Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Mac Mini + Thunderbolt Display + LaCie little big disk + 27 Cinema Display

D

Drharrington

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 1, 2012
94
0
Just confirming you can run dual monitors - with thunderbolt and Cinema Display in daisey chain. Just need a thunderbolt accessory in between. Was even able to run my 13 mbp with intel HD 3000 in place of the mini - still dual. Only issue is when writing to the little disk - Cinema Display will flicker initially. No big deal - as I was glad to mix Thunderbolt Display with the 27 Cinema Display. Yippie !!!
 
Thanks for that.
I am about to pull the trigger for the Mini i7 and want to use the Lacie 2Big Tbolt to chain the monitor. Will use a Samsung 27" monitor via hdmi until the new TBD comes out.

Do you, by any chance, have another Tbolt HDD that you can test chaining after the Lacie?

The new Mini with only one TB socket makes no sense to me. Why not have 3 and get it over with?
 
I am not sure your question. I connect the MM to the TB. Then TB to little big disk (via thunderbolt cable) then from the little disk to cinema (via its built in MDP---confirmed you can use a 2009 27 imac in target via mini display cable as well). Essentially the little big disk has one in and one out... That might have been your question. Hope it helps. It gets around the thunder to mini display compatibility issue.

----------

So fairly certain you could run MM to new thunderbolt then LB disk to the samsung -- eventually that may be the setup you desire...

----------

If the samsung has MDP capability that would be better to get the 2500 rez... I am certain if your going to run that MM to thunderbolt and samsung via HDMI port -- should be fine but your rez via HDMi is limited I believe to 1900...
 
Yes, how about something like MM --> LB1 --> LB2 ?
So, daisy chain two external TB HDDs...
Not sure if you have a second LB or any other TB HDD to try.
 
Really good news, since i am really not impressed with the imac.

My current solution is a 17" MBP 2011. TB to dell u2713HM.
intermittent buggy-as-hell usb3 expresscard34

Option 1: 27" Imac, fusion drive, dell as second monitor

Option 2: Mac mini i7 with 1tb storage. Lacie LBD TB SSD 512GB, daisy chained to my dell. Later i will connect MM to TB-display via TB, daisy-chain to lacie disk, daisy chained to my dell

Option 3: MM with samsung 840pro ssd internal, TB connected to apple TB display, daisy-chained to dell via mdp (not sure this is possible though)
 
Yes. I'm getting away from IMACs as well. Too difficult to work on. I've been able to change/ add drives on the MM. Easy tear down. Plus - you can swap monitors as you upgrade. IMAC no flexibility.
 
cvs said:
Thanks for that.
I am about to pull the trigger for the Mini i7 and want to use the Lacie 2Big Tbolt to chain the monitor. Will use a Samsung 27" monitor via hdmi until the new TBD comes out.

Do you, by any chance, have another Tbolt HDD that you can test chaining after the Lacie?

The new Mini with only one TB socket makes no sense to me. Why not have 3 and get it over with?
Click to expand...

It didn't work for me with an HP monitor chained after a LaCie 2Big using the Thunderbolt to DVI converter. LaCie confirmed that only Thunderbolt monitors will work. I went down to one monitor and will get the new Thunderbolt display when it comes out.
 
That's surprising gcortes. I have been following this issue for a while as I wait for external SSD prices to fall some more. About the Little Big Disk, Lacie says:

"Simplify connections between your A/V devices and computer peripherals by daisy chaining them all together so you only need a single port on your laptop. It's even mini DisplayPort backwards compatible so you can, for example, connect your high-end LaCie 324i display and your LaCie Little Big Disk to your Mac."

I wonder why they made it possible to daisychain mini displayPort from the Little Big Disk and not from the 2Big.

----------

The plot thickens - I just went and read what Lacie says about the 2big on its webpage at http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10573 .

According to that, your setup should have worked:

"Thunderbolt technology is also mini-DisplayPort compatible. For example, you can connect a display and a 2big to your Mac via a single Thunderbolt cable."

I wonder why they told you it required a Thunderbolt display when it says this right on the product webpage?!
 
So, in effect, if we go TB only, it could run like MM --> LBD --> 2Big --> TD ?

Can thunderbolt run 2 storage peripherals plus a TD?
The second monitor could be via HDMI, I guess...

(Man, these things cost so much, why can't those makers just test them out and then be straight about what they can do and what not?)
 
They claim one daisychain can support 7 peripherals. I haven't heard of anyone doing that yet.
 
uncleMonty said:
They claim one daisychain can support 7 peripherals. I haven't heard of anyone doing that yet.
Click to expand...

6 Thunderbolt peripherals.

Can be:
MM-LBD-LBD-LBD-LBD-LBD-ThunderboltDisplay

or

MM-ThunderboltDisplay-LBD-LBD-LBD-LBD-LBD

or the ThunderboltDisplay can be between any of the LBD

The LBD can also be any LaCie 2big, or other daisy-chainable drive.

The last device can be a bus powered device.

I've never seen 5 drives connected, but have seen the NAB demo videos from last year that had 4 drives chained together.

Just be sure to connect the built-in cable of the ThunderboltDisplay directly to the computer, or towards the computer. It does not carry power so cannot reverse the connection using your own Thunderbolt cable towards computer, with built-in cable directly to bus-powered device.

In other words, the built-in cable cannot provide bus-power.
 
uncleMonty said:
That's surprising gcortes. I have been following this issue for a while as I wait for external SSD prices to fall some more. About the Little Big Disk, Lacie says:

The plot thickens - I just went and read what Lacie says about the 2big on its webpage at http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10573 .

According to that, your setup should have worked:

"Thunderbolt technology is also mini-DisplayPort compatible. For example, you can connect a display and a 2big to your Mac via a single Thunderbolt cable."

I wonder why they told you it required a Thunderbolt display when it says this right on the product webpage?!
Click to expand...

Maybe it was the rep answering my question just saying it wasn't supported without really looking into it. Another possibility is that my HP LP2475w monitor is the problem and other non-thunderbolt monitors may work. I was also in a two monitor configuration. That might of had something to do with it. I would have thought it should work.
 
Last edited:
gcortes said:
Maybe it was the rep answering my question just saying it wasn't supported without really looking into it. Another possibility is that my HP LP2475w monitor is the problem and other non-thunderbolt monitors may work. I was also in a two monitor configuration. That might of had something to do with it. I would have thought it should work.
Click to expand...

Hi,

DVI is not the same as DisplayPorts and we don't build the TB devices to support adapters. The adapter is responsible for maintaining the signal from the computer to the device and if it changes the signal at all then our unit won't be able to recognize it. What the rep was likely trying to point out is that its the adapter itself that is incompatible, not the setup or devices. Can you give me your ticket number with us and I'll look more into this.

~mn, LaCie
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back