HDMI cable causes machine to not boot???

SunnyD

2[H]4U
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Jul 6, 2004
Messages
3,305
Just put together my new machine and was quite disheartened when I powered it on and I got no video along with a post code indicating there might be an issue. What was really confusing was the setup appeared to go pretty far into the boot process indicating that the issue may be peripheral related, though the video card and psu were known-good parts.

After perusing the internet for answers for a bit I found a strange suggestion that it may be the monitor as someone else resolved their issue by swapping from HDMI to display port. On a whim I disconnected my trusty old monoprice HDMI cable and replaced it with some cheap bestbuy HDMI cable I had laying around. Problem solved. The machine boots perfectly every time.

This wasn't an issue of a cable not being seated right or the video card needing a wiggle either. Plug the old cable back in and no boot. This video card/cable/monitor combo was used with my old rig up until yesterday. Has anyone else encountered something like this before?

System details:
Asus Crosshair VIII Hero Wi-Fi
3900X @ stock
2x16gb Corsair LPX 3200
MSI Duke 1070Ti
Corsair TX850w
1Tb Sabrant NVMe
Fractal Define xl R4

Boot q-code was 02
 
I've had situs where the motherboard onboard video became the only video device that would give a POST output.
But I dont think it produced a different code and it did boot.

I reckon you have a damaged cable, perhaps with a short circuit. Most likely (by the odds) an open circuit on a critical pin.
An open circuit would only be a problem if there was no other display output, the bios might not let that pass.
If you have other display outputs beside that gfx card, it makes it more likely there is a short because none negotiation of the video connection from an open circuit usually just disables it, it doesnt prevent boot.
 
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I reckon you have a damaged cable, perhaps with a short circuit. Most likely (by the odds) an open circuit on a critical pin.

That's the thing though - this cable literally worked 3 hours earlier and still works fine with other devices. I'm sure if I were to swap back in my old mobo/cpu with the same video card and monitor everything would continue to work as normal as it was prior to the upgrade.
 
That's the thing though - this cable literally worked 3 hours earlier and still works fine with other devices. I'm sure if I were to swap back in my old mobo/cpu with the same video card and monitor everything would continue to work as normal as it was prior to the upgrade.
I agree then, most odd.
 
Better yet, I now have a second monitor connected with the same HDMI cable and it's all good.

That said if you run into a 02 q-code, at least on an asus board, check your display connections. Hah.
 
Is the cable bidirectional or unidirectional? Some HDMI cables are unidirectional and have a source and output end and won't work right or at all if plugged in backwards.
 
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