Resolved Mac Mini G4 will not output to HDMI via DVI

[Methanoid]

Most excellent thread and appropriate place to ask HOW I can get my G4 Mini to set and STORE the resolution I want (1280*720) for both OS and for EFI boot. I have set it to 720P but when I move it to my HDMI monitor it suddenly forgets it all again and I get no display. I know my 2009 Mini has had similar issues but did settle on 1080P (on my 1440P monitor).

Monitor (S2712DGFA) specs say
Resolution specifications HDMI DisplayPort Horizontal scan range 30 kHz to 230 kHz 30 kHz to 250 kHz Vertical scan range 48 Hz to 144 Hz 48 Hz to 165 Hz Maximum preset resolution 2560 x 1440 at 144 Hz 2560 x 1440 at 165 Hz Video display capabilities (HDMI & DP alternate mode) 480i, 480p, 576i, 576p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p

and

Display mode Horizontal frequency (kHz) Vertical frequency (Hz) Pixel clock (MHz) Sync polarity (Horizontal/ Vertical) VESA 720 x 400 31.469 70.087 28.322 -/+ VESA 640 x 480 31.469 59.94 25.175 -/- VESA 640 x 480 37.5 75 31.5 -/- VESA 800 x 600 37.879 60.317 40 +/+ VESA 800 x 600 46.875 75 49.5 +/+ VESA 1024 x 768 48.363 60.004 65 -/- VESA 1024 x 768 60.023 75.029 78.75 +/+ VESA 1152 x 864 67.5 75 108 +/+ VESA 1280 x 800 49.702 59.8 83.5 -/+ VESA 1280 x 1024 64 60 108 +/+ VESA 1280 x 1024 79.976 75.025 135 +/+ VESA 1600 x 1200 75 60 162 -/+ VESA 1680 x 1050 65.92 59.95 146.25 +/+ VESA 1920 x 1080 67.5 60 148.5 -/+ VESA 1920 x 1080 135 120 297 +/+ VESA 1920 x 1200 74.56 59.89 193.25 -/+ VESA 2048 x 1152 72 60 162 +/- VESA 2560 x 1080 66.66 60 185.581 +/- VESA 2560 x 1440 88.8 60 241.5 +/- VESA 2560 x 1440 182.996 120 497.75 +/- VESA 2560 x 1440 222.192 144 592 +/- VESA 2560 x 1440 (DisplayPort 1.4 only) 244.32 165 645 +/-

 

[TheShortTimer]

Most excellent thread and appropriate place to ask HOW I can get my G4 Mini to set and STORE the resolution I want (1280*720) for both OS and for EFI boot. I have set it to 720P but when I move it to my HDMI monitor it suddenly forgets it all again and I get no display.

This problem has driven me to depair and its led to me retiring the Mini from regular use because I'm not enthused about constantly remote accessing it from another computer in order to restore the display settings. If anyone has suggestions for a solution or less aggravating workaround, I'd welcome them.

 

[Amethyst1]

@Methanoid - Simply pasting tables into a post causes things to get a bit messy and hard to read. It’s best to link to the monitor's spec page.

Now... do you have Leopard on the mini? And another system which can access the mini via the network?

If so: hook it up to the monitor it likes, turn on Screen Sharing in System Preferences > Sharing, move to the S2712DGFA, connect via Screen Sharing (from the other system, using a VNC client and the mini's IP address) and play with the resolution settings from within the remote session until you find a setting that works.
(If you have an earlier version of Mac OS X, you can look into setting up a VNC server.)

Given the mini's limits of 135 MHz (for non-continuous displays) or 154 MHz (for continuous displays) pixel clock, 1920×1080 at 60 Hz may or may not work. If it doesn't, try 1280×720 or 1280×1024 at 60 Hz. If you want to try custom resolutions, SwitchResX is the way to go.

 

[Methanoid]

@Methanoid - Simply pasting tables into a post causes things to get a bit messy and hard to read. It’s best to link to the monitor's spec page.

Now... do you have Leopard on the mini? And another system which can access the mini via the network?

If so: hook it up to the monitor it likes, turn on Screen Sharing in System Preferences > Sharing, move to the S2712DGFA, connect via Screen Sharing (from the other system, using a VNC client and the mini's IP address) and play with the resolution settings from within the remote session until you find a setting that works.
(If you have an earlier version of Mac OS X, you can look into setting up a VNC server.)

Given the mini's limits of 135 MHz (for non-continuous displays) or 154 MHz (for continuous displays) pixel clock, 1920×1080 at 60 Hz may or may not work. If it doesn't, try 1280×720 or 1280×1024 at 60 Hz. If you want to try custom resolutions, SwitchResX is the way to go.

I know about the messy tables -https://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_electronics_accessories/esuprt_electronics_accessories_monitors/dell-s2721dgfa-monitor_user%27s-guide_en-us.pdf its a long manual!

Do I need to remote in to set it or is it the act of moving from one monitor to another that resets it? I set it yesterday on a 1080P TV to 720P res but when I connected to my 1440P monitor I get no display. I am happy with 720P as its pixel doubled to 1440P so sharp and clear or SHOULD be!

I am trying to avoid SwitchResX as I intend to run many OS on the Mini, inc Linux, MorphOS, OS9 etc

I DO have a 2nd Mini (2009) that I could plug in and do screen sharing. I did look briefly into yesterday but it seemed to suggest each session requires approval on the machine receiving the sharing (ie the G4)? If that's not the case and I can pre-approve then yes, that would work!

 

[Amethyst1]

is it the act of moving from one monitor to another that resets it?

Those settings are stored per monitor. Moving to another resets them.

You just need to enable Screen Sharing on the target machine. But if you have the same problem on other OSes you’ll have to configure remote access on those too.

You might want to look into an EDID spoofer that sits between the mini and your monitor and reports a maximum resolution of 1280×720 instead — to prevent the mini from defaulting to a non-working resolution regardless of the OS that is on it.

 

[Methanoid]

Those settings are stored per monitor. Moving to another resets them.

You just need to enable Screen Sharing on the target machine. But if you have the same problem on other OSes you’ll have to configure remote access on those too.

You might want to look into an EDID spoofer that sits between the mini and your monitor and reports a maximum resolution of 1280×720 instead — to prevent the mini from defaulting to a non-working resolution regardless of the OS that is on it.

Thank you for such a helpful reply (and the others here)

Will

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or

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005002089110471.html

suffice

or do I need this other?

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If the former works for the Mini at 720P I may as well grab one for my 2009 Mini also

 

[Amethyst1]

or do I need this other?

I would give this slightly more expensive one a try since it allows you to configure the resolution it reports and 1280×720 is one of them. Those other, cheaper ones look like they default to at least 1920×1080, with no way to change that. And even 1920×1080 can be iffy with the G4 mini, as has been shown.

 

[crystalidea]

For me, the easiest solution for the g4 mini to output to 1080p 60hz HDMI monitor (which is actually 1440p) is using the following adapter, which also supports sound output. Works pretty neat, as virtual analog monitor.

 

[Amethyst1]

For me, the easiest solution for the g4 mini to output to 1080p 60hz HDMI monitor (which is actually 1440p) is using the following adapter, which also supports sound output. Works pretty neat, as virtual analog monitor.

Good call. This circumvents the pixel clock limits imposed on DVI. The G4 mini can do (at least) 2560×1024 at 60 Hz via VGA, which requires 218 MHz (using CVT timings) or 172 MHz pixel clock (using CVT-RB timings).

 

[crystalidea]

When doing 1920x1080 60Hz with this adapter I see some horizontal lines moving (visibility depends on background color), the best is 1440x900 75Hz for some reason

 

[Methanoid]

I've ordered the EDID fixer and will be happy if it fixes me at 1280*720

 

[Iritscen]

I've ordered the EDID fixer and will be happy if it fixes me at 1280*720

Did that end up working for you? I'm curious because I need something similar, and this product is a lot cheaper than some other EDID emulators on the market.