No CEC or keyboard control for HDMI monitors/sound on new Mac mini

With HDMI, you must send sound also to HDMI.

Connect the USB cable from the monitor to the non-Thunderbolt regular USB-A of your mini using the cable LG sells separately (you can also get such a cable from Amazon or eBay).

When you do so, you won’t have any Thunderbolt options for sound or video.

As for the display, check and set (1) Turn monitor off after <your selected time> and check “Prevent...from sleeping”.

Apple TV = different tech. On computers, both PC and MacOS, (older) displays need separate, dedicated USB for volume control. Use the mini’s headphone out as a workaround. It’s very high quality, better than most displays, you just might get hooked to it.

yes, monitor is connected to the mini via single cable between the thunderbolt/usb-c ports on both.

Also, mini won't send signal to the display after display wakes from sleep, or when i manually turn the monitor off and back on. I have to unplug the thunderbolt cable from the mini and replug each time to get a signal.

Also, mini crashes sometimes when monitor goes to sleep.

Lots of bugs here. Mini m1 worked fine with old hp 2511 monitor for two weeks before i got the LG ultrawide (though HP monitor didn't have speakers so first issue was moot).

“In accordance with Mac products may not support the recommended resolution or the some features.”

Use 2 cables, one to monitor HDMI and the other to monitor USB C. And disable sleep on the Mac, not necessary.

Had this problem on the Mac Mini I got yesterday. After a far bit of searching found an app called eqMac which resolved the issue, it is still in beta & I haven't tested it thoroughly so have no idea on the system resources it uses. Also found SoundSource by RogueAmoeba which i will try tonight after testing eqMac.

Unfortunately neither of those steps solves either problem. With both cables connected if I choose thunderbolt as sound output (which mini sound output panel lists as displayport even though it is not plugged into displayport) and tell monitor to use HDMI for display I get no sound at all. If i choose HDMI as sound output and as display i get sound, but still no ability to control the sound via the mini/keyboard. Basically, the monitor asks which input i want to use for display, and i have to choose the same for sound output to get any sound at all. Regardless of cable combination i have no sound control from keyboard/mini (sound panel always shows 'The selected device has no output controls").

Selecting to never let the mini go to sleep prevents crashing during the day, of course, but if I manually turn off the monitor at night (so the monitor doesn't illuminate the whole room) the mini still can't reestablish a signal when i turn the monitor back on (i have to unplug and replug the monitor cable). All very frustrating.

I just got the LG 38WN95C-W and have it connected via thunderbolt. Same problem, no ability to control volume via keyboard.

What monitor, make and model?

No USB = No CEC. Use monitor controls or replace.

Is the USB-C port on the monitor connected to the mini?

I have the same exact issue. Was using the UltraFine 27" 5K prior and output controls worked perfectly. Now using the UltraWide with Thunderbolt and no output controls?! This is very frustrating.

Hi, I can confirm that with Mac mini M1, the eqMac is working, I can use my keyboard to change the monitor's volume. Many thanks!

Thanks. Eqmac works great for me. I used Soundflower in the past, but it was glitchy. FYI folk, this has nothing to do with Cec. BUT why doesn't Apple have Cec!