Club3D CSV-1585 dual display only mirrors each other on MAC

Updated on 30-10-2024 in Adapters and Cables
5 on 23-10-2024

Hi there.

I have two HDMI monitors, both plugged into the KVM where one uses a DisplayPort male to HDMI female adapter. When plugged into my mac both screen works but they mirror each other instead of being independent. The mac laptop screen works independent from the two displays.

The monitor plugged into the HDMI port of the KVM is the monitor that shows in the display settings of my MAC. Which leads me to believe that the issue is with the adapter. The adapter is an old adapter so my hope is that I just need to replace it with a more modern adapter. I also don’t have a DisplayPort monitor so I can’t test my theory. Unfortunately I am still waiting for my motherboard upgrade on the second computer with a type-C adapter. I do have a type-C port on the second computer’s GPU but just plugging the KVM in does nothing. So I don’t know if it is only Mac related.

My question is whether the adapter is the issue and if it is the issue would a new modern or a specific adapter solve my problem or will I have to return the product?

 
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3 on 23-10-2024

Hi 🙂
What’s your KVM switch and Mac laptop model?

on 23-10-2024

Club3D CSV-1585 and Apple M3 Pro

on 24-10-2024

Hi Vandermerwe,

Thank you for reaching out!

The issue you’re experiencing is not caused by the adapter but by a compatibility limitation with Apple devices. Unfortunately, Apple does not support Multi-Stream Transport (MST), which is essential for extending displays through a single connection. As a result, your two monitors will only mirror each other instead of functioning as separate, independent screens when connected to the KVM switch (CSV-1585). This is a limitation of the Mac and cannot be resolved by replacing the adapter.

If you need independent displays, you may need to look into alternative solutions that are compatible with macOS, such as using a docking station that supports dual extended displays specifically for Mac.

Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions!

Best regards,
Wiktor

on 30-10-2024

Hi there.

Is there some kind of hardware setup where I can switch displays from my personal computer to my mac and back with a push of a button while having dual extended displays with mac?

I work from home and the mac laptop is for work I have to do for my job but I do a lot of work on my personal computer as well so to plug and unplug my peripherals during the day is tedious and is what I tried resolving with the KVM.

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0 on 24-10-2024

The product page for the CSV-1585 is at https://www.club-3d.com/en/detail/2647/displayport-hdmi_kvm_switch-dock_4k60hz_for_usb_type_c_inputs/

It says “Docking station with MST functionality(On MAC systems Only SST(Mirror Screen))”

macOS doesn’t support MST for multiple separate displays. If your Mac can boot into Windows or Linux, then the MST functionality may work in those OS’s (at least for Intel Macs – not sure about Apple Silicon Macs).

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