Monitors are becoming increasingly big, colour-accurate and feature-packed if you can shell out the money. However, they’re still somewhat limited by the IO ports on them which can severely limit your connectivity options. Additionally, display cables can be confusing, especially considering the many standards you might have to choose between.
In this article, we’re talking about why you’re getting a “check cable signal” error on your Monitor and what can you do to fix the problem.
Also read: 24 vs 27 vs 32-inch monitors: 5 talking points
What causes the Check Cable Signal error?
As you can probably guess by the error message itself, a check cable signal prompt on your monitor generally means your PC, laptop, console or source device, in general, isn’t sending any signals to the monitor and hence you see the black screen with the prompt. There are a number of reasons why this might happen.
- The source device is off or sleeping
- The cable isn’t connected properly
- The cable is damaged or not compatible
- Damaged video input or output ports
How to fix the check cable signal error?
Here are seven fixes you can try out.
Restart your PC
Restarting your PC might seem like a far-fetched idea in this case, but rebooting can fix a bunch of seemingly random errors that pop up out of nowhere. You should also try turning your monitor off, leaving it like that for some time and then turning it back on again.
Check the cables
Next up, you should check the cable running between your GPU and monitor. Since the monitor is turning on and showing the error, the problem is in the cable itself. Make sure all connections are firmly in place and that the cable doesn’t have any physical damage. If you have an extra one lying around, be sure to swap cables as well.
Check the video card
If nothing has worked so far, try opening your PC and checking if your video card is firmly in place. Make sure you don’t have any physical damage on your card as well as a busted card won’t be able to send display signals to anything. There’s also a chance that your GPU might be in the wrong PCIe slot or the PCIe power cables aren’t connecting rendering it inactive.
Try other video ports
If one HDMI or Displayport isn’t working, try using any other video output port on your motherboard or GPU or another input port on your monitor. Sometimes dead ports can restrict communications and the problem is more common than you’d think.
Additionally, you should also try using the video output ports on your motherboard after correctly installing your GPU. Some CPUs also don’t have integrated video drivers, meaning you won’t get any proper video output without a dedicated GPU and in such cases taking video output from the motherboard’s HDMI or Displayport can help.
Update the GPU driver
Using the device manager allows you to keep an eye on all drivers to any peripheral on your PC. Here’s how you can update your GPU drivers.
Step 1: Right-click Start and select Device Manager from the menu.
Step 2: Under Display Adaptors, find your graphics card’s name, right-click on it and click on Update Drivers.
Step 3: Click on Search automatically for drivers. Windows will automatically look for and download the latest drivers for your particular GPU.
In most cases, this will update your drivers just fine. However, if you’re looking for a fresh start, click Uninstall device and restart your PC to force Windows to install the required drivers. You can then update them later.
If you're using an Nvidia GPU, check out this detailed guide to learn how to update Nvidia GPU drivers
Try another monitor
Yes, not all of you will have access to an external monitor to try this step out, but if you do, we suggest using the same cable and port on your GPU with another monitor. This should help you figure out whether the issue is in the monitor or your cable, or GPU.
Replace or Repair the GPU
If the video card is, in fact, in the right place, chances are you have an issue with the GPU, and it needs replacing or repairing. If you’re using a fairly recent GPU, you should be able to get it repaired. Otherwise, it’s not a bad idea to consider an upgrade.
Also read: How to fix the Dell monitor entering power saver mode issue?
