If VGA shows nothing...Plug in the VGA cable to the projector and the adapter. Then, close the Mac book while powered on, causing it to go into sleep...Plug in the adapter and open the mac book back up. It should work...thats what I have to do if I want to use VGA... My Mac book freezes when I plug in the VGA adapter with the screen open...

Try changing the resolution & cycle settings of your laptop. Projectors have (and you must know) resolution parameters or limits. Refresh rate Hz cycles also must match. I would imagine that if the external video is not showing up in System Preferences:Displays window you have either a resolution/cycle matching problem OR a connector/adapter problem.

There is a "detect displays" button in System Preferences to use if connecting the cables/adaptor doesn't automagically find a second display.

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