USB-C Video Port not working with MacBook or other laptops

@PEHowland can you please send me the link of the exact cable you used? Also, have you tried all the different USB-C ports of your MacBook? Here in our office all of us use MacBooks and it works fine. (Could be that the soldering of one or two pins on the projector’s USB-C port came off, but this is speculation.)

What does “Connection Type:” say for the projector display in the System Report under Graphics/Displays? (my external Dell is USB-C alt-mode DisplayPort which is why it says DisplayPort in my case and should say “DVI or HDMI” in your case.


(Edited HDMI to DVI or HDMI after confirmation from @Philips_Support_P)

Correct me if I’m wrong @Philips_Support_P, but the USB-C video port is only supposed to accept and negotiate HDMI alt-mode, not DisplayPort alt-mode, right?

Correct, it should show DVI or HDMI for connection type.

PicoPix Max connected via USB-C:

For comparison, PicoPix Max connected via HDMI cable:

And a regular 4K monitor connected via USB-C in DP mode:

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That makes sense, you’re not getting any “Connection Type” listed for the HDMI ports.

Did someone run out of imagination naming the device “Projector” in the EDID? :slight_smile:

Hi Prashant. Here is the link to the cable I bought - the packaging says 100W power delivery and also Data Transfer. I have also tried using the USB-C cable supplied with the projector.

Same issue with all four USB-C ports on the MacBook Pro. This is the 16" 2019 model.

That cable is a no go for video (only “high-speed” USB 2.0 communications possible)… But the cable shipped with the PPM should work. What does your System Report say?

It does not list the Projector. It only refers to the internal LCD display.

OK, that means that it hasn’t successfully negotiated any video alt-mode, I’m curious how macOS was able to detect a display but not showing it in the systems report…

Well, perhaps I have misunderstood. I see the projector listed as a connection option under the AirPlay icon in the menubar. But I guess it is seeing the projector over the wifi, not the cable.

@wernerj @Philips_Support_P. I have just tested the projector with the Philips cable and my work Dell laptop running Windows 10, and this connected instantly to the projector and worked fine. So clearly not a cable or projector hardware issue. I don’t have to configure anything on the MacBook - I should just plug it in and it should appear on the projector, right?

That would make sense, if it isn’t showing up under About this Mac / Displays then it hasn’t been recognized. I haven’t yet tested any HDMI alt-mode monitors/projectors on the 16" MBP, but it should work. I know that DP alt-mode works but I can’t verify HDMI.

Great, we know that the shipping cable and the projector works as intended but something might still be flakey with the 16" MBP support. You shouldn’t have to configure anything on the MBP.

Don’t even ask about EDID… all the chromaticity data and native white point etc. is all wrong. Since it needs to be burnt in, I left it for now. Probably future batches will improve it.

Yes it should just work on plugging it in. It should show up as Projector in the airplay menu when connected by cable. The name over wifi is PPX620-nnn with some 3 digit number.

What do you see in that menu after plugging it in?
What do you see in System Information? (option-click the apple logo on top left, then go to Graphics section)

image

I see the following. Systems information only shows the built-in display - projector is not mentioned

I’m curious if the Mac starts any video link whatsoever when you plug the PPM in. It should be visible in one of the /var/log/displaypolicy/displaypolicyd.* log files. I’m getting the following on alt-mode DP insertion but I have no idea how this is supposed to look like in HDMI mode:

2020-02-05 13:31:40.158375+0100: LinkUpdate: 4.0 event: Insert [0]
2020-02-05 13:31:40.158463+0100: NOTICE: Addr: 4.0 event: Insert [0] source: 0
2020-02-05 13:31:40.181066+0100: NOTICE: Populated addr 4.0 10ac:a0f4 UUID 4c384430 order 0:0 tx 2:2 dsp 1 WL 0 MS 0 edid 256 undef 0 DSC 0
2020-02-05 13:31:40.440297+0100: NOTICE: Do online device addr 4.0 processCount 1
2020-02-05 13:31:40.440600+0100: NOTICE: Sync LinkTrain Port: 4: SST, 4 lanes @ HBR2 FEC disabled
2020-02-05 13:31:40.507837+0100: NOTICE: FB AGDC state FB[1] - ON
2020-02-05 13:31:40.507867+0100: NOTICE: inject FB[1] change
2020-02-05 13:31:40.507886+0100: NOTICE: Do online device addr 4.0 id 10ac:a0f4 UUID 4c384430 order 0:0 edid 256 undef 0 - completed
2020-02-05 13:31:40.821292+0100: NOTICE: kIOFBNotifyOnlineChange 0x1 fb[ 1 ] -> online, Wed Feb  5 13:31:40 2020
2020-02-05 13:31:40.821331+0100: NOTICE: Update display map to fb[ 1 ] - online

@PEHowland Since the same cable works fine on another laptop, I think it must be a config issue on your MacBook.

How about trying one more thing – connect the laptop and projector, then press HOME on the remote, go to Projector Settings > Input Source and choose USB-C.

This may somehow kickstart the Mac into detecting that a device is plugged in.

And I guess it’s a dumb question, but are you sure you’re plugging the USBC cable into the VIDEO port on the projector (left side)? Does a green/amber LED light up on the projector when it’s plugged?

@Philips_Support_P. Thank you. Yes, I have tried manually selecting USB-C as the input source, but this does not help (it switches back to Android after a few seconds of showing the green screen). I confirm I am using the USB-C video port and I have also noticed the green/amber light when it is plugged in.

I also just tried reinstalling MacOS by rebooting by machine and using Command-R to reinstall from the recovery disk. This has completed successfully, but the issue remains. I wondered whether the USB driver in the OS was corrupted somehow, but I guess not.

Neither of the two log files in /var/log/displaypolicy/ show any update when the projector is plugged in. My MacBook screen brightens and it pings when I plug in the cable, but that’s the only sign of recognition!