LG UltraFine 4K and 5K: Yes you can connect it to Windows computers via DP!!!

[Yuyang Wu]

Thank you sir, I bought it and it works well with mini DP port! It supports the highest setting of my LG Ultrafine, which is 4K 60Hz. And the USB data as well as audio all works fine.
However there are still some problem. Firstly the brightness controls doesn’t work at all so here’s the what’s happening in a dark room (laptop on right and LG on the left):

Secondly if I connect my pc and Wacom link by HDMI the resolution has a limit of 1080P 60Hz. In NVIDIA control centre it says the connection protocol is DVI.

There’s also a fact of the ALS in the first generation LG Ultrafine: windows 10 find a HID ambient light sensor with yellow error (code 10) in the device manager, when I click update driver the system says I already have the best driver for ALS.

 

[joevt]

I drew a quick diagram for the Moshi adapter, my computer with an RX580 8gb and the LG UltraFine 21.5” 4K monitor, just to visualise it better and to confirm whether all the represented features in the diagram will work.

Please confirm whether this would work because I’d hate to spend hundreds of dollars on the monitor and the adapter second hand during the pandemic and then not really have a way of returning it.

You meant Wacom Link Plus adapter. You'll need a DisplayPort to Mini DisplayPort cable between the RX580 and the Wacom.
You may need a USB-C charging cable to the Wacom Link Plus for power (or USB-A to USB-C charging cable).

Joevt I appreciate all your help. I’ve read through quite a few similar forums that you’re helping in as well, and it seems as though you have the Wacom Link Plus.

i was wondering, which monitor are you using with it? Are you using the 21.5” LG UltraFine 4K or are you using something else?

I bought it just so I can answer questions like yours.

Yes, it will work. Just keep in mind that the 3x USB-C ports on the LG will be functionning on a single USB 2.0 link. I'm not sure you will be actually able to use all of them at the same time because of limited bandwidth.
Have you considered getting a PCIe Thunderbolt card that supports DP instead to be able to use the full functionality of the Display?

The 21" UltraFine 4K display does not have a Thunderbolt mode like the newer 24" version so USB 2.0 is the max for all the ports.

I have a Z170x gaming 7 motherboard; I’m not sure if it supports a card like Alpine Ridge or not and I’m not sure whether the motherboard needs to support DisplayPort-In for that to work. I haven’t done enough research into it, but if it doesn’t work, then it seems like it will be a costly mistake. Could you perhaps summarise how the card would work with my motherboard and the 21.5” UltraFine?

I have the Z170X Gaming 7 motherboard two. It has a built in Thunderbolt port which of course also supports USB-C with DisplayPort alt mode - but the DisplayPort signal can only come from the iGPU (so it needs to be enabled in BIOS if you want to use it for a display).
It doesn't have support for a Thunderbolt 3 add-in card like the GC-ALPINE RIDGE or GC-TITAN RIDGE but I guess there are ways to work around that.

Also, would the card cause any GPU bottlenecking/limit to its power since it would be connected to a 4x PCIE lane? Or would that 4x lane only be handling the display itself and the 16x bandwidth for the graphics card would handle all the processing?
If the card is relatively simple like where I just plug it into my motherboard, then it will be more tempting

You are confused. The GPU is in an x16 slot. The Thunderbolt controller is 4x PCIe but that has no affect on the GPU. A Thunderbolt controller has DisplayPort inputs that are separate from PCIe - A Thunderbolt controller doesn't even need to be connected by PCIe to be usable (just need to provide power and DisplayPort inputs). You need the PCIe connection if you want to use USB features of a USB-C display, or any PCIe functions of a Thunderbolt display (including USB controller, etc).

Firstly the brightness controls doesn’t work at all so here’s the what’s happening in a dark room (laptop on right and LG on the left):
Secondly if I connect my pc and Wacom link by HDMI the resolution has a limit of 1080P 60Hz. In NVIDIA control centre it says the connection protocol is DVI.

There’s also a fact of the ALS in the first generation LG Ultrafine: windows 10 find a HID ambient light sensor with yellow error (code 10) in the device manager, when I click update driver the system says I already have the best driver for ALS.

Brightness control in Windows requires installing Boot Camp drivers to control brightness using USB. You can download Boot Camp drivers and install manually on a non-Mac PC.
https://github.com/timsutton/brigadier (I haven't used this method, maybe there's a better way)

There are also apps that use DDC/CI over DisplayPort to control brightness (google it)

Wacom Link HDMI input is HDMI 1.4 limited to 1440p60 or 4K30. DVI and HDMI are basically the same for single link. 1440p60 usually requires DVI dual link but Wacom Link accepts only single link. Many DVI ports on PC motherboards are actually HDMI 1.4 and don't support dual link.

 

[SiphoMandle]

I have the Z170X Gaming 7 motherboard two. It has a built in Thunderbolt port which of course also supports USB-C with DisplayPort alt mode - but the DisplayPort signal can only come from the iGPU (so it needs to be enabled in BIOS if you want to use it for a display).
It doesn't have support for a Thunderbolt 3 add-in card like the GC-ALPINE RIDGE or GC-TITAN RIDGE but I guess there are ways to work around that.

A sort of unrelated issue I'm having is with my USB-C/thunderbolt 3 port on my Z170X gaming 7; The port doesn't deliver enough power. For example, I connect my iPad Pro 3rd Gen 12.9" and it disconnects and reconnects about every second. If I try using a phone instead like the LG V30 or even my iPhone 11 with a lightning to USB C cable, then the disconnecting is not that noticeable, where it happens every 10-20 seconds or so.
My power supply is 600W I'm pretty sure about I have the RX 580 8gb and the i7 6700 so I don't think it's an issue there.

My BIOS has been updated to the latest version available and I've tried tinkering with the power settings but nothing has fixed it. I hope it's not just a defective motherboard because that would be a huge hassle to try to get a replacement 3 years later and to have to remove my CPU etc even though I might be legally allowed to get a refund with consumer law.

Can you share your bios settings and are you aware of such an issue?

 

[joevt]

A sort of unrelated issue I'm having is with my USB-C/thunderbolt 3 port on my Z170X gaming 7; The port doesn't deliver enough power. For example, I connect my iPad Pro 3rd Gen 12.9" and it disconnects and reconnects about every second. If I try using a phone instead like the LG V30 or even my iPhone 11 with a lightning to USB C cable, then the disconnecting is not that noticeable, where it happens every 10-20 seconds or so.
My power supply is 600W I'm pretty sure about I have the RX 580 8gb and the i7 6700 so I don't think it's an issue there.

My BIOS has been updated to the latest version available and I've tried tinkering with the power settings but nothing has fixed it. I hope it's not just a defective motherboard because that would be a huge hassle to try to get a replacement 3 years later and to have to remove my CPU etc even though I might be legally allowed to get a refund with consumer law.

Can you share your bios settings and are you aware of such an issue?

Thunderbolt ports from computers usually only allow 15W. Upstream facing Thunderbolt ports of some docks, eGPUs, and displays provide 60, 85, 87, 100W. The GC-TITAN RIDGE can provide 100W from one of its ports when connected to dual 6 pin PCIe power.

I don't think it should disconnect/reconnect just because there's not enough power. If that is happening, then use a USB-A to USB-C cable to connect the iPad Pro or other device (remove power deliver considerations).

Are you having these problem in Windows or macOS? If Windows, then that's an issue. If macOS, then that might be a hackintosh issue.

 

[SiphoMandle]

Thunderbolt ports from computers usually only allow 15W. Upstream facing Thunderbolt ports of some docks, eGPUs, and displays provide 60, 85, 87, 100W. The GC-TITAN RIDGE can provide 100W from one of its ports when connected to dual 6 pin PCIe power.

I don't think it should disconnect/reconnect just because there's not enough power. If that is happening, then use a USB-A to USB-C cable to connect the iPad Pro or other device (remove power deliver considerations).

Are you having these problem in Windows or macOS? If Windows, then that's an issue. If macOS, then that might be a hackintosh issue.

The issue is happening in both macOS and Windows. Hmm maybe it is an issue with the cable because I don't think I've noticed my lightning to USB C cable having any disconnecting issues using the same port on the computer.
I guess if/when I get the LG UltraFine 21.5", I can try out it's cable to see if it works better with the port.
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I have the Z170X Gaming 7 motherboard two. It has a built in Thunderbolt port which of course also supports USB-C with DisplayPort alt mode - but the DisplayPort signal can only come from the iGPU (so it needs to be enabled in BIOS if you want to use it for a display).
It doesn't have support for a Thunderbolt 3 add-in card like the GC-ALPINE RIDGE or GC-TITAN RIDGE but I guess there are ways to work around that.

Sorry for my lack of understanding, but then if I use the motherboard's native USB C port, would the RX 580 be completely wasted or would it's processing power still be used even though it's not driving the display?
Would the iGPU be powerful enough to run the display at full resolution and at 60Hz, or would there be any differences in comparing it to if the RX 580 was driving the display?
Would the 15W maximum power be sufficient for the monitor? I guess I could ultimately buy the monitor and try it out before buying the adapter?

Also, for the hackintosh, I have the graphics acceleration enabled but I can't manage to get the iGPU to drive a display at all, maybe it's a BIOS setting but I'll try again. I'm using the iMac18,3 model identifier because it's the only one that works with Sidecar for me, but then DRM doesn't work for Apple TV+ or even Netflix in safari, but I can live with these issues as long as I can find a good way to use the Ultrafine at full functionality.

I also find it so strange that the z170x gaming 7 doesn't support the alpine Ridge, when so many other z1xx motherboards support it. Are the workarounds to get the alpine Ridge to work risky, or is it probably just best to buy the Wacom Link Plus or Belkin adapters/cable?

 

[SiphoMandle]

This post is interesting and seemingly confirms that the USB-C/Thunderbolt port will be sufficient for driving the display in terms of processing power:

Skylake Thunderbolt 3 for Music Production

I don't think so. You have to use Windows to update the Thunderbolt Firmware which is downloaded from the motherboard's support website. I guess you should make sure the device works in Windows before trying it in Mac OS X. That's what I mean by 'waking up'. So, still the same from TB1 and 2...

www.tonymacx86.com

 

[SiphoMandle]

The issue is happening in both macOS and Windows. Hmm maybe it is an issue with the cable because I don't think I've noticed my lightning to USB C cable having any disconnecting issues using the same port on the computer.
I guess if/when I get the LG UltraFine 21.5", I can try out it's cable to see if it works better with the port.
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Sorry for my lack of understanding, but then if I use the motherboard's native USB C port, would the RX 580 be completely wasted or would it's processing power still be used even though it's not driving the display?
Would the iGPU be powerful enough to run the display at full resolution and at 60Hz, or would there be any differences in comparing it to if the RX 580 was driving the display?
Would the 15W maximum power be sufficient for the monitor? I guess I could ultimately buy the monitor and try it out before buying the adapter?

Ok cool I confirmed it for myself at least in Windows; The external graphics is still utilised

 

[joevt]

Sorry for my lack of understanding, but then if I use the motherboard's native USB C port, would the RX 580 be completely wasted or would it's processing power still be used even though it's not driving the display?

The RX580 might be usable by some apps - but I would connect the display to the RX 580 for better performance and less hassle with getting the iGPU to work.

Would the iGPU be powerful enough to run the display at full resolution and at 60Hz, or would there be any differences in comparing it to if the RX 580 was driving the display?

iGPU supports DisplayPort 1.2 which is all the display needs for full 4K60.

Would the 15W maximum power be sufficient for the monitor?

The monitor does not use power from the computer. It can provide power to a laptop (60W).

Also, for the hackintosh, I have the graphics acceleration enabled but I can't manage to get the iGPU to drive a display at all, maybe it's a BIOS setting but I'll try again. I'm using the iMac18,3 model identifier because it's the only one that works with Sidecar for me, but then DRM doesn't work for Apple TV+ or even Netflix in safari, but I can live with these issues as long as I can find a good way to use the Ultrafine at full functionality.

These hackintosh questions are better asked in a different thread. I use iMac17,1 on my Z170X Gaming 7, but I haven't gone beyond High Sierra (I have Nvidia GPU) and I don't use DRM or Apple TV+ or Sidecar or Netflix or acceleration.

I also find it so strange that the z170x gaming 7 doesn't support the alpine Ridge, when so many other z1xx motherboards support it. Are the workarounds to get the alpine Ridge to work risky, or is it probably just best to buy the Wacom Link Plus or Belkin adapters/cable?

How many motherboards with a built-in Thunderbolt controller also have a Thunderbolt header for another Thunderbolt controller? The workarounds are not risky, they're just not 100% satisfactory. Belkin VR cable or Wacom Link Plus are best for USB-C display from dGPU.

 

[DeanL]

However there are still some problem. Firstly the brightness controls doesn’t work at all so here’s the what’s happening in a dark room (laptop on right and LG on the left):Secondly if I connect my pc and Wacom link by HDMI the resolution has a limit of 1080P 60Hz. In NVIDIA control centre it says the connection protocol is DVI.

There’s also a fact of the ALS in the first generation LG Ultrafine: windows 10 find a HID ambient light sensor with yellow error (code 10) in the device manager, when I click update driver the system says I already have the best driver for ALS.

1. The brightness can only be controlled using this App, as mentioned on the first page of the thread.
2. I can't help you with HDMI–as mentionned on the first page of the thread, it doesn't work for most people, and when it does, it's unstable. To be able to control the brightness, you will need to use USB-C.
3. It's normal that the ALS is detected by Windows. I don't think there are any standalone drivers available for it, I think it's part of the BootCamp drivers.
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Brightness control in Windows requires installing Boot Camp drivers to control brightness using USB. You can download Boot Camp drivers and install manually on a non-Mac PC.
https://github.com/timsutton/brigadier (I haven't used this method, maybe there's a better way)

There are also apps that use DDC/CI over DisplayPort to control brightness (google it)

Brightness control does not use USB in any case. The only thing that requires USB is the integrated ALS.
Brightness control also doesn't require drivers: this app is sufficient.

 

[joevt]

1. The brightness can only be controlled using this App, as mentioned on the first page of the thread.

Brightness control does not use USB in any case. The only thing that requires USB is the integrated ALS.
Brightness control also doesn't require drivers: this app is sufficient.

Using DDC is sufficient for brightness control. It might also be the easiest way. But the LG UltraFine 4K and 5K were made for Macs and the Mac way to control brightness in Windows is with Boot Camp driver.

You haven't shown that brightness control cannot be controlled by Boot Camp or that it doesn't use USB. To test that, you need to install Boot Camp drivers, then try brightness control in Boot Camp control panel, then disconnect micro USB from Wacom Link Plus and see if brightness control still works. There are other threads that show successful install of Boot Camp drivers on PC so that part should be possible.

 

[DoringoDom]

Hi,

I just managed to get my hands on one off of Wacom's website and I can't figure out why it's not working. I bought this bidirectional DisplayPort to miniDP off of amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VCCTX3N

My cabling is: GPU Card (via miniDP to DP ) => Wacom Link Plus (via included USB C cable) => LG Ultrafine 5K. Nothing is working, it doesn't light up and nothing shows up. Here are some pictures, any help would be great:

https://imgur.com/a/uEZLQrK

Here is a list of things I've tried:

Switching back and forth between the included USB C cable that came with the Wacom and the Thunderbolt cable taht came with the LG Ultrafine as my main cable.

Using the minDP to miniDP cable that came with the Wacom and trying to use it on my 2012 laptop to see if that works.

Trying to provide power to the Wacom via the power cable

Trying different DisplayPort ports on my PC (Motherboard vs GPU) to see if anything happens.


In all these scenarios it wouldn't detect anything. No displays detected. However, whenever I plugged in my miniUSB cable from the Wacom to my PC, an unknown device would pop up in my control panel devices section called LG Ultrafine 5K, but that's about it.

Yeah I don't know what else to do, am I just out of luck?

 

[joevt]

Hi,

I just managed to get my hands on one off of Wacom's website and I can't figure out why it's not working. I bought this bidirectional DisplayPort to miniDP off of amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VCCTX3N

My cabling is: GPU Card (via miniDP to DP ) => Wacom Link Plus (via included USB C cable) => LG Ultrafine 5K. Nothing is working, it doesn't light up and nothing shows up. Here are some pictures, any help would be great:

https://imgur.com/a/uEZLQrK

Here is a list of things I've tried:

Switching back and forth between the included USB C cable that came with the Wacom and the Thunderbolt cable taht came with the LG Ultrafine as my main cable.

Using the minDP to miniDP cable that came with the Wacom and trying to use it on my 2012 laptop to see if that works.

Trying to provide power to the Wacom via the power cable

Trying different DisplayPort ports on my PC (Motherboard vs GPU) to see if anything happens.


In all these scenarios it wouldn't detect anything. No displays detected. However, whenever I plugged in my miniUSB cable from the Wacom to my PC, an unknown device would pop up in my control panel devices section called LG Ultrafine 5K, but that's about it.

Yeah I don't know what else to do, am I just out of luck?

What model of LG UltraFine 5K do you have? The old model (27MD5KA) supports only Thunderbolt connection. Wacom Link Plus should work with the latest 5K model (27MD5KL) and both models of the LG UltraFine 4K display.

 

[DoringoDom]

What model of LG UltraFine 5K do you have? The old model (27MD5KA) supports only Thunderbolt connection. Wacom Link Plus should work with the latest 5K model (27MD5KL) and both models of the LG UltraFine 4K display.

Aghhh, yup just checked. It's the 27MD5KA. Darn, that's really unfortunate.

 

[joevt]

Aghhh, yup just checked. It's the 27MD5KA. Darn, that's really unfortunate.

You'll need a GC-TITAN RIGE or GC-ALPINE RIDGE to convert DisplayPort to Thunderbolt (if you don't have Thunderbolt). If your GPU has two DisplayPort outputs, then you should be able to do 5K (depends on OS and GPU - which you did not clearly describe).

 

[DoringoDom]

You'll need a GC-TITAN RIGE or GC-ALPINE RIDGE to convert DisplayPort to Thunderbolt (if you don't have Thunderbolt). If your GPU has two DisplayPort outputs, then you should be able to do 5K (depends on OS and GPU - which you did not clearly describe).

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, i have a miniITX PC and so my motherboard only has one PCI-E slot for my GPU. I guess I'm outta luck at this point.

 

[joevt]

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, i have a miniITX PC and so my motherboard only has one PCI-E slot for my GPU. I guess I'm outta luck at this point.

The GC-TITAN RIDGE or GC-ALPINE RIDGE can be externally powered using a PCIe riser which does not need to be connected to the computer. Some risers may work better than others. I haven't tried it with an LG UltraFine 5K (which annoyingly has no buttons).
#74
#112
#136

 

[DoringoDom]

The GC-TITAN RIDGE or GC-ALPINE RIDGE can be externally powered using a PCIe riser which does not need to be connected to the computer. Some risers may work better than others. I haven't tried it with an LG UltraFine 5K (which annoyingly has no buttons).
#74
#112
#136

Oh SWEET!!! I'll look into this. Thanks!!!

 

[greydock]

First I want to thank you all (especially joevt, your posts/answers were invaluable) for this expansive thread of information, it was extremely helpful in getting my monitor to work!

I also wanna report my results and ask a couple questions just in case anyone has the older 21.5" 4K Ultrafine. For reference, I have an RX 580 8GB graphics card and I'm running windows, not a hackintosh. As others reported, the Club3D cable did NOT work. Like at all - no backlight, no display, nothing. In fact, the monitor wasn't even detected (I had a second display attached to my desktop to check). The ALogic cable however worked beautifully. My monitor turned on the moment I turned on my computer, so on first impressions, I can personally recommend that cable. However, to confirm, the USB ports and audio do not work (as expected), but I do get 4K 60Hz just fine.

The one issue that I'm having is that my monitor does not always wake from sleep. It's hit or miss, but the moment that I unplug and plug the cable back in, it turns on immediately. So I'm a little lost on how to properly fix that. I might install the bootcamp drivers to see if that helps fix anything, but I'm not sure that it will. I know that nothing is wrong with the monitor because I'm simultaneously using it with my MacBook. If anyone else had this issue or has a solution, please let me know!

 

[joevt]

I also wanna report my results and ask a couple questions just in case anyone has the older 21.5" 4K Ultrafine. For reference, I have an RX 580 8GB graphics card and I'm running windows, not a hackintosh. As others reported, the Club3D cable did NOT work. Like at all - no backlight, no display, nothing. In fact, the monitor wasn't even detected (I had a second display attached to my desktop to check). The ALogic cable however worked beautifully. My monitor turned on the moment I turned on my computer, so on first impressions, I can personally recommend that cable. However, to confirm, the USB ports and audio do not work (as expected), but I do get 4K 60Hz just fine.

The one issue that I'm having is that my monitor does not always wake from sleep. It's hit or miss, but the moment that I unplug and plug the cable back in, it turns on immediately. So I'm a little lost on how to properly fix that. I might install the bootcamp drivers to see if that helps fix anything, but I'm not sure that it will. I know that nothing is wrong with the monitor because I'm simultaneously using it with my MacBook. If anyone else had this issue or has a solution, please let me know!

There is an article at https://blog.macsales.com/64335-lg-ultrafine-5k-flickering-screen which talks about an "Auto Start" option in the LG Screen Manager for macOS. I don't know if they have a Windows app. I don't know if this applies to the 21.5" LG UltraFine 4K display or if it helps your situation. I don't know if it works without a USB connection.

Maybe a USB-C solution that includes USB 2.0 (Belkin VR2 cable or Wacom Link Plus or whatever) will change the behaviour? https://egpu.io/forums/gpu-monitor-...sb-c-to-displayport-cable/paged/4/#post-79127

 

[Raul Hernandez]

@joevt

Thank you for all the support you've provided here. I've read pretty much all 119 posts but please, lend me an extra hand with the following:

- I have an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080Ti which has a DisplayPort 1.4.
- I have an LG Ultrafine 4K 24" (24MD4KL-B)

I am building my PC and I am in the process of choosing a motherboard. Here's the dilemma:

1- If I connect the LG Ultrafine to the motherboard's integrated thunderbolt 3 port (or using an external peripheral like the GC-TITAN RIDGE or GC-ALPINE RIDGE) would the display use the 2080Ti for processing? This would make me stick to Gigabyte motherboards vs. Asus.

2- I can opt for a cheaper motherboard (Asus) without Thunderbolt 3. What is the recommended setup then to use the display directly to the graphics card? I've been reading mixed things (some say with a cable, but the initial post says it's through Wacom Link Plus). Can I just have a cable from DP1.4 (from GPU) to TB3 (to the display)?

3- What setup do you recommend?

 

[joevt]

@joevt

Thank you for all the support you've provided here. I've read pretty much all 119 posts but please, lend me an extra hand with the following:

- I have an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080Ti which has a DisplayPort 1.4.
- I have an LG Ultrafine 4K 24" (24MD4KL-B)

I am building my PC and I am in the process of choosing a motherboard. Here's the dilemma:

1- If I connect the LG Ultrafine to the motherboard's integrated thunderbolt 3 port (or using an external peripheral like the GC-TITAN RIDGE or GC-ALPINE RIDGE) would the display use the 2080Ti for processing? This would make me stick to Gigabyte motherboards vs. Asus.

2- I can opt for a cheaper motherboard (Asus) without Thunderbolt 3. What is the recommended setup then to use the display directly to the graphics card? I've been reading mixed things (some say with a cable, but the initial post says it's through Wacom Link Plus). Can I just have a cable from DP1.4 (from GPU) to TB3 (to the display)?

3- What setup do you recommend?

1) Some motherboards have a built-in Thunderbolt port. Choose one with a DisplayPort input so that any display connected to the built-in Thunderbolt port will be powered by the GPU that you connect to the DisplayPort input.

Thunderbolt 3 add-in cards have DisplayPort inputs for that purpose - in that case, choose a motherboard that supports a Thunderbolt 3 add-in card (the motherboard will have a Thunderbolt header to connect to the add-in card). The add-in card web page tells you what motherboards they are compatible with.

2) Without Thunderbolt 3, you can a bidirectional USB-C to DisplayPort cable to get an image (brightness control would need to be done via an app that uses DDC/CI).

3) Without Thunderbolt 3, it would be best to use a solution like the Wacom Link Plus to get all the features of the display (you won't get USB 3 but you'll get USB 2.0, audio, camera, etc.).
https://egpu.io/forums/gpu-monitor-...sb-c-to-displayport-cable/paged/4/#post-79127

 

[m3cint0sh]

Hi all, I'm in a bit of a similar situation, the difference being that I'm trying to connect a mid 2012 retina MacBook Pro (15-inch) to the updated LG Ultrafine 5K. You guys made my day with this topic as it now seems that I can finally get this monitor to work with this mac. Some questions I have though:

- What difference does it make when I opt for the Wacom Link this topic mentions instead of the Club 3 HDMI to DisplayPort Converter (https://www.club-3d.com/en/detail/2491/hdmit_to_displayportt_4k60hz_m-f_active_adapter/). As I was planning to buy this converter so that I could hook up my PS4 to the display, would you guys still recommend the Wacom Link or this Club3 Converter (for the purposes of connecting both my mac and PS4 to the display)?
- I understand that I need a bi-directional USB-C to DisplayPort cable like this one: (https://www.moshi.com/en/product/usb-c-to-displayport-cable-5k/white). Is the way to go about as follows:

MacBook Pro --> HDMI cable --> Club3 OR Wacom Link Adapter (or do I need both?)--> USB-C-to-DisplayPort-cable --> Thunderbolt3 port LG UltraFine 5K (or do I need to pick a USB-C port?).

If someone could help me out with this that would be greatly appreciated and would mean I would order the appropriate adapters today, thanks.

@joevt Just tried the Wacom Link Plus and it doesn’t work on a 2012 MacBook Pro. As soon as I connect the MacBook via the mini DP cable to the Wacom Link Plus which in turn is connected via the usb-c cable that came with it to the display, I’m getting kernel panics and the mac completely crashes. Any ideas?

 

[Marcel Zandée]

Hi i have the older 5K Monitor and want to connect it to my Dell Alienware Aurora R11. I've bought the Wacom Link Plus and tried the cable that comes with it as we'll as the one from the Monitor but nothing worked.

Has som,ebody an Ideo what to try?

@joevt ?...

 

[joevt]

Hi i have the older 5K Monitor and want to connect it to my Dell Alienware Aurora R11. I've bought the Wacom Link Plus and tried the cable that comes with it as we'll as the one from the Monitor but nothing worked.

Has som,ebody an Ideo what to try?

@joevt ?...

The older 5K requires a Thunderbolt connection. If you don't have a Thunderbolt port, then you need to connect two DisplayPort outputs to a powered Thunderbolt add-in card such as a GC-TITAN RIDGE or GC-ALPINE RIDGE.

[???] use USB C monitor without USB C?

karatekid430 I am THRILLED to hear what you just shared! I did the same thing (created an account on this forum just to ask the question/contribute to this thread). I will be standing by to receive your update once you receive the Sunix UPD2018 host card :-D Please don't forget to come back to...

hardforum.com

 

[TheOakTrail]

Hi all,

I want to extend a huge thank you to the thorough debugging provided by folks in this thread, especially joevt and DeanLubaki. This is really a remarkable forum thread by today's standards, rarely are they this helpful or engaged across so many months!

I just wanted to post a success story: I own the 21.5" UltraFine 4K and typically use it with my work and home Macs. I recently got a secondhand gaming PC for playing Flight Simulator, and I wanted to reuse the UltraFine instead of finding another monitor solution. My video card (NVIDIA GTX 1660 Super) has DisplayPort out, so I decided to try the Alogic bidirectional DisplayPort to USB-C cable mentioned in this thread before getting the Wacom adapter. Long story short, it works! In my case, it took around two hours of focused trial and error to get the monitor to be recognized. Here's what I did:

* Upon first plugging the display into the computer with the Alogic cable, the boot logo and animation showed up on the screen, lulling me into a false sense of success. But after that, the screen stayed dark. I tried both DisplayPort ports, no dice.
* Booting into safe mode made the UltraFine work at native resolution! This made me think it was the GPU drivers. Even though I was on a fresh installation, I used a driver uninstaller to totally wipe my driver.
* With the NVIDIA drivers gone, Windows connected to the UltraFine in non-safe mode. Progress! But it was only 30hz, and I needed the drivers.
* After reinstalling the drivers, the screen went black again.
* I had only been trying a single monitor at once. I first connected to my TV via HDMI, then plugged in the UltraFine. It instantly connected, though still stuck at 30hz with no option to change it. More progress!
* I configured Windows to only output to the UltraFine even with another monitor connected, and it still worked. I then unplugged the other monitor and it also still worked.
* Finally, I rebooted, and not only did the UltraFine work on its own, but I was also magically able to switch the screen to 60hz.

So in conclusion, if anyone happens to run into a "black screen after boot" issue, see if you can use a separate monitor to bootstrap the driver into recognizing it.

Lastly, note that AmazonBasics now sells the same bidirectional spec cable at a longer length and cheaper price. A review of it mentions that it solves this exact problem for somebody else wanting to play Flight Simulator. I might return the Alogic one, which is only 3 feet.