Casey 5ense

Q: Connecting x6 screens to a Mac Mini

I have a 2014 Mac Mini with all the goodies.

 

I am looking for a way to connect x6 projectors to it (1024 x 768 each).

 

Currently, I use a 2013 MacBook Pro Retina. It has x2 thunderbolt ports. I can connect x2 Matrox TripleHead2Go ED Editions to it and it will faithfully put out x6 independent screens to my projectors. Score!

 

However, when I try to connect this setup to my Mac Mini I have trouble. It does not want to connect properly. Only one Matrox unit will connect at a time.

 

This is for a permanent installation and I need a reliable solution for connecting x6 projectors.

 

My questions to the community are:

 

1) Is there a way to configure the Matrox TripleHead2Go units to work with the Mac Mini?

 

2) Are there other pieces of hardware, similar to the Matrox, that can make this happen?

 

3) Are there any off the wall solutions to this problem?

 

Here is the spec page for the Matrox TripleHead2Go DP Edition: http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/gxm/th2go/displayport/

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on Oct 26, 2015 2:16 PM

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Q: Connecting x6 screens to a Mac Mini

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  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Oct 26, 2015 2:42 PM in response to Casey 5ense
    Level 10 (188,672 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 26, 2015 2:42 PM in response to Casey 5ense

    I do not know of a solution. You must be lucky getting two of the heads to work on the MacBook since the link yuu provided included:

    Multi-unit supportYes – Available under Windows only

     

    The MacBook does have a better graphics unit especially if you have the MacBook with the Nvidia GeForce GT 750M

  • by Casey 5ense,

    Casey 5ense Casey 5ense Oct 26, 2015 2:43 PM in response to lllaass
    Level 1 (4 points)
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    Oct 26, 2015 2:43 PM in response to lllaass

    Hmm, so maybe it's a slight difference in the graphics card?

     

    Is there a Mac Mini model that has this same graphics card?

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Oct 26, 2015 2:59 PM in response to Casey 5ense
    Level 10 (188,672 points)
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    Oct 26, 2015 2:59 PM in response to Casey 5ense

    No, all the 2012 and later Mini's have the GP integrated into the CPU chip/die

  • by Casey 5ense,

    Casey 5ense Casey 5ense Oct 26, 2015 3:06 PM in response to lllaass
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    Oct 26, 2015 3:06 PM in response to lllaass

    Good to know. So you think it's a deep down hardware issue?

     

    That would suggest that not much would resolve this...

     

    My only other thought is to sell this, and both the Matrox Triple Heads, and just get a new Mac Pro with the x6 thunderbolts on it... Might cost a little more but certainly willing to just make it right

  • by Casey 5ense,

    Casey 5ense Casey 5ense May 17, 2016 11:25 PM in response to Casey 5ense
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Desktops
    May 17, 2016 11:25 PM in response to Casey 5ense

    To resolve this issue I ended up getting a basic MacBook Pro and then attaching the x2 Matrox TripleHead2Go units. This provided a screen + x6 projectors. It has been working solid.

     

    The only problem I had was the at the Matrox units were drawing easily 0.65 AMPS from the USB ports. This is higher than rated for a USB 2.0 device which only allows 0.5 AMPS. So, I got a powered USB splitter for both and we are good to to!

  • by John Lockwood,

    John Lockwood John Lockwood May 19, 2016 5:52 AM in response to Casey 5ense
    Level 6 (9,309 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    May 19, 2016 5:52 AM in response to Casey 5ense

    Casey 5ense wrote:

     

    To resolve this issue I ended up getting a basic MacBook Pro and then attaching the x2 Matrox TripleHead2Go units. This provided a screen + x6 projectors. It has been working solid.

     

    The only problem I had was the at the Matrox units were drawing easily 0.65 AMPS from the USB ports. This is higher than rated for a USB 2.0 device which only allows 0.5 AMPS. So, I got a powered USB splitter for both and we are good to to!

    The Mac mini is literally the cheapest and lowest spec Mac model there is. This especially applies to its video capabilities, officially it only supports two displays as per http://www.apple.com/mac-mini/specs/

     

    Therefore trying to get six displays working on a Mac mini is really asking far too much for such a low-end computer.

     

    I would advise getting a powered USB hub to go with your MacBook Pro which indeed is a better choice than the Mac mini. I am not sure if this is what you mean by a powered USB splitter or if you mean you have used a USB Y-Cable which combines the power from two USB ports. I would recommend a real USB Hub.