mac mini - cannot get external monitors working

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Level 1

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mac mini - cannot get external monitors working

Today I bought a mac mini, and a usb-C Multiport hub, so that I can connect 2 external monitors. one through a vga -hdmi adapter to the hdmi port on the hub and the other into a display port on the hub. initially the monitor connected to the hdmi/ vga cable worked, in fact it worked immediately. However I could not get the mac to see the monitor connected to the display port.

So I did some troubleshooting, restarting everything, I tested the hdmi - vga cables with another monitor, that came up no problem, still nothing from the display port connected monitor. then I plugged out the hdmi adapter from the hub and connected it directly to the back of the mac mini , and since then nothing is working! I cannot get the hdmi/vga connected monitor to work. I have reset and rebooted over and over and nothing will work.. so I now have 2 problems, no vga -hdmi monitor and still no display port monitor. can anyone help me please?

Posted on May 21, 2024 2:24 PM

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Answer 1

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den.thed

Level 10

92,626 points

May 21, 2024 3:42 PM in response to cliona144

What USB-C multi port hub did you buy...?

What displays are you try to connect to the Mac mini...?

(makes, model #s or links are helpful)

1) The Mac mini does not work well with cheap-o third-rate cables, adapters or hubs.

2) The Mac mini wants one display on the HDMI port and one display on the USB-C port.

see > Connect a display to Mac mini - Apple Support

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Answer 2

May 22, 2024 12:11 AM in response to cliona144

Which Mac mini?

If this is a M1 Mac mini, it can only drive two monitors in a supported way if you attach one via HDMI, and the other via USB-C or Thunderbolt.

If this is a M2 or M2 Pro Mac mini, you can do that, or you can attach both monitors using USB-C or Thunderbolt.

Note that Macs do not support attaching two monitors to one host port unless that port is a Thunderbolt port and the device immediately connected to it is a Thunderbolt device (such as a Thunderbolt dock). I strongly suspect that your USB-C multiport hub is NOT a Thunderbolt device, so cannot support two monitors – unless perhaps it uses some workaround (like DisplayLInk) that requires installation of special driver software.

If your USB-C hub is using DisplayLink or Magic Control Technology or anything like that, then any video output on that hub that uses the workaround technology (as opposed to the USB-C (DisplayPort) signal) probably won't work at all unless you have the matching driver software properly installed and configured.

But I wouldn't want to mess with that if I had a Mac capable of driving two monitors in a hardware-supported way – which your Mini is capable of doing (assuming that it's an Apple Silicon model).

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Answer 3

den.thed

Level 10

92,626 points

May 22, 2024 6:55 AM in response to cliona144

Before we can recommend any kind of cables and/or adapters, you need to reveal the exact make and model numbers of the displays.

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Answer 4

cliona144 Author

Level 1

4 points

May 21, 2024 11:10 PM in response to den.thed

Hi, thank you for your reply. I bought the hub from the computer store that I got the mac mini from, it was €99 so I presume its decent, the monitors are old ish, I am not sitting in front of them, but i have HP monitors with display port outputs and the one that I connected and got working briefly is a Dell Monitor, it has vga out which was then connected to an adapter to enable me to plug it into the hdmi port on the hub.

what really has me scratching my head is the fact that the dell monitor was actually working, and worked immediately when i first turned on the mac and set it up, it was only when I was trying to eliminate a few things and I plugged it directly into the mac mini that it stopped working ??

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Answer 5

cliona144 Author

Level 1

4 points

May 22, 2024 12:36 AM in response to Servant of Cats

ok, thank you, it is the m2, the man in the store assured me that the hub would work, but it seems unlikely reading all of this, for €99 I will be returning this.

Do you know why connecting one monitor though, initially worked through the hub but as soon as i connected the monitor directly to the mac mini, it turned off and I have not been able to get a single monitor to connect since?

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Answer 6

May 22, 2024 6:04 AM in response to cliona144

I don't know why things are not working for you with direct connections. More details might be helpful.

You say your Mini is a M2 Mac mini – so I'm guessing that it's the one with the base M2 chip and two USB-C ports, not the one with the M2 Pro chip and four USB-C ports?

What are the makes and models of these monitors? Of the adapter cables?

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mac mini - cannot get external monitors working

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