

 

[jpietrzak8]

have a old Dell monitor I want to connect. It has a VGA cable...

I hate to say it, but it's getting very hard to support VGA-only monitors on modern equipment. Celerondon has provided the info you would need to get your monitor up and running. Let me ask though: you say the monitor has a VGA "cable"; but does it only have a VGA port? If it should, for example, also have a DVI port, it'd be a whole lot easier to just get a HDMI->DVI cable and avoid the whole VGA issue...