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External Monitor not recognized after upgrade

I upgraded to macOS Monterey 12.2 for my macBook Pro (15" mid 2015) and now my external monitor is not recognized. I've successfully used a Dell monitor with a j5create adaptor (vga to usb). I tried holding alt/option button while clicking display in system preferences but nothing seems to work to get the computer to now recognized the monitor. Any suggestions what to try next? Monitor worked this morning before I made the move to upgrade the OS.


MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.14

Posted on Feb 3, 2022 9:50 AM

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Posted on Feb 3, 2022 11:17 AM

Just for information Monterey is able to work with a VGA monitor with a VGA to USB-C adapter. It also works with DVI to USB-C (my current set up with my M1 iMac). My adapter is by ARKTEK and has DVI, VGA & HDMI ports.


Try the adapter in a different port

Try a different VGA cable

Try a different adapter

Try shutting down, reboot into safe mode, leave it running for a few minutes, shut down, do a normal restart.

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Feb 3, 2022 11:17 AM in response to cherl179

Just for information Monterey is able to work with a VGA monitor with a VGA to USB-C adapter. It also works with DVI to USB-C (my current set up with my M1 iMac). My adapter is by ARKTEK and has DVI, VGA & HDMI ports.


Try the adapter in a different port

Try a different VGA cable

Try a different adapter

Try shutting down, reboot into safe mode, leave it running for a few minutes, shut down, do a normal restart.

Feb 8, 2022 3:07 AM in response to cherl179

I don't have the same problem, but apparently Apple has again broken some things under the hood related to thunderbolt/USB-C ports, specifically in Monterey 12.2 (and obviously affecting both Intel and M1 macs).


I bet your problem is caused by the same changes.


This is is a sad story for me (and many others), as the TB/USB-C has never worked fully reliably - slightly unstable since the beginning 2016, mostly broken through 2020, mostly ok and only occasionally crashing 2021 (Big Sur 11.1 fixed the worst and Monterey kept up until 12.2) and now clearly 12.2 breaks something again.


Exactly since I installed 12.2, the USB hub in my external monitor (the Apple recommended LG Ultrafine 5k, notabene) completely ceases to work after disconnecting and re-connecting the monitor. I have a very constant daily routine how I connect my MBP13-2020 every day in the morning and disconnect it in the evening. Since 12.2, I have to reboot the machine every day to make the USB connections going through the monitor's hub work again.


Today, I probed a bit further, and instead of rebooting, put the MBP to sleep, disconnected the monitor and re-connected it to the other USB-C ports:

  • First the other port on the same side (left) - no improvement.
  • Then, first port on the other side (right) - this made USB work again.
  • Then, back to the left side - still USB is not working there
  • Back to the right side - machine crashes with "intel crash log recorded"


It's just not stable and apparently Apple can't find the root cause, but just keeps applying patches here and there that fix some use cases and ruins others :-(


Feb 3, 2022 10:09 AM in response to cherl179

Can you tell us specifically how the display is attached to your mac? Some dock in between?

Maybe you used a connection that required third party "displaylink" software, and that needs to be updated to work with the new OS.


Also: does your mac not acknowledge that a display is connected, or does it say there is a display, but can't show an image in it?

Feb 3, 2022 10:31 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Dell monitor is attached to MacBook pro with a j5create adaptor (JUA214) which connects directly into the MacBook pro usb port. I think you are correct that the j5create driver needs updated but having a bit of a problem deleting old driver on MacBook pro. I did manage to download an updated j5create driver but it won't install because the old driver is there. The mac does not acknowledge that a display is connected...there is nothing displayed when I click on Sys Preference; display. (The Dell monitor is plugged in and on. the computer just doesn't recognize it). Thank you for responding. Thank you so much.

Feb 8, 2022 4:14 AM in response to luzluz

Thank you for your responses. I am now working with Apple support. We did what the response above discussed (tried different ports, created a report using a command I no longer remember which was sent to Apple Care) via Apple care. The technician explained this case will be taken to the engineers and I am expecting a call back on Saturday. I am a relative new Apple user so I appreciated the remote help. Hoping for the best on Saturday as this is an irritating problem. This upgrade has also affected my FaceTime app in that I have to disconnect the external monitor to have sound when using the app. Frustrating!

External Monitor not recognized after upgrade

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