My Eizo240W monitor is dimming after (16,000 hours) and while I have it repaired I want to use my old ViewSonic monitor but the cable is a 15-pin and won't work in the Mac Pro's 24-pin cable port. Does anyone know if there is an adaptor for this situation?
Mac Pro
Sounds like you need a plain old DVI to VGA adapter. The picture will be disappointing, but it's better than no picture at all.
Or splurge and find a deal during the Black Friday sales.
The bar at the end of the connector, the four pins around it, and one pin from the top row are VGA, generated directly by your graphics card. Salmon-pink in the diagram below, courtesy Wikipedia:
The stunt cable is an Adapter, that just rewires -- no actual conversion takes place.
Aha! I found the adaptor and cable in my Eizo box and it works - but there are no specific drivers for a ViewSonic with a Mac (plug & play & you get what you get, per their tech support). My dimmed Eizo still works and I can migrate my screen over but it isn't resized for the smaller monitor so I still have some figuring out to do. (Will try removing the Eizo completely--turning it off doesn't change anything, it still thinks the VS is a 2nd monitor.)
but there are no specific drivers for a ViewSonic with a Mac
There are no specific Drivers for ANY display on a Mac.
Instead, the Mac asks the display for its name and capabilities, and sets the resolution of an independent display based on those answers. However, VGA is not the best way to interface, and the resolution may limited by the grapahics card.
Make sure [√] Mirror displays is OFF:
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Thanks to you both I can now use the ViewSonic until I can repair the Eizo. I've been using the Mac Pro for over six years without needing to know much about how it works (it's been seamless!), and I'm very pleased there are folks llike you able and willing to supply answers.
Can an old monitor with a 15-pin cable connector be used with an adaptor with a 24-pin port on a Mac Pro?
