Connecting a Monitor with a SCSI interface to a Mac with USBC

[Philip Flower]

I have an old monitor that I used to use with a Power Mac G5. It seems to have a scsi plug. Anyone know if it is possible to connect it to modern Mac via USBC? A Google search seems to suggest that adapters do exist but I can't actually find one.

Anyone got any thoughts

 

[MarshallG]

No, you won’t find an adapter and it cannot be made to work with a modern computer. I worked on one of these products in 1992. They relied on running a video accelerator inside the monitor, and the computer needed to send QuickDraw commands over the cable. So you’d need a hardware interface and a lot of software development to make it work.

So, forget it. Nice piece of computer history, but it won’t work on a modern computer.

 

[CAcreeks]

I have an old monitor that I used to use with a Power Mac G5. It seems to have a scsi plug. Anyone know if it is possible to connect it to modern Mac via USBC? A Google search seems to suggest that adapters do exist but I can't actually find one.

Anyone got any thoughts

No problem.

I connected an old Dell 1920x1200 monitor in 2023, according to Amazon:

• $9 BENFEI DVI to HDMI bidirectional DVI-D to HDMI Adapters
• $16 USB-C to HDMI Cable 3 feet long (Thunderbolt 3/4 Compatible)

 

[Philip Flower]

No, you won’t find an adapter and it cannot be made to work with a modern computer. I worked on one of these products in 1992. They relied on running a video accelerator inside the monitor, and the computer needed to send QuickDraw commands over the cable. So you’d need a hardware interface and a lot of software development to make it work.

So, forget it. Nice piece of computer history, but it won’t work on a modern computer.

Thanks, my mistake. It isn't a scsi cable at all but some proprietary apple system that also provides power to the monitor. There is no input for mains power on the monitor.

However I also have an old Cinema Display which comes with a power brick and a confusing spaghetti tangle of wires. But it does have a DVI port and the adapter I have looks as if it terminates in what looks like an old Thunderbolt cable. I also have the old Thunderbolt to new Thunderbolt Apple adapter so maybe that will work.

 

[MHF in VA]

You might check Luna Display (Astropad) and / or Duet Display. With Astropad's help I was able to use my 2016 iMac as a monitor with my more current MacBook Pro. Apple claimed it couldn't be done. Ends up they were wrong.

 

[CAcreeks]

No, you won’t find an adapter and it cannot be made to work with a modern computer. I worked on one of these products in 1992. They relied on running a video accelerator inside the monitor, and the computer needed to send QuickDraw commands over the cable. So you’d need a hardware interface and a lot of software development to make it work.

So, forget it. Nice piece of computer history, but it won’t work on a modern computer.

Thanks, my mistake. It isn't a scsi cable at all but some proprietary apple system that also provides power to the monitor. There is no input for mains power on the monitor.

Sorry, as you and MarshallG point out, it is not DVI-D. It has two extra pins under the blade, and 10x3 pins across instead of 8x3.

 

[MarshallG]

No, you won’t find an adapter and it cannot be made to work with a modern computer. I worked on one of these products in 1992. They relied on running a video accelerator inside the monitor, and the computer needed to send QuickDraw commands over the cable. So you’d need a hardware interface and a lot of software development to make it work.

So, forget it. Nice piece of computer history, but it won’t work on a modern computer.

Thanks, my mistake. It isn't a scsi cable at all but some proprietary apple system that also provides power to the monitor. There is no input for mains power on the monitor.

However I also have an old Cinema Display which comes with a power brick and a confusing spaghetti tangle of wires. But it does have a DVI port and the adapter I have looks as if it terminates in what looks like an old Thunderbolt cable. I also have the old Thunderbolt to new Thunderbolt Apple adapter so maybe that will work.

If it’s not SCSI, then maybe it will work. What is the model and brand of the display?

 

[JPAlbert]

That looks to me like a DVI connector of some sort.

Find out more about DVI here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Visual_Interface

I'd also open a search engine and enter
"dvi to mac cables"

Is that an old Apple display (hard-wired with that connector)?
Honestly, probably not worth using.

Get yourself a MODERN display.
27" 4k would be a good starting point.

 

[Gesture]

Not exactly the same, but I still use a DVI to HDMI adapter on one of my PCs.

 

[JanK01]

That's a DVI plug. Get an adapter to USB-C like this one: https://docs.rs-online.com/1a31/0900766b815da4b0.pdf An HDMI adapter is even cheaper.

 

[CAcreeks]

That's a DVI plug. Get an adapter to USB-C like this one: https://docs.rs-online.com/1a31/0900766b815da4b0.pdf An HDMI adapter is even cheaper.

No, it's not DVI. With 10x3 pins, it's a VESA Enhanced Video Connector (EVC).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VESA_Enhanced_Video_Connector

I'm glad that Tim Cook stopped approving all these weird-a55 non-standard connectors that Steve Jobs was so fond off. Good to have USB-C on new iPhones! (Blame the EU.) And HDMI on my Macbook.

 

[MarshallG]

Not exactly the same, but I still use a DVI to HDMI adapter on one of my PCs.

HDMI was built on top of DVI, and HDMI devices are required to support DVI via passive adapters.

 

[QuietOC]

That's a DVI plug. Get an adapter to USB-C like this one: https://docs.rs-online.com/1a31/0900766b815da4b0.pdf An HDMI adapter is even cheaper.

No, it's not DVI. With 10x3 pins, it's a VESA Enhanced Video Connector (EVC).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VESA_Enhanced_Video_Connector

I'm glad that Tim Cook stopped approving all these weird-a55 non-standard connectors that Steve Jobs was so fond off. Good to have USB-C on new iPhones! (Blame the EU.) And HDMI on my Macbook.

Similar but not it :

Apple Display Connector - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org