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Using MiniDisplay Port And HDMI together

F

fai28683

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 15, 2014
9
0
Hi Team,

So this is my Setup, I have

+ MacBook Pro Late 2013 Edition
+ 27 Inch Thunderbolt Screen/Display
+ 2 Dell 22 Inch Screen

So on my Macbook Pro 2013 edition, the Display Ports available are

+ Two thunderbolt slots
+ One HDMI

So here is my problem

The two thunderbolts port on my Macbook Pro are used up by 27 inch ThunderBolt Display and one 22 Inch Dell Monitor ( Using VGA ) , that leaves my one DELL external monitor unused ( due to non availability of thunderbolt ports ) , i tried to connect that display using the thunderbolt available behind the 27 Inch apple thunderbolt screen using ( Thunderbolt to DVI adapter ) , but it doesn't detect that monitor, after scanning the internet i came to know that thunderbolt screen only support another thunderbolt screen not any third party.

So i did research and found some cheap HDMI to DVI adapters on Ebay which works well but now the problem here is

If i connect both my DELL monitors ( one using thunderbolt and other using HDMI ) it detects only one at a time , which is not i want.

Can anyone help me in finding a solution to

+ How to make those two DELL screens works together ( connected via thunderbolt ports and HDMI port ) ?
+ Is there a way to make the 27'' thunderbolt Screen/Display ports detect a third party screen ?
+ Best way to connect all the three screens ?

Thanks
fai
 

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Hello MagicBoy,

My concern is not related to thunderbolt / Version of MacBook or Nivida GPU.

My concerns is how do i connect my third Dell Screen and my macbook projects the display to it .

Please Note: two thunderbolt port ( or Display ports ) are already used by other monitors ( 27 inch Thunderbolt display and one DELL monitor ) and it works fine , but since i don't have a third thunderbolt port on my macbook pro , i connected the third one with HDMI but the issue is only one DELL monitor works at a time not together.

So I need to know if anyone knows how to connect the third external monitor.

Hope that helps to clear my concern.
 
Thanks MagicBoy,

Mine is Intel Iris Pro 1024 MB and not Nvidia ( attached screenshot )

I have checked some Ebay / Amazon for USB 3.0 to DVI adaptors and many buyers do say it works , but those products are on the expensive side like 40 to 50 Pounds and youtube reviews shows lags since the third display is supported by a external sofwtare of that device.
 

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I don't believe the Intel will do it in that configuration. You can do it with two Thunderbolt Displays daisychained off one another, and a third Mini-DP or HDMI connected device.

Unfortunately I don't have access to a Thunderbolt Display, otherwise I'd have a try with my nVidia rMBP.

Hopefully someone else has a more complete answer. Apple officially only support 2 thunderbolt displays plus the internal. No mention of Mini-DP or HDMI in that spec sheet.
 
You may need to try one of those active adapters.
Here's some info from Apple about multiple displays connected to MacBook Pro.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT5219#18
read note 4:
MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012), MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2012), and Mac Mini (Late 2012) computers can use an HDMI-compatible device on it's HDMI port while using one Thunderbolt display, or they can use two Thunderbolt displays.
Click to expand...
I know that it says the 2012 models, but I don't think that info has changed on the 2013 MBPro.

Maybe someone else has tried 3 displays, and can report that works.
The picture in post #5 , for example, shows a layout with 3 displays, but only shows 2 displays active.
@ fai28683: Can you show a picture of your system with ALL the displays connected and showing images?
(nevermind, you already said that doesn't work :D )
 
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For reference, I have a late 2013 15" rmbp with 750M, and I have 3 displays connected. The 3 displays + internal work at the same time. I haven't tried any other display setup, as this one works fine.

Setup:
DVI-mDP (not active adapter) - 1920x1200
VGA-mDP (active adapter) - 1920x1200
HDMI - 1280x1024
Internal - works
 
@MagicBoy : I Have checked DaisyChain Adapaters on Amazon / Ebay , its seems to work as per the review from the users , but its way more expensive for my office tools :confused:

If its was my own setup at home would have shed those money to get it.

@DeltaMac : I have went through those docs previously , but couldnt find the solution to it :(

And regarding picture , sure thing will do it as soon as i get this fixed :)

@Freyqq : Its a very enlightening to know that someone have it working , WOuld it be possible to share with me to how did you make the HDMI works when the other display are connected via thunderbolt ports.

Please note :

My RMBP two thunderbolts are connected via

1: 27 inch Thunderbolt display
2: One 22 inch Dell display using thunderbolt to VGA adapter.

when i attempt to connect to my third display using HDMI to DVI adapter , its works if i disconnect the thunderbolt to VGA adapter , but not when its connected.

Your feedback to this would definitely help , also i didnt understand what you meant by Active & non-active adapters also what is "Internal works"

Thanks @MagicBoy @DeltaMac @Freyqq again for taking your time to help me on this thread..
 
fai28683 said:
@MagicBoy : I Have checked DaisyChain Adapaters on Amazon / Ebay , its seems to work as per the review from the users , but its way more expensive for my office tools :confused:

If its was my own setup at home would have shed those money to get it.

@DeltaMac : I have went through those docs previously , but couldnt find the solution to it :(

And regarding picture , sure thing will do it as soon as i get this fixed :)

@Freyqq : Its a very enlightening to know that someone have it working , WOuld it be possible to share with me to how did you make the HDMI works when the other display are connected via thunderbolt ports.

Please note :

My RMBP two thunderbolts are connected via

1: 27 inch Thunderbolt display
2: One 22 inch Dell display using thunderbolt to VGA adapter.

when i attempt to connect to my third display using HDMI to DVI adapter , its works if i disconnect the thunderbolt to VGA adapter , but not when its connected.

Your feedback to this would definitely help , also i didnt understand what you meant by Active & non-active adapters also what is "Internal works"

Thanks @MagicBoy @DeltaMac @Freyqq again for taking your time to help me on this thread..
Click to expand...

For HDMI, i used a simple dvi to hdmi cable. No additional work was required. All the displays were immediately detected by the computer in OSX and Windows 8.1.

VGA is connected using this adapter: http://www.amazon.com/Cirago-Displa...eywords=vga+to+minidisplayport+active+adapter

DVI is connected using the apple DVI-minidisplayport adapter.

Again, I have the version with the 750M. I suppose it is possible that only the 750M can handle 3 screens + the internal screen.
 
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Thanks @Freyqq : Did you mean HDMI to DVI , since MBP dont have a dedicated DVI female connector.

Also the my DELL display don't have a HDMI port , so i would need to use a adapter which converts HDMI to DVI.
 
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Thanks @Freyqq :

I'm using this which i got from ebay for 1 euro.

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/321412741915?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Since this is a adapter in between my MBP and the DELL display , not sure if this is stopping it , as it seems you don't have a connector b/w the two , you have connected it directly via the cable.

I will buy some cable similar to yours and see if that helps.

Will keep you posted on the thread as soon as i test the cable ( HDMI to DVI ) .

Thanks Again
 
fai28683 said:
Thanks @Freyqq :

I'm using this which i got from ebay for 1 euro.

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/321412741915?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Since this is a adapter in between my MBP and the DELL display , not sure if this is stopping it , as it seems you don't have a connector b/w the two , you have connected it directly via the cable.

I will buy some cable similar to yours and see if that helps.

Will keep you posted on the thread as soon as i test the cable ( HDMI to DVI ) .

Thanks Again
Click to expand...

That won't help. HDMI and DVI are electrically compatible, just a different shape adapter with audio support. Using a passive adapter like that is fine, and it is electrically identical to using a cable with the adapter basically built in. This is not your issue. I think trying an active mDP-VGA adapter is worth a shot though, but the most likely reason is that the Iris Pro 5200 supports up to 2 external monitors. The backup plan is a USB 3 to video adapter, which should function as a virtual independent GPU and video in.
 
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[Resolved] - Using MiniDisplay Port And HDMI together

@Freyqq & @MagicBoy : You guys were right , My colleague had late 2013 RMBP which is powered with Nvidea GPU card and i have handed over the adapter ( HDMI to DVI ) to him and he was able to connect to three screen using it .

This is really bad , Why Apple & Intel Why :mad: :(:confused: , I will now have to use USB 3.0 to Video Adapter to sort out something.

I believe this thread can be closed as resolved.

Thanks again @MagicBoy @DeltaMac @Freyqq for your time on this.

See you on some other thread.

Cheers,
 
@fai28683 Take a look at the the Matrox DualHead2Go. It allows you to connect two monitors to a single output from the laptop -http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/gxm/

Unsure if it will work well with your current arrangement posted earlier with the Dells either side of the Thunderbolt Display. The PC versions I've used present the pair of screens as a single double width monitor.
 
MagicBoy said:
@fai28683 Take a look at the the Matrox DualHead2Go. It allows you to connect two monitors to a single output from the laptop -http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/gxm/

Unsure if it will work well with your current arrangement posted earlier with the Dells either side of the Thunderbolt Display. The PC versions I've used present the pair of screens as a single double width monitor.
Click to expand...
Yeah the first thing that came to mind was an expansion module, but I figured the user would have done that already. On Amazon there are also express docs for thunder bolt cables, but that might not solve the issue.
 
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