Pro tip: don't underestimate displayport cable issues on old monitors

I grabbed a used Dell monitor from a pawn shop for $40 last month. Looked fine, worked okay with HDMI. But I wanted to use my laptop's displayport for a cleaner setup. Took me three evenings of swapping cables, checking drivers, and rebooting before I figured out the problem. The displayport cable I got from a random bin at Goodwill was the issue. Had some bent pins I didn't notice at first because it was cheap. Cost me $12 for a new cable from Micro Center and it worked first try. Anyone else run into stupid cable problems that waste way more time than they should?

2 comments

2 Comments

emma_burns9610d ago

Yeah, the "looked fine" trap gets me every time. I mean, it's not like cables are something you think about until they ruin your whole setup. With that Goodwill cable, I bet the bent pins were subtle enough that you probably thought it was a driver issue or a bad port on the monitor. It's wild how a $12 fix can save like three nights of frustration. I had a similar thing with a VGA cable on an old projector once - it worked but gave me this weird flicker every ten minutes. Took me forever to realize it was just a loose connection inside the plug because the strain relief was cracked.

oliverbailey9d ago

Ha! The cable gremlins strike again. Classic.