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Headless Mac mini AirPlay Problems

I was running into an issue with my Mac mini (2011) running Mountain Lion when trying to run AirPlay mirroring to Apple TV. I figure I should share this in case people are having similar issues.

The Mac mini is a headless unit that I Share Screen into from my MBP or iOS devices. When I tried to run AirPlay mirroring to the Apple TV after installing Mountain Lion, the mirrored image would result in a garbled pink screen. It seemed like no matter what I did (changed network settings, display settings) the same thing kept happening. It wasn't until I tried plugging a monitor into the headless Mac mini that AirPlay mirroring suddenly worked. Unfortunately - I have to keep the monitor plugged in for this to work, thus negating the whole benefit of running a headless machine. Hopefully this is something that can be taken note of and perhaps fixed in a future version of ML. Anyone know how I might be able to submit this as a proper bug report?

I tried this on both a 2nd and 3rd gen Apple TV with the same results.

Mac mini, OS X Mountain Lion, running with Apple TV (2nd and 3rd)

Posted on Jul 30, 2012 12:58 PM

39 replies

Apr 5, 2013 6:56 AM in response to ChrisAmbarian

Chris,

I recently upgraded from a 2009 Mac Mini (wearing a dummy monitor dongle) to a 2012 Mini and ran into the same situation---I can't trick the 2012 into thinking a monitor is attached. Can you let me know the model of EDID you're using? I've seen a few on Amazon for around $60.

Darren

Apr 5, 2013 11:36 AM in response to MachoGrande

Hey Darren,

All the HDMI to VGA emulators are from China, although if I remember from when I was looking, a couple of importers already have them in the US.

I bought one called HD Fury on eBay, shipped from China without problems, although I understand that in the last couple of monhts the Obama clan and Customs have begun to consistently delay international shipments... I have had my own packages delayed by over 6 weeks so far... so if you want it right away, you may want to consider paying $5-10 more and buying something that will ship from NY or some place domestic.

I bought from digi-bay (seller name), price was right at $50.

One thing: they say that there's no need for a power supply, it will draw enough from the port... Not true. Make sure you plug a 5V USB supply in so that the blue power ok light turns on. The port on the Mini doesn't supply enough oomph.

Good luck!

Chris.

Apr 5, 2013 12:14 PM in response to ChrisAmbarian

Thanks, Chris!

Jan 28, 2014 9:14 AM in response to keysthatclick

I know this thread ended a while ago but for anyone still tracking this is what you need ...

http://www.amazon.com/CompuLab-fit-Headless-computer-display-emulator/dp/B00FLZX GJ6

artpics

Level 1

30 points

Jan 30, 2014 7:12 PM in response to dfcomputer

great stuff thanks

http://www.amazon.com/CompuLab-fit-Headless-computer-display-emulator/dp/B00FLZX GJ6

Jan 30, 2014 7:31 PM in response to dfcomputer

...It's just a shame amazon won't ship them internationally!! 😟

(or at least to Australia!)

Mar 25, 2014 3:58 PM in response to dfcomputer

That is exactly what I needed. They were out of stock for a while, but I just received mine and it works beautifully.

Mar 26, 2014 8:30 AM in response to dfcomputer

Last summer I found instructions for making my own own using a displayport to vga adapter and some resistors. My thunderbolt port is in use by my WD drive and the dongle is using the extra thunderbolt port on the WD drive. It works great. That being said I bought one of the Fit Headless devices and it accomplishes what it claims. I really like the small size.

However, for my particular needs, I'll be going back to my homemade dongle. The Fit Headless only supports 1920x1080. I run my screen sharing in full screen mode on a 1920x1200 monitor therefore I get a "letterboxed" version of the remote mini using the Fit Headless.

Apr 13, 2014 7:06 AM in response to MachoGrande

There's a post on a thread about achieving this end with the included HDMI>DVI adapter !!

I'm exploring this and thought it'd be useful here.

http://www.macstadium.com/blog/how-to-enable-awesome-video-performance-with-your -macstadium-mac-mini-and-splashtop-remote/

In case that link goes cold, it involves connecting a 1k resistor between pins 14 VCC and 16 HPD and it seems very sound, but I have not tried (yet), so do so at your own risk

Wondered if there's any thoughts before i proceed, seems plausible and credible but my mini is two days old !

Edit: Info is posted in Comments at end of article

Headless Mac mini AirPlay Problems