# VGA cable with no red on monitor



## hsmith46 (Nov 7, 2010)

I have connected my Netbook (XP Home edition) to my TV to practice/view a Powerpoint presentation. There is no red on the monitor, no matter what adjustments I make. The cable is secure, but has no "ferrite core" as the TV manual suggests. Can this be the problem?


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## BlackHatJack (Sep 18, 2010)

Pretty sure the ferrite core is the solid chunk of metal designed to prevent radio waves from interfering with the signals on the cable. It's not going to "block" anything specific to red.

More than likely you either have a cable translation problem, or a broken wire/pin.

How are you connecting to the TV? S-Video?


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## hsmith46 (Nov 7, 2010)

Thanks for your answer. I am connecting to a TV. Of course, when I make the presentation it will be a projector. But I am afraid the on-site projector will not have a cable, so I wanted to bring my own and make sure it works. If it is a cable problem, then I can buy another. But it would be good to know what's going on, in case the problem persists.


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## BlackHatJack (Sep 18, 2010)

Right but what kind of cable?

S-video? D-sub VGA? This isn't my strong suit, but I know there's more.

It could also be a problem with the TV. Try it on another device.


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## hsmith46 (Nov 7, 2010)

It's a 15 pin cable. I tried two other things. I connected my computer to another TV, and the same thing happened--no red. So then I connected my computer to the monitor I use for my desktop. And that time, the display was fine. So the problem is not the cable, but some sort of setting for the TV as external monitor. I tried every possible setting for the display--all resolutions, all color adjustments, everything! So I just have to assume that the computer will work OK with the digital projector, just not with the TVs as a second monitor. I can't watch the movies on the net that I want, but that is less important.


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## BlackHatJack (Sep 18, 2010)

Ask a Mod to move this to video. You'll get more hardware-intensive expertise there. I agree. This is probably a problem/software issue with your video card. What's the make & model number?

Does the 15 pin connector look like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VGA_connector


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## hsmith46 (Nov 7, 2010)

Yes, that's the cable. I will repost in the video forum.


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## BlackHatJack (Sep 18, 2010)

No, don't repost. I said ask a Mod to MOVE the thread. Forum rules prohibit having multiple threads on the same problem.


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## DT Roberts (Jun 22, 2009)

FYI - I have moved it to the requested section and deleted the new thread. You can continue here.

Devin


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## hsmith46 (Nov 7, 2010)

Thanks so much. I am new, and I couldn't figure out how to get it moved. Sorry for my error. Harriet


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## shotgn (Aug 10, 2008)

Are you taking your own projector? or using the one provided?

What is make/model of netbook?

I get the feeling this is a bad cable..Do you have another one to try?


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## hhnq04 (Mar 19, 2008)

shotgn said:


> Are you taking your own projector? or using the one provided?
> 
> What is make/model of netbook?
> 
> I get the feeling this is a bad cable..Do you have another one to try?


That was my feeling as well, although he had it working with his monitor, which should have ruled the cable out. And it would be a strange coincidence if he had the same port on both of your TV's bad that accepts the red input.


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## shotgn (Aug 10, 2008)

Thats what I had thought...But it could be an issue with the port on the tv itself


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## BlackHatJack (Sep 18, 2010)

shotgn said:


> Are you taking your own projector? or using the one provided?


She's testing it on her home TV to make certain it will work off-site for a presentation. 2 different TV's don't have red. I wanted hardware techs to look at it because I thought there might be some kind of software adjustment/tweak unique to vga to TV set-ups that's unique. The "red only" made me think you all might know something only a hardware person would know.

Does a VGA cable have a "red color only" wire?

Answered my own question.

Pin #1 on the VGA cable is the Red. Broken pin? Broken wire?

http://www.epanorama.net/circuits/vga2rgbs.html


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## shotgn (Aug 10, 2008)

My thought the port on the tv faulty, because it worked on the monitor.

But could also be bent broken pin...Thats why I had suggested trying another cable

No tweak should be needed


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## hsmith46 (Nov 7, 2010)

The projector is not mine, but will be on site. The netbook is an Asus EEE 1000HD. I did the test on 2 TVs and one monitor: neither TV worked, but the monitor did. So, 1. The cable cannot be bad, since I do have red there, and there is no sign of a broken/bent pin; 2. It would be a strange coincidence if both TVs were bad. Hence my puzzlement. Thanks for all your answers, but the mystery remains. My real laptop (Toshiba Satellite M35X) won't boot (Windows XP), despite multiple tries with two different recovery disks (the original and one I bought online). It gets to the very final configuration step and just says "installation incomplete, try again" over and over. I plan to take it to a repair shop because I am not able to do anything more. So at this point I am reeady to give up. I think I will need to borrow a laptop to be sure things will work.


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## BlackHatJack (Sep 18, 2010)

Start a new thread for the M35X in the laptop sub-forum. They might be able to save you some money.

I'm not sure the idea that since the cable works for a monitor, it must therefore be "good". There are 15 pins on that cable, and if you look at the diagram I posted, there's not that many signals. There are a lot more wires than signals and I'm thinking there may be multiple lines with "Red". The Monitor may be using one of those wires, and the TV is trying to use another "Red" that's bad.

Have you tried another cable?


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## hhnq04 (Mar 19, 2008)

VGA Pinout

There's only one pin that gets / transmits the red signal.

As an aside, hope everything worked out for you today. Did you borrow a laptop or try yours? Did yours work on the projector?


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