Thunderbolt to Mini-DVI Dual-Screen on 2008 Mac?

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Thunderbolt to Mini-DVI Dual-Screen on 2008 Mac?

I have a secondary Mac display that only has a male Thunderbolt cable and I'm trying to setup dual displays on an older Mac that only has Mini-DVI ports.

Obviously, the newer Thunderbolt cable won't directly fit in the Mini-DVI port, but I was able to get dual monitors working with a PC monitor using a DVI to Mini-DVI adapter.

My problem is that I can't do the same thing with my secondary Mac display because I can't find a Thunderbolt to Mini-DVI adapter. Are there any?

If not, then the only thing I can think of doing would be getting a Mini-DVI male to HDMI female adapter to go in my old mac display and a Thunderbolt female to HDMI male adpater to go in my new mac and linking them together directly or with an HDMI cable. But I'm not even sure if this would work... Anybody have any solutions other than get a brand new secondary mac monitor or just use a PC monitor?

iMac, iOS 8.3, null

Posted on Apr 17, 2015 12:30 PM

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Answer 1

Nitruc Author

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2 points

Apr 17, 2015 1:16 PM in response to Nitruc

Edit: I actually can't find a Female Thunderbolt with Male HDMI, so it would have to be a Thunderbolt (F) with HDMI (F) adapter linked together by an HDMI cable to another HDMI (F) with Mini-DVI (M)

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Answer 2

Nitruc Author

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2 points

Apr 17, 2015 1:34 PM in response to Nitruc

Edit #2 (as I lose my mind making a cable centipede 🙂):

Actually, I don't think anything above would work and the only Frankenstein that works together would need another double female adapter like this:

Thunderbolt (M) from the new monitor -> Thunderbolt Adapter (F) -> Thunderbolt (M) with HDMI (F) -> HDMI cable -> HDMI (F) with Mini-DVI (M) -> Mini-DVI (F) in the old Mac

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Answer 3

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,808 points

Apr 17, 2015 1:38 PM in response to Nitruc

I believe you are trying to use a 2008 iMac as an external display to a newer iMac. Don't waste your time, it will not work. The ONLY solution and it's poor at best is using the wi-fi based Screenrecycler app

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Answer 4

Nitruc Author

Level 1

2 points

Apr 17, 2015 2:07 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Think I have one other solution that cuts out a step.. 😉

Mini-DVI (M) + DVI (F) Adapter -> DVI (M) + DVI (M) Cable -> DVI (F) + Thunderbolt (M) Adapter

Has anybody actually tried this and can confirm it doesn't work?

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Answer 5

Nitruc Author

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2 points

Apr 17, 2015 2:23 PM in response to Nitruc

Ugh sorry, the above DVI solution does not work, only the Frankenstein I posted in the second post would work (IF the signal can be sent through its long chain):

Thunderbolt (M) from the new monitor -> Thunderbolt Adapter (F) -> Thunderbolt (M) with HDMI (F) -> HDMI cable -> HDMI (F) with Mini-DVI (M) -> Mini-DVI (F) in the old Mac

Has anybody ever been crazy enough to try it?

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Answer 6

Nitruc Author

Level 1

2 points

Apr 24, 2015 10:30 AM in response to Nitruc

Got all the pieces for $25 on Amazon. Everything works except for the stupid Thunderbolt Female-to-Female Adapter. Worth a shot. 😉

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Answer 7

Jun 29, 2016 9:46 PM in response to Nitruc

I'm trying to do the exact same thing. Did your configuration work?

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