How to output via HDMI instead of VGA?

[migo]

I just bought a Lenovo IdeaCentre H415 (it has an A6-3650 with Radeon 6530D GPU, VGA and HDMI output, but no DVI). My monitor supports VGA, HDMI and DVI. When it's plugged in via VGA, it works as you would expect. When it's plugged in via HDMI - nothing. I've looked around for some option in Display/Personalisation, but nothing is evident that would allow me to do this (nor in the Catalyst Control Centre).

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

WIN+P ?

[Brandon H Supervisor]

it should work right away when you plug in the cord, so there are 3 possibilities

1. bad hdmi cord

2. the port on the laptop is bad

3. the port on the monitor is bad

(it's also possible, though unlikely, that the drivers weren't installed correctly. have you updated the catalyst drivers?)

[StrikedOut]

Also make sure the monitor is set to auto discover input and not just VGA.

[Jason S. Global Moderator]

it should work right away when you plug in the cord, so there are 3 possibilities

1. bad hdmi cord

2. the port on the laptop is bad

3. the port on the monitor is bad

(it's also possible, though unlikely, that the drivers weren't installed correctly. have you updated the catalyst drivers?)

well, there's more possibilities than that. i thought the sme as StrikedOut. the monitor may need to change its source.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

well, there's more possibilities than that. i thought the sme as StrikedOut. the monitor may need to change its source.

i figured if that were the case it would still show as a detected output in ccc and screen rez window

since he didn't mention it appearing i figured it probably didn't

[migo]

OK. I tested a cable I know to be good, still no signal. It's not a laptop BTW, but a desktop. So it's not a case of automatically mirroring or extending the desktop, but rather using HDMI as the one and only display.

[Arachno 1D]

Check the hdmi option is enabled in the bios

[JayZJay]

I had the same problem and when I read this thread, it dawned on me that I had not thought of there being an "Input Select" option in the monitor settings. Sure enough, that was all my problem was. Now, having my HP laptop connected to my ASUS monitor via HDMI works fine. I had just thought the monitor would work if you had a good connection to a source, but then again, I should have thought about how the monitor would handle it if you had more than one source connected simultaneously, like VGA and HDMI at the same time. In that case, it makes sense that the monitor would have to ask you what source you wanted to use or there would be a "Input Select" option to tell it what source/connection to use.

Another thing to note, when I changed the monitor input selection to HDMI, I had no audio/sound then. I figured the audio was being then sent thru the HDMI cable, but because my monitor doesn't have speakers (I didn't want a monitor with speakers... would rather have decent separate speakers) I wasn't getting any sound. Sure enough, that was it. Once I had opened my audio settings and set "Speakers and Headphones" as the default place/ports to send audio to, my audio/sound was back as usual.

[migo]

I wasn't able to figure out which key launches the BIOS, but after a couple of reboots it ended up going off HDMI. I did have to do the input select on the monitor as well, which required a complete power cycle to get working. I didn't have the sound problem, possibly because I already have headphones plugged in?

Image quality is much better now.

[migo]

OK. This isn't working out how I'd like. Whenever the system goes to sleep, it doesn't output anything when waking up. I have to plug VGA back in to have a chance at getting HDMI.

I checked the BIOS, and it only has the option to use Auto or default to a PCI-e GPU.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

hmm, it sounds like the hdmi on your graphics card might just be faulty, there's no reason your hdmi should be acting like that, it should just work when it's plugged in unless you explicitly turn off that input yourself (which can only be done while it's plugged in and detected)

if you're able to, I'd think about taking the graphics card back and exchanging it as I doubt it's a driver problem at this point

[migo]

It's integrated, part of the A6-3650.

[LUTZIFER]

Have you tried hooking up to another monitor/TV using HDMI, just to narrow things down?

It should just work right off the bat. You normally don't have to change anything, other than switch to the specific HDMI port on the monitor/TV.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

It's integrated, part of the A6-3650.

well that complicates things a little if it is indeed faulty

just to be sure, you do have the official AMD 12.10 drivers installed and not the drivers supplied by Lenovo correct?

if not, try the official AMD driver or vice-verse

[migo]

In the AMD vision control centre it says I've got 12.10 provided by AMD, but that's the default set up that it came with from Lenovo.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

oh, good to know Levono uses the official drivers right off the bat unlike some of the other OEMs :)

well I guess that throws that thought out of the water then

[migo]

just tried setting win+p to second display only. still goes to vga on waking up from sleep.

[nekkidtruth]

Having one of the AMD integrated GPU/CPU's myself, I literally plugged in HDMI to the motherboard (which came with an HDMI port) and away I went. If your HDMI is not functioning properly it's due to one of a few things...

1.) Something is incorrectly setup in your BIOS (as the HDMI port is provided by your motherboard. You should make sure your BIOS settings indicate the system should use the integrated graphics from the GPU/CPU)

2.) AMD drivers for your integrated GPU are not functioning properly/corrupt/etc. (Try uninstalling/reinstalling the drivers)

3.) Or it's defective.

Do you have a television you can plug into using HDMI? See how it function while connected to that. If it works fine, it's most likely an issue with your monitor. If it continues to misbehave, it is definitely your system.

[migo]

I do have a TV I could plug in, but that would be a fair amount of effort lugging everything over. I'll try that if everyone's out of ideas.

[nekkidtruth]

I do have a TV I could plug in, but that would be a fair amount of effort lugging everything over. I'll try that if everyone's out of ideas.

Sure...however I'd want to know if it's the machine or the monitor pretty quick. Especially if I have to RMA something. I wouldn't wait too long ;) You really don't need to take "everything". The tower, the HDMI cable and the power cable for the tower and mouse/keyboard? You don't need anything else. All you really need to do is turn it on. If the TV pops on and displays, fantastic. If you want to wait for it to auto turn off the TV or go to sleep and then wake it to see if it jumps back, even better.

[migo]

OK, so I observed the scanning process while the system was waking up. The monitor attempted to get a signal via HDMI, but there simply wasn't one.

It would appear it's a Windows 8 issue, as someone else is having the same issue, except only with Windows 8, and not Windows 7. I think I'll just put up with it. I'd have to spend a couple hundred dollars more to get a remotely comparable system with DVI (or buy a video card, which will probably run into a CPU bottleneck, and I'd need to spend more for a system with even a Core-i3).

[kaffra]

I'd have to spend a couple hundred dollars more to get a remotely comparable system with DVI (or buy a video card, which will probably run into a CPU bottleneck, and I'd need to spend more for a system with even a Core-i3).

if you want to connect to monitor dvi, a simple hdmi - dvi adapter/cable will work.

[nekkidtruth]

OK, so I observed the scanning process while the system was waking up. The monitor attempted to get a signal via HDMI, but there simply wasn't one.

It would appear it's a Windows 8 issue, as someone else is having the same issue, except only with Windows 8, and not Windows 7. I think I'll just put up with it. I'd have to spend a couple hundred dollars more to get a remotely comparable system with DVI (or buy a video card, which will probably run into a CPU bottleneck, and I'd need to spend more for a system with even a Core-i3).

My HTPC (the one with the integrated graphics CPU in it) is running on Windows 8. I don't have this issue, at least not on my TV.

[migo]

AMD or Intel integrated graphics? Perhaps I should have said AMD + Windows 8 issue?