External monitor and KVM for Macbook

[sidmad123]

I've googled for an answer on this and searched on the site but can't find what I'm doing wrong here. I've got a MacBook with OS X for personal use and a Dell laptop for work and a brand new HP flatscreen monitor. So I connected a Belkin KVM so that I can send both laptops to the monitor and control both with my external keyboard/mouse.

When I switch to the Mac, I'm able to type and use the mouse with the external keyboard/mouse. But I'll be darned if I can get the display to show up on the external monitor. What happens is that the MacBook seems to cycle through various settings but it never shows up on the external display which winds up going to sleep.

I've gone in Display preferences and moved the menu from one screen to the other (when that Arrangement option is available) but still no love. It's definitely not as easy as it is with a PC to set up an external monitor. Oh, I forgot to mention: I'm going mini-DVI to a VGA adapter; the VGA adapter is my A or B on the KVM switch.

The PC side of this works great with the KVM and external monitor/keyboard/mouse. If anyone can tell me what I'm doing wrong with the Mac not displaying on the external monitor, however, I'd be very grateful.

Thanks!

[mvcube]

Can you connect your external monitor to the MacBook directly (bypassing the KVM switch?)

[sidmad123]

Marcus,

Thanks for your post. Your question made me look at my KVM cable hookup and, sure enough, I had screwed up the cabling. All is well now and I'm typing this message on my new flatscreen via the KVM keyboard/mouse.

Regards,
David