Assigning a Primary Dispaly

1

I have a MacBook Pro 13" running 10.6.4. I have a external Dell DVI flat panel connected to the Mac mini port on notebook. I purchased two Plugable USB 2.0 Graphics Adapter’s so I can run two other Dell DVI flat panels from the two remaining USB ports on the notebook. The problem is that I cannot figure out how to assign one of the monitors as the primary. How do I specifically assign one as the primary?

2

Hi David - Thanks for your question!

Yes, Apple hasn’t made this obvious. The trick is to open your Displays preference pane. Click on the Arrangement tab, and click & drag the menu bar from one display image to the other.

Here’s the icon for the Displays item in OS X’s System Preferences.
!](https://sslproxy.getsatisfaction.com/sslproxy/SWhAdDNLMG5zdGFuVGlWenmLbJDGd3CABhjZermgcystANA4T6nd0pzV0fSzBRRGOd17A4b8ZLwi6-HESbXI0rxaD_mZyOaVAnSX8SRsgWTaE1UlQGHzMkG-y4tEu9dKKD-bg4ivFPZymMZIGl-owIT9lOToX1LNhnVeqOizgJY=.png)](http://s3.amazonaws.com/satisfaction-production/s3_images/309634/system-preferences-displays.png)

Click on the “Arrangement” will show something like this, with the white bar on top of the displays that’s currently set as primary.

!](https://sslproxy.getsatisfaction.com/sslproxy/SWhAdDNLMG5zdGFuVGlWenmLbJDGd3CABhjZermgcystANA4T6nd0pzV0fSzBRRGOd17A4b8ZLwi6-HESbXI0rizv9t6us0aWI8C4TKGPOhN2rT45-e04ok1Tzjf6-6P-vzXOybQpC-FDDZUApfVRCTA0Tj0QgL-vQbDFTjAmVVsAk7Rc4Dl0vzFgpOyxkoG.png)](http://s3.amazonaws.com/satisfaction-production/s3_images/309636/system-preferences-displays-arrangement.png)

If you click and drag that over to one of the other monitors, voila, OS X sets a new primary.

!](https://sslproxy.getsatisfaction.com/sslproxy/SWhAdDNLMG5zdGFuVGlWenmLbJDGd3CABhjZermgcystANA4T6nd0pzV0fSzBRRGOd17A4b8ZLwi6-HESbXI0oDbPwQLagfbbdkAVDWUWtmAPKN00wo1_z3X7jssOIQm2flmF0Fu9YpF1Ki2lQovGMOT3HBVMWdgwpZMlZ_cFsQkeR8uDOCfovT46PMDh89K.png)](http://s3.amazonaws.com/satisfaction-production/s3_images/309638/system-preferences-displays-new-primary.png)

Note that I’ve seen scattered reports of difficulties when the OS X primary display is set to a display that comes and goes (and USB will do, when the devices comes and goes). I don’t know for certain if all those problems have been resolved.

Hope this helps. Please reply if there are any other follow-ups.

Thanks again for your purchase!
Bernie