Thunderbolt Does Not Detect Display

I have been having the same problem with my Mini-display - DVI adapter on my Philips 200WB monitor. I have a 2011 15" MacBook Pro. My old 2008 MacBook worked perfectly with the monitor.

I was wondering if anybody tried connecting a mini-display - VGA adapter and had their connection work?

Mine doesn't work.

Problem is thunderbolt driver. There is a solution using an adapter. See my reply of 7/12/2011 in the list of responses.

I am having exactly the same problem with my Sandy Bridge MBP. I also have an (older) Air, and that does not have the problem.

I must shut down, then restart with the external monitor plugged in.

What a pain.

Funnily enough, I can drive a VGA-connected projector no problem.

I tried using a Moshi Thunderbolt-to-HDMI converter.

Kernel Panic.

Ooh. I am seeing a lot of these little puppies in Lion.

I’m having the problem with my new MacBook Air. I have 3 available projectors, and I can connect to one of them. They all use VGA, and I connect using the MDP to VGA (female)

The Techsupport said it was a problem with compatibility. I figured as much out my self,when it didn’t work.

Anyone tried a direct connect, with a MDP to VGA (male) - cable?

I have the cable. I'll give it a try.

My experience:

VGA (Projectors and screens) -Works

Digital/DVI (HDMI and DVI screens) -Works, but only if I boot with the screen connected to the Thunderbolt. Otherwise, I get a screen flash when I plug them in, but they never detect.

I want to add that the DVI adapter and the HDMI cable I am using were BOTH purchased from an Apple store last week. The "genius" there swore up, down and sideways that they would 100% work with my MBP.

"Genius," huh...

Thank you DynamicCore2Duo

My DVI to VGA (projector) connection works when I boot with the screen already connected to the Thunderbolt like you suggested.

I should note that I have not done any presentations with my MBP since upgrading to Lion. I may find that VGA is suffering the same problem as DVI/HDMI.

I have a mini displayport->DVI adapter that is connected to a Philips HD TV via a DVI to HDMI cable. This has been working just fine with an older MBP that has a standard mini-displayport adapter. Now I'm using a MBP with the Thunderbolt port and I can not send video to the TV. This sounds like the problem mentioned on this thread. Note I've updated my software to 10.7.1 and the Thunderbolt firmware is also at the latest level. Very irritating, very disappointing. I expect better from Apple.

I'm absolutely furious. When I get home, and plug in my monitor, I sometimes need to force-restart three times before I can get my system working OK.

It often just hangs when I start up, needing to be force shut down. This may be a Lion issue, but it only happens at home, where I plug in an external HDMI monitor.

I've taken to running DiskWarrior repairs on my disks every couple of days.

Lion is really, really unstable, and the Thunderbolt display port is nowhere near plug-compatible with the old Mini DisplayPort.

I'm sure that the cure is to shell out a grand on the Apple Thunderbolt monitor. Funny how buying new kit always solves these problems...

I had the same probelm with my MPB Core I7 from Feb 2011, went to the genius bar in Paris, they changed the motherborad and it now works. I can see that the version of the Thunderbolt controller firmware has changed. Looks like they changed something between the original early 2011 model and the one you can get now.

Well, here's what happened to me today:

I took my unit into the local Apple Store, and had a chat with a "genius" (looked like she was pushing, maybe 20. Probably not old enough to drink legally).

In any case, she made sure I was all up to date (Of course I am), and then brought out an Apple LED monitor. I knew what was gonna happen, and it did.

Everything worked fine on the Apple monitor. It does not on the 2 monitors I have at home (LG and Samsung), nor on the one at work (ASUS). These are all good monitors.

She muttered some stuff about how "the manufacturers haven't sent us software for their monitors." However, that was after she first tried to indicate that I was using crappy no-name monitors (I guess the clue that she was looking at a $4500 laptop wasn't enough to inform her that I'm not into cheap no-name crap).

Then she brought out the "manager" (maybe 25). He was every bit as much help as she was (no help at all).

I showed them this thread, and several others. I mentioned the boards are alive with this complaint, and was told that they don't pay any attention to these boards.

<shrug /> I have AppleCare. When they finally own up to it, I'll be able to get it fixed. In the meantime, I keep my Time Machine disk up to date, and also rsync a mirror onto a FW hard disk. I've learned my lesson.

I suspect that the Thunderbolt firmware update was unreleased. I'm hoping they release it soon, and it fixes the issue.

I purchased this same monitor (without knowing about your post) and ran into nothing but problems with the image quality when it was connected to an early 2011 MacBook Pro 13" - until I switched from a "mini-Display Port to HDMI" cable to a "mini-display port to D-SUB" cable.

At first I thought the monitor was not compatible with the MacBook Pro. That is the case when it comes to the HDMI cable. However, I went to several stores and plugged in my MacBook Pro into the back of many of their monitors and most wouldn't provide a good picture quality - one that didn't was the HP2711x. Two that did well but the image wasn't as good (I didn't perform any calibration on these so maybe they're as good or better?): Samsung S27A55H and the LG E2750VR. Most of the others I tested performed poorly with this cable. In other words if you want to have good picture quality with a newer MacBook Pro use the D-SUB input on the monitor.

The image quality / price is a good value and I'm pleased with this monitor (note that I consider the best monitor to be the Apple Thunderbolt 27" monitor but at almost $1000 I simply can't justify it at this time).

That being said I was unhappy with the unhelpful and unknowledgeable Viewsonic Customer Service (especially when you contrast them with Apple Customer Service!) - they told me the problem was with Apple and refused to discuss it further. I was also unahppy because of the time it took me to troubleshoot this issue - there is no indication anywhere that the monitor will not produce a clear picture in 1080p with a MacBook Pro and 1080i flickered) and for the fact that I cannot use this monitor with an HDMI cable with my MacBook Pro.

I did go to the Apple store and they suggested that some monitors work better with certain brands than others and my experience (see above) confirmed this.

Otherwise, I think this is a great monitor - only started using it today. Beautiful picture, good contrast, large screen at a fraction of the cost of an Apple monitor.

I have a 15" MacBook Pro (bought August 2011) I purchased the ViewSonic VX2753MH-LED 27" monitor with KANEX iAdapt HDMI V2 - Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Adapter w/ Audio Support. Disk that came w/ monitor not supported by Lion. About a minute later the screen flickered and with a few adjustments to resolution all was good. I have unplugged and replugged the laptop without incident for about a month and then today NOTHING :-(

I went back and repeated the sequence of the original install and still NOTHING. Frustrated I started looking for solutions when several minutes later (longer than I would normally wait till I started pressing buttons and unplugging stuff) the monitor was recognized with all my original settings.

I have a second monitor in the box which I bought for my office, will be interesting to see what happens when I attach that one!!

I just bought a new macBook Air. Purchased the Mini Display Port to VGA adapter. Connected a Dell 23 inch external LCD and NOTHING. Checked all of the display settings and it shows that the Dell LCD is detected but thats about it. Restarted while the monitor is connected, NOTHING. Disconnected power to the Dell LCD, Nothing. After reading these very helpful posts it appears that the Thunderbolt drivers are not up to date. Wow. Dissappointment sets in. I am not turning off my new Mac and pluggin in my old Dell laptop that actually works with an external LCD. Hmmm. anyone want to buy an Air with less than an hour of time on it?