The exact cable order for a fuser
A fuser has three video legs, one power lead and one rule that breaks everything. Get the wiring order right, see why each leg matters, and learn what every wrong permutation looks like on screen.
Short answer
Plug the game PC into the fuser's host input, the second PC into the secondary input and the monitor into the output, then add power. The rule people break is keeping a direct cable from the game PC to the monitor. It must come out, or the game PC drives two displays and you see the wrong one.
On this page8
- Why the two inputs are not interchangeable
- Which port is which on your fuser
- How to connect a fuser, step by step
- Why unplug the direct cable to the monitor?
- Why connect the legs in this order?
- What each wrong connection looks like
- What to check before you decide it's broken
- Common questions about fuser cables
Why the two inputs are not interchangeable
A fuser has two video inputs, one video output and a DC power input. The two inputs are not interchangeable, because one is the host leg and the other is the overlay leg, and the box composites the second over the first. Most models mark them: Dichen labels a host input and a secondary-machine input, while GODLIKE's mini models colour-code the ports. Where a marking exists it is authoritative, and the order below works on both families.
Which port is which on your fuser
Port names vary by model, but the roles do not. Read the silkscreen or manual for your exact box and match each port to one of these five roles.
- Input 1, host
- Video out from the GAME PC. Dichen labels this HDMI1 host; GODLIKE mini models use the blue input. This is the layer underneath
- Input 2, secondary
- Video out from the SECOND PC. Dichen labels this HDMI2 secondary; GODLIKE uses the green input. This is the overlay layer on top
- Output
- To the MAIN MONITOR. HDMI on HDMI-output models, DisplayPort on DP models, which GODLIKE marks yellow
- Power
- A DC barrel jack, commonly 12 V from the supplied brick. A fuser is not bus-powered and will not run on signal alone
- Service port
- A USB-C socket on several Dichen models, used only for firmware updates and EDID injection. Not a data or power path in normal use
How to connect a fuser, step by step
Start with everything cold: both PCs off, the box unpowered and nothing plugged into the monitor.
- Shut both PCs down and unplug the monitor's existing video cable from the game PC
- Confirm that NO other cable runs from the game PC directly to the monitor, because this is the step people skip
- Run the fuser's output to the monitor and select that input in the monitor's own input menu
- Run a cable from the game PC's GPU output to the fuser's host input
- Run a cable from the second PC's video output to the fuser's secondary input
- Connect the fuser's power supply and let the box start up before anything else
- Boot the game PC and confirm a normal desktop through the box, checking the resolution and refresh rate before any overlay is involved
- Only then boot the second PC and confirm that its image appears composited on top
- Set the refresh rate explicitly in Windows display settings on the game PC rather than accepting the default
Warning
Why unplug the direct cable to the monitor?
If the game PC stays cabled both to the fuser and straight to the monitor, the GPU has two sinks. Windows treats that as two displays and extends your desktop onto one of them, while the monitor shows whichever input it happens to be set to. Often that is the direct one, with no overlay, which looks like a dead fuser. Dichen's own documentation states the rule: the host GPU must not be connected directly to the main monitor, and any such connection has to be unplugged. One video cable leaves the game PC, and it goes to the box.
Tip
Why connect the legs in this order?
Power goes on before either PC boots, so the box can assert hot plug detect and answer an EDID read the moment a source appears. The host leg comes next and is tested alone, because it carries the game and its mode negotiation is the one you care about. If that leg is wrong, you want to know before an overlay joins the picture and confuses the diagnosis. The overlay leg goes last, because once the host leg is known to be good, the overlay leg can only fail in obvious ways. Testing in this order turns one five-variable problem into three single-variable ones.
What each wrong connection looks like
Find the row that matches your symptom, then change exactly one thing.
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No picture at all, monitor says no signal | The box is unpowered, or the monitor is on a different input | Connect the DC supply, then select the monitor input that the fuser's output is plugged into |
| Game runs normally, no overlay ever appears | The second PC is not connected to the secondary input, is powered off, or its output has gone to sleep | Confirm the second PC's video output works on its own display first, then cable it into the secondary input |
| Only the overlay is visible and the game is not | The two inputs are swapped, so the game PC is on the secondary input | Swap the input cables so the game PC is on the host input |
| Overlay visible but the game image is stretched or cropped | The two legs are running mismatched resolutions or aspect ratios | Set both PCs to the same output resolution and aspect ratio, then re-test |
| Monitor shows the game with no overlay, and switching inputs finds a second desktop | The game PC is still cabled directly to the monitor as well as to the box | Unplug the direct cable from the game PC entirely |
| Refresh rate stuck below the monitor's maximum | The box's served EDID, or the box's own ceiling, limits the host leg | Enable EDID passthrough or inject the monitor's block, then check the model's published ceiling at your resolution |
| Picture drops out intermittently at high refresh | A marginal cable or an over-long run on the host or output leg | Use the bundled cables, shorten the run, and re-test each leg separately |
| Works until a PC is rebooted, then the monitor stays black | Hot plug detect and EDID are renegotiated on boot and one leg did not come back | Power-cycle the fuser, then boot the game PC before the second PC |
| The second PC's desktop fills the screen instead of overlaying | Most boxes composite by treating the secondary input's black pixels as transparent, so any non-black desktop is drawn over the game | Set the second PC's desktop to a plain black background and run only the overlay, or use the keying mode that your box and software document |
What to check before you decide it's broken
- Exactly one video cable leaves the game PC, and it goes to the fuser's host input
- Exactly one video cable leaves the second PC, and it goes to the fuser's secondary input
- Exactly one video cable reaches the monitor, and it comes from the fuser's output
- The monitor is set to the input that cable is plugged into
- The fuser's DC supply is connected and the box was powered before the PCs
- The game PC shows a normal desktop through the box with the second PC switched off
- You are using the cables that came in the box, at least for the first successful test
Common questions about fuser cables
Which input does the game PC go into?
The one marked as host or primary, which is HDMI1 on Dichen models and the blue port on GODLIKE minis. The second PC goes into the secondary input, because the box draws that layer on top.
Can I keep the monitor plugged into the game PC too and just switch inputs?
No. Two sinks on one GPU give you an extended desktop and a monitor that can show the wrong one. ReportedVendor documentation says to remove that cable. Leaving it in is the most common cause of a fuser that looks dead.
Does the second PC need a monitor of its own during setup?
It helps a great deal, because it lets you prove the second PC outputs video before you cable it into the box. A dark screen then has one possible cause instead of three.
Do the two input cables have to be the same length or brand?
No. Both should be rated for the mode they carry, and the host leg is the one worth spending on. Start with the bundled cables so that a cable fault is not competing with a wiring fault.
Can I use an adapter on one of the legs?
Avoid it if you can, because an adapter adds another EDID-handling device and another connector to the chain. If the second PC has no HDMI output you may have no choice, so buy a known-good active adapter and test that leg on its own first.
Sources
This is bench procedure: the cable order and the port map come from wiring fusers, not from a published document.
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