M17x R4 HDMI-In not working

hello,
I own an M17x R4 with a 120hz 3D screen, so it doesn’t include an integrated GPU, been having a problem lately with the HDMI-In function, whenever I connect a device (PS4,PS3,Xbox) the laptop’s screen turns black till I unhook the hdmi cable or press fn+f8, It was running Windows 10 so I tried restoring the factory image with AlienRespawn which has Windows 8, however it also didn’t work, upgraded to 8.1 and nothing happened..

*tried installing Windows 7 and the HDMI-In worked flawlessly.

*Now I am running Windows 8.1 and I really hope for a solution.

*I downloaded the old drivers from Dell’s website and tried the new ones from nvidia’s website still didn’t work

I searched the forum and tried many fixes non of them were successful.

Any suggestions?

thanks

 

Did you make sure to install the Onscreen Display Driver? That usually is the one that controls the HDMI in process. That and the Fn+F8.. or F7 hotkey.

 

Yep, On screen display is installed and I do press the hot key whenever I connect the HDMi cable.

I even tried it immediately after restoring the factory image which has Windows 8 and every single factory driver intact.. still didn’t work.

It only works on Windows 7 for some reason but I do not want to use Windows 7.

 

Anyone?

 

HDMI-IN works very well on Alienwares with windows 10 installed in my personal experience. If you don't want to use windows 7, use windows 10. Win10 is basically an upgraded version of Win7. Don't use Win8 because it's crap.

 

Which drivers exactly are you using? and does your machine include integrated graphics?

 

Every Alienware laptop built at least since sandy bridge processors came out have integrated graphics on their CPUs, but they are disabled by the BIOS if you are running in dedicated only mode, which is required to drive a 120hz display. In short, all laptops since at least sandy bridge have integrated graphics, even gaming laptops. Whether the chip is enabled or not is a different matter.

As for drivers, I am currently using Nvidia driver version 381.65 and I am running in dedicated only mode as well since I have the 120hz display as well.

 

Emm weird,, same driver I am using, same everything.. Is there any additional setup or tweak to make it work? or you just pop in the hdmi?

 

All you need is that driver and the Alienware OSD. The Alienware OSD controls the screen input switching. Try plugging in a game console and use the keyboard combination for HDMI-IN and it will switch, although it will probably do this automatically when you plug something in.

No tweaks were required for the driver other than the tweaks required to force it to install. Other than that, no other tweaks.

 

Force it to install? why exactly?

 

Because I'm running a 10xx series card in my Alien. For some reason an INF driver mod is required to force the Nvidia drivers to install if you're running a 10xx series GPU on laptops that didn't originally come with one.

 

does the HDMI in work for you? same setup here, perhaps i should test it.

same with almost any GPU upgrade, same with my 980.

 

HDMI-IN works flawlessly for me with my 1060. The only caveat is that once I press FN+ F9 to turn it off and go back to displaying what my Alien was displaying, it shows up as a black screen. However all I have to do is put my Alien to sleep and wake it to get the image to come up again.

 

No more suggestions? should I just give up?

 

Try wiping the drive and reinstall windows 10 plus all the factory drivers from dell's website, after backing up your data of course. You said that HDMI-IN worked in windows 7 when you installed it on your machine, so it could be some setting that is screwed up that we can't find.

 

Did that, but the drivers on Dell’s website are only for either Windows 7 or Windows 8/8.1 .. there is nothing mentioning Windows 10.

 

Just found out that the Audio works perfectly, but the screen is still BLACK

 

Hi guys. Same problem with me here... I's the 120Hz M17x R4 model. Stock 680M on mine for now, waiting for the MSI 1070 to be delivered and I'll go for the upgrade. All mods done already.

In the meantime, I was trying HDMI In, and nothing. All I get is a black screen when I switch with Fn-F8. When I plug something in, it switches automatically, as it should, I installed the OSD drivers.

I can see the "HDMI Input" entry in the audio inputs, but I have to check "Listen to this device" to get sound when I'm on the HDM In. But then, no issues with the sound quality, and no latency. I don't know it fhat's the normal behavior for the audio side of things, but it seems to work fine after doing that.

It would be great if the display could be fixed. Any ideas?

 

Try Nvidia's newest graphics driver to see if that helps. There were certain versions of their graphics driver that resulted in a black screen for me as well with HDMI-IN. I don't remember exactly what they were, but there were a few versions between version 340 something and 350 something in which using HDMI-IN resulted in a black screen for me. I'm currently using version 381.65 and HDMI-IN works flawlessly. Based off what I have read, neither you or Mahmoud123 have a hardware problem. It looks like it's a software issue. Try nvidia driver version 381.65 and let me know how that goes. There was a point in time where HDMI-IN did not work for me for a few months so I feel ya.

 

I know this might be totally irrelevant, but which booting mode are you using? UEFI or legacy?

And which BIOS version?

 

BIOS version A14 and pure UEFI boot mode. HDMI-IN never worked for me when the legacy option rom was enabled. It only works when I boot in pure UEFI mode.

 

I'm running BIOS A11 unlocked, and pure UEFI boot mode as well. On my previous Alienware M17x R4 60Hz I remember it worked flawlessly on Windows 7 and legacy boot. I haven't tried on this one with legacy boot.

I currently have the latest drivers, as I just reinstalled the OS, preparing myself for the 1070 upgrade. It's version 390.77. I'll try to downgrade see how it works.

 

No, downgrading to 381.65 did not help. Same problem exactly.

 

Cannot seem to find the A14 Bios anywhere, I am on A13...

 

I think @Clamibot meant A13, this is the latest BIOS I know of on the M17x R4. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Unless someone has any idea, I think I'm going to wait for the 1070 to arrive, install it, and see if it works with this one.

I have an idea about what the issue might be. I flashed the UEFI vbios on my 680M, otherwise I could not install Windows 10 in true UEFI mode. The BIOS wouldn't let me disable "Load Legacy Option Rom", because of the graphics card not supporting UEFI. The new vbios I used solved that issue, but it might not support the HDMI In... Just an idea.

 

This is the vbios I've got right now.

 

honestly I have no idea, I never touched the vBIOS

 

@etienne51
Actually I did mean A14. I have the R5/R1 model, not the R4. You are correct that verison A13 is the latest for the R4.

 

emm, that’s like a completely different and updated model, could be the reason why it’s working for you.

I’ll just keep on digging and update you when/If I reach any solution.. and I hope you guys do the same if you found anything.

 

Well, not the way I wanted it to work, but I installed Windows 7 on another partition, and I just boot to it whenever I want to use the HDMI-IN function..

case closed.