HI! I was wondering, i have a apple Cinema Display with the famous ADC video plug. Also I have a couple of old macs without a monitor, for example a performa 6360, Powermac 6100 and Macintosh iicx and Iisi. Is there any video adapter to use the cinema display monitor with those old macs? is it possible?
Thanks in advance!
Macintosh IIcx-OTHER, Mac OS 8.6 or Earlier, Macintosh IIcx
The biggest hurdle is that an ADC display must get its power through the ADC port on the computer. The old Macs you list cannot provide that power from their old-school connectors.
I recall this adaptor:
being required to power an ADC monitor from a non-ADC Mac, but I'd feel a lot better if another old graybeard checked in to verify my aging memory. You would still need another adaptor to convert the DVI on the adaptor to the 15-pin Apple port on old Macs. Some 6100s required a special HDI15-to-DB15 adaptor just to use a regular Apple display that would have been contemporary with the 6100:
The biggest hurdle is that an ADC display must get its power through the ADC port on the computer. The old Macs you list cannot provide that power from their old-school connectors.
I recall this adaptor:
being required to power an ADC monitor from a non-ADC Mac, but I'd feel a lot better if another old graybeard checked in to verify my aging memory. You would still need another adaptor to convert the DVI on the adaptor to the 15-pin Apple port on old Macs. Some 6100s required a special HDI15-to-DB15 adaptor just to use a regular Apple display that would have been contemporary with the 6100:
Hi Carlos,
Allan already mentioned the power supply issue. However, these monitors were designed to operate with computers having special video cards/circuits. I doubt that it is possible (at least not practical or economical) to convert/adapt/modify any of these four old Macintosh models, with limited video capabilities, to work with an Apple Cinema Display with the ADC connector.
Instead, you may want to use standard monitors, for example, as described in the article http://lowendmac.com/2007/vintage-mac-video-and-monitor-mania/ (also, the site has video support information etc for various Mac models under Tech Specs).
I agree with what the others have posted. A Performa 6360 does have a single PCI slot that can accommodate a better graphics card, as an upgrade over the limited onboard GPU. Many years ago, I bought about 6 ATI PCI graphics cards with the Rage Pro GPU to use in my older Macs of that vintage. The factory default was 4 MBs of SGRAM, but adding ATI's 4 MB SGRAM card (the same SO-DIMM SGRAM card used in the Bondi Blue iMacs and beige G3s), would increase them to 8 MBs. It was a compact card with Mac DB-15 and VGA ports, and perfect for the limited space inside those old Performas/Power Macs with a PCI slot. With one in a Performa 6360, you could use an adapter to convert the VGA port to DVI. ATI's discontinued Radeon PCI graphics cards that were supported in Macs running pre-OS X versions have a DVI port, but their power requirements exceed the output of a 6360's power supply. In the end, I think you'd end up spending more money on hardware than it may be worth, just to use the display with an older Mac.
Apple Cinema Display with Old Macs
