Mac mini with dual monitors

Use the included HDMI-to-DVI adapter for one monitor, and purchase a Displayport-to-DVI adapter for the second monitor. Displayport is compatable with Thunderbolt, so it just plugs in that port.

I'm trying to get my second monitor working properly but have display issues.

I have two identical SCEPTRE monitors and purchased the Displayport-to-DVI adapter, but it seems whichever monitor I connect second has pixel issues. The second monitor isn't missing full pixels, like they are flashing red very faintly. Seems to me the graphics card has problems with the second monitor. If I start with the monitor connected to the Displayport-to-DVI adapter first, the HDMI-to-DVI adapter has the pixel issues.

This is my first Mac and I'm confused, any help is appreciated!

Can't answer to your specific issue, but this forum has numerous people talking about HDMI issues even with a single display (anywhere from no image on their to various anomalies like artifacts, scan lines, ... ).

It is suspected the graphics drivers are at fault. Your issue could very well be included with that. According to at least one source, the developer beta for the .1 or .2 update solves hdmi issues.

I would not panic and file a bug report via Apple Feedback OSX Lion and mac mini page with the appropriate details.

I have an 2010 Mac mini and I used the hdmi to dvi adapter to get one display on and then I used the mini display adapter Tibet via for my other monitor and worked really well!!

Does the mac mini support portrait mode? Interested in having one portrait and one landscape mode

yes, it will support portrait mode, you go: System Preferences>Displays>Rotation. You control each monitor seperately so having one portrait and one landscape will work.

I am having a related issue with two monitors, both in portrait.

Day-old Mac mini 2011 with the Intel 3000 graphics. Identical displays, one on HDMI-DVI, one on DP-DVI. As long as I only rotate one screen, I'm okay. When I rotate the second screen, the HDMI monitor no longer paints. The mouse moves across it, and if I drag a window, nothing seems to move - but when I disconnect the 2nd display, I see that things actually did happen.

It also seems that the rotation sometimes is linked. If I revert one, the both revert to landscape. Weird.

Driver bug? Hardware limitation?

Interesting tidbit. I booted with only the DP-DVI connected, then added the HDMI while DP was rotated. White screen. Mouse cursor is rotated. Bring up display preferences and if I set it to 270', apply, it's broken. Set to 180' iirc, then revert, it paints both screens! Except, my monitor stands don't rotate that way, so it's no good (and probably wouldn't survive a reboot).

Smells of a driver issue to me. How do I get the message to the Powers That Be at Apple to get this fixed? It's not like I can get a driver from Intel.

Through some kind of random clicking of things and hitting [revert] I was able to get both to rotate finally to 90'. Wack. It's definitely some issue with the HDMI port failing to refresh.

As long as I don't reboot, I think I have a workaround for now. 🙂

For the record - system specs:

Mac Mini, Mid 2011

Processor 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5

Memory 8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3

Graphitcs Intel HD Graphics 3000 512 MB

Software Mac OSX Lion 10.7.1 (11B2118)

(apparently I should have got the 2.5GHz model which has AMD discrete GPU)

Just so you know, your Intel card does not have 512MB.

Intel HD Graphics 3000 processor with 288MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory

zikol88 wrote:

Use the included HDMI-to-DVI adapter for one monitor, and purchase a Displayport-to-DVI adapter for the second monitor. Displayport is compatable with Thunderbolt, so it just plugs in that port.

Im borrowing this thread for the same subject. Cos im in the same situation.

Are you 100% sure that its going to work to just plug in the minidisplaycable in the thunderbolt? I called the applesupport and asked how i should do with my second screen and he said that its not possible to use two screens if u dont use the apple cinemadisplay with thunderbolt as the second screen. And that you cant plug in another type of screen in the thunderbolt?

I have a miniDisplayPort (adapter) monitor (Dell) plugged into my Thunderbolt and it works fine. No issues at all.

Can anyone see anything wrong with this scenario, as nothing appears ... a Mac Mini (brand new) connected to a 23" Toshiba DTV via a high quality HDMI cable that has a DVI-D plug at the computer end and an HDMI plug at the TV end. (The cable is 20 feet long.) I am using the HDMI to DVI adapter that came in the Mac Mini box.

This cable worked fine (surprisingly) with an old 2004 MacBook but nothing happens when I plug it into the Mac Mini. The Mac Mini does work fine with a 17" monitor connected via DVI cable.

Thank you for any ideas. Could it be a driver issue?

I am having the exact same issue. Have you figured out any sequence that got it to work?

thanks

Confirmed. I have a mac mini 2011 2.3 Ghz i5 with Intel HD Graphics 3000. I just bought the mini DisplayPort to DVI adapter from the Apple store and now I have 2 monitors connected via 2 DVI.

A Samsung 215tw and a Samsung e2220, both in different resolutions, and different refresh rates. 1 is vertical and the other in normal landscape mode. They are setup as expanded desktop, so I can read documents and browse on the vertical one, and do my programming on the other.

Despite all these differences, they both work perfectly fine, no issues on performance, no issues encountered during wake from sleep or normal startup. Mouse traverse seamlessly from one monitor to another. No flickering, and the fonts are rendered perfectly. Note that I do not play games with my mini, so your results may vary from mine.

The display setup in OS X allows you to configure each monitor with ease.

However, I did upgrade the system memory to 8GB myself, thanks to the easy access design, it was a pleasant experience. After the upgrade, I noticed that the reported shared video memory increased from 256 to 512 MB.

I hope this post helps others who are not sure if this kind of setup works.