Problem with Dell U3014 monitor: The current input timing is not supported by the monitor display

Question

Problem with Dell U3014 monitor: The current input timing is not supported by the monitor display

I'm upgrading monitors to three Dell U3014's, for a 2009 Mac Pro that's running two NVIDIA GeForce GT120 video cards. This version of the GT120 has a dual-link DVI port and a mini display port. It's capable of supporting two 2560x1600 monitors.

The main (center) monitor Dell works fine, at full 2560x1600 resolution.

The second (left side) monitor is the one I just hooked up, and even though its resolution is set to 2560x1660 60hz in the Display Settings, I'm getting a black screen with this message:

The current input timing is not supported by the monitor display. Please change your input timing to 2560x1600 @ 60hz or any other monitor listed timing as per the monitor specifications.

The connection to this particular monitor is dual-link DVI cable going into an Apple Active Dual-Link DVI - to - minidisplayport adapter (the $99 one through the Apple Store). The adapter is connected and the USB part of the adapter is powered (plugged into an outlet, not powered by the USB bus on the mac).

When googling around I see a ton of results for the error message above, but they're all PC-related. I've tried the SwitchResX pane as well, and even though it's showing 2560x1600 60hz as the selected resolution, the screen remains black with that error message.

Has anyone run into this and figured out how to correct it? These are fantastic monitors but I can't get this second one to work. I have a 3rd one

Mac Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5), 32 GB RAM, 2009 dual quad-core Mac

Posted on Dec 4, 2014 3:28 PM

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Answer 1

Dec 4, 2014 6:49 PM in response to EastcoasterWestcoaster

dual-link DVI cable

Are you quite certain that is a Dual-Link cable?

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Answer 2

Dec 4, 2014 7:08 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Grant, thanks for taking a shot at it.

I just figured it out after a couple hours of pulling my hair out.

It is a dual-link DVI cable at both ends, and it DOES work at full res 2560x1600 with a GeForce GT120 video card by using the Apple DVI-to-MDP adapter (and making sure the USB part of that adapter is plugged into the mac directly or into an outlet as power source).

I tried rebooting a couple times to no avail, and on the most recent reboot I zapped PRAM just for the heck of it. Aaaaaand....

it worked. There was nothing wrong with the connection, but it took a reboot + zapping of PRAM to get the monitors to their full 2560x1600 resolution.

Problem solved! (and for the record, after 45 minutes on the phone with Dell they had no clue what I was talking about and eventually just transferred me back to the "Hello you have reached Dell customer support" line to start all over again.)

Kirby

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