Dell, Apple, and DVI

Today I spent far too much time trying to connect a Dell 3007WFP 30" LCD monitor to an Apple Mac Pro with an NVIDIA 7300GT graphics card. There are three obstacles to doing this. First, the 7300GT card has two ports. The port closest to the edge connector ("lowest", or right-most as you face the back of the Mac Pro) is a dual-link connector. The other is a single-link connector which will not drive the LCD above 1280x800 pixels. Secondly, the cable used to connect the display must be dual-link. Many inexpensive DVI cables are single-link. You can distinguish these by counting the pins. Dual-link adaptor ports and cable connectors will have three rows of 8 pins plus a single larger, flat pin off to one side. Single-link ports and connectors have two groups of nine pins and the single larger, flat pin. The critical distinction are those six missing pins from the center. This image should help distinguish the connectors.

Beginnings

In the beginning there was only the Great Self reflected in the form of a person. Reflecting, it found nothing but Itself. Then its first word was, "This am I."

Good morning.