Display Port cable troubleshooting - worth to read

[Abburo]

I feel that I need to share with you one of the most strange PC troubleshooting I have experienced. I think is a good read for any of you who are using this Display Port cables.

 

Occasionally my PC was refusing to boot up, showing absolutely nothing on the monitor. This is kind of old story for me but I was always thought that my multiple USB devices were the source for this issue or my OC settings. When that was occurring I was disconnecting everything including power cable and video cable, then leave my computer 2 minutes to discharge any potential statically electric charge from the components and ultimately my computer was able to start.

 

This symptom happens with my previous computer, as well as with the brand new one which can be seen in my signature.

 

However, starting few day ago I felt I was going crazy because my PC refuse to boot up (with no image on the screen), no matter how long I was repeating the above procedure. By chance (a moment of brain fart), I have tried to connect my TV with a HDMI cable and it starts. With my computer running I have reconnected the main monitor and everything worked fine. But if I was shutting down my PC, I had to redo the start over HDMI with display port unplugged. This happens each and every time... since one week ago. I was perplexed and almost ready to write an email to ASUS to report this stupid issue because both MB and Video Card were made by them.

 

But then, another brain fart occurred and I have asked my son to borrow me his DP cable. Here it is were the revelation occurred - my PC starts correctly connected to the main monitor. Then I have tried my DP cable on his PC which was a bit more verbose than mine and it reported immediately on the POST screen a Power Surge issue. **** , **** ****... sry for the words but that was in my mind.

 

I went for shopping and bought the most expensive DP cable I have found. Now I am the most happy user, because I was literally preparing to return my motherboard to warranty and even more I was ready to switch away from ASUS as preferred brand.

 

As a conclusion be careful about your cables... any cables. Do not come cheap with yourselves and buy only best, even they are more expensive. Also I need to reemphasize the ASUS robust builds as the components were able to sustain a power surge with no damage.

 

#brainfartmoment

Edited March 3, 2018 by Abburo

[Johnny_Rico]

I had to buy a couple of different ones to get a good one, also the 3m ones I tried I could not get to work 100% all the time (random black screen for 2 seconds every week or so)

 

I did find a post online about it detailing something on how to deal with it

Basically power up screen and PC but with cable display port cable disconnected, after 1 min stick in the cable between the PC and screen

 

Seems when they first "hook up" up there is some hand shaking that goes on and they both work out how to talk to each other correctly

[Abburo]

But is not only about lack of contacts... is more.. is about power surge / short circuit which is way more dangerous.

[BitMaster]

Good cables are hard to find and never cheap.

 

Also, there are tons of standards floating around, length limitations, HDCP, etc..

 

Last DP I bought was 30,- w/o tax wholesale B2B price but I am using the one that came with my Asus screen.

 

But DP is beyond HDMI, whenever you have the choice, go DP.

[cichlidfan]

Good cables are hard to find and never cheap.

 

This is so true. Years ago I got a nice 1440p monitor. The cable that came with it was not long enough so I bought a new cable. I had serious issues with the display and actually thought I had a display problem. Testing with the cable supplied with the monitor resolved the problem.

 

The moral of the story is to not buy cheap cables. I only buy from reputable manufacturers and the higher price is just a fact of life. I have DP and HDMI cables in the 25' range and you don't want to know what they cost, but they work.

[hansangb]

Yeah, I get mine from Amazon but I also order from standalone sites. Cables Matter, MonoPrice, Bluejeans cable are my go to sites.

 

For DP, you have to make sure it's rated to carry the higher resolutions/audio. Cheap knock-offs are hit or miss.