Chris Marshall

24 Comments for this entry

• Chris Marshall
  November 6th, 2006 on 11:14 am  Chris Marshall(Quote)

  I just got a really helpful (not) email back from the company that I bought the splitter from:

  Hello

  We assume that this should be something to do with your display settings as it should be viable to have both running at the same time.

  Se the FAQ here to see if this helps
  FAQ

  Regards

  Cable Universe Ltd

  Typical – blame the computer, but what makes it worse is that they point me to a FAQ that only has two questions on it and only talks about Windows!!!

  I am starting to think that there must be something in the signal that is causing the problem. The fact that I can hook up to the TV fine when connected directly to the Mac mini with the DVI to Video adapter, but that adapter doesn’t work with the splitter seems to indicate this. The spec of the port on the Mac mini is DVI/VGA output, and although the ports look the same on the splitter they only talk about DVI output, so my guess is that they don’t support VGA?
• Chris Marshall
  November 6th, 2006 on 12:32 pm  Chris Marshall(Quote)

  Looks like the diagnosis was right, although it doesn’t leave me any closer to a solution

  Hello

  This would indicate that the dvi connection is a DVI-I i.e. it has the ability to convert to an analogue connection (VGA) as it has the 2 pins above and below the horizontal connected. See here for the varying types:
  http://www.cableuniverse.co.uk/hdmi/

  The dvi splitter will not work if any analogue connections are fed through it. The splitter has to be used with DVI cables only and cannot be used in conjunction with a dvi to vga converter.

  Hope this makes sense!

  Regards

  Cable Universe Ltd
• Chris Marshall
  November 6th, 2006 on 2:18 pm  Chris Marshall(Quote)

  A possible solution!

  Hello

  Unfortunately this is not an item we stock. We have seen them on the market but tend to be more expensive, e.g.
  http://www.lindy.com/uk/productfolder/03/32/32591/index.php

  We shall naturally refund against switch if of no use.
  Should you decide this is the case, Please return the goods to:
  Cable Universe, Unit 7, Coombe Park, Ashprington, Devon, TQ9 7DY.
  enclosing a copy of your invoice, a daytime contact number & a note
  explaining you require a refund as not required.

  Kind regards

  Cable Universe Ltd

  AND very impressed that they will refund the one that doesn’t work
• Chris Marshall
  November 7th, 2006 on 12:03 pm  Chris Marshall(Quote)

  Looks like progress of some sort, but still not 100% that we are going to find a way of doing this.

  Hello Chris,

  Thanks for your enquiry, and sorry for the delay in replying. Before I can answer you properly, I’m interested to know a couple more things –

  First of all, your “DVI to Video” adapter…… I was looking on the Apple website, and I was reading that the Mac Mini apparently comes with a DVI to VGA adapter…… is this what you meant ? – Or did you mean something else ?

  The Mac Mini has a DVI-I port on the back……. this means that it produces 2 signals at once (using different pins in the same DVI socket); it produces a digital signal (for connecting a DVI display), and also an analogue signal, which allows you to use the analogue DVI to VGA adapter. (If you arent familiar with VGA, this is a common PC-style monitor connector, that is still widely used, but is slowly being replaced by DVI).

  So, my next question is about your TV. Is it a flat panel ? – and does it have a VGA socket in the back ?

  You are right that you cant use a DVI splitter, because if they are like ours, they only support DVI-D (this is a different version of DVI, which only produces a digital signal, that wouldnt work with the VGA adapter). – I could easily have said use your DVI to VGA adapter, and use a VGA splitter…….. but of course, im expecting that your Mac Monitor uses DVI-D, so this wouldnt work either !!!

  In short, I think an adapter cable like this might be the answer: http://www.lindy.com/int/productfolder/04/41219/index.php – please note that you will need a DVI-I cable aswell; this would be a male to male cable, and connect to the the DVI socket on the adapter cable. This then gives you a digital DVI output (to connect your Mac Monitor), and an analogue VGA output for the TV (assuming its VGA you need for the TV !!)

  Before we go any further, I have assumed a lot here – please could you confirm that I have the right end of the stick ?

  Thanks, I look forward to hearing from you.

  Phil Atkinson
  International Sales Manager
• Chris Marshall
  November 7th, 2006 on 3:21 pm  Chris Marshall(Quote)

  Looks like there is light at the end of the tunnel. This guy has been REALLY helpful

  Hey Chris,

  Okay, plan B – basically, you would need to disregard your DVI to Video adapter completely…….

  One more important thing to ask – Does your DVI monitor have a DVI socket in the back ? Or a sealed cable ? – Im hoping its a socket ??

  IF it has a DVI socket, then this will work…….but you would need to buy all 3 of these products:
  This DVI-I cable would connect to the DVI-I port on the Mac: http://www.lindy.com/int/productfolder/04/41271/index.php – the price is 19,15 EUR.
  This adapter cable connects to the end of the DVI-I cable: http://www.lindy.com/int/productfolder/04/41219/index.php – the price is 17,40 EUR
  and then, you connect your DVI-D Mac Monitor to the DVI-D connector, and you connect this final product directly onto the VGA connector: http://www.lindy.com/int/productfolder/03/32/32565/index.php – the price is 119,00 EUR.

  You may also want a short (male to female) DVI extension cable from the 41219 adapter cable to your monitor (or you could simply plug the DVI-D connector on the adapter cable directly into the monitor). A cable like this: http://www.lindy.com/int/productfolder/04/41245/index.php

  The last product is our VGA Converter Lite, otherwise known as a scan converter. It converts a computer VGA signal to a signal that a TV can understand. This will produce an S-Video output, to connect to your Bang & Olufsen TV.

  ***This all relies on your DVI monitor having a socket – otherwise you wont have the right genders to connect everything together***

  However, just when there is a solution around the corner, I’m afraid the VGA Convertor is currently sold out
  These would be sent from Germany for electrical power reasons….. and they arent due into Germany until the week 11/12/2006…… are you able to wait this long ? Otherwise, you may have to source the VGA Convertor if you need it more quickly than that.

  I hope all this has helped – if you need any more information, give me a shout.

  All the best.

  Phil Atkinson
  International Sales Manager

  LINDY International | Tel: +44 1642 754020
  Computer Connection Technology

  http://www.LINDY.com
• Chris Marshall
  November 8th, 2006 on 2:00 pm  Chris Marshall(Quote)

  We may have a solution

  Hey Chris,

  As these are from the US, I would try the non-powered option (though if you bought the powered one, im pretty sure it would have a step-down transformer plug, so you could probably have just obtained a local transformer that was compatible).

  We can easily deliver to Spain from our German warehouse (which would also ensure that the VGA Convertor has a euro power connection). You could return the items provided it was within a few days of receiving them, but based on the information we have discussed, I would expect this to work with no problems, my main concern would be the female to female DVI connection.

  Finally, please see the JPG I attach below, a little diagram just to clarify the set-up.

  All the best.

  Phil Atkinson
  International Sales Manager

  LINDY International | Tel: +44 1642 754020
  Computer Connection Technology

  I have found two Female to Female options over in the US. The first is a non powered one and obviously would be better in that I wouldn’t have any power conversion issues.

  The second is powered so if you wouldn’t mind looking at them both for me and advising me if either of them would work with the rest of the stuff that you have I would really appreciate.

  The two links for the Female to Female adapters are:

  http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=ADA-DVI-FF

  http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=ADA-DVI-FFWP
• MyAppleStuff
  December 20th, 2006 on 12:07 pm  MyAppleStuff(Quote)

  Just heard from Lindy that all the parts are in and will be shipped today
• mike
  January 4th, 2007 on 7:04 pm  mike(Quote)

  Ok so I have beeen looking to do this and I wanna find out if there is a conclusion to do all this… I have an old mac mini g4. it has the dvi connnector. I had to buy adapter for my real old 17 display. it has the old input for monitors on it. adc… damn them. anyway. I wanna also hook up my mac mini to the telly. Heres what I found to look promising so far. Lets finish this up with a solid solution… thx

  dvi to dvi and vga …….
  http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=3342

  then get this and you should be in. I havent bought all this yet but am really close. someone help confirm this will all work……

  vga to svhs/rca composite and also another vga output
  http://sewelldirect.com/pc-to-tv.asp

  heres what i have again…
  old g4 mac mini. (without front row infared, but hcked it, it works great)
  old 17 flat panal display with adc input via using this adaptor….
  Link

  ok. thats it… please lets conclude this for me so i can order this. Its hard on the road to get this shipped correctly ya know….
  thx
  later
• MyAppleStuff
  January 4th, 2007 on 7:35 pm  MyAppleStuff(Quote)

  Mike

  Good timing – I am actually just drafting an article on this BUT it isn’t good news I am afraid.

  I was working on the principle that the Mac Mini simply has a DVI-I output (which is correct)…… however, one of the guys iat Lindy has a Mac mni at home, he uses it with a KVM switch. He said that the Mac mini has to detect that a monitor is connected, or it doesnt output a signal from the DVI port (this is different to a PC). So, it should detect the DVI-D monitor once its connected with no problems, BUT, it might not detect the VGA Converter as a “monitor”…… so, because of this, the Mac doesnt output the video signal, and of course, after a few seconds, the VGA Converter powers down, because it isnt receiving a video signal (this would explain why the red light was going off after a few seconds).

  So unless your TV has a DVI or VGA connection you are going to be out of luck as I am.
• Dave
  January 7th, 2007 on 5:15 pm  Dave(Quote)

  Thanks for posting your research online. I’m hoping to do the same thing you are- have my Mac Mini’s screen show up on my television. Here are the two ideas I have left, let me know what you think:
  1.) VGA multiplier ($100) + VGA-to-TV converter ($100). I would plug the Apple-supplied DVI-to-VGA adapter into the Mac Mini. Plug the VGA multiplier in to the adapter so I would now have 2 VGA output ports. One of the multiplier outputs would connect to my monitor. The other multiplier output would connect to the VGA-to-TV converter.
  2.) USB 2.0 VGA adapter ($75) + VGA-to-S-Video adapter ($10) + SwitchResX (free). Plugging the USB 2.0 VGA adapter into one of the usb ports would give me a new display. Using SwitchResX would allow me to speficy television-resolution on this new display, and the VGA-to-S-Video adapter would allow me to plug my television into it.
  3.) USB 2.0 VGA adapter ($75) + VGA-to-TV converter ($100). Use the adapter to get a second display, then plug that into the VGA-to-TV converter to use the TV as the display.

  Unfortunately #2 and #3 would not mirror the primary monitor’s display. As a result, these don’t meet the goal entirely.

  These are just ideas. Let me know what you think, and I’ll keep you posted on my progress.

  -Dave
• MyAppleStuff
  January 7th, 2007 on 6:52 pm  MyAppleStuff(Quote)

  I am pretty sure that if you have a VGA connector on your PC monitor and a VGA connection to your TV you will be OK as the real issue is the inability of the Mac mini to broadcast both a digital and an analogue signal at the time.

  So if you use a DVI to VGA adapter on the back of the Mac-Mini, then connect a 2 port VGA video splitter, and use your Mac with a PC Monitor that has VGA this should work perfectly, because the Mac-Mini will detect that no DVI monitor is present, it will output an analogue signal, and then the 2 port video splitter will do the rest for you, multiplying the signal for both the VGA Converter and the PC Monitor.

  Please let me know how you get on.
• Martin
  January 23rd, 2007 on 9:12 pm  Martin(Quote)

  Thanks for all the nice research.

  I have the same problem but doesn´t see any solution (or hope there is a better way) than just splitting up a low quality VGA signal or bying expensive powered DVI splitters.

  Is it realy true that the mini can only output either DVI or Analog, and not both at the same time?

  Has anyone tried to split the DVI signal from the mini with a cable like this:

  http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=3342

  and then just hooked the DVI to a monitor/projector with DVI-plug and the VGA to a standard VGA monitor?

  regards

  -Martin
• MyAppleStuff
  January 23rd, 2007 on 10:51 pm  MyAppleStuff(Quote)

  Martin

  Yep – that is exactly like one of the cables that I tried Not sure if you saw this post that I di (http://myapplestuff.com/dual-screen-not-an-option-for-me/) but I am afraid that it is true. The Mac mini will recognise either a DVI OR and analog signal but not both at the same time, so if you want to split to two DVI screens or two VGA screens you can do it, but if you want to split between one of each you are out of luck.

  Sorry not to have any better news.
• Mac Mini
  April 15th, 2007 on 1:15 am  Mac Mini(Quote)

  Thanks for the great information! I’ve been doing research on using dual screens for my MAC too. Very helpful site.
• Chris Marshall
  April 15th, 2007 on 7:28 am  Chris Marshall(Quote)

  You are welcome
• LCD Projector Rentals Guy
  April 18th, 2007 on 3:09 pm  LCD Projector Rentals Guy(Quote)

  This is my first comment over here. I like this blog a lot.
  I liked this blog entry the most though, the way you said it was just amazing!
  See ya Later
  P.S. – CSS update?
  LCD Projector Rentals Guy
• fabian
  October 24th, 2007 on 2:04 pm  fabian(Quote)

  hey ,

  I bought a new mini mac 2ghz ,along with two 20 inch wide screen cinema Displays and a dvi dual box.
  i connected the mac mini to the screens using the dvi dual box and Im getting two displays where in i requiry just one extended screen.

  My problem is how do i connect the mini mac to two 20inch wide screens?
  help me ????????????
• Chris Marshall
  October 24th, 2007 on 6:36 pm  Chris Marshall(Quote)

  The Mac mini will not support dual screen. Your only option is to use the second screen as a mirror, good for presentations but useless for day to day use.

  That was the whole ‘problem’ that I had.

  Sorry not to have better news for you
• Rene Warren
  September 11th, 2008 on 5:49 pm  Rene Warren(Quote)

  First of, thanks for all this information, it is very useful.

  I realize that no comments have been posted in almost 1yr, has there been any resolution to this?

  I have a 2GHz Mac mini and want to have 2 LCDs connected to it, in mirror mode (same as you guys).

  The LCD tv has a HDMI and VGA inputs.
  The PC monitor only has a VGA input.

  What are your suggestions?

  From what I gather, my best bet right now is a VGA Y splitter (either DVI-I to 2 VGA OR DVI-I to VGA and VGA Y / VGA switch, but would rather keep the Digital component, as the TV is an HDTV LCD and would like to make use of it (the mini is capable of 720p H264 decoding.).

  If a setup like this could work, that would be great:

  DVI-I to DVI-D and VGA. With the DVI-D to HDMI for the HDTV LCD and VGA for the PC.

  Thanks!
• Chris Marshall
  September 18th, 2008 on 11:10 pm  Chris Marshall(Quote)

  Basically no, the Mac mini still has the limitation of the graphics card. The issue I had though wasn’t mirror mode, as that is actually pretty easy to sort out.

  I would split the DVI out of the Mac mini, and then convert the DVI to VGA to connect to the LCD and PC.

  I think you will have to stick with the same format for both screens though as the Mac mini doesn’t have the power to handle two conversions.
• David R
  June 14th, 2009 on 5:15 am  David R(Quote)

  [quote post="124"]If a setup like this could work, that would be great:

  DVI-I to DVI-D and VGA. With the DVI-D to HDMI for the HDTV LCD and VGA for the PC.[/quote]

  Interesting. So if my mac mini was connected all digital or all analog it should work with 2 screens being mirrored. Ive read a lot of failed stories of people using normal passive vga splitter cables. Maybe splitting the digital signal would be better? I know the mac mini can only use either vga signal or dvi at one time. Has anyone tried to do DVI-I to DVI-D splitter. Then DVI-D to HDMI for the HDTV LCD and DVI for the PC????????? I only need to run one screen at any one time, as the screens are right nest to each other. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

  David

  AGAIN, really want to know if this will work, bearing in mind my hdtv 32 inch samsung will display at 1280×768 and i havent purchased my monitor yet. So im thinking ill need similar resolutions… I just want to watch movies i have on my hard drive on my hdtv occasionally-how hard can it be???
• David R
  June 14th, 2009 on 5:21 am  David R(Quote)

  A bit more info about my setup and want im trying to achieve:

  Mac mini core duo 1.66, gma 950 graphics (dvi-i)
  Samsung 32 Inch 4 series with 3 hdmi’s and vga connection.
  and a pc monitor which im yet to buy because i want to make sure this dual screen approach will work.

  All i want is to occasionally use my hdtv to watch movies etc without swapping cables round, i dont need both screens to be functioning at the same time, but i do want full resolution on each screen while using it without sacrificing picture quality.
• Chris Marshall
  June 14th, 2009 on 9:31 am  Chris Marshall(Quote)

  Wow is a while since I looked at this

  The new Mac mini does offer dual screen now. My Mac mini is dead so trying a new hard drive (ordered) otherwise will get a new one!!

  As for what you want ….

  The Mac mini can only split/share the same signal, so the Samsung and PC monitor would have to be the same type.

  What you need to bear in mind as well is that as the screen would just be mirrored the resolution would need to be changed based on which screen you were watching at the time.

  I think that you may well find it is easier overall just to unplug your PC monitor and connect the Samsung when you want to use it to watch a film.
• Rene Warren
  June 16th, 2009 on 12:44 am  Rene Warren(Quote)

  David,
  If you have an older mini model (<=2008), you will not be able to split the DVI-I into DVI-D and VGA. I tried (i bought a DVI-I to DVI-D and VGA splitter) but the signal is detected by a single monitor (computer monitor: NEC LCD, TV: sharp aquos). Currently, I plug/unplug cables from the splitter, which doesn’t ruin the DVI-I port on the mini.

  Here’s a [pricey] gadget that may help:

  http://www.tuaw.com/2009/05/11/the-vibook-additional-displays-via-usb?icid=sphere_blogsmith_inpage_engadget

2 Trackbacks / Pingbacks for this entry

• Surf-Bit’s Mac ReviewCast » Blog Archive » The MacReviewcast Episode 81
  November 11th, 2006 on

  [...] This week we are talking to our European Correspondent from Spain, Chris Marshall. He looks at his progress with making his Mac mini into a media center. Also other links from today’s chat: – the original post on Surfbits is at http://www.surfbits.com/?p=946 – the follow up post on my blog is http://myapplestuff.com/mac-mini-dual-screen – the company that are been really helpful are LINDY International | Tel: +44 1642 754020 Computer Connection Technology http://www.LINDY.com [...]

• Chris Marshall » Dual Screen on the Mac mini
  June 28th, 2009 on

  [...] I have always been a big fan of the Mac mini, and still have one at the centre of my multi media set up, but was always disappointed that it wasn’t possible to run the Mac mini in dual screen mode. [...]