Using an external monitor with HP Pavilion dv6t-3100 Select Edition Entertainment laptop

[t]

I tried connecting a HP Pavilion dv6 laptop to an external monitor and
it did not get any signal. The monitor was taken from a desktop where it
was working.

The laptop has a integrated Intel graphics card 512MB which it is using
and a dedicated graphic card AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5000 Series 512MB
which is not used.

I checked the laptop BIOS but it does not seem to have a way to switch
from the integrated graphic card to the AMD card. The integrated
graphics card seems to support only one monitor, which is the laptop
screen. It is running Windows 10 Home 64 bit and when I disabled the
integrated Intel graphics card from Windows device manager, it did not
switch to the AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5000 Series graphic card but went
blank.

1. Can an external monitor be connected to this laptop powered by the
AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5000 Series graphic card?

2. Is there a way that the integrated Intel graphics card can support
the external monitor?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Mike S]

I don't know if these apply to your model but might be worth a try
------------------------------------------------------------------
Re: How do I connect my laptop to an external monitor
Options
‎02-10-2011 01:39 PM
Hi,
You can connect to an external monitor via a VGA or HDMI connection.
The usual process to transfer the video output to an external source is
to hold down the fn key and press f4. Use the arrow keys to select
'Projector Only' and hit enter.
Hope this helps.
Best wishes,
DP-K
------------------------------------------------------------------
06-12-2013 06:03 PM
@mls_contreras12 When you press F4, you should see a screen with 4
options (Disconnect, Duplicate, Extend and Projector Only) Do you see
those options? If not you can
1. Connect your second monitor while the computer is on
2. Right-click anywhere on the desktop and click Screen Resolution
3. Click Detect
4. Change Multiple Displays to Extend if you want to have an extra wide
screen, Duplicate if you want to see the same image on both screens.
------------------------------------------------------------------
09-14-2015 12:57 AM
Just press F4 - You do not need the function key. (at least my laptop
doesn't.)
------------------------------------------------------------------
https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Video-Display-and-Touch/How-do-I-connect-my-laptop-to-an-external-monitor/td-p/519487


09-08-2014 01:44 PM
I have dv6 purchased in January 2013. The model is dv6t-7000
entertainment Pavilion. I have never been able to get the dv6 to run a
picture to a tv through an HDMI cable. At home I used a VGA cable for
video and audio. But in Iraq and now in Afganistan VGA is not an option
on my tv. Do you think I am missing a driver?? John
------------------------------------------------------------------
https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Video-Display-and-Touch/Two-external-monitors-for-HP-Pavilion-dv6/td-p/1318571/page/2

[Paul]

There do seem to be a few problems with it. And I'm surprised nobody
mentioned trying an F key to cycle through the modes. The people who
got relief, changed video drivers. Pretty weird.

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Video-Display-and-Touch/Hp-pavilion-dv6-laptop-has-a-black-screen-problem/td-p/2673015/page/2

And there are a lot of different configurations for that family.
That should make life interesting.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/HP-Pavilion-dv6-Series.53642.0.html

Paul

[t]

Thanks, but that does not work. When I hold the Fn key and press F4
nothing happens. I appreciate your advice.

> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> 06-12-2013 06:03 PM
> @mls_contreras12 When you press F4, you should see a screen with 4
> options (Disconnect, Duplicate, Extend and Projector Only) Do you see
> those options? If not you can
> 1. Connect your second monitor while the computer is on
> 2. Right-click anywhere on the desktop and click Screen Resolution
> 3. Click Detect
> 4. Change Multiple Displays to Extend if you want to have an extra wide
> screen, Duplicate if you want to see the same image on both screens.

Thanks, but it does not detect multiple displays.

[t]

On 8/13/2017 7:43 PM, Paul wrote:

Hi Paul,

Your response did not come through. Perhaps, my news-server did not get it.

Your insightful advice is always appreciated and is welcome.

[Paul]

That group is actually archived on GG. Whereas Win7 and Win10 groups
happen not to be archived.

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.comp.hardware/tBsVqjndo2M

*******

When you have two GPUs in a laptop

NVidia GPU + Intel GPU = NVIDIA Optimus (Bumblebee on Linux)

( https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/bumblebee )

( https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/PRIME )

ATI/AMD just doesn't seem quite as interested in this approach.
Perhaps it's a patent issue (Nvidia has patent?).

https://superuser.com/questions/728953/how-to-install-amd-driver-for-ati-dynamic-switchable-graphics-in-windows-7

And my comment remains the same. It appears driver updates
of one sort or another, are most likely to fix it.

At least on the NVidia side, the solution is "spooky". Only
one chip drives the graphics ports. When the other chip is enabled,
it DMA transfers the frame buffer info, into the frame buffer of
the other chip. The chip driving the I/O. So rather than taking
two display signals and installing a "mux" to select one or another,
the dual GPU design is memory-space based. One chip is always
driving the panel, and either it displays stuff placed in the
buffer by itself, or the other driver DMA transfers the frame
contents into the port-owning chip.

Now, how does the ATI/AMD one work ? Dunno.

I got a name here for the ATI one. ATI/AMD Switchable Graphics.

https://community.amd.com/docs/DOC-1581#jive_content_id_What_is_Switchable_Graphics_Technology

You need to probe this hardware somehow, to see if the display
"ports" are declared anywhere. Like in Xrandr, I could discover
my other machine called itself "CRT1", even though it was using
a VGA port on a 6450 AMD card. If the Intel GPU has multiple
ports, and it's the proxy for display driving, then getting a
good driver into it may be all that's needed. To support
either GPU to work under Switchable Graphics.

Note that, in terms of how GPUs work, they can have HDMI, DVI,
VGA ports. But they also have parallel busses, and external
display driver chips run off those busses (Silicon Image DVI chip).
The panel in a laptop could be LVDS and running off a digital bus,
rather than a conventional connector. I would expect Xrandr
to have some kinda funky name for that. I don't know what
a proper name would be.

I saw one comment that claims AMD doesn't do it that way any more.
No idea what they would have replaced that with.

There was a time when the number of ports on a mobile device
were limited. But the limit should start at "two", not "one".
And some can do "two of three" now, but how would you use that ?

On a laptop, typically the panel is one port, the external connector
covers the second head. If the Intel chip is "the boss", the driver
should make both ports work, and the "F key trick" should cycle
through the display options.

Paul