Display 2 not active

What model Inspiron? How is the ext monitor connected? Open Display Settings to find the problems.

@Linderbaum  What specific Dell laptop are you using? What specific display model are you using?  And what specific type of cable (and adapter dongle if applicable) are you using?  And are you sure you have the display set to the correct input?  Sorry if that last question sounds trite, but it's been the cause of people's issues before.

I purchased a Dell Inspiron 15 5000...the external monitor that I have been using with my other Dell is an AOC 22 inch...plugged in to the HDMI port using a Honshen adaptor (same one used for past 2 years).

The second monitor is showing on the "display settings" screen so it is identified but it says it is inactive when I go to the settings tab.  When I select Duplicate or Extend, it will not keep the display settings.

I am not an IT guy so my vernacular may not be perfect in providing the details, but they are as specific as I can provide as everything is coming straight off the equipment.

@Linderbaum  That information is helpful.  A couple of additional questions, though.  First, what is the exact system model?  Inspiron 15 5000 is an entire model series that consists of several Inspiron 15 5000 models made over several years -- sort of like "BMW 3 Series".  Your exact model would likely be something like Inspiron 5578.  If you don't know for sure, go to support.dell.com and enter your Service Tag in the search box.  It will take you to a page specific to your system model.

And secondly, what is this "Honshen adapter"?  Assuming your Inspiron system has an HDMI output built into it, the fact that an adapter is in play suggests that your AOC display does NOT have an HDMI input, otherwise you'd be able to use a regular HDMI cable that had an HDMI connector on each end.  So what exactly is this adapter?  I can't check what inputs your display has because you just said it's an AOC 22" display.  AOC is a company, and they've made more than one 22" display over the years.  If you can't find a specific model, perhaps printed on a sticker on the back of the display, can you post a photo of all of the available video input connectors on the display so I can see what you've got available?  And one or more photos of the adapter to make clear what sort of connectors it's adapting between might be useful too.

One possibility that's crossing my mind is that you have an HDMI to DVI adapter in order to feed a DVI input on the AOC display.  If you Google "DVI connector" you should be able to tell if that's what you have.  If that's the case, then I know that some Dell systems with HDMI outputs don't support DVI displays.  To my knowledge, no underlying cause has been identified, nor has Dell formally acknowledged the issue, but for example multiple owners of the XPS 15 9570 have confirmed this problem with multiple DVI adapters/cables and DVI displays, without a single user reporting success.  I'm actually surprised it's even possible to have this problem since my understanding has always been that up to 1920x1080 resolution, HDMI and DVI signals are identical at an electrical level, but somehow DVI compatibility is broken on that system, so if that's how you're trying to connect to this this display, that might be what's going on with your system.

The monitor has VGA and DVI connection available.  My other Dell worked with the HDMI adaptor connected to the VGA cable no problem, so that is what I have been using the past few years.  My new model is a 5593 Inspiron.

I may have been told incorrectly, but the sales guy told me it should work fine with the HDMI port and not to use the USB port for the external monitor.  Is it accurate to say it should not be used with a USB adaptor and port?  I ask only because I have never had a laptop not work with an external monitor.  In all reality, it is such a basic function, I am thinking of returning the laptop and going with a different brand.  It seems like a $1000 laptop should be able to connect to a monitor.

@Linderbaum  If your display has DVI, then why are you using an HDMI to VGA adapter?  VGA is the only display signal type that's still analog, whereas everything else is digital, which means that VGA will look noticeably worse than any other option.  In addition, HDMI and DVI adapters are trivial because up to 1920x1200 resolution, HDMI and DVI are identical at an electrical level, so those adapters/cables are able give you a higher quality signal (and therefore image) while ALSO being less expensive and less complicated.  HDMI to VGA adapters need to incorporate an active signal converter chip to switch the HDMI signal to VGA, which is just one more thing to pay for and potentially cause problems, as may be the case here.  There are some very rare cases of HDMI outputs for some reason not working with DVI inputs, but 99.999% of the time, they work just fine.  So before you get another laptop, you might want to look into an HDMI to DVI adapter or cable -- in fact you should do that even if you DO return the laptop, because you'll get a higher quality image no matter what HDMI source you end up using it with.

But on the subject of returns, if that's an option you might want to consider it for another reason.  The HDMI outputs on the Inspiron xx93 systems have turned out to be unable to send a resolution higher than 1080p.  This is despite the fact that the systems were advertised with "HDMI 1.4", which typically means support for 2560x1440 at 60 Hz and 4K 30 Hz.  This limitation has been confirmed by multiple users on multiple Inspiron xx93 models, and when I escalated the large number of reports to an internal Dell Support rep who's been helpful at getting Engineering to look at issues with widespread reports, he came back and said he had seen internal documentation confirming that that was in fact a limitation, and that they had chosen not to share information about underlying cause.  It sounds to me like somebody bungled something in either design or manufacturing that caused the system not to perform to the specs it was supposed to, but whatever the reason, that limitation exists.  So if you think you might want a laptop whose HDMI port can run higher resolution displays than 1080p for futureproofing, you might want to return it if you can.

@Linderbaum  I'm not saying it should be expected that your HDMI to VGA adapter would fail to operate properly on your new laptop.  I'm just saying that a) right or wrong, that seems to be the likely underlying cause, and b) you have an opportunity here to get your display working AND get increased image quality by buying a very inexpensive different kind of adapter/cable.  You can point out that you shouldn't HAVE to do that, and I would agree, but talking about the way things "should be" rather than the way it seems they ARE isn't going to get your display working, and I figured you'd be more interested in the latter rather than the former.

And on the subject of replacing something that actually works, there are degrees of working.  Personally, if somebody told me I could get better image quality by spending a few dollars on a different type of adapter or cable, I might consider it.

The answer to your question is a very simple and logical one. When my company provided me with my laptop three years ago, it also provided me with an adapter and a monitor to use. Since it worked flawlessly for three years, it made no sense to me to go out and buy something new to replace something that works. In my mind, that a both silly and quite illogical. If I had known that my equipment would cease to work two because Dell changed something (I di not work for Dell and am not privy to their methods) I surely would’ve made the logical choice and purchased a different type of adapter in order to connect my monitor. I guess I made the huge mistake of using common sense and logic in my decision making.

I have same problem with Dell Inspiron 5593 & 3493.

Connect to Polycom Realpresense Group 500 via HDMI can't "Sending Content" to monitor.

Just showing "Display 2 isn't active".

I puschased 6 laptop Inspiron 5593 & 3493, my company is using Polycom for meeting regularly, now lacking in output HDMI.

Sorry for my poor English.

Hi, I have the same problem.

Did you ever resolve this? 

Thanks

Hi, guys, I have same issue like u, although with a hp laptop.

It look like ur question is about hardware, I just want to know if there is sth wrong with Settings or Drivers.

In fact I installed two OS (Ubuntu & Win 11), but dual-screen can work on Ubuntu and don't work on Win11, which is really weird.

Thanks & best regards.

I have to update that I solve this issue by 50%.

I use a hdmi-vga adapter to link the screen 2 with vga cable, it worded. However display 2 cannot reach the highest resolution as hdmi.  Only 1440*900.

So I was wondering how to use hdmi cable directly to overcome this.

Hi all, I'm happy to find that u just need to update your Intel driver, which is easy to find on their website.

Make sure the newest version.