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83955
Connecting XPS 17 to LCD TV via HDMI cable
I have an XPS 17 (L701X) and I'm trying to connect it via HDMI cable to my girlfriend's 32" Phillips LCD TV with backlight. However, no matter what I try, the laptop never recognizes that the TV is there and vice versa. I've tried restarting, reinstalling the video drivers, fiddling with settings in the control panel for multiple displays, tried two separate brand new HDMI cables from Amazon - and nothing works. (The TV works fine when she connects her Macbook to it via HDMI). Can anyone please help?
john2nd
3 Posts
0
March 4th, 2012 19:00
Well Mitch, I went ahead and bought that adapter part and, lo and behold, the workaround works! First try too (at least in my case) - without any debugging or diagnosing.
My Three Step Process:
(1) I plugged the adapter into my XPS's Mini DisplayPort (around the back beside the HDMI port); (2) I plugged the HDMI cable into the adapter (the other end of the cable was already plugged into the HDTV); (3) I hit F1 on my XPS and selected duplicate (WindowsKey+P or "Connect to a projector" if working through Control Panel).
(I used StarTech Mini DisplayPort Adapter to HDMI)
- the manufacture's site lists it as $22, but I purchased mine from a local tech-for-less store for half that price. I hope this helps!
john2nd
3 Posts
0
January 18th, 2012 10:00
Globalmitch, I'm having the same problem with my XPS 17 (L701X). Sorry I cant really help you much with your problem but hopefully we can get some more attention by showing that its not just a single persons problem.
So far I have deduced that the problem likely rests with the laptop itself. While testing I learned several things: (1) the HDMI cable works fine on other systems (on both XBOX 360 and a Toshiba laptop), (2) the Television and HDMI port both function (again on XBOX 360 and Toshiba laptop), (3) the video driver on my laptop, Generic PnP Monitor, apparently is up to date (i.e. update driver says that I have the most up to date driver) (version 6.1.7600.16385 released 6/21/2006). Yet the computer fails to recognize the HDTV.
Surprisingly, I discovered that if the HDMI cable is partially inserted into my laptop (slightly over halfway) my laptop recognizes the external display, but not if the cable is inserted all the way. Unfortunately, this does not fix the problem seeing seeing that the Television display just goes black and it stays that way reguardless of the setting (neither extending nor duplicating changes the display). When the cable is inserted partway and the Laptop recognizes the HDTV I have found that some sound does go through; but it cuts out every half second. But again absolutely nothing is communicated when the cable is fully plugged into my laptop.
My question is, what else should we do / test? And how?
john2nd
3 Posts
0
January 18th, 2012 13:00
Yeah I agree, this is messed up, especially considering there is no VGA port in the new XPS line.
I did just think of a possible solution / workaround (unlikely though) that we might look into testing. Correct me if I'm wrong but the but the XPS 17 (and other XPS laptops) do have a mini DisplayPort. There is a possibility that using a converter cable could solve our problem. I did a quick search in google and came up with something that looks like this...
Globalmitch
4 Posts
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January 19th, 2012 07:00
I got a snotty email notification from Dell saying a moderator removed my previous post because of my alluding to a curse word, so I have to modify the post I originally wrote.
John, I'm with you about the problem lying with the laptop, and I'm fairly sure that it's a problem with the driver. For some reason the driver just won't recognize an HDMI device, which is genuinely retarded. This should just work. It's like bluetooth not working on your laptop and is a real fail. What's even more annoying is that I've spent hours on the phone with Dell, with them trying to fix it remotely to no avail. This really is pretty amateur and will strongly influence my decision to buy another Dell computer.
The converter cable sounds like a plausible workaround. Let me know if you try it and it works - given that Dell apparently has no interest in resolving what should be a simple, and minor software fix.
Globalmitch
4 Posts
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March 19th, 2012 13:00
That's awesome John! I'll go and grab one of those sweet little adapter puppies right now : )
Globalmitch
4 Posts
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March 21st, 2012 19:00
So I went and bought the same cable from Amazon - and it works a treat John, thanks so much for the tip!
PS shame on you Dell, for not having such a basic function built into your laptop - that works.
DSCOSK8R
1 Message
0
August 25th, 2014 08:00
I also have a Dell XPS 17 (L701X), I have a Viewsonic Monitor that worked perfectly until I decided to have a speaker problem fixed on my system. For starters, when I called Dell about the issue I was having with my speaker they told me that I had to purchase some 1 year extended warranty, which ended up not covering the actual damage that I have with my Laptop. So, gone are my ($200+). I wanted to send my system in and have them fix the speaker and reset the system to Factory Specs for me. She told me that they would reset the system to factory specs and then if the speaker problem still existed, then they would turn it in to have that fixed but, that the problem was likely in the software and not the hardware, despite my protests, I allowed them to walk me through the reboot. Now, not only does the system not recognize the monitor at all on boot up, but, I am stuck with the generic PNP driver which only allows me 1080X780 which is no where near what the monitor is actually recommending 1980-1080. Can we all continue to pressure them for a solution that doesn't involve me spending more money. Clearly this is a driver or software problem which is within some update they have out with their drivers. If it worked fine before the factory reset, shouldn't it work fine if my system is supposed to be set just like it was when I took it out of the box?