27" iMac displayport Input

Just a little update - I got the display's USB connector working today - that includes speakers, USB hub, and iSight. I also have the brightness controls and special keyboard functions working.

  • The speakers and USB hub work out of the box. Windows recognizes the devices and installs the drivers. Done.
  • The other stuff requires a bit of tricksyness. I installed Boot Camp 3.0 (gasp) on my non-Mac. This filled me with a sense of dread, and I've yet to see if there are any serious negative consequences. I hate installing all of those useless drivers. But here's how you do it, if you're crazy like me.

Installing Boot Camp 3.0 on a non-Mac (64-bit)

  1. Grab your Snow Leopard DVD. The Bootcamp folder has a setup program. This won't work - it knows that something's... different... about your computer. Dig in one folder deeper for BootCamp64.msi. This guy requires admin rights to run. To do so, open up a command prompt with elevated privileges and run it from there.
  2. The installer will begin installing a truckload of useless drivers. But don't worry. Everything will be okay. (Maybe.)
  3. Restart. Upon restart, my computer had a mighty spasm, and hard froze for a few seconds. This was likely Boot Camp realizing that it had been tricked. After my computer came back to life, though, it was working fine. Just open the boot camp control panel to adjust the brightness. The keyboard and iSight should work now too.

Note: If after the hard freeze, boot camp isn't loaded, seek it out in Program Files (x64). Open it from there, and it should work.

Again, I am not sure of the negative repercussions of installing Boot Camp on a non-Mac. But so far, nothing too bad has happened, and I have access to the full feature set of my display. Awesome!
 
integrate.this said:
Just a little update - I got the display's USB connector working today - that includes speakers, USB hub, and iSight. I also have the brightness controls and special keyboard functions working.

  • The speakers and USB hub work out of the box. Windows recognizes the devices and installs the drivers. Done.
  • The other stuff requires a bit of tricksyness. I installed Boot Camp 3.0 (gasp) on my non-Mac. This filled me with a sense of dread, and I've yet to see if there are any serious negative consequences. I hate installing all of those useless drivers. But here's how you do it, if you're crazy like me.

Installing Boot Camp 3.0 on a non-Mac (64-bit)

  1. Grab your Snow Leopard DVD. The Bootcamp folder has a setup program. This won't work - it knows that something's... different... about your computer. Dig in one folder deeper for BootCamp64.msi. This guy requires admin rights to run. To do so, open up a command prompt with elevated privileges and run it from there.
  2. The installer will begin installing a truckload of useless drivers. But don't worry. Everything will be okay. (Maybe.)
  3. Restart. Upon restart, my computer had a mighty spasm, and hard froze for a few seconds. This was likely Boot Camp realizing that it had been tricked. After my computer came back to life, though, it was working fine. Just open the boot camp control panel to adjust the brightness. The keyboard and iSight should work now too.

Note: If after the hard freeze, boot camp isn't loaded, seek it out in Program Files (x64). Open it from there, and it should work.

Again, I am not sure of the negative repercussions of installing Boot Camp on a non-Mac. But so far, nothing too bad has happened, and I have access to the full feature set of my display. Awesome!
Click to expand...

Sorry I didnt get it. Do you mean that you use a mac display with a pc via USB?????? If this is possible I can fly to the moon! :D
 
domenikwastefall said:
Sorry I didnt get it. Do you mean that you use a mac display with a pc via USB?????? If this is possible I can fly to the moon! :D
Click to expand...
Ah, the 24" ACD has a USB connector in addition to the mini-Displayport connector. Displayport handles the video, USB handles the speakers, iSight, and other "peripheral" functions. It's also used to adjust the brightness. I'm guessing you can hook the iMac up via USB in a similar way... maybe not, though.
 
integrate.this said:
Just a little update - I got the display's USB connector working today - that includes speakers, USB hub, and iSight. I also have the brightness controls and special keyboard functions working.

  • The speakers and USB hub work out of the box. Windows recognizes the devices and installs the drivers. Done.
  • The other stuff requires a bit of tricksyness. I installed Boot Camp 3.0 (gasp) on my non-Mac. This filled me with a sense of dread, and I've yet to see if there are any serious negative consequences. I hate installing all of those useless drivers. But here's how you do it, if you're crazy like me.

Installing Boot Camp 3.0 on a non-Mac (64-bit)

  1. Grab your Snow Leopard DVD. The Bootcamp folder has a setup program. This won't work - it knows that something's... different... about your computer. Dig in one folder deeper for BootCamp64.msi. This guy requires admin rights to run. To do so, open up a command prompt with elevated privileges and run it from there.
  2. The installer will begin installing a truckload of useless drivers. But don't worry. Everything will be okay. (Maybe.)
  3. Restart. Upon restart, my computer had a mighty spasm, and hard froze for a few seconds. This was likely Boot Camp realizing that it had been tricked. After my computer came back to life, though, it was working fine. Just open the boot camp control panel to adjust the brightness. The keyboard and iSight should work now too.

Note: If after the hard freeze, boot camp isn't loaded, seek it out in Program Files (x64). Open it from there, and it should work.

Again, I am not sure of the negative repercussions of installing Boot Camp on a non-Mac. But so far, nothing too bad has happened, and I have access to the full feature set of my display. Awesome!
Click to expand...

You, sir, are my hero.
 
Installing Boot Camp 3.0 on a non-Mac (64-bit)

1. Grab your Snow Leopard DVD. The Bootcamp folder has a setup program. This won't work - it knows that something's... different... about your computer. Dig in one folder deeper for BootCamp64.msi. This guy requires admin rights to run. To do so, open up a command prompt with elevated privileges and run it from there.
2. The installer will begin installing a truckload of useless drivers. But don't worry. Everything will be okay. (Maybe.)
3. Restart. Upon restart, my computer had a mighty spasm, and hard froze for a few seconds. This was likely Boot Camp realizing that it had been tricked. After my computer came back to life, though, it was working fine. Just open the boot camp control panel to adjust the brightness. The keyboard and iSight should work now too.
Click to expand...

In my computer with cinema display everything works fine but I can't open the boot camp control panel, apear one error showing this "You may not have privileges to change the startup disk. Make sure you have administrative privileges and try again." !
I already try changes program previleges but I thing the problem is with the startup disk.
The way I found to change the brightness on the cinema display is using the apple keyboard.
 
Just like to add that the displayport output using the ATI Firepro on the HP Elitebook 8740w works fine (using a displayport to mini-displayport adaptor) at the native resolution.
 
NVidia NVS 295 with two DisplayPorts works fine, too. It is not fast, but fanless.

When installing Windows 7, you may need to use DisplayPort-DVI adaptor and another monitor, but after the installation is complete, update drivers from NVidia site, and DisplayPort will work fine.
 
luismoniz said:
In my computer with cinema display everything works fine but I can't open the boot camp control panel, apear one error showing this "You may not have privileges to change the startup disk. Make sure you have administrative privileges and try again." !
I already try changes program previleges but I thing the problem is with the startup disk.
The way I found to change the brightness on the cinema display is using the apple keyboard.
Click to expand...

I have the 5770 eyefinity5 edition and the LED ACD 24" running windows 7-64 and can control the brightness using the bootcamp control panel (opening as a non-administrative user). I don't see why you wouldn't be able to get it working. Let me know if you want to give that a shot.

However, I am wondering if anyone has been able to remap keyboard keys (eg. f1 and f2) to directly control the brightness, without using the bootcamp slider but using some software/keycode emulation, just like how it functions on a real mac.

TIA.
 
I have the 5770 eyefinity5 edition and the LED ACD 24" running windows 7-64 and can control the brightness using the bootcamp control panel (opening as a non-administrative user). I don't see why you wouldn't be able to get it working. Let me know if you want to give that a shot.

However, I am wondering if anyone has been able to remap keyboard keys (eg. f1 and f2) to directly control the brightness, without using the bootcamp slider but using some software/keycode emulation, just like how it functions on a real mac.

TIA.
Click to expand...

Thanks :) non-administrative user works!
Tia, using one apple keyboard you will have it work like a real mac and not only the brightness keys but all the keys will work, since you already have the bootcamp you only need buy the keybord and enjoy it.
 
I'm glad it worked for you.

Just curious, are you using the wired or wireless apple keyboard? I don't like the typing feel of the apple keyboards but if I were to go that route, I want to get something that is known to work. So many hoops to jump through to get this display to work!
 
Yeah work but only when I use one non administrative account, since my acount have administrative rights I cant use it but its ok, I dont need it!

My keyboard is wired with numeric keypad :) I dont like the wireless, too small for me.
About the typing feel, I love it.
 
I have two of the Zotac GTX460 1GB cards on the way to replace the HD5970. Reference design card w/ DisplayPort FTW.
 
magnu55 said:
I am wondering if anyone has been able to remap keyboard keys (eg. f1 and f2) to directly control the brightness, without using the bootcamp slider but using some software/keycode emulation, just like how it functions on a real mac.
Click to expand...

So I've been tinkering around and kinda achieved what I wanted. It's almost perfect except that for a split second, the apple control panel will appear on the taskbar. If anyone knows how to prevent it from showing up on the taskbar, let me know. Hopefully someone will find this useful besides just me. You will need to install Autohotkey to run the AHK file.

*** Copy all lines below and place in an AHK file (just a plain text file with entension renamed from .txt to .ahk) and replace with your own non-administrative user name and password where appropriate. ***

#singleinstance force
detecthiddenwindows, on
runas,REPLACE_WITH_NON_ADMINISTRATIVE_USER_NAME,REPLACE_WITH_PASSWORD
return

invoke:
ifwinnotexist,Boot Camp Control Panel ahk_class #32770
{
run AppleControlPanel,,min
winwait,Boot Camp Control Panel ahk_class #32770,,2
}
return

f1::
gosub, invoke
controlsend,,{left}{enter},Boot Camp Control Panel ahk_class #32770
return

f2::
gosub, invoke
controlsend,,{right}{enter},Boot Camp Control Panel ahk_class #32770
return
 
magnu55 said:
So I've been tinkering around and kinda achieved what I wanted. It's almost perfect except that for a split second, the apple control panel will appear on the taskbar. If anyone knows how to prevent it from showing up on the taskbar, let me know. Hopefully someone will find this useful besides just me. You will need to install Autohotkey to run the AHK file.

*** Copy all lines below and place in an AHK file (just a plain text file with entension renamed from .txt to .ahk) and replace with your own non-administrative user name and password where appropriate. ***

#singleinstance force
detecthiddenwindows, on
runas,REPLACE_WITH_NON_ADMINISTRATIVE_USER_NAME,REPLACE_WITH_PASSWORD
return

invoke:
ifwinnotexist,Boot Camp Control Panel ahk_class #32770
{
run AppleControlPanel,,min
winwait,Boot Camp Control Panel ahk_class #32770,,2
}
return

f1::
gosub, invoke
controlsend,,{left}{enter},Boot Camp Control Panel ahk_class #32770
return

f2::
gosub, invoke
controlsend,,{right}{enter},Boot Camp Control Panel ahk_class #32770
return
Click to expand...

You mean prevent it from startup?

If you just want to do that, just go to Run, and type in "msconfig", go to startup tap and uncheck the bootcamp.........then it won't show in the taskbar........
 
Well the Zotac GTX 460 does not work w/ the iMac. It will display the bootup/POST on the iMac. But as soon as you hit Windows the display goes blank. :(

EDIT: I was wrong. I tried the other GTX460 I got and it worked great.
 
Last edited:
lowfat said:
Well the Zotac GTX 460 does not work w/ the iMac. It will display the bootup/POST on the iMac. But as soon as you hit Windows the display goes blank. :(

EDIT: I was wrong. I tried the other GTX460 I got and it worked great.
Click to expand...

u mean the other Zotac GTX460 work?? thanks
 
lowfat said:
Well the Zotac GTX 460 does not work w/ the iMac. It will display the bootup/POST on the iMac. But as soon as you hit Windows the display goes blank. :(

EDIT: I was wrong. I tried the other GTX460 I got and it worked great.
Click to expand...
Anything needed to get that second 460 running? Running in SLi? How bad is the noise with the Zotac? - a few of the reviews really mentioned that being an issue.
 
jeffyy said:
u mean the other Zotac GTX460 work?? thanks
Click to expand...

I am not sure what the problem was but as soon as I swapped positions of my two 1GB GTX460's it works no problem. It works significantly better than the HD5970 I was using before as well.

drock said:
Anything needed to get that second 460 running? Running in SLi? How bad is the noise with the Zotac? - a few of the reviews really mentioned that being an issue.
Click to expand...

SLI is working perfectly fine. I even use the HDMI out on the second card to get sound to my receiver. The cards aren't all that loud since the fan is locked @ 70% however they do run very hot if you have two cards side by side. I had to space mine out until I buy waterblocks for them. I saw them reach 99C when folding.
 
Does anyone know if the iMac's audio input/output still functions in target display mode. I know the usb/firewire gets shut down, but I never read anything about the audio. The reason I ask is because I input my PC's audio into the iMac to have it play through the connected speakers. This allows my iMac and gaming PC to share the same set of speakers without resorting to switches/splitters. I could reverse the situation and output the imac's audio to the PC first, but I usually keep the PC in sleep mode unless I'm using it so that isn't ideal.

Secondly has it been confirmed that an Atlona DP400 connected to a regular 5870's DVI port will in fact make the 5870 cards work with target display mode. This is a cheaper solution to connecting my PC instead of spending the money on a new video card that is compatible (eyefinity 6 edition or a new nvidia card)

Thanks!
 
ctishue said:
Does anyone know if the iMac's audio input/output still functions in target display mode. I know the usb/firewire gets shut down, but I never read anything about the audio. The reason I ask is because I input my PC's audio into the iMac to have it play through the connected speakers. This allows my iMac and gaming PC to share the same set of speakers without resorting to switches/splitters. I could reverse the situation and output the imac's audio to the PC first, but I usually keep the PC in sleep mode unless I'm using it so that isn't ideal.

Thanks!
Click to expand...


I know that DisplayPort audio from an HD5970 to the iMac DisplayPort input works fine. Sounds gets send to my receiver via TOSLINK on the iMac.
 
Does anyone know if the NEW 27" imac are the same? meaning...only works with very few displayport cards?
 
Got my Atlona D400 today to try with my Sapphire 5870 card. I was trying to avoid buying a new $500+ video card to run the iMac at 2560x1440 from my PC and I knew the 5870 had problems with it over displayport.

Well I've plugged it in and it thinks the max resolution of the iMac is 1280x720. I completely unplugged my PC's other monitor from the video card and rebooted and still it only will go to 1280x720. I guess I'll try reinstalling drivers next.

To make sure the DP400 is indeed working I plugged it into my Macbook Pro and got instant 2560x1440.

Sigh...

Will report back after I reinstall ATI drivers.

Update: Driver reinstall did nothing. Still things the iMac is only able to display up to 1280x720.

Any suggestions on what to try?
 
Last edited:
Tried a couple more things this morning with the DP400 converter. Hooked it up to an older computer with a Radeon 4850 installed and got instant 2560x1440. So then I decided to reinstall Windows 7 on another partition on my 5870 machine. Nope nothing, still limited to 1280x720.

So anyone considering getting a DP400 to bypass the 5870's displayport problems, don't bother. It seems to be a much deeper problem with that board's design.
 
lowfat said:
I am not sure what the problem was but as soon as I swapped positions of my two 1GB GTX460's it works no problem. It works significantly better than the HD5970 I was using before as well.
Click to expand...

Which card did you output from? I'm assuming that it is the one in the main PCI 16 slot, yeah?

I'm thinking about going dual monitor from my PC, one to my 24" and the other to my 27". I just need to get from mini-HDMI to mini-DP.
 
Serpico said:
Which card did you output from? I'm assuming that it is the one in the main PCI 16 slot, yeah?

I'm thinking about going dual monitor from my PC, one to my 24" and the other to my 27". I just need to get from mini-HDMI to mini-DP.
Click to expand...

I am not sure what it was but I have no problem w/ either card anymore. Not sure if it was a driver issue or maybe the card/cable just wasn't seated right.
 
Update to my situation: I purchased the Sapphire 5870 Eyefinity 6 card to replace my original 5870. It works like a dream with the iMac. It will display any resolution (I assume the GPU is scaling for nonsupported), and displays the POST screen/BIOS.

It's also a "smart" card -- when switching back to OS X with Command-F2, it will wake up the other LCD connected to my PC and switch it to the main screen. When going back to iMac displaying my PC it swaps back to the iMac being primary display and puts the other LCD to sleep. You can of course also extend the desktop between monitors.

In addition it outputs audio through MDP and straight out the speakers connected to the iMac without setting up anything.

I am very happy with this solution and will be returning the Atlona DP400 prompty (and selling my original 5870 card). Woot! :D
 
ctishue said:
Update to my situation: I purchased the Sapphire 5870 Eyefinity 6 card to replace my original 5870. It works like a dream with the iMac. It will display any resolution (I assume the GPU is scaling for nonsupported), and displays the POST screen/BIOS.

It's also a "smart" card -- when switching back to OS X with Command-F2, it will wake up the other LCD connected to my PC and switch it to the main screen. When going back to iMac displaying my PC it swaps back to the iMac being primary display and puts the other LCD to sleep. You can of course also extend the desktop between monitors.

In addition it outputs audio through MDP and straight out the speakers connected to the iMac without setting up anything.

I am very happy with this solution and will be returning the Atlona DP400 prompty (and selling my original 5870 card). Woot! :D
Click to expand...

thank you for posting this. i just got the mid 2010 iMac 27 and am going to do the same thing. i almost bought a card that wouldn't have worked but then someone in another thread pointed me this way. i appreciate your research! did you get the one from newegg for $499? i can't find it cheaper anywhere else.
 
I used an Atlona dual-link DVI to miniDP converter to feed video from a GTX 460 SLI to my 27" iMac display.

It works great and Starcraft 2 looks beautiful on it, ditto TF2 and the desktop. I'm almost tempted to replace the NEC 2490WUXi on my PC with the new 27" Apple display when it comes out, only problem is that I paid a lot for that NEC and I want to milk it for all its worth. :)
 
i was under the impression the adapters didn't do anything over 1920... is that the case with yours? I already have a Gefen adapter but I didn't think it would work because of the conversion limitation.
 
denaps - I got the more recent dual-link DVI adapter. It supports up to 2560x1600 and outputs to the native 2560x1440 of the iMac perfectly.
 
Since the 5870 destroys the GTX 285 for performance, it seems like a no-brainer to me.
 
Yeah, I agree, get the ATI card.

Here's hoping that nVidia cards have miniDP outputs in the future. :)
 
denaps said:
thank you for posting this. i just got the mid 2010 iMac 27 and am going to do the same thing. i almost bought a card that wouldn't have worked but then someone in another thread pointed me this way. i appreciate your research! did you get the one from newegg for $499? i can't find it cheaper anywhere else.
Click to expand...

I got the Sapphire 5870 Eyefinity 6 card from Amazon. It was on sale for $460 when I bought a couple days ago, but went back up to $493 now. Maybe it will go back on sale again soon?

http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Rade...2?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1283386592&sr=8-2

I'd suggest buying from Amazon over newegg because they always take stuff back no questions asked when I've submitted return requests. No restocking fees either. (It's where I bought the Atlona DP400 which they picked up for return on Monday).
 
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I'm having an issue with the Radeon 5970. I have the Sapphire version. I bought my mDP to mDP cables through monoprice, everytime I have the 5970 connected through display port through start. The 5970 fan would be going 100%. I disconnected the mini DP and it boots up normally through Windows 7. Then I plug the mDP port in and it switches onto it.

Anyone else has this issue? Do you know if there is a fix for it?
 
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