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I recently purchased a LG 34UM95. I planned to use the Thunderbolt daisy-chain feature to add another non-Thunderbolt monitor (mini DP --> HDMI) as the second link of the chain. However, it doesn't work when plugged in, and LG support informed me the daisy chain will only work with a monitor of the same model (e.g. another 34UM95).

Anyone know of a workaround for this? I thought a normal Thunderbolt chain could terminate with a non-Thunderbolt monitor.

(For clarity, my setup: MBP 15" Late 2013 -- Thunderbolt --Thunderbolt --> LG 34UM95 -- MiniDP -- HDMI --> LG E2360)

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  • hey Matthew, have you by any chance found a solution to this issue? I am also trying to daisy chain with a Dell U1515H without any luck.
    – zanona
    Commented Feb 8, 2016 at 12:36
  • Unfortunately not, I couldn't find anything. :/ I wound up just excepting that I would have to plug two cables in, and use an HDMI <---> mini DP for the other monitor.
    – mdierker
    Commented Feb 8, 2016 at 17:23
  • That's a real shame. Thanks for the heads up though Matthew.
    – zanona
    Commented Feb 9, 2016 at 16:38

2 Answers 2

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It's doable, one simply must include a TB device between the two monitors.

Computer->TB Monitor->TB Device->Non-TB Monitor

The TB device can be any dock, drive, etc. that has TB-in and TB-out ports (2 x TB ports).

  • The technical details have to do with the way TB carries and decodes display signals. TB can carry 2 signals. Essentially, each TB device can only decode 1 x display signal (there's more to it, and technically TB devices could decode 2 signals, it just ain't happenin' right now). So your initial TB monitor can decode one for viewing on itself and pass the other along...but it isn't decoded. You need a second TB device to decode that second signal. If the second device is a TB display, then you're in-like-Flynn. If not (like in your case), you need another TB device to decode the signal before it hits your non-TB monitor.
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I'm temporarily going blind in one eye, which makes things blurry, so I wanted a really big monitor. I bought a Wal-Mart Sceptre 43" 4k TV, but when I plugged it into the last place on my Thunderbolt daisy chain I got a horrible color cast - very pink - and there was no way to adjust the color to make it acceptable. But when I plugged the DisplayPort-to-HDMI adapter directly into my 17" MBP (quad-core i7, single Thunderbolt port, 16GB DRAM, 1TB SSD, 1GB VRAM, Thunderbolt Display) , the problem went away, so I knew it wasn't the TV. There had never been a problem with my HP 1080p DisplayPort monitor that worked perfectly for years on the end of the same Thunderbolt chain.

My solution: I finally remembered that one of my Thunderbolt docks had HDMI output. Plugged the TV cable into one of them and - drum roll! - problem solved! I have a CalDigit dock, but I'd guess that any Thunderbolt dock with HDMI would have fixed the problem. Note that not all docks support HDMI.

My setup: 17" MBP > Thunderbolt Display > AKiTIO Thunder Dock > CalDigit Thunderbolt Station 2 > Promise Pegasus 4.

Now I'm wondering if I can have a 3rd monitor by putting the HP back on the end of the chain? I'm guessing not, but I'll give it a try just to see!

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