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No display signal over USB-C

Blackread
By Blackread
in Troubleshooting
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Go to solution Solved by SlayerOfHellWyrm,

Make sure your drivers are up-to-date to allow the DP-Alt mode to work correctly with the new display. There's a chance it's an interop over USB-C with the new panel due to the E-markers on the monitor, laptop, and cable it came with. However, you need to also be certain the cable they included is a USB-C video capable cable, and no just USB-C data. Their manual seems to hint it's supported though. Lastly, make sure you actually select USB-C as the input.

Posted

I recently bought a new monitor, the BenQ EX3501R: https://www.benq.com/en-ca/monitor/video-enjoyment/ex3501r/specifications.html

According to the specs it should support a display signal over USB-C (DP Alt), and the USB port is indeed found as a listed input in the display menu.

 

The laptop I'm trying to connect is an Asus UX533FD: https://www.asus.com/us/Laptops/ASUS-Zenbook-15-UX533FD/Tech-Specs/

According to the specs the USB-C port should support a display signal, and there's a displayport logo printed next to the port on the device.

 

However, when I try to connect the monitor with the USB-C cable that came bundled in the box, neither the monitor or the laptop recognise a connection happening. No signal, no device detected.

The cable and port on laptop work as I was able to use the cable to connect my tablet to the laptop without problems. The port on the display also works as I was able to connect a USB-A to USB-C cable from my desktop and access a storage device plugged into one of the USB downstream ports. This also worked when I tried the same with my laptop. However trying the same with the type C to type C cable did NOT work.

 

Running Windows 10 on both desktop and laptop with the latest updates. DP to DP connection from desktop to display works perfectly. Also HDMI from laptop works, but the highest resolution I can get that way is 2560 x 1080, so I'd rather use the USB-C option to try and obtain the native 3440 x 1440 resolution.

 

Am I missing something here? Are there some settings I would need to fiddle with? I've scoured the internet for hours and haven't come up with anything useful, so any tips would be appreciated.

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  • Solution

Make sure your drivers are up-to-date to allow the DP-Alt mode to work correctly with the new display. There's a chance it's an interop over USB-C with the new panel due to the E-markers on the monitor, laptop, and cable it came with. However, you need to also be certain the cable they included is a USB-C video capable cable, and no just USB-C data. Their manual seems to hint it's supported though. Lastly, make sure you actually select USB-C as the input.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" - Arthur C. Clarke
Just because it may seem like magic, I'm not a wizard, just a nerd. I am fallible. 

Use the quote button or @<username> to reply to people | Mark solved troubleshooting topics as such, selecting the correct answer, and follow them to get replies!
Community Standards | Guides & Tutorials | Troubleshooting Section

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EDIT2: The drivers sure were up-to-date, but apparently the BIOS wasn't. A BIOS flash to the latest version and the connection works perfectly. Problem solved, thanks for the help!

 

EDIT3: Oops, the solution wasn't the BIOS update after all, but instead the fact that I plugged the laptop into the AC adapter for the update. Apparently the USB-C port only functions when the machine is being charged for some weird reason...

 

I have the latest drivers on the laptop. I did try manually selecting the USB-C as the input, but there was no signal detected. The cable is some generic one, so I think it's impossible to tell whether it supports video or not. It's probably this one, although mine's shorter: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-High-speed-USB-3-1-Cable-E118077-7-AWM-21572-80-C-30V-VW-1-Ji-Haw-QTY-10-/163610532488

I tried googling for a video capable usb-c cable though and the only ones I could come up with were some that have long since gone out of stock. Is video over a type c to type c cable not a thing at all? Should I instead spring for a type c to HDMI 2.0 adapter? The monitor only has one DP connection, and I'd rather keep that for my desktop PC.

 

EDIT: To clarify, the laptop uses the integrated Intel HD 620 for external monitor connections, and according to this page it supports HDMI 1.4 (which presumably is the HDMI connection) and DisplayPort 1.2, which probably would be via that USB-C port. And as DP 1.2 can support up to 4k 60Hz I'm hopeful I could get the monitor running with 3440x1440 60Hz if I was able to procure a signal from that.
 

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1 hour ago, Blackread said:

The cable is some generic one, so I think it's impossible to tell whether it supports video or not. It's probably this one, although mine's shorter: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Super-High-speed-USB-3-1-Cable-E118077-7-AWM-21572-80-C-30V-VW-1-Ji-Haw-QTY-10-/163610532488

Almost guaranteed it does not, based off the price, as well due to the description. There's 0 mention of:

  • Video
  • 4K60Hz, or 4K30Hz, etc
  • DisplayPort 1.2
  • DP
  • etc

Those are the tell tale signs of video support. 

 

1 hour ago, Blackread said:

I tried googling for a video capable usb-c cable though and the only ones I could come up with were some that have long since gone out of stock. Is video over a type c to type c cable not a thing at all?

Yep, you just need to look at the cable specs. Here's some examples:

 

There's just a few examples.

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" - Arthur C. Clarke
Just because it may seem like magic, I'm not a wizard, just a nerd. I am fallible. 

Use the quote button or @<username> to reply to people | Mark solved troubleshooting topics as such, selecting the correct answer, and follow them to get replies!
Community Standards | Guides & Tutorials | Troubleshooting Section

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