Luna Display Gains PC-to-Mac Mode, 5K Support and More

[Joe_BlueMountains]

Hi there. Just to let you know that I got some help from someone and he was able to get the Luna Display working via TB, which is SO much better than wifi. Almost no laag.

 

[patsfan83]

There is a 4k / 60Hz setting but I didn’t feel it was any smoother (mouse pointer moving for example) than the 5k / 45Hz - so I guess it all boils down to personal subjectivity of what is acceptable. I’d be much more inclined to say it’s good to use an old iMac you already have as a second monitor - especially as I don’t know how you would set up the software etc. on a Mac Studio without a screen…

You need to have the Luna Secondary software running on the iMac and then launch the Luna Primary software on the Mac Studio (when you don’t have the iMac as a screen). Whilst you could do this with another monitor the first time and then not turn the Mac off - every time you did restart the Mac Studio you would have the same problem if you need to log in to the Mac for example. My Mac Mini is in this state - I even have it set to not go to sleep so I don’t have to keep waking it up and using an attached keyboard (so you probably want a separate keyboard /mouse for the Mac Studio too). I was able to do this as I use a Thunderbolt Display in addition to the iMac and have old keyboards/mice around.

I’ve not used mine as much as I thought I would since I got the MBP as the MBP screen is so good - obviously if I’d got a Mac Studio it would be different.

Of course you have a 30 day return window on the Apple Studio - but probably not on the Luna Display hardware.

I created a Luna OS Login with the Luna app to autolaunch on start up, works great. Since I use TB, I actually turned off internet access so nothing runs in the background so the iMac fans stay low. Works great.

 

[patsfan83]

Old iMacs (pre 2015) have target display mode - perhaps they are confused about that? Won’t work for retina 27” iMacs obviously.

TDM doesn't work with M1 Macs.

 

[ader42]

I created a Luna OS Login with the Luna app to autolaunch on start up, works great. Since I use TB, I actually turned off internet access so nothing runs in the background so the iMac fans stay low. Works great.

Yeah gotta stop those crazy Creative Cloud processes.

 

[patsfan83]

Yeah gotta stop those crazy Creative Cloud processes.

The amount of background stuff is crazy. I also set up fan control so it’s set at minimum, runs dead silent.

 

[vip007]

...
Couple of interesting observations - firstly I already had the mini-DP version from when I tried this a long time ago on the 2015 iMac so I was assuming I would eventually need to buy the USB-C version to fit in my 2020 and enable retina resolutions but before that I wanted to try an adapter. They say ignorance is bliss and I had already ordered this $12 mini-DP to USB-C adapter off Amazon *before* reading all the articles saying adapters won't work. It arrived today and so I tried it anyway and ... it works perfectly.

JSAUX USB Type C to Mini DisplayPort Adapter 4K@60Hz, C to Mini Display Port Dongle Cable, Compatible with MacBook Pro 2019 2018, Dell XPS, Samsung Galaxy S21 S20 Plus-Grey

JSAUX USB Type C to Mini DisplayPort Adapter 4K@60Hz, C to Mini Display Port Dongle Cable, Compatible with MacBook Pro 2019 2018, Dell XPS, Samsung Galaxy S21 S20 Plus-Grey

www.amazon.com

...

Based on this suggestion, I bought the mini-DP Luna version and the same USB-C-to-mDP adapter.

However, this seems not to be working for me. When plugged in, the Luna unit is not detected as a virtual display. Now, this could be the USB-C-to-mDP adapter, have not tested it independently.

@NotSafeForWork: was there anything else you did to make this combo work?

 

[NotSafeForWork]

Based on this suggestion, I bought the mini-DP Luna version and the same USB-C-to-mDP adapter.

However, this seems not to be working for me. When plugged in, the Luna unit is not detected as a virtual display. Now, this could be the USB-C-to-mDP adapter, have not tested it independently.

@NotSafeForWork: was there anything else you did to make this combo work?

Which Mac are you running?

 

[vip007]

Which Mac are you running?

M1 Macbook Air, on Monterey.

 

[NotSafeForWork]

Ok. I am on iMac 2020, so could be different compatibility there. Note I just got a 5K Studio Display so I am not using this solution any longer.

 

[vip007]

It appears so. I tried it on my old Intel Macbook Pro and the combo works. Go figure.

 

[eyeseeyou]

I have used it with both ethenet and thunderbolt, but just use it on thunderbolt now. The adaptor (tb2 to tb3) and tb2 cable are from Apple. I would try using the Apple screen sharing (VNC) feature over ethernet with wifi turned off to check the ethernet cable - I guess just file sharing over ethernet would test that too though?

To clarify this setup takes up 2 ports?

 

[ader42]

To clarify fully, I have the TB2 cable plugged into the iMac and the other end of it is plugged into the TB2>TB3 adaptor.
The TB3 end of the adaptor is now plugged into a port on my TB HUB which is plugged into my MBP. The Luna Display dongle is plugged into a port on the MBP. Plugging the TB3 end of the adaptor into the MBP directly would work too of course. I just wanted to be clear that this uses 2 ports on the primary MBP (one for the dongle and one for the TB cable) and one TB2 port on the secondary iMac.

Further, I managed to break the iMac display so I actually also have a Thunderbolt Display plugged into the iMac via TB2 cable and have the iMac set to mirror it’s internal display to the Thunderbolt Display and this still works with the Luna Display from the MBP showing on the Thunderbolt Display (via the iMac). So this current setup uses both TB2 ports on my iMac due to the iMac internal display not working.

 

[eyeseeyou]

To clarify fully, I have the TB2 cable plugged into the iMac and the other end of it is plugged into the TB2>TB3 adaptor.
The TB3 end of the adaptor is now plugged into a port on my TB HUB which is plugged into my MBP. The Luna Display dongle is plugged into a port on the MBP. Plugging the TB3 end of the adaptor into the MBP directly would work too of course. I just wanted to be clear that this uses 2 ports on the primary MBP (one for the dongle and one for the TB cable) and one TB2 port on the secondary iMac.

Further, I managed to break the iMac display so I actually also have a Thunderbolt Display plugged into the iMac via TB2 cable and have the iMac set to mirror it’s internal display to the Thunderbolt Display and this still works with the Luna Display from the MBP showing on the Thunderbolt Display (via the iMac). So this current setup uses both TB2 ports on my iMac due to the iMac internal display not working.

I assume you’re connecting a tb display to the iMac because you still use the iMac as a computer in addition to your mbp?

 

[ader42]

Yes that’s right, when I fully transition over to just the MBP then I’ll plug the TB Display direct into the HUB, I might end up buying a Studio Display to plug direct into the MBP before I give up on the iMac entirely - but I still find it handy to have two macs running at once.

 

[hajime]

Does Luna Display work well over home WiFi when the host and client devices are in different rooms on the same floor of a building? Has anybody tried?