MacBook – Daisy-Chaining a DVI Monitor on a Thunderbolt Display

displaymacbook prothunderbolt-display

I currently have a mid-2012 MacbookPro that is connected to a 27" Thunderbolt display. I also have a 17" Samsung Syncmaster that only has VGA & DVI port on it. So I bought the MiniDisplay-to-DVI converter and tried hooking it up to the TBD's thunderbolt port.

It didn't work. The TB port doesn't recognize the monitor at all. When hooking the monitor up directly to the MBP, it seems to work fine. Are there compatibility issues when using the MiniDisplay-to-DVI converter?

Best Answer

I would just like to chime in here and note that it is possible to get that DVI display to daisy-chain, but the caveat is that you have to put another Thunderbolt device in between the Thunderbolt display and the Mini DisplayPort->DVI converter.

Apple's notes one other caveat about the Thunderbolt display: older Mini DisplayPort displays won't light up if they're hooked directly into the Thunderbolt port on the newer LCD. Macworld's testing found that Mini DisplayPort LCDs can be added to a Thunderbolt chain and work as normal by hooking them into another Thunderbolt peripheral.

See: http://www.tuaw.com/2011/09/18/thunderbolt-display-daisy-chaining-spec-cleared-up/

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