I was reading about what is happening to me now with a Mac mini and many people report it, what I understood is that from HDMI to VGA, it does not send a signal since it is analog and it does not work.
My question is could I go from HDMI to DVI, then from DVI to VGA; would it work?
It should be noted that my first port which is the mini DisplayPort I am already occupying it; this would be for my second screen.
Best Answer
No. HDMI sends a signal, but as you've already noted, one is digital and the other is analog. The signal is there, but it may not be sufficient enough to be detected.
No, I don't advise this at all (note: it may "work," but it won't be reliable). A general rule is more conversions = more points of failure. You are better off making a single conversion: HDMI → VGA. Less complexity = better reliability.
Your best bet is to get an active HDMI to VGA adapter.
The key to getting a reliable signal is using an active adapter. (The above link described a similar question regarding a Mac mini as well). The difference between an active and a passive adapter is that the former recreates the actual signal whereas the latter only "reorganizes" the pins outs.