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Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter not working under Vista (Boot Camp).

Hi there,

I'm facing a very serious issue with MacBook Pro Unibody running MS Vista under Boot Camp: using the Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter to hook a projector is 95% impossible because the only resolution available is 640x480 or sometimes 800x600. No solution came from the adaptor firmware update, still same behavior: connecting the external projector/monitor toggles 640x480 resolution with no more choices available. Just 5% of attempts on selected projectors gave me access to the complete resolutions list.

This is having a serious impact on my job where I do need both Mac&Windows running natively and with external display capabilities, please I'm looking for some feedback from users facing the same problem or someone who had an official answer on this issue from Apple. Do avoid posting about using modded display drivers please: I know they exist but the adaptor should be working with original ones.

I can understand Apple does not support MS Vista issues but this seems to be a hardware/driver one.

I'd like to point out I'm using a clean Vista installation with Apple drivers (from the Leopard DVD) and I've run Vista (same version, same gfx drivers etc) under Boot Camp on my previous MPB (with integrated DVI output+adapter) on hundreds of different projectors with never a single problem.

Any feedback is really appreciated.
L.

MacBook Pro Unibody, Mac OS X (10.5.6), Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter

Posted on Apr 11, 2009 9:14 AM

144 replies

May 9, 2009 1:28 AM in response to thelazydesigner

Hey,

hopefully the guys in Italy will be able to help.

The thing that anoys me most is that I haven't heard of that problem in the first place. It is really becoming a serious problem for me at work.

Anyway, keep me posted on any solutions.

Thanks.

innorevo

Level 1

0 points

May 13, 2009 2:49 AM in response to thelazydesigner

Hi!

I am intending to purchase a Macbook Pro.
Do you have this problem on XP?
And what do you mean SHORT CABLE? is it about 2 meters?

Thanks!

May 13, 2009 3:28 AM in response to innorevo

Hi,
short cable (or cables with all pins connected) is just an idea, we still don't have any official answer from Apple. Anyway, yes, it's an XP issue as well if you use it under Boot Camp.
L.

May 15, 2009 5:15 AM in response to vistabook

Hey guys,

I just wanted to share my not-so-great-but-still-its-a-solution-solution to this problem. I switched to parallels and I am now using the bootcamp partition via parallels also.

Of course you will have to figure out how to activate Office on both parallels and bootcamp. I called the MS Support, owning legal licences of all programs, and they did help me!

Next thing is the performance issue, especially if you (like I do) have to work with massive ppt files including a lot of videos. If you disable 3d support in parallels, be sure to give vista and mac osx enough RAM (I got 4gb in my MB so I devided it in two 2 gb half). Also be sure to have the latest parallels and parallels tools built (new one came yesterday or today).

Now It seems to work fine for me. No problems with .wmv and performance is almost as good as in bootcamp (except of course 3d, which I don't need)

Thats the solution I went for after spending a whole lot of time searching the web, considering buying a usb video card, trashing my MB, hating vista, hating Apple.

If anyone has a solution to the MiniDisplayport problem for bootcamp vista, share the knowledge!

Cheers

Message was edited by: vistabook

Message was edited by: vistabook

May 17, 2009 2:51 PM in response to vistabook

Thanks for all the info (even too much info on the first attempt! :-P ).

It's now clear that the issue exists and using a virtual machine could be the best workaround, even if not the same user experience as Boot Camp, at least waiting for an official Apple solution.

I'm in contact with Apple Italy, news will be posted here.
L.

May 18, 2009 6:29 AM in response to thelazydesigner

I have this issue too. But only on Vista 64 and Windows7 64bits
Windows XP SP3 seems to work fine.
Then it's a driver issue

May 18, 2009 6:45 AM in response to Jorge Rui Machado

Hi there,
are you sure you tested the three OS with the same projector and cables?

A working XP should be a very good news but others reported the issue with it as well. Could you give us more details? thanks!.

May 19, 2009 2:37 AM in response to thelazydesigner

yes I'm Sure. The exacte same projector, and always work

Message was edited by: Jorge Rui Machado

tlonian

Level 1

0 points

May 19, 2009 5:30 AM in response to thelazydesigner

I wonder if we might be able to do a little more troubleshooting here.

For example, I have noticed that when I'm hooked directly to a projector with a VGA cable, Windows/NVidia drivers recognizes the projector (i.e., the name shows up in the monitor list), and I'm able to get all supported resolutions on both my screen and the projector.

On the other hand, if I have the computer hooked up to a projector via a switch, the projector is not recognized. The second monitor is listed as something like a generic display device, and the computer will not output a signal to the projector higher than 640x480.

Is anyone else noticing this behavior in this way? Are people having trouble outputing to a projector connected directly to the computer (e.g., with a very long VGA cable, but still directly connected)? Or is the problem always when there is a switch or some connecting device in between the computer and the projector? When you have trouble getting the higher resolution, is the projector recognized or do you have a generic device listed?

Clearly it's a driver issue all around, but maybe there is a way of forcing a particular display device? I know there is a community of folks somewhere that provides alternative config files for NVidia drivers. Has anyone tried these?

May 19, 2009 6:26 AM in response to tlonian

Yes, your recap is correct.

When resolutions are not available you cannot see the display/projector's name.
This is also a very quick way to realize if your vga/display configuration is going to work.

Display name is carried in the DDC signals on pin 12 of vga port and could have a role in this story, but the key point is that the same display configuration+adapter is usually working under MacOS thus seems a driver issue better than a hardware one.

I've tried all the possible ways on the default driver to force a specific resolution with no result. Using "modded" drivers seems to be, at the moment, too much confusing due to the lack of serious documentation and the risk is just getting the puzzle more complicated.

I actually never tried XP SP3, and the previous post saying it works would require some testing. Anyone can confirm this?

L.

tlonian

Level 1

0 points

May 19, 2009 2:11 PM in response to thelazydesigner

I had luck again this afternoon directly hooking up to a different projector. For me, it definitely seems like the switch is not being recognized by Windows/NVidia or some combination.

May 19, 2009 3:18 PM in response to thelazydesigner

I can confirm that it works with XP SP2 - 32bits
VGA drivers - bootcamp 2.1 that came with the unibody MBP

May 27, 2009 2:07 PM in response to thelazydesigner

Hi,

Has anyone been able to get any further on this particular issue? I can verify it is happening on both a unibody 15" and 17" MacBook Pro. Like previous posts if I connect directly to a projector (Hitachi CP-A100 in this case) everything works fine but when I use our Gefen Extenders to a 4x4 video switch I cannot get a resolution above 640x480 within Vista to save my life (naturally the Mac OS works just fine). Tried the latest nvidia drivers, verified the mini display port to VGA adapter firmware was updated and still no luck.

I haven't tried an XP system mostly because all of our users here are Vista or Mac OS X based and older MacBook Pro's work fine. I would like to contact Apple about this but not really sure what if anything they will be able to do and I feel that I will spend an hour or more describing the issue.

I would appreciate any thoughts or help.

-CH

Heofz

Level 1

0 points

Jun 11, 2009 8:27 AM in response to thelazydesigner

Add me to the list, just tried to get it working on my university projector (I have my thesis presentation in a week) and I also can only get 640x480, screen resolution selector greyed out. Really lame because I went and bought a Mini-DP-to-VGA adaptor specifically for this reason. And it cost me £20 no less!

I was using nVidia 176.xx drivers before, and it was very sketchy even trying to get a picture. Just updated to latest and now I can now pick up the projector but still no higher than 640x480.

Strange thing however: I connected it to my 24" dell monitor and it worked perfectly. What gives??? 😟

I'm home now and won't be back in uni for a while, but can anybody try going into your device manager and manually updating your projector "Generic PnP Monitor" driver to: (Standard Monitor types) -> "Super VGA 1024x768" or above, and see if that fixes your 640x480 issue?

You will have to untick the "show compatible hardware" box. Maybe it'll work then? 🙂

Jun 11, 2009 9:41 AM in response to thelazydesigner

Hi,

I should be able to test that in about an hour or so and will post the results.

Thanks.
CH

Mini DisplayPort to VGA adapter not working under Vista (Boot Camp).