Anyone able to get an external monitor to work with Macbook in Vista?

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Anyone able to get an external monitor to work with Macbook in Vista?

I've tried everything. Downloaded the latest Intel Graphics driver. No dice. I'm using a mini DVI to DVI connection for an external 24" NEC.

Anyone get this working? I have the latest rev MacBook.

Macbook, Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on May 15, 2008 8:27 PM

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Answer 1

azure8 Author

Level 1

10 points

May 17, 2008 1:24 PM in response to azure8

I guess no one's tried to connect an external monitor to their Macbook?

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Answer 2

azure8 Author

Level 1

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May 19, 2008 4:42 PM in response to azure8

Okay folks, I got this working. It seems like this forum is more of a sounding board, as I've almost always figured things out on my own.

I have Vista SP1 and the latest bootcamp drivers. You may not need SP1 or the latest bootcamp drivers for this to work, but I left no stone unturned.

You have to connect the external monitor via a VGA to VGA cable. You then hook up the VGA connector to your Macbook via a VGA to mini-DVI cable (available @ the Applestore). You may also have to play with the Intel Graphics Media control panel to get everything perfect. I had to adjust the aspect ratio to get full screen on my 24".

When I tried to connect the external monitor via a DVI -> DVI -> mini-DVI, it didn't work. It also didn't work with DVI -> VGA -> mini-DVI.

You have to use VGA -> VGA -> mini-DVI.

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Answer 3

rundkub

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1 points

Jul 30, 2008 11:32 AM in response to azure8

I have the same problem, strange solution, I will try it

Message was edited by: rundkub

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Answer 4

rundkub

Level 1

1 points

Jul 30, 2008 11:33 PM in response to rundkub

Now it works, with minidvi-dvi-screen cable. its the second time it works. I downloaded the latest drivers for windows, intel965, bootcamp, restarted 10 times in the process, I just started windows and the other screen came to life. its a strange problem, dont know if it will show up again.

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Answer 5

rundkub

Level 1

1 points

Jul 30, 2008 11:46 PM in response to rundkub

I restarted the computer, now it doesnt work. ****! I have Apple, ******* ******** software. Come one guys and fix this!

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Answer 6

rundkub

Level 1

1 points

Aug 1, 2008 8:09 PM in response to rundkub

I bought a minidvi to vga cable, connected it to my vga cable for the screen and it works now. Strange that the minidvi to dvi cable to my dvi-input didn't work. I have sent a email to Intel telling them of this bug.

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Answer 7

azure8 Author

Level 1

10 points

Sep 1, 2008 9:23 PM in response to rundkub

Yes, it only worked for me via mini DVI to VGA. Vista also has a lot of quirks that you figure out as you go along.

For example, sometimes when I have my 24" external connected to my Macbook, the resolution on the 24" does not look right. Only when I start up Vista with the external monitor connected does the external monitor display the correct resolution (and Vista turns off my Macbook display).

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Answer 8

Sep 2, 2008 4:32 PM in response to azure8

The mini-DVI to DVI(D) adpater issue is causing me some heartache and a fix does not look likely soon. It does work under MAC OS X however this not what I need for my work day to day. Also a VGA signal at 1680 x 1050 gets a bit noisy and forget it if you use an analogue KVM. I noticed that some DVI issues where on the 'issues resolved' list on the latest intel driver (6th August 2008) however it does not fix this. Those of you with a DVI-I or DVI-A external monitor maybe able to get this to work withe the mini-DVI to VGA adapter and an additional VGA>DVI adapter. Those of us who require DVI-D are just plain gubbed by the look of it. Does anyone have any feedback from the manufacturers on this?

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Answer 9

Nov 2, 2008 5:58 PM in response to azure8

Strangely enough I was able to get an external monitor - a Sony Bravia Hidef TV - to work straight away using Vista on a Macbook. I just used the mini- Video cable supplied with the MacBook. For weeks and even months I had no trouble.

Then I decided to install service pack 1.

After that I could not get the external monitor to work reliably. Sometimes it would be there; sometimes not.

I uninstalled SP1 and, after a few hiccoughs, I have got it working reliably again by using the Nvidia control panel.

Has anyone else had these problems after installing SP1?

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Answer 10

Nov 2, 2008 7:28 PM in response to azure8

I am very glad I came across this post. I JUST installed Vista SP1 on my BC partition but ended up using a set of drivers found on this post in order to get Boot Camp tot load at all:

http://www.iotashan.com/index.php/2008/07/06/install-vista-x64-sp1-under-bootcam p/

Regardless, I am also trying to use an external monitor while booting into Vista and it seems I don't have a Nvidia Control Panel like most of you. I have since upgraded to the latest Boot Camp 2.1 tools but with not change. In Vista device manager, my graphics driver is listed as a "generic VGA" adapter, I am sure this is the cause but have been unable to point the device to use a correct driver.

Any help on what I can do would help greatly. Thanks much!!

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Answer 11

Nov 3, 2008 4:30 AM in response to benducklow

Found a solution for my issue. Simply download this set of nVidia drivers:

http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=20200

Hope this helps someone else.

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