Vive Help Please! Just got the Vive, it sees the USB connection but not HDMI.

It references error 208 but that is pretty vague. This happened from day one, my headset has not yet turned on. The light on the side stays red.

Normally, what should happen if someone plugs their orange vive HDMI cord directly into their HDMI port? I've done this and the light stays red, I also do not see the vive as another monitor.

Honestly guys I've tried everything (searched on reddit like crazy) except for exchanging my headset and re-installing windows. Do you think this could be a fault in the HDMI component of the 3-in-1 cable? I tried installing it on my laptop (has a 670M card or something) using the HTC installer, and once again it detects the USB connection but not the HDMI.

Since this is happening on my laptop as well as my desktop, would it be safe to assume that this is a defect somewhere in my product? I bought this from the MS store so I can easily exchange it tomorrow if that is the case, but I am willing to try whatever I can to get it working now.

Thanks in advance for any help, I was SO looking forward to meeting some friendly people in rec room today to jump into vr :D.

Edit: To clarify, I did absolutely try it with the link box and in the correct directions. I only plugged it directly into my video card to see if something different would happen.