2012 Mac mini with 2 displays

PBear

Registered
I just received my Dell U2412M with a 3rd party MiniDisplay port. Previously I had been using a Dell 2209WA connected to the MM via the HDMI port. I want to use the 2412 as the main display so after I set it up the Desktop showed up on the 2209 display. I switched the cables between the displays and now I got the Desktop on the 2412 but, when I turned on the MM after switching the cables the login page showed up on the 2209 instead of the 2412. How do I set it up to have the login page show up on the 2412 display on boot up?
Another odd thing is when I first started the MM up this morning, only my Standard user account showed up on the login page. No Admin, second Standard or Guest account was shown. A reboot later on showed all the accounts but they still came up on the 2209 display.
 
All you need to do is change the display pref settings so your 2412 is your main display. You can easily do that in the Displays pref pane, then click the Arrangement tab.
You'll notice that only one of your displays has a menubar at the top of the screen. That's the display used by your system as the primary display, and is also the one used for the login screen.
You'll see a representation of both your displays in that Arrangement tab. One will have a double line (the menubar) at the top of the display. Just click and drag that top border to your other display in the Arrangement tab.
And - that will then set THAT display to be your primary display, and will be the one used for displaying the login screen.
 
I had to switch the the displays in the Arrangement tab because the 2412 is on the left and the 2209 had the menubar. The Arrangement tab shows the menubar on the left side (2412) and that's where the Desktop/menubar is currently at but, the login screen still comes up on the 2209 for some reason.

EDIT: I see where I went wrong here. I didn't drag the menubar across in the Arrangements tab, just the screen window.
Thank you, DM.
 
Last edited:
Also, still in the Arrangements tab, you can move the displays around, so the displays are positioned as you wish to use them.
You can even position the displays one above the other.
The menubar can be on whichever display you choose.

Just to look forward to 10.9 (Mavericks), which will take multiple displays to a new level of flexibility - http://www.apple.com/osx/preview/#multiple-displays
 
Back
Top