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Am I getting massively unlucky with HDMI extension cables or is there something I am missing?

NWCtim
Honored Guest
So I got a "High-Speed" HDMI extension cable from Amazon and when I try to use it with my Rift, the visuals cut in and out, or flicker in different colors.  I went to my local PC parts store to get another HDMI "2.0" extension cable and get absolutely no picture when I use it.  With either cable the Oculus devices tab seems to recognize when the headset is connected and when it isn't, but the visuals never work right.  The headset works just fine when plugged directly into my computer.

Are there different grades/types of HDMI cable and I need a certain type, or did I just manage to get two bad cables in a row?
5 REPLIES 5

morsify
Protege
The one I bought for my headset is just a 2m extension to bring the plug round the front of the pc. I bought a UGREEN 10142 2 m HDMI – HDMI Cable (2 m, HDMI Type A (Standard), HDMI Type A (Standard), 3d, 10.2 Gbit/s, Black) for £7.99 from Amazon, and it works fine. But I haven't tried anything longer. (I use this in conjunction with a 2metre UGREEN 10373 USB Extension Lead Extender Cable for Oculus Rift).
Gigabyte Z390 Gaming X, i7 9770K, 16GB DDR4, EVGA RTX2070XC 8GB Ultra Gaming, AOC 32" monitor, 2 x Inatek PCI USB controllers, Oculus Rift CV1, Windows 10 64 Home

Anonymous
Not applicable
I just bought that same HDMI Extender and it doesn't power the display. Also my desktop monitor screen goes on/off and it makes my PC hum on/off also. Possible that's the psu fan as I hear this constantly without that extender and works fine without it. It goes off after a while of idle.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/292840906595
The cable was sealed and stamped with the correct part# on it:  10142
I rather think this is a lottery over what seems to work with our own PC. Obviously it is far better that we use a Rift cable extender but I guess these are very costly like as the main 4m cable is!
Surely these are not good.

falken76
Expert Consultant
Buy your extension cables from reputable sources and don't go for the cheapest ones you can find.  I suspect you're buying counterfeits from Ebay sellers and 3rd party sellers on sites like Amazon.  Dhgate and Alibabba sell a ton of counterfeit items that sellers re-sell on Amazon and Ebay.  I'll bet they start working if the ones you buy cost $5 more than the lowest priced item on the list.  (I.E. Buy directly from Amazon, and even then I'd be suspicious since they use what they call "Co-Mingled Stock".  That means they take all the sellers stock and throw them in a huge bin and just pick from it, it could have merch sourced from ALL those sellers so they might not even pick a piece you provided as a seller.  If Amazon's stock is handled this way too, you'll still likely get a counterfeit)  I'd stick to a place that doesn't have 3rd party sellers so they hopefully don't have co-mingled stock.  This garbage is everywhere, even a local electronics store has all their cables provided by dhgate so I refuse to buy from them.

Anonymous
Not applicable
Yes it's made in China but UGREEN are Chinese also.
Address: -
Ugreen Building, Longcheng Industrial Park, LongHua District, Shenzhen, China

falken76
Expert Consultant
Yeah China still has a lot of high quality products as well, but even those get counterfeited.  It's so bad, I'm reluctant to by online sometimes.  I'd try newegg, but I'd call them first and ask if they co-mingle their stock with their 3rd party sellers, if they do, then no go.