Choosing a Dell monitor for a Mac Mini M2 Pro

hcsitas wrote:

The shoddily-engineered Dell’s USB C upstream port is clueless on what’s connected and immediately starts juicing whatever’s connected, in addition to doing data two-way.

Is that even allowed by the USB Power Delivery standard? I thought that the source and sink HAD to negotiate before the source started providing more than a fairly small amount of power.

David Topple wrote:

About the Dell's USB-C port: will it be upstream or downstream? It's not clear.

This is a 32" 2560x1440 pixel monitor. Dell lists the monitor's ports as

• HDMI
• DisplayPort 1.4
• DisplayPort output (presumably for daisy-chaining, which the Mac wouldn't support)
• USB-C upstream / DisplayPort 1.4 Alt Mode with Power Delivery (power up to 90W)
• 4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 ("up to 5 Gbps") downstream ports
• LAN (RJ-45)

https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-uk/product-support/product/p3223de-monitor/docs

Aren't these ports bi-directional? I was assuming I'd use it to connect an external drive, though it did cross my mind that I could use a Mac Mini Thunderbolt 4 output (which must be USB-compatible) and connect it to the monitor's USB-C for all the video data for the screen.

A USB-C to USB-C cable is what I'm using with a different Dell monitor. It takes care of hooking up both video, and downstream USB and Ethernet ports.

mikeasmel69 wrote:

Sorry – just noticed that you have a Dell SP2309Wc monitor, not the Dell P3223DE that the OP has.

All of my comments about not being able to make a DisplayPort video connection over a USB-B connection (of either sort – 2.0 or 3.0) still stand.

DellTM SP2309W Flat Panel Monitor User's Guide

If this is right, the monitor has

• HDMI, DVI, and VGA inputs – one of which you'll need to use bring in a video signal
• An Audio Line-In port (port 5) – possibly not needed if your video source is HDMI
• A USB upstream port (port 7) – which appears to be a USB-B port
• No other video input / upstream ports of any kind

If you want to use the Webcam and microphone on the monitor, then you'll need to make a USB connection from the computer to the USB-B upstream port, and hope that the computer doesn't need any special drivers.

The only way of finding out is to buy one with a suitable no-questions refund-return option and hook it up to your mini.

If you go that path, be sure to connect the monitor’s USB-C upstream port to the mini’s USB-A port using suitable adapter/cable to prevent the Dell from attempting to charge the mini and behaving strangely down the road.

Dell’s DDM software is unnecessary and was once breached by malware, best avoided.

Finally, don’t use an HDMI cable longer than 1m.

If you take care of the above, the monitor should work to your satisfaction. Good luck!

It’s the upstream port (port 6 on the diagram of your link) that connects to the Mac. Connect it to the mini’s USB-A using a suitable C-A cable or adapter. Use ports 7, 8, 10 & 11 to connect USB accessories.

As for the HDMI cable, you can certainly try what you have. If it works, great, otherwise replace with shorter.

The shoddily-engineered Dell’s USB C upstream port is clueless on what’s connected and immediately starts juicing whatever’s connected, in addition to doing data two-way.

That’s great for MacBooks, but not for the mini which doesn’t need charging and over time could show its irritation in different ways. Best avoided.

Connecting the Dell’s upstream C port to the mini’s A prevents dumb Dell from charging i.e. forces it to behave and stick to the data knitting (because USB-A doesn’t support charging).

I have a Mac Mini M2 and am trying to get it to work with a Dell Legacy SP2309Wc monitor. I have it connected with a HDMI cable but only the video works, not the camera or the speakers.

Currently the Mac "sees" the monitor on Facetime and also audio settings, but I cannot select them.

Do you know if I use other cables (DVI to USBc or some other combination of adapters) will allow the video, audio and camera to work?

I tried this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082HQ3LP2?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 USB B (Dell to USB C (Mac Mini) and not results.

I also tried these two: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NH144GK?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 this one didn't fit any ports on the Dell. and this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HFDDGQ2?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 with no results.

The only cable connection that even allowed the Dell to be seen by the Mac Mini was the HDMI. The audio/sound was recognized, but it wouldn't work and was not able to be adjusted by the Mini. The Dell camera was still not recognized.

I am wondering a few things:

1) If perhaps this is a lost cause? I can try one more cable... USB B (port 7 on the Dell) to USB A on the Mini but I am losing faith.

2) If this doesn't work, maybe I can attach separate external camera and speakers to the mini but don't want to spend a lot. Any recommendations?

Thanks!

M

mikeasmel69 wrote:

I tried this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082HQ3LP2?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 USB B (Dell to USB C (Mac Mini) and not results.

What results were you expecting? A USB-B connection is not going to carry a DisplayPort video signal from the Mac mini to the Dell monitor. If the USB-B port is an upstream port, it would be for connecting downstream USB and Ethernet ports to the computer (when not using a USB-C connection).

I don't see a USB-B port mentioned anywhere in the Dell P3223DE User Manual, so I'm not sure where you are even plugging this cable in.

I also tried these two: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NH144GK?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 this one didn't fit any ports on the Dell

Looks like your first cable has a USB-B 2.0 connector and your second cable has a USB-B 3.0 connector. (The USB-B 2.0 plugs will fit into USB-B 3.0 sockets – but not vice-versa.). Not that the second cable would carry a DisplayPort signal even if it did fit.

. and this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HFDDGQ2?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 with no results.

That's probably a single-link DVI adapter cable. That monitor has a resolution of 2560x1440 pixels. With DVI, anything above 1920x1200 pixels requires dual-link DVI.

The only cable connection that even allowed the Dell to be seen by the Mac Mini was the HDMI. The audio/sound was recognized, but it wouldn't work and was not able to be adjusted by the Mini. The Dell camera was still not recognized.

HDMI will carry video and audio signals, but I don't think it will connect downstream USB ports, cameras, etc. (That's something that a USB-C to USB-C connection could do.)

A combination of a HDMI connection (for video) and a USB connection (for the camera) may work, if you can identify the proper USB port on the monitor for making an upstream connection.

I am wondering a few things:

1) If perhaps this is a lost cause? I can try one more cable... USB B (port 7 on the Dell) to USB A on the Mini but I am losing faith.

We must be looking at different monitors, or the manual must be wrong, because page 11 of the manual indicates that port 7 is one of the four downstream USB-A ports.

Hi,

Yes, it's the DellTM SP2309W monitor.

I am indeed trying to use the monitor's webcam, microphone and speakers. The HDMI to HDMI cable only seems to be transporting the video even though the monitor does show up as an audio source (though a bit greyed out; I wonder if that means that I might need a driver of some sort, and where would I get a driver?). I can try a different HDMI cable to see if that might work perhaps?

Regarding the USB-B upstream port, I believe that this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082HQ3LP2?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1 is the cable to which you are referring (USB B to C), and this unfortunately didn't work.

If none of these cable work, should I get an external webcam/mic/speakers and any recommenations for something simple?

Thanks!

Connect port 7 of the monitor to the mini’s USB-A port with the supplied upstream cable, should fix.

Any thoughts about using dvi on the dell and then a dvi to usb c adapter to the Mac mini?