I'm trying to repurpose my broken laptop into a home server, but the screen is completely black and I can't see anything. I've connected an external monitor via HDMI, but it won't display anything when the BIOS boots up. I've also tried closing the laptop while starting it, but that hasn't worked either. I'm using an HP laptop that runs Windows. Any suggestions for getting to the boot menu?
4 Answers
If all else fails, unplugging the internal screen's LVDS cable from the motherboard is a solid solution. This forces the laptop to route the BIOS display to the external monitor. It worked for me when nothing else did!
You could also try using a neodymium magnet—you can run it along the base near the hinge to find where the screen turns off. Keep the magnet there, and it will trick the laptop into thinking the lid is closed, so you can leave it open and watch it boot up.
Some laptops have a cool feature where they allow booting with the lid closed, but you need to remember the right key combination. Make sure you have an external keyboard connected and try powering it on with the lid closed. In some cases, removing the CMOS battery and reconnecting the power can help as well. If that doesn’t work, you might want to check for the read switch that detects the lid's position; it usually reacts to a magnet.
Definitely use a USB keyboard and mouse! When you power it on, close the lid immediately—it should switch to the external monitor before the GPU kicks in. If that doesn't work, try booting into Windows first, then close the lid. Just make sure that your power settings don’t send it to sleep or hibernate.
This was the only solution that actually worked for me. Thanks a ton!