Connecting a flat screen tv to a G4 iBook

15 Jul 2010 16:21:38

Michael Corgan

Despite Euan's sage advice (perfectly correct, because I found it on an Apple web-site afterwards!) I have been unable to get a 19" flat screen tv to respond to my G4 iBook. I wanted to use it as an extra monitor, rather than mirroring the 14" display, to give more space for windows on the desktop.

I followed the instructions, which were to connect the iBook to the mains, add an external keyboard, and then close th lid before connecting the external monitor. I then tried to resuscitate the iBook by pressing any key on the external keyboard, and when I did so there was a brief burst from the hard drive, which quickly settled back into sleep. The Mac is seeing the monitor, but won't have anything further to do with it.

Is it in fact possible to achieve the required result?

Re: Connecting a flat screen tv to a G4 iBook

16 Jul 2010 00:11:47

Derek Wright

How are you connecting the TV to the Mac - is by using a DVI to HDMI cable if so you set the Displays Preferences to Mirroring and the screen size to one of the settings at the top of the list which are all TV related - eg vertical height of the TV eg 1080P or 1080I etc

Re: Connecting a flat screen tv to a G4 iBook

16 Jul 2010 12:27:43

Michael Corgan

As I understand it the G4 iMac has a VGA connection and so has the TV, so that is what I purchased and they fit. Also, there is no Preferences option in the Displays pane in System Prefefrences - should I be looking elsewhere for this?

Re: Connecting a flat screen tv to a G4 iBook

16 Jul 2010 18:10:34

Eleanor Spenceley

I think early iBook G4 only supported Display Mirroring. However there is a hack for 'later models' to allow independent displays.

http://macosx.com/forums/hardware-peripherals/312295-ibook-g4-12-1-33ghz-external-display-problems.html

Here's a list of supported iBooks.

http://www.rutemoeller.com/mp/ibook/supportlist_e.html

Martin

Re: Connecting a flat screen tv to a G4 iBook

22 Jul 2010 13:45:33

Michael Corgan

Thanks for the URLs Martin. I checked out my iBook and it was listed as being capable of having Mirroring etc. I downloaded the Applescript, ran it and – nothing! Still "No Signal" on the TV. Then I was told by a friend that I should turn the TV on to the AV channel - this particular TV had a choice, and the one that worked was "PC" So now I have two working screens as one Desktop. Wonderful!

Re: Connecting a flat screen tv to a G4 iBook

22 Jul 2010 22:35:54

Michael Corgan

well, it WAS wonderful until I tried to repeat the set-up, when I found that the TV had split the picture into two, with the top third at the bottome of the screen and the bottom two thirds at the top! And the whole lot over to the right hand side. I've tried uninstalling and re-installing, turning on and off in various combinations, but all to no avail. Any ideas anyone?