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How do I get Windows 7 to display in Target Display Mode on IMac

I am increasingly frustrated by my inbability to get my Mac Mini running Windows 7 to display on my late 2013 27" IMac using Target Display mode.


My setup:


1. IMac 27" Late 2013 running OSX 10.9.2 with all the latest drivers as of Mar 7, 2014.


2. Mac Mini Server Mid 2011 running Windows 7 SP1, 64bit, all the latest Windows drivers as of 3/7/14, using the latest BootCamp Drivers for this machine, ver 5.1 downloaded 3/5/14 to this machine using Boot Camp utilities in its OSX mode.


3. Connected via Apple Thunderbolt cable.


My process is as follows:


a. Turn on the IMac, boot up in the normal manner, preparing it to run in Target Disk Mode in OSX.


b. Turn on the MacMini boot up via BootCamp, in the normal manner in to Windows 7.


c. When Both machines are on and connected via their Thunderbolt ports, I enter cmd-F2 on the IMac keyboard to enter Target Disk Mode.


Nothing happens.


I use this IMac to display my MacBook Pro in OSX, so I know it is working, but I can't see where the problem is.


I have reviewed all of the Apple support information and followed it explicitly, to no avail.


When I have called the Apple support team, I get little help, they assert that they can't troubleshoot because it is not all Apple hardware/software (everything including the Thunderbolt cable is Apple except for the Windows OS)


Any suggestions will be welcome...


Thanks!

MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012), OS X Mavericks (10.9.2), 16Gb Ram, 15" Retina, 768Gb SSD

Posted on Mar 7, 2014 2:38 PM

Reply
9 replies

Mar 7, 2014 2:46 PM in response to William Mcclatchey1

I'm a bit confused. You first mention Target Display Mode, then you talk about Target Disk Mode. Which is it that you are trying to get working? I'm guessing you really mean Target Display Mode and just miswrote when you started referring to Target Disk Mode, but please confirm.


If you do indeed mean Target Display Mode, then quoting from this support article:


http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3924


Can I use TDM in Boot Camp?


Target Display Mode is not supported under Boot Camp.


Regards.

Mar 7, 2014 6:48 PM in response to varjak paw

Thank you for taking the time to respond.


You are correct that I have made a typo: I am inquiring about Target Display Mode.


Target Disk Mode is something entirely different. So much for auto correct!


It is difficult to get the Apple support team and yourself to understand that Target Display Mode (TDM) is not supported within Boot Camp on the HOST machine, but the OS on the client machine makes no difference as to TDM. Target Display Mode only works when the HOST display IMac is in OSX.


I am running OSX 10.9.2 on the host 27" IMac, and hence TDM is defnitely supported.


Target Display Mode is designed to support any Thunderbolt compliant video input from a client machine, whether it is OSX, Windows, or whatever. The Apple statement that "Boot Camp does not support Target Display Mode" refers to the host machine only, but everyone sees that statement and does not realize that it only refers to TDM on the host machine, which makes complete sense when you think about it.


TDM is a function of the host machine only, the client machine simply needs to output standards based Thunderbolt video output which is not dependent on the OS. Indeed, the only video output on the Mac Mini is either Thunderbolt or HDMI. One would assume that an Apple Mac Mini running Windows with Apple Windows drivers outputs Apple compliant thunderbolt video.


So I believe that using Apple hardware exclusively should provide some reliability, and some assurance of it working. That is the reason I pay a premium for Apple hardware and Apple drivers to run Windows 7/64 bit. It should mitigate these issues.


I am a deeply committed Apple customer with multiple Apple devices, but there are certain business applications that are not supported by Apple, and require Windows OS. That is my problem here. Parallels and VMWare Fusion do not support the application I am required to use, and I need to be able to run a Windows machine and OSX simultaneously with only one display. That was a major motivation for buying the 27" IMac: to get TDM which is supposed to support this functionality.


Thanks again for your response, and for pointing out my typo!

Mar 21, 2014 9:20 AM in response to William Mcclatchey1

I have finally achieved some clarity on how Target Display Mode works, or rather doesn't work.


And I have been mistaken in some of my prior comments.


Target Display Mode is a function of the host machine, at this point only the IMacs. And it is only available when the host machine is running OSX.


But the most recent Thunderbolt versions of the IMac have been significantly dumbed down in this functionality.


The prior generation of IMacs whose video was supported through the Mini Display Port supported almost any input from a Mini Display Port compliant Computer through the use of various mechanical adapters, and certainly from any Mac Hardware or software combination. It was a very versatile setup, and the IMac in this manner could serve as an absoloutely beautiful monitor for a wide variety of hardware/software combinations.


When the current version of the IMac was deployed using the Thunderbolt ports for input for external video, we apparently left a world of standards based video input and entered the world of Apple proprietary video.


The current model of IMacs with thunderbolt video have a very limited functionality in Target Display Mode compared to those of us who have used it previously. and it only functions when the client machine is running OSX.


No other video input from any source will display.


I am not quite clear on the reasons one would want to display OSX on an OSX native machine, but you can do it. I guess MacBook Pro or Air running OSX will now display on the IMac if that is your need.


Likely the most likely need for Target Display Mode for the rest of us is to run Windows on an external machine and display the video on the IMac, as we have been able to do with the prior generations of IMacs for several years now.


Apple has been unwilling to distribute the technical specifications of its video input requirements in Target Display Mode, (other than to assert it requires OSX), and these technical specifications appear to be proprietary.


I have personally unsuccessfully tried to display the output from both Windows 7 and a Windows 8 machines running from a Windows thunderbolt port into a thunderbolt port on a current model IMac using Target Display Mode.


Unfortunately, there are still a few applications that won't work in Mac world and require a native Windows machine. My current need is to run Dragon Naturally Speaking via Citrix to a remote Citrix server and a Windows app. Parallels and VMWare Fusion do not work, nor does the OSX version of Dragon Dictate function via Citrix. So I am stuck.


I hope that Apple, so long a leader in technology, will restore the functionality it abandoned when it embraced thunderbolt as its only video iniput in Target Display Mode.

Thanks!

Aug 29, 2014 6:08 AM in response to julien3001

No, thunderbolt on an IMac in TDM simply is designed to not work to display Windows.


As I said above, even when using all Apple hardware, including the Windows 7 or Windows 8 on a Mac Mini via Boot Camp and thunderbolt output, you cannot display Windows using TDM on a thunderbolt equipped IMac. I tried to identify a thunderbolt windows graphics card to see if that would work, but had no success.


Thunderbolt simply has not been embraced in the PC world. There may be thunderbolt PC graphics cards out there, but I could not find one. I did succeed in configuring a friend's Windows 7 PC using the Gigibit thunderbolt motherboard with a motherboard thunderbolt connector, but it would not display on the thunderbolt IMac in TDM.


This is clearly a step down in capability from the older IMacs which use the Mini DisplayPort video connector. I guess that most users are satisfied with the functionality of Parallels or VMWare running Windows, but it simply will not support Windows Dragon Voice recognition software via Citrix remote access (nor does Dictate for Mac function through Citrix). Native Windows via Boot camp or a PC is the only thing which works for these applications. So I am compelled to use either my older hardware or boot camp which eliminates the OSX side of the world where all of the rest of my work lives.


I resurrected an older mid 2010 27" IMac with a Mini DisplayPort connector and now use a Mac Mini as the windows machine running BootCamp and Windows 7 into the IMac, and everything works fine in TDM.


I hope that Apple figures this out, but am not optimistic. This is one of the examples of Apple's early adoption of technology limiting its versatility. The other possibility is that thunderbolt becomes more widely used in the PC world, and that it works from that end.


But as of now, you cannot display Windows in TDM using contemporary Apple hardware.

Mar 17, 2015 7:12 PM in response to KC3Dogs

After reading through William's post, I am going to reference his last line which was,


"But as of now, you cannot display Windows in TDM using contemporary Apple hardware."


Which is unfortunate, because I did want to use my Gaming PC on my 27" iMac to consolidate displays.


It sounds like the issue lies within Thunderbolt TDM not accepting any other form of input other than from OS X.

How do I get Windows 7 to display in Target Display Mode on IMac

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