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flo.riano Author

Level 1

14 points

Mouse cursor lags with external monitor

hello,

i have just purchased a dell u2913wm monitor with a native resolution of 2560x1080. when connected to my macbook air (with mountain lion) using a mini displayport cable my cursor starts lagging on both screens. basically, when i move the mouse along a line on my desk the cursor results in a very erratic trajectory. this occurs when using a usb mouse and with the integrated trackpad. if the monitor is turned off or unplugged the mouse is smooth again. .

a similar problem was reported a few years ago but somehow the thread is just archived ( https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1965949?start=0&tstart=0 ).

also, i had trouble with the monitor that osx recognised it as ypbpr, so i had to force it to treat it as rgb device, because otherwise the image was unsharp.

on my macbook (mid 2010) running mavericks the cursor is smooth, so the monitor and the cable are apparently not faulty.

MacBook Air, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Oct 24, 2013 12:23 PM

Top-ranking reply

R.Beck

Level 1

4 points

Posted on Nov 21, 2016 10:21 PM

SOLUTION HERE:

Unplug screen connector (In my case mini-dp to HDMI) on the mini-dp end and plug it in again.

I personally use both bluetooth keyboard and trackpad, running OSX Sierra on a MacBook Air early 2015.

This solved the cursor lag after sleep.

Note: The cursor lag is both for the onboard AND external trackpad.

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208 replies

sepin4

Level 1

0 points

Nov 30, 2013 1:22 PM in response to flo.riano

Hello,

I have almost the exact same setup as hongkongs and flo.riano. A 2013 MacBook Air 11" and Dell U2913WM connected via miniDP <-> DP cable from Dell. I have the exact same problem with mouse lag. Whenever I stop/restart the Mac the bug is re-introduced and it can be fixed temporary by changing the "DP version" option. I can guarantee there is no problem with the monitor and DP connector/cable because I've been using it with one of my other PC's for some time now. This is clearly a bug in the MacBook so I think it should be addressed as one. I have limited options for Apple support in my country so if anybody has some resolution about this please post it here. Also if needed I can provide a video presenting the bug.

Thank you.

Dec 5, 2013 6:39 PM in response to flo.riano

Same issue:

Late 2013 Macbook Pro Retina

Nvidia GPU

OS X 10.9 (13A3017)

When attached to my HP lp2480zx monitor via displayport, the mouse has a big jump/lag every second or so.

The sleep suggestion didn't work for me.

FWIW, I also had the "crappy quality on external monitor" problem and did the EDID override to force RGB color space...

Wow. Two serious problems just trying to hook up an external monitor for the first time? Not good. I guess I won't hold my breath for a fix either, judging by all the prior posts.

Dec 7, 2013 1:52 PM in response to flo.riano

Same problem here with a macbook air 13' Mid 2013 and a dell ultrasharp u2913wm.

It gets fixed by toggling the DDC/CI setting but when it goes on sleep mode it starts over...

Dec 7, 2013 1:53 PM in response to stream777

I forgot to mention I had to apply a patch in order to fix the resolution in the first place. But the other problem is independent.

moia

Level 1

14 points

Dec 10, 2013 1:33 AM in response to flo.riano

I can confirm the issue having a MacBook Air 13" (Mid 2013, i7, 8GB) and a DELL U2413 connected with a miniDP to DP cable and the EDID override Patch applied.

DNeuwir

Level 1

0 points

Dec 11, 2013 9:02 AM in response to flo.riano

Just piling on here.

I just got a new rMBP 13" Late 2013 (512Gb, 16Gb, Core i7), and can confirm this issue also occurs with the Dell U3014 display. I have it connected using the MiniDP to DP cable that came with the monitor (MiniDP connected to a Thunderbolt port).

The monitor displays the screen but the mouse cursor "pulses" about every 2/3 second on either monitor, and is noticeable when moving the mouse as a "skipping". Toggling the DisplayPort 1.2 compatibility mode on the monitor appears to resolve the issue on both screens until the monitor is power-cycled when the issue returns.

Additionally, the image on the external monitor is not as sharp as I would have expected. Text seems to have a "halo" around it. This is not noticeable when switching the U3014 input to my Windows box (DVI, ATI FirePro W5000) where the image is razor-sharp. The monitor is set to "Best for Display" in the Display Preferences, but switching to Scaled doesn't appear to make any difference. Native resolution on the U3014 is 2560x1600.

flo.riano Author

Level 1

14 points

Dec 11, 2013 9:13 AM in response to DNeuwir

The problem with the unsharp image is very likely due to the RGB YPBPR issue - the monitor should be recognised as RGB, but when being recognised as YPBPR the image is unsharp.

See this thread for a discussion about that: http://embdev.net/topic/284710

Sami951

Level 1

0 points

Dec 14, 2013 11:06 PM in response to flo.riano

Hi all,

I think I'm experiencing the same thing. Using a Philips 27" 2560x1440 screen (also had the RGB issue). When using just the laptop, everything is smooth .. and after pluggin in the bigger screen, mouse starts to "pause" every few secs. Using a late 2013 Macbook Pro retina 13". Mouse lag happens both using a magic mouse as well as the trackpad, and no matter if the laptop lid is open or closed. Cursor is also lagging on both the external and internal screens ... as long as the external screen is connected.

Funny thing is that my previous 2012 Macbook Air connected to the same screen didn't have any problems.

I'm using a minidisplayport to displayport cable.

Question: should I be able to find the "DisplayPort 1.2 compatibility mode" switch somewhere in the preferences? As far as I can see there are only very limited options available for displays, maybe this is "dumbed down" on this version...

Looks like at the moment there is no real fix to this? So I'm kind of just hoping for some software update later down the road.

Cheers, Sami

Sami951

Level 1

0 points

Dec 16, 2013 10:21 AM in response to Sami951

To narrow down the problem, I tried using a minidisplayport to DVI adapter instead of minidisplayport to displayport ... this only gives 1600x1200 or 1920x1080 max resolutions, but there is absolutely no lag.

If I continue to use this setup, and just plug in the minidp<->displayport cable to the other thunderbolt socket, mouse starts to lag right away. So to me it looks like it has everything to do with the minidp<->displayport connection.

I'll need to find a dual link DVI adapter somewhere to try and see if the screen works w/ that at 2560x1440. If yes, problem "solved" - just not in a very elegant way.

Dec 16, 2013 10:35 AM in response to flo.riano

Great! Sami951, I've an Air so can't test dual thunderbolt/mDP output.

When u connect the mDP to DP cable. Did u connect it to a monitor or only plug the cable in it?

I mean is the port actually outputting signal to a monitor? Or even plug in the cable cause the mouse skipping?

if the problem occurs with just the cable plugged in. then maybe it can solve by using another cable perhaps?

I think we've narrow down the problem a lot since the beginning. Anyone know where to file a bug report to apple to make this issue official?

Sami951

Level 1

0 points

Dec 16, 2013 11:24 PM in response to hongkongs

Hi,

mDP to DP cable connected to laptop and screen (screen turned on, using it via DVI): lag

mDP to DP cable connected only to laptot: no lag

I was thinking this might have to do with the Thunderbolt 2/Displayport 1.2 socket and the way it is handled in OS X, since my previous Macbook Air (mid 2012) has Thunderbolt 1 (Displayport 1.1) socket and it is working fine. Then again, reading this thread it looks like also Thunderbolt 1 equipped devices are having the same symptoms so maybe it is not directly caused by the later port ...

I'll need to try a dual link DVI adapter to get 2560x1440 resolution. At the moment I'm guessing it will work fine, but would of course rather have it work with the mDP <-> DP cable ...

Cheers, Sami

Dec 19, 2013 9:02 AM in response to Sami951

Hi!

I have quite close symptoms and set-up: the mouse doesn't skip, but is sluggish after hooking up an external monitor using mini-displayport. Using HDMI and single-link DVI did not seem to cause this issue (an dual-link DVI adapter in Norway is over 160$...).

My set-up:

* MBP 17" mid-2010 running Mavericks 10.9.1.

- 2,53GHz i5

- 8GB RAM

- Intel HD-graphics (internal)

- NVIDIA GT 330M 512MB

* Philips 272P4 LED monitor 2560x1440.

* Mini-DP -> DP cable.

So with all the mentioned set-ups, it seems like the constants are MacBook and the DisplayPort-input on an 2560x1440 non-Apple monitor.

Espen.

Dec 19, 2013 9:10 AM in response to espenandre

Oh... And if anyone have noticed any processes using more RAM or CPU after hooking up the new display, it could be helpful to leave a note on this to...