Laptop screen broken how do I connect to tv

mamaduke

Hi my son dropped his laptop & now the screen is broken.
We have a HDMI cable to connect it to the TV but as the laptop screen is blank we cant change the settings, how can we overcome this please?

It is an Advent 5431.

Phillh_2

Hi, what make and model laptop is it?
Pretty much all laptops allow you to change the video output source by using the FN key in conjunction with one of the 'F' keys, usually F5.
It depends on the laptop but you should see an icon in the shape of a monitor on one of the 'F' keys which will be the one you need.
To change the source simply hold down the FN key and press the relevant 'F' key, give it a few seconds and the image should appear on the TV, if not, press again until it shows.
Hope this helps

mamaduke

Thanks, it is the F9 key that has that image so he is off to try it now

Phillh_2

Just looked up the spec of the laptop and F9 is the wrong key, F9 is to enable/disable the touchpad.
The one that is needed is F4.

mamaduke

Hi yep we just discovered that, sadly the F4 key has no effect either, do we need click anything on the screen after pressing the FN & F4 keys?, all it says on the TV is HDMI no input, the laptop screen has nothing visible at all.
Thanks for your help so far

LucianH

Does you're laptop boot up automatically into a use account or do you have to "login". I'm not sure, but the fn key may only work if the display drivers are fully loaded - I'm sure some other experts can help here (I've got nothing to test my theory on).

Phillh_2

You may need to press FN & F4 a couple of times for it to go to HDMI output.
Is the laptop booting up properly? Do the activity LED's flash?

Do you have to enter a password on the laptop to login? With some laptops you have to log in before you can change the video output.

mamaduke

He has logged in as best he can (having no screen its a bit difficult), all the usual lights are appearing in the usual order so it appears the laptop is working OK apart from the screen.
Off to try a few more times then throw it in the bin lol.

mamaduke

Yeah its fixed thank you so much for your help :j:T:j

LucianH

Another thought, does you TV have a d-sub vga input? This may be the default for the laptops external monitor. If it does, try getting your hands on a cheap cable (or borrow one) to see if that works.

Hammyman

Don't throw it in the bin. I typically charge £100-£120 including the cost of the screen to fix such a thing. Its not beyond the capabilities of those happy to wield a screwdriver.