[JimmyMcVideo]

So, I want to use my old 22" ADC Cinema Display with my new Mac Pro with the Radeon x1900 card.

And I was told to buy the DVI to ADC adapter, which I did.

But it doesn't work. The adapter powers up my monitor, and it shows up in the Display settings of system prefs, but the monitor remains DARK.

Anyone hear of this happening? I spent an hour with Apple Care phone support. They have no idea what to do.

Is the 22" (model #M8149) just not compatible with this adapter?

[reader50]

Give us a link to the adapter you bought. The adapter not only needs to remap the DVI -> ADC display pins, it needs to supply power for the display, and to break out the USB connection for separate plugin to your MacPro.

[JimmyMcVideo]

http://www.apple.com/lae/displays/adapter/

Of course, I'm not using it with a laptop, I'm using it with a MacPro.

I plugged the ADC connection from the monitor into the adapter. I plugged the USB connection from the adapter to the Mac Pro. any particular USB port to use? And of course I plugged the power of the adapter into an outlet (a power strip).

As I mentioned, the monitor power light is on. The System Pref Display panel recognizes the monitor. The screen is just BLACK

[reader50]

That adapter will work. It doesn't matter which USB port is used to plug the adapter into your MacPro. You didn't mention plugging a DVI cord from the adapter to your Mac's video card, but I assume you did this or your Mac would not have recognized the display.

Have you verified that the 22" display works? This is an older monitor today, the backlight could have quit. Or any number of other internal failures.

The native resolution of the display is 1280 x 800 (@ 60 Hz). It supports a few lower resolutions too. If your Mac has been set to an incompatible resolution, the display will remain dark.

[JimmyMcVideo]

Thanks

[JimmyMcVideo]

Thanks for your help on this.

The monitor works great on my g4 867 no problem.

So, I check into the Hertz in the Monitor prefs. For the Cinema Display the window won't let you adjust the Hz rate. It says "n/a". But I tried clicking on different resolutions to no avail.

By the way, the other monitor I have plugged in while I'm doing all this is a VGA Gateway FPD1510.

In both the Gateway and Cinema Display calibration windows I tried clicking "Detect Displays" and nothing changed. I lowered the Gateway's Hz to 60. No change.

This is really weird! Do you think the adapter could be faulty? But if so, why would it power my monitor and get it recognized by the computer. If it was faulty, wouldn't it just not work altogether?

also, by the way, I've tried both monitor cards-- both the one that came with the Mac Pro and the Radeon x1900

[reader50]

I assume you have the VGA monitor set as the main (menubar) montor, and are using the "Gather Windows" button to force the ADC's Display window onto the Gateway where you can work with it.

For some reason, Apple hid the refresh rates for the earlier ADC monitors. I don't know if that changed with more recent displays. It's 60Hz, but it won't show you that, and you don't need to worry about it.

My last post linked to the specs page for your 22", but I mangled the link code. The specs page is here. According to that, the supported resolutions are:

1280 x 800 (preferred native resolution)
1024 x 640
800 x 512
800 x 500

One irreverant thought, did you try the power button on the ADC monitor?

[Waragainstsleep]

Try dragging your /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.plist prefs file to the trash.

Apple DVI to ADC Adapter: Compatibility Table

[JimmyMcVideo]

Yes reader50, I used Gather Windows so i could display the Cinema display settings. I tried all different types resolutions.

I've tried booting up with the Cinema Display power button --doesn't work. But again, the power does go on when the computer boots. It lights up. But the screen is black.

Waragainstsleep--

I tried trashing that Preference from the library. Then I restarted (though for some reason after i trashed that, I couldn't shut down by selecting Shut down from the apple menu)

That was an interesting suggestion-- what made you suggest that?

After reboot --I have both monitors plugged into the Radon x1900 now-- I got the same results.

[JimmyMcVideo]

Would it make a difference if I got an alternate adapter?

Dr. Bott LLC | DVIator, DVI to ADC adapter

[Sub]

Maybe it is a bent pin on one end of the cable, happened to me, the display light went on, but it was dark.

[reader50]

Correction, the M8149 has a native resolution of 1600 x 1024 (at 60 Hz). There seems to be some mixup on Apple's specs page, the resolution chart they offered (and I copied) looks more typical for a widescreen monitor in the 17" to 20" range.

According to the compatibility page linked by Waragainstsleep, certain Cinema features are not supported, including sleep functions.

Originally Posted by Compatibility Page

3. Power and sleep functions are NOT supported with the Apple DVI to ADC adapter when used with Intel based systems, iMac G5 systems, and Power Mac G5 (Late 2005) or later systems.

They may mean display sleep. Try opening the Energy Saver prefpane, and move the display sleep slider all the way over to 'Never'. Then reboot and see what happens.

[JimmyMcVideo]

Wow,

[JimmyMcVideo]

Thanks for all your help! The problem is solved. I just came back from Tekserve, the no 1 apple retailer in Manhattan, where I exchanged my adapter for a different one. Came home, plugged it in and now it works. So my best guess is Tekserve sold me a faulty adapter! Go figure. Well, thanks again, I learned a bunch.

[Waragainstsleep]

I suggested trashing the windowserver prefs since it was suggested by apple at the bottom of the page I linked to. The Applecare rep should really have spotted that.