Paul Melzer

Q: how do i configure external monitor to display laptop with lid closed?

Hello,

 

I want to configure my two new external monitors to function as an extended desktop with the MPB lid closed, but am unclear how to do so. What I see as I type this now is the MBP display as usual, the external monitor to the right has the desktop image from my laptop but nothing else, and the monitor to the left has the stock Yosemite at sunset image and nothing else. They are hooked up through a Targus docking station, I assume correctly since both are alive and well.

 

What I'd like to see with lid closed is the MBP display on the monitor to the left and see right monitor as the extension from the left. I tried closing the laptop to see it it would automatically migrate to the left monitor but it does nothing.

 

Your help is appreciated in advance.

 

Paul

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.3), 10.11.4 beta

Posted on Feb 26, 2016 8:50 AM

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Q: how do i configure external monitor to display laptop with lid closed?

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  • by my ginger,

    my ginger my ginger Feb 26, 2016 9:02 AM in response to Paul Melzer
    Level 4 (2,472 points)
    Feb 26, 2016 9:02 AM in response to Paul Melzer

    In system preferences/display, you can set to mirror or extend.  https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202351 If doing this does not work,you could have a problem with your connection.

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,Helpful

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Feb 26, 2016 10:29 AM in response to Paul Melzer
    Level 9 (60,714 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 26, 2016 10:29 AM in response to Paul Melzer

    Your MacBook may not cool properly with the lid closed. In my opinion, operating with the lid closed is a Bad Idea™.

     

    Macs have supported multiple displays in a an Extended desktop configuration from at least 1987 (and probably earlier) when a Mac-II could have multiple displays attached. It looks like this:

    Arrange Window screenshot.png

     

    Many of these features have been (in my option) "mucked up" by reverse porting feature from iOS, the land of tiny screens and one-at-a-time processing.

     

    The first (in my opinion, less than useful) ported concept is that you want each display assigned to one task or set of tasks, and nothing else. This is called "separate spaces" and may be what you have active now. This can be turned OFF in this window:

    HT5891_separate_spaces-en.png

     

     

     

    Going back to "extended desktop", this feature allows each of your displays to contribute its pixels to a much larger "extended desktop". You drag the Icon for each display (including the built-in screen) into its relative position as they appear on your bench. they can be up, down, left and right from each other.

     

    Once this is done, the mouse moves seamlessly across the boundary between displays, and can drag a window with it. parking a window on the boundary results in that window still being updated "the right way", even though different pieces of the window may appear on different displays.

     

    I have used a setup where the large display is up on blocks on the back of the bench, and the built-in display is on the bench below, still open so that its keyboard and trackpad can be useful. Some users do a variant of this, but use the built-in keyboard as a "button box" to press the shortcut keys for invoking Video editing functions, and use a full size keyboard for their typing needs.

     

    If you insist on hiding the built-in screen and its keyboard and trackpad, your MacBook Pro may not get enough air to cool properly, and will run the fans faster to compensate. This is called "closed clamshell" mode, and IS supported in recent Mac OS X versions, but an external keyboard and mouse are required, and a special ceremony is used to enter this made. As you can probably tell, I am not a fan of this.

  • by Courcoul,

    Courcoul Feb 26, 2016 9:24 AM in response to Paul Melzer
    Level 6 (14,193 points)
    Feb 26, 2016 9:24 AM in response to Paul Melzer

    That's known as Clamshell Mode. As Grant mentions, heed proper ventilation. Presumably for this usage, I've seen a number of stands in the Store that hold the MBP in an upright vertical fashion and allow ample airflow all around.

     

    How to use your Mac notebook computer in closed-clamshell (display closed) mode with an external display - Apple Suppor…

  • by Paul Melzer,

    Paul Melzer Paul Melzer Feb 26, 2016 9:23 AM in response to my ginger
    Level 1 (106 points)
    Feb 26, 2016 9:23 AM in response to my ginger

    Having each monitor display exactly the same as the next is not what I am after. Mirroring does work when I select it, but it's not what I want. I want to work from the two external monitors, the left one "mirroring" my MBP's display and the right one simply being extra real estate. Not possible?

  • by Paul Melzer,

    Paul Melzer Paul Melzer Feb 26, 2016 9:26 AM in response to Courcoul
    Level 1 (106 points)
    Feb 26, 2016 9:26 AM in response to Courcoul

    Thanks, as I mentioned I tried this and it did not "open" the desktop on the externals. Yes, they are hooked up and, as I say, displaying from the MBP, just not my MBP desktop. Cursor moves fine, extending across the right side of each monitor onto the left side of the next.

  • by Paul Melzer,

    Paul Melzer Paul Melzer Feb 26, 2016 9:35 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (106 points)
    Feb 26, 2016 9:35 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    Thanks for your reply. I think the glitch is somewhere in the "extended display" configuration. Since the cursor moves as desired between the three displays, and, as I mentioned, the two externals display images from the MBP desktop (along with, now I notice, the Menu Bar, greyed out).

     

    Shouldn't the MBP desktop automatically move to the next monitor in clamshell mode?

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,Helpful

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Feb 26, 2016 10:29 AM in response to Paul Melzer
    Level 9 (60,714 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 26, 2016 10:29 AM in response to Paul Melzer

    RE: selective Mirroring

     

     

    System preferences > displays > arrange screen:

    Arrange Window screenshot.png

     

    Drag the display you want to mirror with different display, and instead of putting it alongside, park it directly OVER the display you want it to mirror, and release. The Arrange pane will then show a stylized "double-image" of the two displays to be mirrored, with all other displays still arranged as you specified. (There should be a small border where you can drag one or the other of the Mirrored display away to un-Mirror them.)

     

    The resolution on both displays will be changed to something BOTH displays can handle, if possible. (if one goes dark, it may be too much of a stretch to meet that setting, and you can experiment with others to find one that works).

  • by Paul Melzer,

    Paul Melzer Paul Melzer Feb 26, 2016 10:04 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (106 points)
    Feb 26, 2016 10:04 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    Well, that was unpleasant. I tried dragging the display I wanted to mirror over the desktop but it would not stay on top of it. I tried the other meaning of OVER, as in above, two dimensionally speaking to no effect. When selecting Mirror Displays they all mirror and in the System Prefs they are stacked on one another with no ability to unstack one of them. So I'm not understanding the path to selective mirroring, I guess. After selecting mirroring and the unselecting it, everything went blank and I got, for the first time in 7 years (yes, this is an older 17" MBP) a flashing question mark file.

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Feb 26, 2016 11:01 AM in response to Paul Melzer
    Level 9 (60,714 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 26, 2016 11:01 AM in response to Paul Melzer

    The meaning of "over" I intended was  "so that it the tiny Icon of one display comes close to coinciding with the tiny Icon of the other display in the arrange pane presentation".

     

    There may be some nuanced movement to this such as that it should be dragged by its middle so that the mouse pointer is well within the tiny Icons when released.

     

    I don't currently have a setup available where I can try this quickly. Perhaps other Readers can help.

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,Solvedanswer

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Feb 26, 2016 11:07 AM in response to Paul Melzer
    Level 9 (60,714 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 26, 2016 11:07 AM in response to Paul Melzer

    The tiny Icon of the MenuBar icon can be dragged to the display you wish, with limitations. This display then become the Primary display.

     

    The dock has more unusual limitations. It will appear along the specified edge (left, bottom, or right) of the Primary display, unless the edge of the Extended Desktop has been extended further in that direction by a different display.

     

    ¿ did you make certain to turn off "Displays have separate Spaces" ?

  • by Paul Melzer,

    Paul Melzer Paul Melzer Feb 26, 2016 11:28 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (106 points)
    Feb 26, 2016 11:28 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    Thank you Grant for all your help. I'm a little scared now since I got the flashing question mark (was that because the monitor rearranging was simply too much for the cpu to handle?), but will look more closely at what you suggest.

     

    It worked now, as you suggested, by dragging the tiny MenuBar to the top of the [second] display. Re the dock: I take it that if I now close my computer—the lid is now just lowered, not closed all the way)—that the dock will not migrate to the external monitor (with the menu bar and all the desktop items that moved with it. One would think that clamshell mode would automatically move the desktop to the external. (??)

     

    UPDATE I moved the dock to bottom of screen and then it automatically migrated over. Yeah! I usually have it to the left side and perhaps because of the nature of extended display it would not migrate. Anyway, thanks to all the replies everyone. Thanks for your time and assistance.

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Feb 26, 2016 11:33 AM in response to Paul Melzer
    Level 9 (60,714 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 26, 2016 11:33 AM in response to Paul Melzer

    I take it that if I now close my computer—the lid is now just lowered, not closed all the way)—that the dock will not migrate to the external monitor (with the menu bar and all the desktop items that moved with it. One would think that clamshell mode would automatically move the desktop to the external. (??)

     

    if you now close your MacBook completely, it will go to sleep, and all the display will go dark.

     

    If you want to use "Closed clamshell mode", you will need to perform the ritual described in the article on that subject cited above by Courcoul.

  • by Paul Melzer,

    Paul Melzer Paul Melzer Feb 26, 2016 11:47 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder
    Level 1 (106 points)
    Feb 26, 2016 11:47 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

    I've been using a bluetooth magic trackpad and a usb external keyboard, so I don't see anything otherwise that I need to do to effect the clamshell mode. And yes, I get the concerns for overheating, so I will proceed cautiously.

     

    UPDATE, the computer did not go to sleep, and the fans are still on. (I am running a fair number of apps at the moment, but the memory pressure in activity monitor still reads green (6.85 of 8 GB). I've propped up the back of the MBP to get more breathing room beneath.

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Feb 26, 2016 2:44 PM in response to Paul Melzer
    Level 9 (60,714 points)
    Desktops
    Feb 26, 2016 2:44 PM in response to Paul Melzer

    So are most of your issues resolved?

     

    if not, what is still not working as you expect (list your expectations and what happens instead) ?

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