Monitors plugged to closed Alienware Area-51 Laptops have No Display During a Restart
Summary: The following article provides information about the failure to show the Power-on Self-Test (POST) and Windows Booting information on-screen. The external screen has no display during a restart when plugged to an Alienware Area-51 laptop with its lid closed. ...
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Symptoms
Rebooting with the lid closed does not display any video on the external monitor
Nothing is displayed on your connected monitor after closing the lid on your Alienware 16 Area-51 AA16250 or Alienware 18 Area-51 AA18250 laptop and rebooting it. The POST and Windows loading is not seen on-screen. However, video does come back to the external monitor when the laptop finishes booting to the Windows operating system. The laptops are running in Hybrid graphics mode when this happens.
What is Hybrid Graphics Mode?
This mode switches your laptop between using the discrete Graphical Processing Unit (dGPU) and the integrated graphics from your Central Processing Unit (CPU). It automatically switches between them to optimize your laptops performance and power efficiency.
Cause
The dGPU handles the USB Type-C and High-Definition Multi-Media Interface (HDMI) connections in Hybrid Graphics Mode. During POST and a reboot or restart the hybrid graphics mode uses the Intel Integrated GPU. There is no video output over the type-C and HDMI ports while this occurs.
Resolution
Note: The laptops are working as expected under hybrid graphics mode.
You can disable Hybrid mode or Advanced Optimus in your BIOS if you must have the loading screens visible during the reboot.
Affected Products
Alienware 16 Area-51 AA16250, Alienware 18 Area-51 AA18250Article Properties
Article Number: 000303738
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 08 Apr 2025
Version: 1
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