Question Laptop screen broken, external monitor issue

[jnxzi94]

Hi,

I was installing the latest NVIDIA driver and the system restarted during that, after that, monitor connected via HDMI cable has 'no signal' error and I can do absolutely nothing at the moment. The system doesn't work anymore and I can't troubleshoot it because the laptop's built-in screen is dead (no visibility) and so... is there anything I could do to bring the HDMI connection life without a display? The driver caused this. I tried things for hours.

 

[zinkles]

What's your laptop model?

It seems in most laptops the POST screen (motherboard logo screen) happens on the main display, which yours doesn't work, this will leave everything blank until Windows is loaded (which also doesn't show up for you cause of the driver issue) . Can you confirm this please? Did you use to see the motherboard logo, when starting up the laptop, on the external monitor?

If you manage to go to the BIOS somehow, you can switch to Integrated Graphics for now to troubleshoot.

 

[jnxzi94]

What's your laptop model?

It seems in most laptops the POST screen (motherboard logo screen) happens on the main display, which yours doesn't work, this will leave everything blank until Windows is loaded (which also doesn't show up for you cause of the driver issue) . Can you confirm this please? Did you use to see the motherboard logo, when starting up the laptop, on the external monitor?

If you manage to go to the BIOS somehow, you can switch to Integrated Graphics for now to troubleshoot.

Acer Nitro 5 is the laptop and I was not able to enter BIOS (how can I tell because both screens are black) but I think the laptop goes straight to Windows.

What can I do?
Let's say if I can go BIOS, how could I see anything without a workin' display..?

 

[zinkles]

please answer this, do you go straight into the windows lock screen or you see the windows loading screen? (my laptop goes straight into windows lock screen with external monitor, the rest is displayed on the main screen) I assume so, and let's fix that.

After hooking up your laptop to external monitor, turn the laptop on, and immediately press fn + f4 (the key with a display icon).
if f4 key doesn't have a display icon on it, press fn + the key with display icon.

this should switch to the secondary display from boot itself. (make sure you press the keys just as the your press the power button for this to work). although I didn't find any guide or documentation from Acer, many other laptops use this method so it's likely to work. this will also allow BIOS to be displayed on the secondary screen. 👀

now restart the laptop. (if you still don't see any output on the secondary display, you should repeat the above process, cause you may have pressed it too early or too late 😕

You have 2 methods to try,
1) going to windows safe mode and then reverting your driver update/reinstall it.
2) go to the bios and then change the GPU to integrated graphics so you can boot into windows and then change or modify the drivers.

1- Safe Boot method: since you see the output now, it's easy to get into safe boot(kinda).
what you have to do is, when you see the windows logo at boot, immediately press and hold he power button to force shutdown. now turn it on again and do the same thing. you should do this 3 times (or 4) and the third time (or 4th) you'll see a diagnosing pc text, instead of the loading icon. you shouldn't press the power button at this point. wait. After your PC goes to the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart. this will reboot the laptop(sometimes). after reboot, you'll be presented with some options, from that chose the respective number with 'enable safe mode with networking'. (number 5 or f5). now your laptop will enter safe mode, so update/reinstall or downgrade the drivers from there. restarting will get out of safe boot.

2 - BIOS method: Now assuming you have the motherboard logo output on the screen, press the necessary key to get into the BIOS.
from here, you can change the GPU to integrated graphics (if you have it). please look into a guide online on how to change it (I can't type this much 💀) and restart.

Good luck blud 🙌

 

[jnxzi94]

please answer this, do you go straight into the windows lock screen or you see the windows loading screen? (my laptop goes straight into windows lock screen with external monitor, the rest is displayed on the main screen) I assume so, and let's fix that.

After hooking up your laptop to external monitor, turn the laptop on, and immediately press fn + f4 (the key with a display icon).
if f4 key doesn't have a display icon on it, press fn + the key with display icon.

this should switch to the secondary display from boot itself. (make sure you press the keys just as the your press the power button for this to work). although I didn't find any guide or documentation from Acer, many other laptops use this method so it's likely to work. this will also allow BIOS to be displayed on the secondary screen. 👀

now restart the laptop. (if you still don't see any output on the secondary display, you should repeat the above process, cause you may have pressed it too early or too late 😕

You have 2 methods to try,
1) going to windows safe mode and then reverting your driver update/reinstall it.
2) go to the bios and then change the GPU to integrated graphics so you can boot into windows and then change or modify the drivers.

1- Safe Boot method: since you see the output now, it's easy to get into safe boot(kinda).
what you have to do is, when you see the windows logo at boot, immediately press and hold he power button to force shutdown. now turn it on again and do the same thing. you should do this 3 times (or 4) and the third time (or 4th) you'll see a diagnosing pc text, instead of the loading icon. you shouldn't press the power button at this point. wait. After your PC goes to the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart. this will reboot the laptop(sometimes). after reboot, you'll be presented with some options, from that chose the respective number with 'enable safe mode with networking'. (number 5 or f5). now your laptop will enter safe mode, so update/reinstall or downgrade the drivers from there. restarting will get out of safe boot.

2 - BIOS method: Now assuming you have the motherboard logo output on the screen, press the necessary key to get into the BIOS.
from here, you can change the GPU to integrated graphics (if you have it). please look into a guide online on how to change it (I can't type this much 💀) and restart.

Good luck blud 🙌

I believe the laptop goes straight to Windows login without doing anything else. I tried the buttons too but nothing happens except the laptop's dead screen goes fully black (no light anymore) but the external monitor doesn't wake up either.

The laptop has integrated GPU and GTX 1050.

I have tried every F-key to trying to access safe boot and/or BIOS but I don't think the laptop is reacting to this because of the 'fast boot' it has.

I'm starting to believe I'm totally f*cked.

 

[zinkles]

Hey,

I found the Acer version of the display switching thing. its Fn + F5 at boot. Make sure to press it immediately after pressing the power button. leave the external monitor hoked up too.

 

[jnxzi94]

Hey,

I found the Acer version of the display switching thing. its Fn + F5 at boot. Make sure to press it immediately after pressing the power button. leave the external monitor hoked up too.

I can try it but I probably already did this, I remember doing all of the combinations at the boot. Maybe the problem is that the other GPU is disabled at BIOS, which I have no access at the moment... oh man, so hard...

 

[jnxzi94]

I found out that there should be a CMOS battery underneath the actual battery, which I will try to locate today and remove it to reset BIOS. Hopefully, this fixes my issue and I can power up the HDMI monitor so I can fix the drivers.

 

[zinkles]

Don't forget to disconnect the battery and then clear the CMOS, or else it wont be cleared as its still being powered by the battery
I also doubt the CMOS being *under* the battery? it should be on the mobo.

 

[jnxzi94]

Don't forget to disconnect the battery and then clear the CMOS, or else it wont be cleared as its still being powered by the battery
I also doubt the CMOS being *under* the battery? it should be on the mobo.

I will try this, hopefully I get it right... because I think there is something wrong in BIOS because I cannot get anything working on the displays... maybe the integrated GPU is disabled?

Look at this, it's indeed underneath the battery, of course, just to make things more complicated 🤣

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Acer+Nitro+5+AN515-53-52FA+CMOS+Replacement/154966

 

[jnxzi94]

please answer this, do you go straight into the windows lock screen or you see the windows loading screen? (my laptop goes straight into windows lock screen with external monitor, the rest is displayed on the main screen) I assume so, and let's fix that.

After hooking up your laptop to external monitor, turn the laptop on, and immediately press fn + f4 (the key with a display icon).
if f4 key doesn't have a display icon on it, press fn + the key with display icon.

this should switch to the secondary display from boot itself. (make sure you press the keys just as the your press the power button for this to work). although I didn't find any guide or documentation from Acer, many other laptops use this method so it's likely to work. this will also allow BIOS to be displayed on the secondary screen. 👀

now restart the laptop. (if you still don't see any output on the secondary display, you should repeat the above process, cause you may have pressed it too early or too late 😕

You have 2 methods to try,
1) going to windows safe mode and then reverting your driver update/reinstall it.
2) go to the bios and then change the GPU to integrated graphics so you can boot into windows and then change or modify the drivers.

1- Safe Boot method: since you see the output now, it's easy to get into safe boot(kinda).
what you have to do is, when you see the windows logo at boot, immediately press and hold he power button to force shutdown. now turn it on again and do the same thing. you should do this 3 times (or 4) and the third time (or 4th) you'll see a diagnosing pc text, instead of the loading icon. you shouldn't press the power button at this point. wait. After your PC goes to the Choose an option screen, select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings > Restart. this will reboot the laptop(sometimes). after reboot, you'll be presented with some options, from that chose the respective number with 'enable safe mode with networking'. (number 5 or f5). now your laptop will enter safe mode, so update/reinstall or downgrade the drivers from there. restarting will get out of safe boot.

2 - BIOS method: Now assuming you have the motherboard logo output on the screen, press the necessary key to get into the BIOS.
from here, you can change the GPU to integrated graphics (if you have it). please look into a guide online on how to change it (I can't type this much 💀) and restart.

Good luck blud 🙌

It was a dead end. I took out the CMOS and the battery for almost 10 minutes and went through the button spamming for 30 minutes, and nothing happened. This laptop is <Mod Edit> waste, unless you have a wild card?

 

[jnxzi94]

Don't forget to disconnect the battery and then clear the CMOS, or else it wont be cleared as its still being powered by the battery
I also doubt the CMOS being *under* the battery? it should be on the mobo.

Do you know any other solutions I can't think of anything except taking the SSD out of the laptop and somehow installing Windows again on it (with another laptop) if that's even possible to do...

 

[zinkles]

yes taking the ssd or and installing windows on it from another laptop is possible. assuming you can connect the SSD and get everything prepared, but might as well wait till someone else comes up with some solution rather than reinstalling. I'm out of ideas too

 

[jnxzi94]

yes taking the ssd or and installing windows on it from another laptop is possible. assuming you can connect the SSD and get everything prepared, but might as well wait till someone else comes up with some solution rather than reinstalling. I'm out of ideas too

I was thinkin' about ALT + F10 (Acer reset function) but then again, it's no use if the workin' display has no signal so I will try to login without visibility and find the 'reset settings' from search menu and navigate it without seeing anything 😂

 

[jnxzi94]

How can this be so stupid with PC I would never have such a issue, this is ridiculous.
The specific model is https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Gaming-i5-7300HQ-GeForce-AN515-51-55WL/dp/B074Q54GSR?th=1

Anybody can give me tips what to do?

 

[ex_bubblehead]

yes taking the ssd or and installing windows on it from another laptop is possible. assuming you can connect the SSD and get everything prepared, but might as well wait till someone else comes up with some solution rather than reinstalling. I'm out of ideas too

No. It is NOT possible to install Windows on one system then move the drive to another. The REAL fix here is to replace that laptop display instead of trying to "Rube Goldberg" a solution.

 

[jnxzi94]

No. It is NOT possible to install Windows on one system then move the drive to another. The REAL fix here is to replace that laptop display instead of trying to "Rube Goldberg" a solution.

As I thought and I will not try it.
I will keep trying to somehow get it to display on the external monitor as it did before the driver failure...

 

[ex_bubblehead]

As I thought and I will not try it.
I will keep trying to somehow get it to display on the external monitor as it did before the driver failure...

Good luck tilting at your windmill then.

 

[zinkles]

No. It is NOT possible to install Windows on one system then move the drive to another

Done it many times, it works.

 

[DSzymborski]

Done it many times, it works.

Possible was a little aggressive a wording, but it's a terrible practice and reflects poorly on anyone who does it for another person.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Done it many times, it works.

Just because you've been lucky a time or two does not make it viable.

 

[zinkles]

Just because you've been lucky a time or two does not make it viable.

then suggest an option 🙄

No. It is NOT possible to install Windows on one system then move the drive to another

you emphasized on the 'not' but there is a chance of doing so. the OP is out of options, so this might as well be his last resort till someone else suggests a better option which y'all didnt. it is true while it may not always work, if it does, it's a W for the OP. the worst that could happen is it not working, which it isnt now as well.

 

[jnxzi94]

Thanks for this guy for actually being helpful @zinkles

You others are just sending negative vibes here, as said, I have nothing to lose here at the moment so I can try whatever I can.

Also, in my opinion, a system should not fail like this just because of a driver issue, maybe the design of the laptop is horrible then.. since I have not been able to fix it yet.

This wouldn't be an issue with a PC though and I normally don't play around with laptops but I'm willing to do anything just to get display, because the laptop still functions GPU/CPU/RAM/SSD wise.