Question Dead HDMI port on Z97M-Plus?

[Monsimeph]

Greeting everyone.

For a long time I had the following setup:

• My main monitor connected via HDMI to the discrete graphics card ( RX580);
• My secondary (very old) monitor connected to onboard graphics ( Intel HD Graphics 4600 ) via VGA;
• TV connected to the same onboard graphics via HDMI;

It all had worked great without problems.

Several month ago we had a power outage and as a result the TV died, even though there was a surge protector in place. It took me a while to replace it, but when I finally bought a new one, I hit a wall trying to connect it.

Seems like the onboard HDMI port is completely dead. TV gives a 'no signal' error and Windows can't detect it. I ruled out pretty much every other component I could think of as the culprit.

• Both HDMI cable and the TV were checked. The TV is detected fine once I connect it to the discrete graphics HDMI;
• Second monitor, the one that is connected to the motherboard via VGA, works fine, too. Onboard graphic is obviously enabled;
• My main monitor connected to the onboard HDMI stops being detected as well, while working fine through RX580;
• I've also uninstalled and reinstalled Intel HD Graphics 4600 drivers;
• All other firmware is up to date;

Thus, I have a couple questions:

1. Is there still any hope it's some sort of a software issue like driver failure/OS error etc? Is there anything else I can do to troubleshoot this annoyance?
2. Could the outage that killed my old TV kill HDMI port too? Maybe more/better surge protectors are needed. Or was it an unlucky coincidence?
3. What are my options in terms of using adapters/cables, in case it's indeed a hardware issue? There are so many options I am a little lost.

The motherboard is fairly old and out of warranty, but still does what I need from it, so I have no intention of getting a new one in the nearest future.

I have only 1 HDMI on the graphic card, but DPx3 and a DVI. The TV only has HDMI, and the main monitor has HDMIx2 and a VGA, which I clearly don't want to use. Both the TV and the main monitor are 1080p. I don't care about audio output to the monitor, but do care about picture quality, since on rare occasions it serves as a gaming monitor. It goes without saying that for TV both are important.

Now, I have a DVI-D to DVI-D male cable. The cheapest option in my local store is a DVI female to HDMI male adapter. Will there be any picture/sound quality loss if I connect the DVI-D cable I already have to the RX580 and use this adapter to plug it in the TV HDMI? Should I buy a DP to HDMI adapter/cable instead? If so, does it matter which one of the TV/monitor they are going into?

Sorry for a wall of text and thanks in advance!

 

[lolnole]

I think Occam's razor should apply in this case. The TV and motherboard's HDMI port were connected via an HDMI cable. Both the TV and motherboard's HDMI port appear to be dead after a power outage. Therefore, the simplest explanation is that a power surge damaged one device, traveled along the HDMI cable, and damaged the other device.

I recommend the DisplayPort to HDMI adapter/cable. This will meet your condition of audio being output to the TV. DVI-D to HDMI does not support audio. The picture quality should be the same.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Since audio is not required, DVI->HDMI cable would be a better choice. No active electronics involved, no signal conversion necessary.

With DP->HDMI adapter signal conversion is necessary. Depending on quality of the adapter signal quality may be impacted. Also adapter will limit available resolutions/refresh rates.

 

[Monsimeph]

Thank you very much, guys.

Yeah, I figured the port was dead, but was still hoping there could be some compatibility/driver issue and nothing hardware related. Though it was mostly wishful thinking on my part.

So if I understand correctly, my best option is connecting the monitor to Radeon DVI and the TV to its HDMI instead of the monitor? Like I said, I don't need audio on the monitor - it doesn't have speakers and works at 1080p@60Hz.

If so, can I just add the simplest DVI to HDMI adapter for the monitor? On paper a single DVI -> HDMI cable should be better than HDMI cable + adapter. But how significant is that? So far I could only find long 3m+ cables where I live. I'd rather use the old 0.5m HDMI to avoid adding more mess to my already poorly managed cables.

Again, thanks a lot for your help.

 

[SkyNetRising]

On paper a single DVI -> HDMI cable should be better than HDMI cable + adapter.

Doesn't matter. It's the same thing.

 

[Monsimeph]

Thank you! I found a shortish DVI to HDMI cable. Worked like a charm.