No HDMI signal from device

So, I just picked up a brand new monitor and a PC, and I was all set to dive into the whole Windows installation process. But here’s the thing: as soon as I plug the monitor into the PC using the HDMI cable, I get that "no signal" error message mentioned in the title. I mean, the HDMI port itself seems totally fine—it actually came right out of the box with the monitor—and I’ve made sure everything is seated properly. Just to be safe, I’ve spent the last little while playing trial and error, maybe ten times now, trying everything from swapping out the cable for my PlayStation one (which I know works perfectly) to reseating connections, rebooting the monitor, and even unplugging everything from the wall to drain the power. I don't happen to have a VGA cable lying around to test if that would work, though. I can't help but wonder if the issue might be with the PC itself? It's a new build, delivered fully assembled a couple of days ago.

Integrated graphics or what?
If it's on the PCI bus, you're going to be hunting for drivers.

Noah Miller6 said:Is it integrated graphics or what?
If it’s on the PCI slot, you’re probably missing the drivers.

It isn't integrated, it's a dedicated card.
I haven't even installed Windows on the PC yet, so I guess I don't really have any drivers installed either, if you think about it.

Just go ahead and hook it up using a VGA or DVI cable for now, at least until you've got Windows installed and those drivers all set up and running properly.

wiredbison272 said:well, just hook up a VGA or DVI cable until you get Windows and the drivers sorted out

I don't have either of those lying around, honestly. Everything in my house runs through HDMI. I suppose I'll head down to Walmart tomorrow to pick one up. I had no idea that installing Windows wasn't possible via an HDMI cable.

EDIT: Now that I've tried connecting the TV to the PC via HDMI, it’s still giving me that "no signal" message. I guess it makes me wonder if the issue is actually with the PC itself, or if it's just some weird thing where the computer can't establish an HDMI connection until there's an OS and the right drivers installed.

Exactly, he just needs to grab the right drivers first. You should probably check which ports are actually on the back of that monitor, because if it’s the blue VGA one or the white DVI—which is shaped differently and a bit bulkier than the VGA—that changes things.

wiredbison272 said:exactly, he probably just needs the drivers. you should check which ports are actually on the monitor—there's a blue VGA one, then a white DVI one which looks a bit different and larger than the VGA slot.

Is this the one on the monitor? Is that VGA?



From what I can see, both ports on the PC seem to be DVI.




It looks like I might not be able to pull this off with just a standard cable, so I guess I might need some kind of converter, or maybe one of those cables that has a DVI plug on one end and a VGA plug on the other... I wonder if that would actually work?

Yeah, if you're working with a brand-new rig, I’m guessing you won't actually see anything on your monitor from that AMD card just yet; instead, you'll probably be getting your display through the onboard graphics. From what I can tell, you've got onboard video available too, so you're really just going to have to head into the BIOS and tweak those settings to make sure everything points where it needs to go.

wiredbison272 said:Yeah, I mean, if the rig is brand new, I’m guessing you probably won't actually see anything on the monitor from the AMD card right away; it'll likely just spit out the onboard graphics instead. From what I can tell, you've got integrated graphics available too, so I suppose you'll just have to go into the BIOS and toggle those settings around.

I get where you're coming from. Regarding the connection, though—which cable should I be looking for to actually get Windows up and running? My monitor only has a VGA port, but the PC itself is just giving me DVI.
Once everything is fully installed, I'll be switching over to HDMI anyway, so I guess I just need to figure this out for the initial system boot.

Both of these are DVI-D ports. You won't find any passive DVI-D to VGA converters or cables out there—those have to be active, which means they're pricey. There are passive DVI-A to VGA options, but you don't have those ports here. What should actually work for you are the cheap, passive DVI-D to HDMI converters or cables.

ironcyclist58 said:You should probably just grab some cheap passive DVI-D to HDMI converters or cables here.

Thanks for the input.
I guess I'm wondering where the best place would be to pick one of those up? I have a feeling I'll probably need to order it online, since it seems unlikely I'd find anything like that sitting on a shelf at Walmart or Target, and most of the specialized computer shops around here are closed anyway.

From what I can gather, it looks something like this— https://www.amazon.com/Sewell-DVI-D-.../dp/B00CQA4EEK where the HDMI end plugs into the monitor and the DVI side goes into the PC, right?
Sorry if I'm being a bit of a nuisance, I don't really know much about this stuff. 😵

Yeah, I mean, you're not wrong there. Online stores are definitely doing their thing, just look at how much business people are doing on Craigslist or those local Facebook Marketplace groups.

Does it actually matter if I grab an 18+1 or a 24+1 cable here? They both seem to be DVI-D to me.
https://www.amazon.com/delock-dvi-d-cable/dp/B0000000
https://www.bestbuy.com/dvi-d-cable-details

So, my PC has those 24+1 slots, and I suppose I’m wondering if I’m strictly limited to using a 24+1 cable, or if an 18+1 might somehow work its way in there too?

It’s not a driver issue. If you’re plugged in via HDMI, you should be getting a picture regardless since it pulls from the PCIe card automatically. Try switching to a different HDMI port on the GPU, but honestly, it feels like there might be something actually broken inside the PC itself.

I’m not entirely positive, though I suspect you won't really care much since both options will get that video signal through to you, but if you want to stop overthinking it and just be absolutely certain, go ahead and grab the 24+1 setup so you can finally have some peace of mind.
The thing about the 24+1 is that it's a dual-link configuration which allows for higher resolutions because it provides that extra bandwidth needed when you start pushing past 1K.
Since you're planning on using HDMI, you could probably scrape by with an 18+1 setup for a little while, at least until you actually get Windows installed and those drivers running properly.