Which connector needed for 2nd Monitor?
 

I have a 2009 Mac Pro into which I have a monitor connected using a VGA connector..the kind that's about 1 inch wide where the pins are, and there are 2 adjusting fingerscrews on either side to secure the connection.

There's a free input with an icon that looks like this: |O| < the "O" is more square, like a monitor.

My question is: can I connect another VGA to that input using some kind of adapter, and if so, what's the name of the adapter..I've searched for something in my barrel o' connectors and found nothing that mates with the input on the Mac Pro..

Thanks for any information.

a

It's most likely a mini DisplayPort. So you will need a mini DisplayPort to DVI or VGA converter. Both are sold by Apple.

DV to VGA adapters are cheap, about $30, but come in several flavours. Take a picture of it, write down the serial number of your computer, and head to the nearest Apple dealer.

I presume that Apple offers the best flavor?

Meaning, the best connectors, shielded cable, which is designed to work for their machines, not some AnyMachine out there?


a

Mini DisplayPort--both the port itself and the icon:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...le_MacBook.jpg

Apple's Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter: http://store.apple.com/us/product/MB572Z/A
A third party Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter for less than half the price: http://www.amazon.com/Display-Female.../dp/B002ODG5GO
Another REALLY inexpensive Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter: http://www.ecrater.com/p/6800006/app...t-to-vga-cable

Trevor

OK..the port on my MP is narrower than the one shown in this image..guess it's like USB where there are several sizes and shapes...

Now, do you recommend flipping for the extra $ and getting the apple cable? Is there some electrical reason making theirs superior and therefore worth the extra dough?

a

Wait--if your port is narrower it may not be mini-DisplayPort. That's why I put up the image--everybody was jumping to that conclusion without any evidence.

Could your port be mini-DVI? Here's that port:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...i-mini-dvi.jpg

Trevor

It could be that...all I have is the female port, but it does look like contacts are above and below the "tongue" in the center, as opposed to pins.

is that icon different than for Mini-DVI?

would About This Mac shine some light on the situation?


a

No, that's the icon for an external monitor connection. It doesn't tell you what type of plug is used for the external monitor.

Well, System Profiler might shine some light on the situation, and if you'd like you can bring up System Profiler from the About This Mac... window by clicking "More Info...". Otherwise, you can also just launch System Profiler directly--it's in your /Applications/Utilities folder.

Go to Hardware > Graphics/Displays and just copy everything that it says in the bottom pane here for us to see. Next to or below "Display Connector" it may just say "No Display Connected", but don't worry--give us the rest of the information and we should be able to tell you what kind of connector you have.

Trevor

I am pretty sure that the 2009 Mac Pro's came with 1 x Dual link DVi and 1 x Mini Display Port. What graphics card do you have ? Geforce Gt 120 or ATI Radeon HD4870 ?

Here's what it says, the entire block of information in that pane:

NVIDIA GeForce GT 120:

Chipset Model: NVIDIA GeForce GT 120
Type: GPU
Bus: PCIe
Slot: Slot-1
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 512 MB
Vendor: NVIDIA (0x10de)
Device ID: 0x0640
Revision ID: 0x00a1
ROM Revision: 3386
Displays:
VX2433wm:
Resolution: 1920 x 1080 @ 60 Hz
Pixel Depth: 32-Bit Color (ARGB8888)
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Rotation: Supported
Display Connector:
Status: No Display Connected

Apple adapters and cables use high quality components. I like the actual cable they use, as it's among the most flexible available in most of their cables and adapters. (In general the cheaper the cable the less flexible it is.) In other words, they do design a quality product for their contract manufacturer to build (probably FoxConn).

But realistically, their adapters are built in the same factories as some other third party adapters, there is a clear published wiring and connector specification for the adapters that SHOULD be followed by anyone making one (granted, not everybody does follow the spec), and there are also other companies that design a high quality product. Apple doesn't have any secret formula for their adapters, so there's no reason someone else can't have one just as good or better.

I guess if you compare an Apple adapter to a non-branded adapter, you know that you can trust the Apple adapter, whereas the non-branded adapter you have no idea. It may be great or it may be junk. (Where by junk I mean ugly, or inflexible, or easy-to-break, or have some kind of annoying issue that still won't stop it from working.)

If you compare an Apple adapter to another branded adapter, you can get a sense from their brand positioning how invested in quality they are and make a judgment based on that.

But usually, any of the adapters should work acceptably.

Trevor

Also the mini display port on this card can be a bit finicky !

finicky how? in that, even with the best cable, performance will be spotty?

will the monitor lose signal or will the signal be inferior?


a

Just had soem issues at a site that sometimes the display port does not play ball nothing to do with adapter as such. We found that "very slight" cable stress can turn the connected device off and then the only way to get it working correctly was to pull the adapter, detect displays , then re-add the adapter FIRMLY, detect displays and all is fine again. It works just the form factor of Mini Display Port seams to be very sensitive. We use Apple adapters but i am sure other ones will work fine.

good to know...I need that like a hole in the head..

think I'll save myself some dough, some head hairs and some headaches.


a

The nvidia GeForce GT 120 has two outputs, a (full-sized) DVI output and a mini-DisplayPort output. It does not have a mini-DVI output.

http://www.sweetwater.com/images/clo...o8-22_rear.jpg

Since you can't really confuse a full-sized DVI jack with a mini-DisplayPort jack, I conclude that you must be using a full-sized DVI to VGA adapter in the DVI port, and have the mini-DisplayPort port open.

So we're back to the original conclusion, get a mini-DisplayPort to VGA adapter.

Trevor

yep. that's what's on the back of my Machine...

thank you for the information...I'll have to weight the hinkyness of that second connection, but at least I now know the right connector.

Thank you!

a

If you wanted to, you could get a second video card, for example another GT 120 (link to it for sale at the Apple Store is above in post #17). Of course, that costs some money.

Trevor

That's a good Plan B....Have to give 'er some thought....

my purpose is to have a "side car."

Got the 23" monitor, and would like to use this 17"-er for extra real estate..put my tool palettes, or have a bunch of things open at the same time, thanks to the extry space...

I guess the big monitor could get the better card, and the smaller could get what's in there now...


I'll have to weight the dough versus the benefits...or star workin the Santa Claus angle!


;-)


thank you all for such meaty, helpful answers...I feel equipped now with a lot of great information!


a

I've got a question along these same lines. I have a 2009 Mac Pro with the NVIDIA GeForce GT 120. I have an Apple Cinema Display via the Mini Display Port.
I recently bought an ASUS MS238H to use a second monitor. It has VGA and HDMI inputs and came with DVI-VGA and DVI-HDMI cables.

Using the DVI-HDMI cable, the MAc never sees the monitor and the monitor immediately goes into power save mode. Using the DVI-VGA able works -- the max sees it, let's me set it's resolution. It works fine, but it's VGA.

What would I need to do to get the Mac to see the monitor via the HDMI cable?

My suspicion is that the HDMI input on the Asus monitor is dead. Do you have something else that outputs HDMI that you can attach to the display to test this theory?

Trevor

My first thought too -- yes other devices, a DVD player, for instance, do work with the HDMI input on the ASUS.

There are many forms of DVI and i suspect that the cable you have been given might not be compatible. http://www.playtool.com/pages/dvicompat/dvi.html

As such your card has a dual link DVI port.
I think you need a dual link DVI-D to HDMI converter and use an HDMI cable.
http://www.sourcinggate.com/hdtv-dvi...da-p-6190.html
Dont get suckered into paying load sof money for your cable makes no difference IMHO.

Thanks for helping me through this.

My cable was _not_ dual link cable, but I did have a dual-link DVI -to- HDMI cable on order. It came today.

No joy.

Any other thoughts?

Thanks!

Followup:

I bought a Belkin DVI-to-HDMI cable at the Apple store and it works. Yeah! No idea why -- it looks identical to the cable that came with the monitor.

sweet....have had many odd issues as well in the past with DVI / Cables /adapters / HDTV settings etc but all good it is working !

Sweet indeed. Thanks for the help!