7 ms·

My weird monitor issue (since we’re talking about it, not that anyone asked) is sometimes when I wake my M1 MacBook Pro, my monitor (AW3821DW) has a cyan overla

by RexM 2y ago

My weird monitor issue (since we’re talking about it, not that anyone asked) is sometimes when I wake my M1 MacBook Pro, my monitor (AW3821DW) has a cyan overlay across the whole screen. I unplug/plugin the usb-c cable and it fixes it. I have a usb-c to DP dongle, then connect via DP to the monitor.

m463 2y ago
I find apple's treatment of monitors kind of weird. PC graphics cards just have a plentiful supply of video outputs, say a mix of HDMI and DP. But apple has always used dongles, many of which are basically small computers that can basically convert one video signal to another on-the-fly. (I don't know if USB-C to DP is an electrical conversion or has logic) But the complexity involved is probably a steaming heap of corner cases for the driver. And apple has probably tested and prioritized bugs for their hardware, but 3rd party monitors are probably hit or miss.
- jrockway 2y ago
  USB-C to DP is an electrical conversion. The monitor has to negotiate an alternate mode with the USB controller (then the high-speed data pairs in the USB-C cable are used for Displayport signalling and not USB). (There are such things as USB monitors which actually take pixel data over the USB protocol, but I don't think they ever caught on.)
  - epcoa 2y ago
    > There are such things as USB monitors which actually take pixel data over the USB protocol DisplayLink. It caught on for a while at least, especially in the case of some dock products that would output to a more conventional display interface but were USB DisplayLink adapters themselves. You’ll see tons of forum and Reddit posts about suboptimal CPU load and performance related to it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayLink https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayLink It more recently was resurrected to overcome M1 limitations. https://danielcompton.net/apple-m1-displaylink-multiple-display https://danielcompton.net/apple-m1-displaylink-multiple-disp...
- lostlogin 2y ago
  > But apple has always used dongles Most the Mac laptops I’ve owned have had display port or hdmi, the dongle lifestyle is a new and unpleasant one.
  - m463 2y ago
    The laptops with dedicated ports might have been the last common-sense laptops they made. I laughed (and grumbled) at the article "Benjamin Button Reviews The New MacBook Pro": https://blog.pinboard.in/2016/10/benjamin_button_reviews_the_new_macbook_pro/ https://blog.pinboard.in/2016/10/benjamin_button_reviews_the... (The Benjamin Button movie was about a man who lived life in reverse, starting as old and wrinkled and gradually getting younger)
    - rsynnott 2y ago
      The current laptops have a HDMI port. DP over USB-C doesn't require active conversion. I think you're slightly jumping at shadows here. (Apple's _really_ problematic video dongle was the thankfully largely dead lightning to HDMI one, for phones; this was essentially an external USB video card.)
      - epcoa 2y ago
        Active or not, it’s still a dongle (but a dongle or a cable for an external monitor is less of a rage concern and they have added back HDMI as mentioned). However, seriously give me just one fucking USB-A port on a “pro” device. There’s enough people in that segment that use flash sticks and need to interface to all kinds of various hardware (MIDI controllers, pro audio equipment (not every use is a rack)), all kinds of random special purpose hardware, etc. It’s a pro device it should cater to a wider range.
        m463 2y ago
        wow... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook_Pro_(Apple_silicon)#/media/File:Apple_Macbook_Pro_14%22_2021_-_Ports_on_the_left_side.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook_Pro_(Apple_silicon)#/m... no usb-a ports sucks, but I guess it's a step in the right direction. sort of amazing how out-of-touch they (still) are with "pro" users. who cares if you need usb-a only once a year. People might only need the bed in their pickup truck once a year, but they buy pickup trucks, get stuff done and are fiercely loyal.

by RexM 2y ago

m463 2y ago

I find apple's treatment of monitors kind of weird. PC graphics cards just have a plentiful supply of video outputs, say a mix of HDMI and DP. But apple has always used dongles, many of which are basically small computers that can basically convert one video signal to another on-the-fly. (I don't know if USB-C to DP is an electrical conversion or has logic) But the complexity involved is probably a steaming heap of corner cases for the driver. And apple has probably tested and prioritized bugs for their hardware, but 3rd party monitors are probably hit or miss.

jrockway 2y ago
USB-C to DP is an electrical conversion. The monitor has to negotiate an alternate mode with the USB controller (then the high-speed data pairs in the USB-C cable are used for Displayport signalling and not USB). (There are such things as USB monitors which actually take pixel data over the USB protocol, but I don't think they ever caught on.)
- epcoa 2y ago
  > There are such things as USB monitors which actually take pixel data over the USB protocol DisplayLink. It caught on for a while at least, especially in the case of some dock products that would output to a more conventional display interface but were USB DisplayLink adapters themselves. You’ll see tons of forum and Reddit posts about suboptimal CPU load and performance related to it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayLink https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayLink It more recently was resurrected to overcome M1 limitations. https://danielcompton.net/apple-m1-displaylink-multiple-display https://danielcompton.net/apple-m1-displaylink-multiple-disp...
lostlogin 2y ago
> But apple has always used dongles Most the Mac laptops I’ve owned have had display port or hdmi, the dongle lifestyle is a new and unpleasant one.
- m463 2y ago
  The laptops with dedicated ports might have been the last common-sense laptops they made. I laughed (and grumbled) at the article "Benjamin Button Reviews The New MacBook Pro": https://blog.pinboard.in/2016/10/benjamin_button_reviews_the_new_macbook_pro/ https://blog.pinboard.in/2016/10/benjamin_button_reviews_the... (The Benjamin Button movie was about a man who lived life in reverse, starting as old and wrinkled and gradually getting younger)
  - rsynnott 2y ago
    The current laptops have a HDMI port. DP over USB-C doesn't require active conversion. I think you're slightly jumping at shadows here. (Apple's _really_ problematic video dongle was the thankfully largely dead lightning to HDMI one, for phones; this was essentially an external USB video card.)
    - epcoa 2y ago
      Active or not, it’s still a dongle (but a dongle or a cable for an external monitor is less of a rage concern and they have added back HDMI as mentioned). However, seriously give me just one fucking USB-A port on a “pro” device. There’s enough people in that segment that use flash sticks and need to interface to all kinds of various hardware (MIDI controllers, pro audio equipment (not every use is a rack)), all kinds of random special purpose hardware, etc. It’s a pro device it should cater to a wider range.
      - m463 2y ago
        wow... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook_Pro_(Apple_silicon)#/media/File:Apple_Macbook_Pro_14%22_2021_-_Ports_on_the_left_side.png https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacBook_Pro_(Apple_silicon)#/m... no usb-a ports sucks, but I guess it's a step in the right direction. sort of amazing how out-of-touch they (still) are with "pro" users. who cares if you need usb-a only once a year. People might only need the bed in their pickup truck once a year, but they buy pickup trucks, get stuff done and are fiercely loyal.