Apple's DVI to Video adapter broken in Mavericks

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Level 1

8 points

Apple's DVI to Video adapter broken in Mavericks

Good Day,

I've been monitoring this community forum as a guest only, because IMHO registering with anything over the Internet is equivalent to giving up a piece of your soul, but I could not find anything that would help my unique situation since upgrading to Mavericks. So here I am, and here is my situation.

I own a late 2007 15" Macbook Pro running 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. It's a Vintage brand. The last known OS X I had on it was Lion, and it worked beautifully when I could output my video display using the DVI to composite/S-video adapter hooked up to an analog "tube" TV. I could watch DVDs, YouTube vids in expanded mode, I even figured out how to watch iTunes movies on the TV... at the sacrifice of my computer use. Basically, I needed Mavericks' independent display feature.

But I couldn't have it.

After downloading Mavericks overnight and installing it the next day, My computer would not boot up. It stuck at the Apple logo screen with the loading gear continuously rotating upon itself until it became opaque (too involved too explain). After having service done, I isolated the problem to the adapter. Not only could it not boot up when plugged in, but it also didn't display when plugged in while powered up unless you hit the Mirror Display key. Further experimentations involved using DVI to DVI cables, DVI to VGA cables, and they worked fine.

I will not upgrade to a new HDTV or a new Macbook because everything I have still works, and I can't afford a new setup because jobless. At this point, I don't know what to do. Does Mavericks just plain not want to recognize my DVI port? Is there another way to hook this old laptop to an old TV with the equipment I already have?

MacBook Pro (15-inch 2.4/2.2 GHz), OS X Mavericks (10.9)

Posted on Nov 3, 2013 4:38 PM

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Answer 1

woit

Level 1

0 points

Nov 4, 2013 12:33 PM in response to NYCPete

I have exactly - and I mean exactly - the same problem. No solution found so far unfortunately.

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Answer 2

Camp_Ben

Level 1

8 points

Nov 4, 2013 1:38 PM in response to woit

I've just come up with the exact same problem... been using Mavericks fine, came to plug in the DVI adapter, to watch something on my TV and my MacBook dies!

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Answer 3

Nov 4, 2013 6:04 PM in response to NYCPete

I just upgraded from Lion to Mountain Lion, and encountered the exact same problem with this adapter. I was wondering whether Apple had fixed it in Mavericks; apparently not.

My planned workaround is to use the DVI-to-VGA adapter which does seem to work, and purcahse a separate VGA-to-S Video adapter which I'll plug into it (via male-to-male VGA gender changer). There's a configurable one that I found on Amazon which supports up to 1024x768, and which costs about $20. I'll let you know in a few days if that does the trick.

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Answer 4

woit

Level 1

0 points

Nov 5, 2013 1:12 AM in response to BetweenTheNotes

I'm curious what your findings will be! I'd prefer not to buy another adapter.. especially since the adapter was working before and this is a software issue. My desk will be filled with adapters!

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Answer 5

dog@home

Level 1

10 points

Nov 5, 2013 6:27 PM in response to NYCPete

For me, this functionality broke with Mountain Lion update 10.8.4. Reverting back to 10.8.3 restored the S-Video output. Until this is fixed (it's been a while now), I boot from an external HDD with 10.8.3 when I want to connect to an analog TV.

Have a look a this thread for reference. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5429951

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Answer 6

Nov 6, 2013 9:46 AM in response to woit

Well, my proposed workaround, involving two adapters, does work, and indeed works quite well.

1. Apple's DVI to VGA adapter, plugged into the Mac on one side, and on the other side:

2. Male to male VGA gender changer, which plugs into:

3. VideoSecu PC to TV converter with both S-video and composite video outputs, QVGA2TV 1L7, which costs about $20 on Amazon.

I use the S-video output, which in fact goes to an S-video balun, and from there via a Cat5 cable to another balun upstairs where my TV is. (I have a separate balun for digital audio into my DAC upstairs.) After some tweaking of the VideoSecu, I got a picture that is noticeably better than the one I got with the Mac DVI-to-Video adapter which I had been using before upgrading to Mountain Lion.

So, yes, the additional adapter adds to desk clutter, but heck, since Apple has never fixed this problem with Mountain Lion, it might never get around to fixing it with Mavericks, so this solves the problem here and now.

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Answer 7

Jul 24, 2014 7:01 AM in response to BetweenTheNotes

Any chance you have a picture of the setup? I too am having the same issue (Late 2007 MacBook Pro with non working Apple DVI to composite connector). I went ahead and purchased a DVI to VGA adapter and a Male to Male VGA gender changer adapter like you mentioned. Now, I'm confused as to what I need for the final connection. It looks like all of the VGA to composite/ s video cables have a male VGA connection. I would need a female VGA to Composite adapter? Thanks in advance for any help!

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