ThunderBolt + External Monitor = Mounds of Woe

From reading the specs on the Apple site regarding the TB display/monitor, I don't see any mention of a DVI cable included. It's not clear (at least to me) if the TB cable is included (should be for that price!!).

But in theory, you should just be able to connect your MBP to the TB display with a TB cable and there SHOULD be no issues....key word SHOULD.

My father has just got a iMac 2011 model with Thunderbolt. I convinced him to switch to Apple as he is fed up with PC not working properly. Alas the switch over hasn't proved me right so far!

We have plugged in a second monitor (ACER) to the thunder bolt using DVI cable and a DVI to mini dispaly port adaptor.

Monitor is picked up BUT it shows in NEGATIVE!!! If I reverse colours in universal access it makes the iMac negative and the acer monitor correct! But they are never the same! One is always in negative!

Any ideas? Apple don't seem to be accepting the problem at the mo so any help from you guys on here would be greatly appreciated! Although it seems I'm not alone at the moment!

Thanks

In regards to my worrying earlier, I actually just took a stab, bought a BenQ G2420HD and all is working perfectly.. My monitor wakes up absolitely fine. I am using a Thunderbolt-->HDMI-->HDMI Cable-->Monitor.

Works like a charm.. Thanks all.

For me problem was with a duff DVI port cable. Brought a new one and all sorted :-)

Hi, I have a litle bit different problem, but somehow very close to these. I have a LCD monitor Samsung BX2431 and MBP (model 2011). I'm using HDMI cable with HDMI/MDP adapter. I'm able to connect MB with monitor and I have no probelm with waking up the monitor. But I have another problem. Monitor is once for 5-10 seconds flashing. It is very short disconnect/connect flash, but it happens very often. And if I plug in sound speakers to the monitor, it happens, that with flash on screen comes some noise to the sound speakers.

Does anybody know pls what cause this?

Thx ALL

The 10.7.2 OS X update fixed the problem where my MacBook Pro could not display video to my Philips HD TV at all however the picture quality is not as good as it is when I use my older MBP that has a MiniDisplay Port and Snow Leopard. I need to play around with the display perfs to see if I can improve it but at least it's not completely broken as it was pre 10.7.2.

I hope Apple understands how disappointing the Lion release has been. I've been telling my friends and family not to update to Lion unless they absolutely need to.

Just wanted to say I was able to get my 2011 Macbook Pro to display and send sound through my Samsung LCD TV today with Thunderbolt > HDMI adapter (from Apple store) > HDMI cable > TV.

I had to go to sound > Output > Samsung to get the sound to come through the TV.

Finally.

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 now 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?

I THINK IT'S SOLVED! New software update addressed this very issue of monitor problems with the new thunderbolt display port. I hope everyone gets a super easy fix with this.

Hooray!!! Thanks MAC for finaly making the fix that works for me. Yesterday I got a software update message and when I viewed the details it was for the thunderpolt port addressing the very issue (in my case my expensive LaCie 324 monitor not working with my newish imac). So I updated and now it works!!!

And for those of you with a useless xrite i1 Display 2 colormeter calibrator, there is finally a beta that drives it on the lion intel system!! A great day for Aaron Gang Photography

Message was edited by: chiphotog

Thanks for the report.... Going to try now. Fingers crossed...

I bought a new MacBook Air 13" with Lion and installed all the updates. When I connect my external DELL 20" E207WFP monitor via a Lindy MiniDP to DVI adapter and a DVI cable, I can only display in 800 by 600 resolution. Which is too low to be useful.

The cable and monitor were working fine connected to my G4 Mac Mini.

Seems pretty strange to me. I might try getting the official Apple adapter today, and/or the VGA one instead. It's pretty annoying.

Ok so I got my external monitor to work. I Previously had mdp to hdmi and it would not work regardless of the update. I can't confirm this, but this may have been a cable/adaptor issue even though it did work originaly, there is a slight possibilty that the adaptor or cable were damaged some how. However, I went ahead and bought apples mdp to dvi and a dvi cable and hooked it up and everything works fine now. I am using a Samsung SyncMaster PX2370.

Notes: for those who care I will outline exactly what happened in my situation. When I first bought my early 2011 macbook pro 15" I bought a generic mdp to hdmi adaptor and an hdmi cable. This worked fine for a few months and I was able to use my second monitor with no issues. I then updated the thunderbolt firmware and this method stopped working. The macbook would seemingly detect the monitor but the monitor would remain a blank screen and would eventually just start scanning through the input sources. Finally apple updated the firmware again (2.2 I think it is) which purportedly fixed the issue so I went ahead and updated thinking it would help. When I tried my original setup with mdp to hdmi I had the same issue. So I then went and bought the dvi setup noted above and all is well. There are variables that I did not account for obviously, but I hope this helps.

So I got the official apple thunderbolt to div adapter, and now I can use my DELL e207wfp monitor in 1024 * 758 resolution or lower, which is enough to be useful but still far from ideal. Higher resolutions will display for a few moments then flicker to back then on again. I stil hope this can be solved since it sounds like a software issue.

Hello, been reading everywhere about this problem. I have the 23" HD Cinema Display that hasn't been used since getting the 2011 macbook pro 15" in march. Well now that I want to start using it again I got myself Apple's DVI to ADC adapter and the mini displayport to dvi adapter. not working. I hadn't updated for quite a few weeks and thought that the new firmware would fix it but alas it still didn't work after updating my 10.6 to the latest and greatest last night.

I have not verified yet if it is just the adapters or the firmware as many have surmised. I am hoping to verify when I get home from work. This is very frustrating because my display is still PERFECT, but it is very close to becoming unecessarily obsolete.

BTW, mini displayport to hdmi works with my vizio 37" HDTV. Worked since day one.

So I just ordered a 15.4" MBP, it isn't in yet. However I need to connect it to two of our work monitors simultaneously, which are Acer v203w, what is going to be my best course of action here? Should it be adapters for the monitors or is it even possible?