Question getting a laptop working with a broken screen?

[The Dandy]

So I have an ASUS ROG G751JL-DS71 laptop with a broken screen. It didn't come with a hard drive, I've had to put one in myself. I ultimately want to run the computer headless, but I've run into a problem. Due to the broken screen, I can't see what I'm doing, and pressing the key combination to switch to an external VGA monitor doesn't yield any results. The new hard drive I have installed needs to be formatted and an operating system needs to be installed, but I have no idea what the boot order is on the machine or how I would get something like this working. My only idea would be to navigate and do everything blind, but that's not really feasible for me.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[Phillip Corcoran]

Obvious solution is to get the broken screen replaced.

 

[britechguy]

I would also be concerned if just plugging in a monitor to the VGA port did not result in screen duplication occurring "automagically."

You may have problems more significant than a broken screen (and sourcing replacements for older machines is typically inexpensive and easy).

 

[punkncat]

In theory, if you have a VGA output on the laptop, and you have a compatible monitor that you can hook to (no adapters) you should be able to put in a USB with OS installer and have the monitor come up on the stock driver. Without OS you have no drivers at all, so it probably just isn't knowing what to do with the external monitor.
Hitting the "windows/P" buttons will scroll through:
PC, Duplicate, Extend, Second
Hitting it twice "should" make the other monitor come up.

 

[britechguy]

Without OS you have no drivers at all, so it probably just isn't knowing what to do with the external monitor.

Absolutely true, and I feel like a dunderhead for somehow having breezed right past that fact.

It is highly unlikely that this issue is going to be able to be solved without replacing the laptop screen given the combination of factors involved.

 

[The Dandy]

In theory, if you have a VGA output on the laptop, and you have a compatible monitor that you can hook to (no adapters) you should be able to put in a USB with OS installer and have the monitor come up on the stock driver. Without OS you have no drivers at all, so it probably just isn't knowing what to do with the external monitor.
Hitting the "windows/P" buttons will scroll through:
PC, Duplicate, Extend, Second
Hitting it twice "should" make the other monitor come up.

I don't quite know the device's boot order, and can't see to change it, how can I get it to boot directly to USB?

 

[punkncat]

I don't quite know the device's boot order, and can't see to change it, how can I get it to boot directly to USB?

Normally USB would be first in the boot order. If it's ever been changed in BIOS, without a screen, you can't so far as I know.

 

[punkncat]

Something you could "try"....

Do you have another laptop?

Take out it's drive and install an unlicensed Win 10 on the empty drive. I wouldn't even check the options to update drivers and such as it installs. Make sure while you install that you don't have internet so it won't auto register...Take that drive and put inside this laptop. It "might" work. (Make sure, of course, that it's an Intel machine as well)

 

[USAFRet]

Something you could "try"....

Do you have another laptop?

Take out it's drive and install an unlicensed Win 10 on the empty drive. I wouldn't even check the options to update drivers and such as it installs. Make sure while you install that you don't have internet so it won't auto register...Take that drive and put inside this laptop. It "might" work. (Make sure, of course, that it's an Intel machine as well)

I'd try that with a Linux install instead of a Windows install. Much more hardware agnostic.

 

[The Dandy]

I'd try that with a Linux install instead of a Windows install. Much more hardware agnostic.

I do have a disk with Fedora 27 x64 on it, would that work? I can get it to run the disk because it seems to be at the top of the boot order, but I'm not certain.

 

[USAFRet]

I do have a disk with Fedora 27 x64 on it, would that work? I can get it to run the disk because it seems to be at the top of the boot order, but I'm not certain.

All you can do is try...