Macbook pro 2012 wont' connect to Samsung TV via HDMI

[EricaV]

I have a HDMI/mini display adapter. everything is connected with HDMI cable and mini display adapter. I've tried all 3 HDMI ports. Neither the TV or the MBP are recognizing each other. "Detect displays" is not showing as an option because the laptop doesn't "see" any other displays. I've tried restarting both the TV and mbp- no luck.



When I plug the mini into the laptop the screen goes blue for a second and then returns to normal- both devices do absolutely nothing to recognize each other. The TV controls are not much help because the TV doesn't detect the laptop as a source.



This is a 2012 macbook pro running mountain lion and a
Samsung UN40EH5300 40-Inch 1080p 60Hz LED HDTV



Any help would be appreciated

 

[Ccrew]

I have a HDMI/mini display adapter. everything is connected with HDMI cable and mini display adapter. I've tried all 3 HDMI ports. Neither the TV or the MBP are recognizing each other. "Detect displays" is not showing as an option because the laptop doesn't "see" any other displays. I've tried restarting both the TV and mbp- no luck.

When I plug the mini into the laptop the screen goes blue for a second and then returns to normal- both devices do absolutely nothing to recognize each other. The TV controls are not much help because the TV doesn't detect the laptop as a source.
This is a 2012 macbook pro running mountain lion and a
Samsung UN40EH5300 40-Inch 1080p 60Hz LED HDTV

Out of curiosity have you tried it successfully on a different TV?

There have been some posts on various forums also about AppleTV's not playing well with some of the Samsungs' also that generally get shot down, like here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1523385/ and I'm wondering if there's not some substance going on here or at least with certain ones.

Generally they should work, with "should" being the keyword as HDMI is considered a standard, but there are also versions of that standard, ie: HDMI 1.3, 1.4, etc. But you'll also undoubtedly get folks saying "I can do it it works fine" but may not have the same setup either. Not the least of which is not all TB to HDMI adapters are the same, and it's not like Apple chose to make one.

 

[EricaV]

Found a solution

I posted this elsewhere in the forum but thought I would post here too- thanks for the help.

Thanks for all the help- I'll share this in the hopes it saves someone some time and all the frustration I went through !

----My original issue was the the TV and the MBP were not recognizing each other- making it impossible to work with display settings on either device- the screen would go blue for a second and then the laptop would come back on and remain utterly non-responsive to the TV. My husband's 2009 or 2010 MBP did the same thing 'cept the screen was a dull charcoal black versus a soothing sky blue. I incidentally was setting up a new Epson projector (1761W) with the MBP at the same time and found that the connection with the same cable and same adapter was equally non functional.

After hours of frustration and getting on the horn with the Epson support I ended up trying a new cable and new adapter. Voila- the Griffin mini display port- purchased through the Apple store is either incompatible or defective. So this all cost me 8 hours I will never get back !

So using a gigaware mini display port worked with both projector and TV and two different HDMI cables (one radioshack- no ethernet and the one that came with the TV is HDMI/ethernet).

While the griffin unit may just be defective- I'm frustrated with Apple and all of their incompatibility and proprietary issues. Since they don't make their own adapter I assumed that going through the apple store and buying a "recommended" product would save me some grief. Guess not, and I know it could be bad luck- but where else do I have to complain about Apple and who is going to care ?

BTW- the displays on the TV work just fine with either extended or mirroring and I was able to easily go into the sound profile and send the sound through the TV and speaker system rather than the laptop.

Another note- someone in another forum mentioned that buying cable that is HDMI male to mini display worked for him too- so eliminating the adapter connection may also be something to try.

Out of curiosity have you tried it successfully on a different TV?

There have been some posts on various forums also about AppleTV's not playing well with some of the Samsungs' also that generally get shot down, like here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1523385/ and I'm wondering if there's not some substance going on here or at least with certain ones.

Generally they should work, with "should" being the keyword as HDMI is considered a standard, but there are also versions of that standard, ie: HDMI 1.3, 1.4, etc. But you'll also undoubtedly get folks saying "I can do it it works fine" but may not have the same setup either. Not the least of which is not all TB to HDMI adapters are the same, and it's not like Apple chose to make one.

 

[tfu47]

i have the same issue

I am using an older mac, but have had it hooked to many things over the years. just bought a new samsung 40" led smart tv. i cannot get it to recognize the mac. the mac sees a samsung and brings up a profile in the monitors pane, but the tv says no input.
samsung tells me that no apple products are compatable.
any answers to this?
thanks

 

[EricaV]

Not sure if OLDER macs are incompatible with samsung smart TVs ?

How old is your Mac ?

I'm not sure whether it's accurate or not whether "no apple products are compatible" but I do know that myself and many others have been able to use newer macs with the Samsung Smart TVs. I posted above about how I had a faulty adapter but then was able to use a non-defective regular HDMI to mini-adapter on my mid 2012 macbook pro with no difficulty.

I wonder if any others know whether Samsung's statement is true with OLDER macs- that Apple products are not compatible ?

I am using an older mac, but have had it hooked to many things over the years. just bought a new samsung 40" led smart tv. i cannot get it to recognize the mac. the mac sees a samsung and brings up a profile in the monitors pane, but the tv says no input.
samsung tells me that no apple products are compatable.
any answers to this?
thanks