High Sierra 10.13.6 Mirroring Issue

[D_Charon]

Greetings,

I currently run a MacBook Pro 13in Mid 2012 - High Sierra 10.13.6.

Decided to finally install a external monitor and my hopes was to mirror it so I can set my MacBook Pro up and out of the way, using the bigger screen in the process. I've tried 3 different monitors now and all will clone, but not mirror. Mirroring will work for a short 25 second time frame and then time out back to sleep. Doing quick searches, I found this is a common issue with High Sierra and mirroring to external monitors. Unfortunately I cannot upgrade my OS any longer and don't really want to upgrade my Mac as it has been beautiful since I have upgraded to a SSD.

Anyone know if they finally got a work around for this issue?

Thanks in advance.

 

[chscag]

Welcome to our forums.

I know of no such common issue with external monitors and High Sierra.

Are you operating your MacBook Pro Mid 2012 in "clamshell mode"? If you are, the external monitor should mirror what the MBP has on the screen.

clamshell mode = see the following Apple Article:

Connect a display to your Mac - Apple Support

Mac computers support one or more external displays, depending on the Mac model. Here's how to connect an external display.

support.apple.com

I ran that way for years before I changed over to iMacs.

What I did was keep the lid closed on the MacBook and it would mirror perfectly. If you open the lid on your MBP, it will extend the display, not mirror.

Or, maybe I'm not understanding what it is you're trying to do?

 

[D_Charon]

Hey chscag,

You are correct. I am attempting to use it in "clamshell mode" or with the MBP closed, having it display to my screen in a mirror mode. Unfortunately I have tried HP, Samsung, and Acer monitors. Each of which have issue keeping the mirror mode on for more than 25 seconds or so before booting back to "sleep mode". When looking at the drivers, it is a known issue(according to HP/Samsung/Acer) that mirror mode bugs out when running High Sierra with an external monitor. I have also read that my MBP will not accept 4k/5k monitors, so I avoided trying those.

I was hoping since the last update about the issue was a couple years ago that there was some sort of work around but I'm not finding any luck.

I have even tried disabling sleep mode, with no luck.

 

[chscag]

Okay, several things....

I looked up the specs for your machine and it still shows that it's supported by Apple which is good.

I still can't find any reference to the glitch with High Sierra, however, is there any reason why you don't upgrade to Mojave? With Mojave you can continue to use your 32 bit apps if you have any, and Mojave will format your SSD to APFS which will give you better speed and efficiency. Your MBP can actually go all the way to Catalina but I don't advise doing that as it will kill off any 32 bit apps and drivers that you're using.

Also, I didn't ask above... but how are you attaching the external monitors to your MacBook Pro. By that I mean which type of cable are you using? I'm assuming mini displayport?

 

[D_Charon]

Below is some Acer driver information that I have found that states Clone mode only. When downloading the driver, there are some install notes, one issue being #10152. Noting mirror issues they are trying to work through. It's a hard thing to find, but reaching out to HP and Samsung techs said the same.

https://support.frescologic.com/portal/en/kb/articles/fl2000-mac-driver-beta-release

Unfortunately my MBP mid 2012 is as high of an operating system as it will allow. High Sierra 10.13.6 is as far as I can go. Unless there is another way for me to upgrade to Mojave, but my "software update" tells me I am at my "wall" so to speak.

I am using a USB 3.0 data hub with a HDMI connector into my monitor. It was what was recommended.

Thanks for the quick replies. Hope all my replies make sense.

 

[chscag]

I currently run a MacBook Pro 13in Mid 2012 - High Sierra 10.13.6.

That's what you stated in your first post.

Here's what Mactracker says about that model:

SOFTWARE

Original OS    Mac OS X 10.7.4 (11E2617)
Maximum OS    macOS 10.15.7 (19H15)
AirDrop    Supported
Handoff    Supported
Hardware Test    AHT 3A237
Bundled Software    iLife '11 (includes iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand)
FIRMWARE

Firmware    Intel Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI)

Unless you have a different model then you described above, your MacBook Pro can go all the way to Catalina.

I think when you went to update, it told you that you have the latest update to High Sierra. You need to go to the Mac App Store and request Mojave. It will likely offer you Catalina but you don't want that for the reasons I gave you in my other reply.

 

[Slydude]

I've run external monitors on my Macs for more than a decade with A couple of different monitors (including Samsung and LG). My experience has been the following:

1. I've never had to install a driver to get the monitor to function the way the OP wants.
2. I haven't experienced this issue consistently under High Sierra or any other version of macOS.

The few times I've experienced this issue the problem has been traced to either a faulty cable/connection dongle or the monitor being set to an unsupported resolution.

 

[D_Charon]

That's what you stated in your first post.

Here's what Mactracker says about that model:

SOFTWARE

Original OS    Mac OS X 10.7.4 (11E2617)
Maximum OS    macOS 10.15.7 (19H15)
AirDrop    Supported
Handoff    Supported
Hardware Test    AHT 3A237
Bundled Software    iLife '11 (includes iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand)
FIRMWARE

Firmware    Intel Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI)

Unless you have a different model then you described above, your MacBook Pro can go all the way to Catalina.

I think when you went to update, it told you that you have the latest update to High Sierra. You need to go to the Mac App Store and request Mojave. It will likely offer you Catalina but you don't want that for the reasons I gave you in my other reply.

Thanks again for the information.

After your information I did some backtracking and came up with why I stopped at High Sierra.

I run ProTools 12 recording software and at the time Mojave and Catalina was not compatible, so I held off. Fast forward time and apple no longer provided my free upgrade to Mojave or Catalina, which made me think I was maxed out on OS upgrades for my model. I found the link and had to set my internal clock back in order to install. As you suggested, my mirror issues were resolved after this update. So I thank you for that.

I do have issues with Itunes movies playing Audio and not Video now, but that seems to be less of a problem than I was having with the Mirroring.

Again, thank you for the help!

 

[D_Charon]

I've run external monitors on my Macs for more than a decade with A couple of different monitors (including Samsung and LG). My experience has been the following:

1. I've never had to install a driver to get the monitor to function the way the OP wants.
2. I haven't experienced this issue consistently under High Sierra or any other version of macOS.

The few times I've experienced this issue the problem has been traced to either a faulty cable/connection dongle or the monitor being set to an unsupported resolution.

It was my first thought as well that I may have had a faulty cable or connection. Multiple new dongles and cables later and it was the same.

My thought was maybe the driver was because of the newer type of monitors running the HDMI cable to my older MBP. Contacting the software companies who make the drivers openly admitted to this being a known issue, and eventually suggested the upgrade to Mojave to solve it. I can't say why but that did the trick for me.

Thanks for the reply

 

[Slydude]

You're welcome.

Wea there some specific feature you were trying to enable that needed the driver software? I've always been able to run without the software but you may be doing some things that need the software. I'm always looking to learn.

 

[D_Charon]

You're welcome.

Wea there some specific feature you were trying to enable that needed the driver software? I've always been able to run without the software but you may be doing some things that need the software. I'm always looking to learn.

No specific feature, but it was suggested when I was having issues with mirroring that I could need a driver update. After the update I was able to Clone my screen but never Mirror it. Strange indeed.

I only use my computer for home recording and occasional Itunes movie/music. So I was a little dumbfounded at the original issues.

 

[Slydude]

That's odd. I don't think I've ever used monitor software with my Macs. I connect it and go to the Displays preference pane to make any needed changes.

I generally use the display in extended mode rather than mirror mode, so maybe that's why I haven't experienced the problems you have had.