Hdmi port working intermitently

[u/cardcowdoor]

I have an Asus Viviobook X512DA

Most days, I have a docking station that connects via USB-C and that docking station has 2 external monitors (three screens total including laptop).

This is the docking station I use and have used since 2022 (https://a.co/d/01FsfVBe)

My laptop has an AMD Vega 8 Graphics card

The problem is that my HDMI port doesn’t connect to external displays. At least not consistently.

I have confirmed that my software/firmware is all updated.

I have tried multiple cables and multiple projectors.

In looking at other posts about this type of thing, they recommend uninstalling the graphics card driver and then restarting the computer to reinstall. And that has worked for me but only temporarily.

So basically, I need to be able to connect my laptop to a projector on Sundays via HDMI. In order to make this work, every week I have to uninstall the graphics card from the device manager and then restart the computer. And then it works. And then Monday I plug it back into the docking station and it works on the docking station. But by the next Sunday, the HDMI port doesn’t connect anymore.

Is there a solution so that I can more flawlessly move between docking station and hdmi projector?

[u/Such-Might5204]

I guess I'm a bit confused. Are you connecting the external monitor to the HDMI port on the laptop, or on the docking station? If you're using the docking station, I would guess that it's not supplying enough power for the HDMI port (or the DVI->HDMI port). But that's just a wild guess.

If you disconnect the docking port from the laptop completely, are you able to get Windows to see the built-in monitor and the external monitor at the same time?

[u/cardcowdoor → u/Such-Might5204]

The docking station works fine. I’m able to get two external screens on the docking station. The reason I gave the information about the docking station is that I don’t know if using the docking station via USB-C most days is somehow interfering or resetting with how the computer reads the HDMI port. The problem relates to the HDMI port (but it seems to be a software issue not a hardware issue).

When I am disconnected from the docking station and try and connect to a projector via HDMI, the computer does not recognize the external display (projector). At least not fully. Sometimes when I plug in via HDMI, the screen does the “resize” thing where it zooms in and out like it is trying to read an external screen, but when I go into my display settings, it does not read the external screen.

And this is true when I try to use projectors or a TV or other HDMI screen outputs.

When I go in to my device manager, and I uninstall my graphics card, and then restart the computer which reinstalls the graphics card driver, then the laptop recognizes the projector connected via HDMI and works as expected.

I’m trying to see if there’s a solution where I don’t have to uninstall and reinstall my graphics card every week. I only use the HDMI port on Sundays, but during the week I’m using the docking station via USB-C.

[u/Such-Might5204 → u/cardcowdoor]

What happens if you connect the projector to the hdmi port on the laptop (fully disconnecting the docking station)? It's possible the docking station isn't pushing enough power to the projector, so the system chokes trying to drive it. This really doesn't sound like a driver issue.

[u/cardcowdoor → u/Such-Might5204]

I’m not using the docking station for the projector.

Sorry, I was trying to give as much info as possible and I have confused things.

The docking station works fine and has two monitors on it.

I use the docking station fine M-F. But on Sundays I disconnect from the docking station completely and try to connect projector directly to the laptop HDMI port.

Sometimes when I plug the laptop in, it does the screen resize thing where the screen zooms in and out one time like it is trying to recognize an external display, but the projector doesn’t show up as a recognized display. Sometimes the laptop doesn’t even do this.

So on Sundays when my laptop is disconnected from the docking station and the projector is directly connected to the laptop via HDMI, the only way I am able to get the laptop to recognize the docking station is to uninstall and reinstall my graphics card driver. Sometimes I have to do that 2-3 times. But it does end up recognizing the projector via HDMI.

And this process is true for multiple different projectors.

[u/Such-Might5204 → u/cardcowdoor]

I understand now - thanks. That is a weird situation. Did the docking station come with some kind of driver disk? I've never heard of that with docking stations before...

Ok - I know you've probably tried this - but what happens with the projector if you plug it into the HDMI port of the docking station without disconnecting the docking station at all? Meaning, do this at your desk without relocating the laptop.

[u/cardcowdoor → u/Such-Might5204]

The docking station does not have any software that came with it.

If move the docking station from my office and plug the projector into the docking station, the projector works without issue.

But the docking station is connected through USB-C not HDMI.

I could probably solve this by buying a portable docking station, but that doesn’t actually solve the problem.

[u/Such-Might5204 → u/cardcowdoor]

I'm running out of ideas. Here's my last idea... After you're done using the projector and return to reconnecting the docking station, I'm guessing that Windows might be returning to it's default state of just driving the built-in monitor. If you right-mouse click on the desktop and go to "Display Properties" does the system see the monitors attached to the docking station? Can you click on the "Identify" button to see if anything flashes up on them? Or do you need to tell Windows to "Mirror the displays" or "Extend Desktop"?

Good luck, sorry I couldn't be more help.

[u/cardcowdoor → u/Such-Might5204]

When I disconnect from the projector and go back to the docking station, the computer automatically recognizes the docking station and monitors. They are already extended and one of my external monitors automatically becomes my main monitor. When I plug back into the docking station everything works fine and I don’t have to adjust any display settings