Can't get HDMI output working properly in Linux Mint (Solved

Hello,

I have Mint 17 loaded on my HP Pavillion dv7 (1273d) and this is the first time I've taken it out on the road. I'm in a hotel and want to watch a dvd movie that will play on my laptop on the nice HDTV in my hotel. I hooked the HDMI cable from my computer to the TV and switched the TV output to the correct setting. The desktop background shows up on the TV but nothing else does, no taskbar, no icons, no mouse pointer. Just the background. It seems like this should be something easy but I can't figure out what it is, I went into the display setting thinking my issue might be there. The TV I'm plugged into shows up there but that's it. I've tried googling for an answer but I don't seem to be able to phrase my request properly because I keep getting responses for no sound. Anyway, any help you give will be appreciated.

Please help

I didn't find the right solution from the internet.

References:
https://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1252881

Thank you