DVI-I DL *female* to VGA female adapter

[Curious.George]

DVI male to VGA female is common: convert the output DVI connector on your GPU to "VGA" so you can use a VGA cable to connect to LCD.

DVI female to VGA male is common: convert the input VGA connector on your LCD to DVI so you can use a DVI cable to connect to GPU.

I suspect female to female will be a bit harder (impossible!) to find (no "typical" uses!)

I have DVI-I DL connectors on some headless machines. The connectors are hard to access. So, I want to tether a DVI-I DL cable to the connector and bring the "free end" out to a place where it would be more accessible, if I ever need to hang a monitor on it (e.g., if the machine won't boot).

Mating that free end to a VGA monitor would require an adapter (the second one described above).

But, the free end won't be long enough to make such a connection easily possible.

I have a "standby" monitor that I connect to any of these machines with a VGA cable that is already attached to the monitor -- I just drag it over to whatever machine needs it. In the past, I would have permanently attached an adapter to each DVI GPU (the first adapter described above) and used the VGA cable to span the distance.

But, I'd like to make the whole DVI-I DL connector accessible "from afar". Any downside to using the second (above) connector with a male-male gender changer to mate the DVI cable (from the GPU) to the VGA cable (to the LCD)?

Yeah, it's not ideal and I suspect video quality issues. But, I'm only using it to read error messages that wouldn't be visible without it.

Maybe I can locate some DVI-I DL male to DVI-I DL female "extension cables"? But, that would be more costly as I'd need one per machine (instead of just one for this VGA monitor!)

[R_J]

Re: DVI-I DL *female* to VGA female adapter

Are you looking for DVI-I female to vga female https://www.newegg.ca/p/30U-00B8-000...yABEgKh5_D_BwE

[Curious.George]

Re: DVI-I DL *female* to VGA female adapter

Are you looking for DVI-I female to vga female

Actually, I was looking for one of the connectors to be VGA (instead of both being DVI).

But, after thinking about it, decided I could use a female DVI to female DVI (like the one you've shown), instead. That allows me to plug a DVI cable into the adapter as an "extension" (if I want to connect to a DVI monitor). OR, a DVI-VGA adapter (to connect to a VGA cable).

Sometimes, the easiest solutions are the hardest ones to see!

[ratdude747]

Re: DVI-I DL *female* to VGA female adapter

VGA to DVI cables are a thing... I have a couple of them that I bought from Monoprice a long time ago (was tired of fiddling with adapters, and all I had back then were VGA-only CRTs and LCDs). VGA on the monitor end, DVI on the PC end. However, they don't sell them anymore. If you're interested, PM me to work something out... they're on the shelf collecting dust and I have no real use for them anymore.

While looking that up, it appears they sell something close to what you're looking for:

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=2517

Close enough?

[Curious.George]

Re: DVI-I DL *female* to VGA female adapter

They do make VGA to DVI cables... I have a couple of them that I bought from Monoprice. VGA on the monitor end, DVI on the PC end. However, they don't sell them anymore.

Yes, I have a few. But, I have far more "regular" DVI cables! As I will have to semipermanently affix the cables to the backs of the machines (it will be tedious to remove them or reattach), I prefer something ubiquitous that I can set aside and forget.

While looking that up, it appears they sell something close to what you're looking for:

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=2517

Close enough?

Hmmm... interesting, regardless. I may buy a couple.

I opted for DVI female to DVI female (24+5) as it lets me address more combinations.

I.e., I can plug a DVI cable in the GPU leaving a male DVI end dangling. Using a DVI female to DVI female adapter, I could plug a second DVI cable in and bridge the gap to the DVI connector on the LCD.

Or, using the same DVI female to female adapter, plug a DVI male to VGA female adapter and then a VGA cable to bridge the gap to the VGA connector on an LCD.

Buying the DVI female to VGA female adapter that I originally sought would not allow me to do the first of these -- the "DVI extension cord".

And, as I only have one "debug" monitor that I will be sharing among the machines, I really only need to have one "adaptable cable" available.

[In the past, I would have tethered each "headless" machine to a spare input on a nearby monitor. I.e., use "input 1" for whatever computer is normally using the monitor and "input 2" fed from some machine whose output is normally not viewed (headless).

But, I've been doubling up the uses for each monitor in an attempt to support more workstations with fewer monitors (there are already 9 monitors in the *small* office). There are 16 or 17 machines in there...]