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I need a little help here,

I have attached my MacBook Air Mid 2013, to an Belkin Thunderbolt 2 Express Dock HD. On the product page it says that one can connect two monitors. The only condition is that one needs to be an Thunderbolt display. So far so good.

I attached one monitor with HDMI to the dock and another using the mini display port (which is compatible to Thunderbolt).
Unfortunately just the one with Mini-DP is working. If I disconnect the Mini-DP Monitor HDMI starts working.

Is there any advice why this is not working?

AND

Is there any option to make it work?

OSX 10.9.4 @ MacBook Air Mid 2013
Mini-DP Monitor: 2560x1080
HDMI-Monitor: 1920x1080

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  • Check system preferences and arrangement. Is your computer reading both screens and outputting to one?
    – Jake Stewart
    Commented Dec 17, 2014 at 19:36
  • Is not appearing in settings.
    – Eun
    Commented Dec 17, 2014 at 19:50
  • Do you have a mini display to hdmi
    – Jake Stewart
    Commented Dec 17, 2014 at 19:56
  • Yes, I tried to use that too, but how do you think I should connect it?
    – Eun
    Commented Dec 17, 2014 at 19:59
  • 1
    Try just two hdmi outputs, otherwise I am afraid it must use a true thunderbolt and not thunderbolt compatible device. Which I realize means you need a new monitor. Which would suck
    – Jake Stewart
    Commented Dec 17, 2014 at 20:00

8 Answers 8

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ref: EveryMac

*Although Apple only reports that this model can support a single external display up to 2560x1600, Intel reports that this model can simultaneously support two external displays up to 2560x1600 "daisy chained" via Thunderbolt.

From Belkin's page on the Thunderbolt™ 2 Express Dock HD …

"Note about dual displays: At least one display has to be Thunderbolt or Thunderbolt 2 technology-ready. For displays that are not Thunderbolt technology-ready, the Thunderbolt port is backwards compatible with Mini DisplayPort. The dock supports either HDMI or Mini DisplayPort, but not both. The dock supports only one display at 4K cinema resolution."

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  • That was not the Question...
    – Eun
    Commented Dec 17, 2014 at 20:12
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    "Is there any advice why this is not working?" That's why, it needs daisy-chained Thunderbolt monitors. Thunderbolt carries a lot more than DP. DP carries the 'TV' signal only, Thunderbolt carries PCIe. To get the 2nd screen working, it has to be running directly on the PCIe.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Dec 17, 2014 at 20:13
  • You haven't read the question correctly, the question is about the Belkin Dock, why it doesnt work with the Belkin Dock. I wouldn't need any dock if I had an Thunderbolt display that supports chaining. Anyways nvm.
    – Eun
    Commented Dec 17, 2014 at 20:20
  • It doesn't work with the Belkin dock because the screens don't understand Thunderbolt.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Dec 17, 2014 at 20:21
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    Answer updated with Belkin's own reference on the subject.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Dec 17, 2014 at 20:49
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You can get the second monitor to work if you have another thunderbolt device to pass the monitor through. In my case I connected an HDMI to displayport connector to a pegasus promise raid, and then connected the raid to the belking hub as well as a direct HDMI to the belkin hub, and I now have both monitors working.

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I have the same issue and resolved it by plugging one display into the HDMI port of the Belkin Dock, and the 2nd monitor into the HDMI port on the MacBook Pro. I know it kind of defeats the purpose of a dock, but I now have 2 HDMI displays being driven by my MacBook Pro without the need of a Thunderbolt display.

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  • The dual HDMI cables worked for me. One into the Belkin and one into the MacBook. Not ideal, but I have two monitors now. The Thunderbolt cable went over to drive the single monitor on the PC.
    – Karen Lane
    Commented May 9, 2018 at 16:36
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I have a macbook air with one thunderbolt connection. I currently have 3 monitors hooked up to it (2 HDMI, and one DVI). how did I do it? I purchased a Diamond USB 3.0 Dual Head Display Adapter. My main monitor connects to the thunderbolt connection on the macbook air. The second and third monitors - to the diamond adapter. The second and third monitors have good quality display, although their display rate is too slow to stream movies on (they are fine for reading email, browsing the web, etc.). This was the best solution I have found so far without purchasing additional thunderbolt monitors. Very annoyed with Apple on this one, but it does work. However, I do need to often set my monitors to not be mirrored, and their order after rebooting. Not too difficult, but its the best solution I've seen.
Mind you, my windows PC works perfectly with multiple monitors. Windows did better than mac on this one...

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You can only connect two or more displays to your mac when it is a thunderbolt display.

When you have an thunderbolt display and a non-thunderbolt display, your mac will automatically start working with the thunderbolt display until you unplug it.

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  • So this means, I need a real thunderbolt display? Not a one that is compatible with it? Like Mini-DP is?
    – Eun
    Commented Dec 17, 2014 at 19:29
  • 2 external displays requires the first to have a Thunderbolt 'through' afaik.
    – Tetsujin
    Commented Dec 17, 2014 at 20:01
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So the final answer on this, supported by links in comments and answers above is that the documentation says clearly there are only two possible ways to achieve what you are looking for. Either you daisy chain thunderbolt displays (obviously doesn't work for you). Or an hdmi and a true Thunderbolt Display. The first of those two possibilities is spelled out. The second of them is inferred by a lack of anything explicitly saying that option isn't possible. That being said if you're plugging in hdmi and a true Thunderbolt Display and it isn't working then it would stand to reason there was a tiny oversight in the documentation and that also isn't a possibility.

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Please believe me when I say that the Belkin Thunderbolt 2 Dock will not support two monitors if you have an older MacBook Pro. I have a 2011. One Thunderbolt port. It just does not have the capacity to drive two monitors. I have exhausted all options with it. Only one external monitor will work. I did however connect two monitors using the Dell D3100 USB Docking Station. I purchased this on-line directly from Dell. Arrived quickly. Simple setup. Works great with my MacBook! Actually allows for three monitors if required. My MacBook as one, plus two additional displays. Just had to download the correct video drivers from Displaylink. (http://www.displaylink.com/downloads) I am not a Dell fan or a Belkin hater. Just want to pass on what I experienced and what worked for me.

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This worked for me - "You can get the second monitor to work if you have another thunderbolt device to pass the monitor through. In my case I connected an HDMI to displayport connector to a pegasus promise raid, and then connected the raid to the belking hub as well as a direct HDMI to the belkin hub, and I now have both monitors working."

I happened to have a second Belkin dock lying around so did the following

Belkin dock #1 - HDMI out to HDMI monitor in - all good - Thunderbolt out to Belkin Dock #2

Belkin dock #2 - Thunderbolt out to Thunderbolt to VGA adapter to old Dell VGA monitor

I don't understand Belkin at all on this - I called tech support, completely useless, documentation is useless and unclear to be kind on this point . . .

PS Using a MacBook early 2014 running Sierra, driving 36 inch Sharp 1080p TV

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  • Does this answer provide new info or are you just confirming that one of the previous answers works for you? I'm not completing understanding your answer.
    – fsb
    Commented Jan 24, 2017 at 21:14

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