garageCube

[The Midi Thief]

I had this strange thing happening at a show last night. We had two Mac Book pros plugged in to a VGA switch that was hooked up to a video server. The other MBP detected the screen and had no problems what so ever. My MPB on the other hand, refused to discover the screen. We did all that we could think of:

- Selected "Discover Displays"
- Restarted the MPB with the VGA cable plugged in
- Switched the VGA cable
- Switched the DVI-VGA adapter
- Switched input on the VGA switch
- Switched to the VGA cable and DVI-VGA adapter that was working on the other MBP

Nothing worked. We ended up using a third MBP and I had to recreate my set on that machine which worked fine but it took me a while to get back on track.

Today I did some tests since i thought my DVI port might have been busted. I usually use Composite to a V-4 mixer, so I started by tying with my DVI-Composite adapter. No problems there. I then hooked up my MBP to a LCD-TV with one of the same DVI-VGA adapters I was using yesterday. No problems there either.

I don't want this ever to happen at a gig again. Has anyone else encountered this problem with not being able to detect the screen when using a DVI-VGA adapter? Is there a solution to this problem?

[The Midi Thief]

I was told by Sleepytom on VJ Forums that I could use a VGA terminator as a dummy which will force my MBP to see an external monitor. Then just set the resolution to the right setting and then swap the terminator for the output cable. Seems like it could work.

The only problem is to get hold of a VGA terminator. Does anyone know a store that has VGA terminators and can ship internationally or locally in the U.K., Germany or Sweden? Google gave me very little help in this matter.

A VGA terminator looks something like this:
http://www.eboyztoyz.net/index.php?op=showitem&sku=1436
(The product is unfortunately discontinued at this place)