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I bought a replacement VGA cable to replace an old one that was suffering colour loss due to it being old and crap. The new cable I bought was a super high quality one marketed for 'Home Theatre' Hi-Def stuff and the likes, but it's just a bog standard SVGA cable in reality with 14 pins on either end.
Well that's what I thought. It certainly says it's an SVGA cable and it definetly has 14 pins on either end, but I plugged it in earlier today and my otherwise working gateway monitor decided to stop working. I put the old cable back and it started working again. I don't get it. Even jiggling it around didn't work (no amount of jiggling, on my part or the cables seemed to make a difference, although I must admit it felt kid of good, but, that's another topic entirely). This is a VGA cable so why doesn't it work when connecting from a VGA output into a VGA input on a PC monitor?
This is the cable I bought;
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos...
The only reason I spent the extra loot on an expensive cable is because I figured what the hell. Looks like it turned round and bit me on the arse though seeing as it doesn't even work... Unless of course I'm missing something here. Which is I guess what I'm asking, can someone help out and put any logical reasoning to why the cable won't work, short of telling me what I already suspect (DOA cable)? Thanks.
Slim Vision
Can they do that then? I always thought a VGA cable was a VGA cable, I didn't know they could make them so a monitor can recognise if it's proprietary or not?
Slim Vision
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I'd think the gateway should be standard VGA connection. But the fact the new cable doesn't work may mean otherwise. Either that or it's just a bad cable.
I guess you could use an ohmmeter and do a pin to pin check on each cable end. That way you could ensure there is continuity of each wire of the new cable and also see if it's the same pin to pin arrangement as the old cable.
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i recently bought a gateway 17 inch monitor second hand from a friend for £5 and the cable was missing (lost). I bought a cheap vga cable on ebay and the monitor worked fine. that would suggest that at least my gateway monitor used standard wiring on the cable.
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So its likely the cables just dead then? The old cable certainly seems like a standard vga cable and doesn't have gateway written on it or anything, and apart from being cheaper in design and worn out it's identical to the new one... So logically there's no reason it shouldn't work. Not to me anyway.
Actually now I look at it, the old cable has only 13 pins on both ends as apose to the 14 on the new cable, but according to a vga pin layout spec I found via google (http://pinouts.ru/Video/VGA15_pinout.shtml) that pin (pin 9 according to the male cable connector picture on that site) is for 'key'. Whatever that is, although on other sites it simply says its an unused pin.
I'd test the cable on another monitor, but the only other vga monitor I have is a CTX that has a built in cable (why I have no idea), and I don't have a male to male plug adapter either. Perhaps I should just send it back.
Slim Vision
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It's not uncommon for a monitor not to use all the pins. But replacing the cable with one with all the pins shouldn't make any difference. Since it's either got to be a bad cable or the wrong cable you're probably better off sending it back.
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i can only assume it is a dud cable. most monitors have the cable 'fixed' like on your other one. It is unusual on CRT monitors to have detachable cable- and annoying, as they get lost.
a 'key' on a plug, means to make sure it gets fitted around right way, and not back to front, upside down, but that would be difficult with that type of plug due to the shape of the metal outer part anyway.
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Well I was about to email Amazon support about sending it back when my friend called round. I got onto the subject and he asked to have a look at it. So he goes up to the monitor and comp, pulls out the old cable, and plugs in the new one. Nothing happens. He looks at the monitor end of the cable for a few seconds, then the computer, leans down and goes to pull the comp end out when the screen livens up and suddenly there's a picture.
I found that highly irritating I can tell you since I'd been jiggling them around for ages with no results. It seems as though the cables got to be put in on one end half way and at a slight angle otherwise nothing happens. He swapped the cable ends round to see if it was either cable that was the problem or if it was the graphics card plug and it still worked, so after all this the cable wasn't the problem at all, it wasn't even the monitor. It was the poxy graphics card connector that just didn't like this particular cable being inserted all the way.
Anyway now that's solved I can rest easy. Many thanks for the help anyway though.
Slim Vision
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