Thanks for the reply. I wasn't using a keystroke at all. With OS 10.4 I just plugged it in and it recognized the LCD and automatically resized the resolution on the Macbook Pro screen. Should I try a keystroke?
I looked in the display settings and it did not recognize the lcd was there.
Same problem here with a MacBook and Proxima 350 series projector. No keystrokes appear to work. The machine sees the projector, but the projector doesn't see the machine.
I experienced the same problem over the last 3 days, and could not find anyone else that reported this.
Fist suspected the projector cable, then the projector.
Tried every display option inside System Prefs > Displays... In case it was resolution, I tried a different projector, in a different conf room.
Windows PCs worked on the same projectors, so it could not be cables or projectors.
Imagine having had to troubleshoot this if you are the convenor of a 2 day conf.
Tactical Fix on my part was to a memory key and someone with a Windows PC...
This seems to be a very visible bug in an OS famous for good looks...
...And highly visible to even those people who do not own a Mac...
S2W, let me take you up on that cables issue. Like some people I have been having problems on one or two projectors at work. In one room in particular it was doubly frustrating as the PC worked and the Mac worked with a PC monitor. I later checked with another projector and that was fine.
My technician suspected the cables and when this happened with another projector, gave me the cable that had worked with the test projector and in both rooms where the projection had failed, we now had a working situation.
The technician thinks that the VGA connector on the PC does not use the pins in exactly the same way as the Mac with its adapter. Indeed on one of the cables that was swapped out for me it did not look as if all the pins were there.
Our connecting cables also get a fair amount of hard work so the tech wonders if they break down and the Mac is more sensitive. A different set of cables worked for me where before there had been nothing (and before that, no problem).
Many thanks for sharing your advice and experience.
In my case the projectors that I tried to get to work were hanging from the ceilings of auditoriums, the cables were all hidden in the architecture and suspecting the cables when PCs worked on both, did not seem a good argument to tech support, and also not a practical option.
I have only had a mac for about 4 weeks, but I can confirm that I have used exactly those kinds of projectors and VGA connectors before under Tiger with no problem, although not the particular physical projectors and cables that I needed for the conference.
If indeed it is a pin assignment issue on which the signal is sent to the projector, as your experience seems to indicate, then (and I think you will agree) someone probably have to fix leopard (a single software change).
In my mind the alternatives are just to complex to imagine, such as users carrying cable of various lengths with them in case the auditorium they present in will not work with the mac, or having auditorium cables / connector pin assignments changed worldwide (hardware issue).
I guess they were a bit higher than ours. I sent a student up on a chair to detach the cable and try the one I had brought as replacement.
I am sure that tech support are sure of their own systems and little can be done to persuade them otherwise. It does of course seem logical (to them) that if it works with a PC then the Mac must be wrong.
With the height that your ceilings must be, alternative cables are not going to be an easy option; but can you get the Mac/Macs to work with
any projector?
As an additional point, can you get the Macs to work with a VGA monitor? (I have noticed things like Front Row are intermittent with projectors so wonder if there is indeed a display problem.)
Had a similar problem this weekend. If you are using a MacBook or MacBook Pro for the first time, you should be aware that you need to turn mirroring on. In system prefs make sure the display is available in the menu bar. Then when you connect the projection device, select the display icon in the menu bar and turn mirroring on. Because of extended desktop support, the computer actually thinks the projector is an extended desktop and places it far off the screen as though it not projecting your image at all, just a blank desktop. Hope this helps.
Update:
The Macbook is still not working on the Proxima 350 projector. Reverting to Tiger made no difference (10.4.11 and 10.4.10) and I had thought I used this particular projector with Tiger before (I could be mistaken). The same projector works with 10.5.x and an iBook.
The Macbook DOES work on 3 other projectors (different manufacturers') I have tried, both with 10.4.1x and 10.5.1.
My problem started with the MacBook recognizing the various projectors I was attempting to use but not producing any video out. This was strange since external displays were working fine. Then external displays with DVI to DVI and DVI to VGA connections stopped working. Before I could get to a Mac store the internal display went down. I went to Mac Retail store where they took about 3 hours max to *replace the clamshell top with the display*. This has fixed all issues. Projectors and external displays are working fine now. Hope this helps.
We just bought three new MacBook Pros. One 17 inch (mine) and two 15 inch. My 17 inch MacBook Pro arrived a couple of weeks ago.
In this time I've had to connect it to a projector for presentation purposes a number of times. Each time it has failed. My old PowerBook works fine. Whether its Leopard or the sweatshop-made unit, my new mac is no good to me.
The public failure of my Mac to simply connect to a projector has occurred so often, that the colleagues who had originally ordered the two 15 inch MacBook Pros cancelled their order! They're getting a couple of neat Sony jobs instead.
I would send mine back as unfit for purpose, but for the fact that Apple support are so unsupportive.
There are posts on this issue going back to November last year! Please, Apple, DO SOMETHING!
