El Capitan problems with HDMI-to-Thunderbolt connection between rMBP and Samsung monitor

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El Capitan problems with HDMI-to-Thunderbolt connection between rMBP and Samsung monitor

We just bought a Samsung monitor (Samsung UE590 UHD-QHD Monitor U28E590D 28-Inch Screen LED-Lit Monitor) to hook up to each of our 13.3-inch MacBook Pros. Using an HDMI-to-Thunderbolt cable, I connected my late 2013 MacBook Pro (running El Capitan OS X 10.11) without any problem: the monitor clearly showed up in the Settings and I was able to use it.

However, my wife's late 2014 MBP (running El Capitan OS X 10.11.4, the most recent version) was unable to connect via Thunderbolt. The monitor did not show up at all, using either Thunderbolt port and either HDMI port on the Samsung monitor. Since it worked for me but not for her, we thought there might be some weird Yosemite update issue.

But when we used an HDMI-to-HDMI cable (taken from the AppleTV), her MacBook Pro was able to connect to the monitor. Hmm...

So, is it a software issue? Is her Thunderbolt port screwy (we've hardly ever used it)? Any advice would be welcome.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4)

Posted on Apr 30, 2016 9:32 PM

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Answer 1

sterling r

Community Specialist

May 2, 2016 8:47 AM in response to kushibo

Howdy there kushibo,

It sounds like you are trying to connect this external monitor to your wifes computer with an HDMI - Thunderbolt adapter but you cannot get video to show at all. I would use the section titled "If the display image is blank or unusable" from the following article to help troubleshoot this issue:

Get help with video issues on external displays connected to your Mac

Some of the steps do not pertain to your specific situation but just work your way down the list of troubleshooting there and you should come to a resolution. Thank you for using Apple Support Communities, let us know how that goes!

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