My PC Won't Boot When a TV is Plugged in with HDMI

[nphage]

 I recently bought a big screen TV to use as the monitor for my computer. For some reason I can't get my computer to boot when the TV is plugged in via HDMI. My previous monitor was connected via DVI and I never had any issues. Any time the TV is connected my computer won't boot. If I plug in the TV after the PC boots everything is fine. But if the TV is plugged in it won't and if I unplug the TV after it has tried to boot it still won't boot until I push the power button to turn it off and then turn it back on again. The PC doesn't seem to be getting very far in the boot process. Simply tapping the power button immediately turns it off. My PC has a 980TI if that makes a difference. I have tried both passive and active HDMI cables and both have this problem. At first I tried multiple HDMI cables and most it wouldn't boot with, but then I did find one that it did boot with, but then it mysteriously stopped booting one day. That same cable still works once the PC has booted. I just don't understand how the HDMI cable could affect whether a PC boots or not or how an individual cable could go from working to not working. Any ideas what could be causing this?

[Echo_Lake]

@nphage

Welcome to HP Forums,  

This is a great place to get support, find answers and tips,
Thank you for posting your query, I'll be more than glad to help you out 🙂

I see that HP ENVY Desktop not booting up when its connected to the TV via HDMI,
Don't worry as I'll be glad to help, however, to provide an accurate resolution, I need a few more details:

• What is the product number of your device? Use this link to find it: http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c03754824 (Ensure you do not share any of your personal information such as serial, phone number, email ID, etc...).
• Have you tried changing the display resolution? 

While you respond to that, I recommend you to perform the following steps to isolate the issue and arrive at a fix:

Let's try this:

1. Click Start.

2. Type Troubleshooting in the search bar and press “Enter”.

3. In the “Troubleshooting” window, click on “View All” on the left pane.

4. Click on “Hardware and Devices”.

5. Click on “Advanced” and then click on “Run as Administrator”.

6. Click “Next” and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the troubleshooting process.

Next, continue below troubleshooting steps:

1. Select a connection type based on your second monitor.

   • Monitor: VGA  or DVI  cable

   • TV: Video (composite)  or S-video  cable

   • High Definition TV: DVI  or HDMI  cable

2. Connect the TV or monitor to the computer using the cable you chose.

3. Connect a power cable to the TV or monitor, and then turn it on.

4. TV connections only: Change the TV video input source to match the video source connection from the computer (Line-1, Video-1, HDMI, etc.). Refer to documents that came with the TV for instructions.

   Depending on the TV, the image quality might not be as good as that of a monitor.

5. Turn on the computer.

Also, you can refer to this article (Using Two or More Monitors with One Computer)

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.

If I have helped you resolve the issue, feel free to give me a virtual high-five by clicking the 'Thumbs Up' icon below,

Followed by clicking on "Accept as solution" from the drop-down menu on the upper right corner,

Thank you for posting in the HP Support Forum.  Have a great day!

[nphage]

My product number is N3G97AV#ABA.

I have not changed the display resolution. It's a 4K TV and I wouldn't want to have to run it at a lower resolution.

I ran the troubleshooter and it did not find any problems. 

I will test the rest of your troubleshooting recommendations. However, since that require a restart of my computer I will post this first.

[nphage]

Ok, I have also tried your instructions for order of plugging stuff in and turning stuff on. That did not resolve the problem. I am pretty sure I have figured out why my cable went from working to not working. I was messing around with the TVs settings. This TV has HDR and it can be turned on and off for individual HDMI ports. It turns out that the computer will boot when plugged into the TV via HDMI if HDR is turned on for the port it is plugged into. It will not boot if HDR is turned off. I had been using HDR for a while but then had turned it off. That must be why the cable seemed to have stopped working. 

So the real issue here seems to be that my computer won't boot when plugged in via HDMI when HDR is turned off. I don't know why that is. HDR is not turned on in my display settings on the computer, so it is not a matter of disagreement between the TV and computer on that setting.

Furthermore, I have found that my computer will boot if I use an HDMI to Displayport converter with the converter plugged into a Displayport on my 980TI, an HDMI cable is connected to the TV and the converter, and the HDMI port on the TV has HDR turned on. Again it seems HDR needs to be turned on. Very strange behavior.

[Echo_Lake]

@nphage

Thank you for posting back. 

I am glad to know that you managed to isolate the issue. As you've mentioned that you have to manually change the VIDEO SOURCE or INPUT to view the computer display, this sounds like its TV settings to recognize the input device.
Let's try enabling the HDR mode settings and check.

1. Click start and Open settings
2. Navigate to System -> Display.
3. Select the external display that you want to enable the HDR support.
4. Toggle HDR and WCG to On to enable and turn on HDR support on the external display.
   (below the Night Light option that reads “HDR and WCG:”)

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.

[nphage]

Whether I have the HDR turned on in the display settings doesn't seem to matter. My PC boots regardless as long as the HDMI port is set on the TV to have HDR on. 

I tried the TV with an older Dell PC and it boots fine when HDR is not turned on. So it is definitely an issue specific to my HP PC. The Dell PC does not support HDR so it might not even work with HDR on.

Regardless I guess it doesn't matter too much since my HP PC is booting reliably now, but this is definitely a strange issue.

[Echo_Lake]

@nphage

Thank you for posting back. 

you've done an excellent job on diagnosing the issue from your end. Kudos to you on that score. It is always a privilege to work with tech-savvy and technically competent customers like you.

This Article will be more helpful to know more about the dual monitor setup: Click Here

Keep me posted for further assistance.

[nphage]

Thanks. I appreciate yor help with this. Hopefully I don't have any more issues.

[Echo_Lake]

@nphage

Thank you for posting back.

Glad to hear that the issue is resolved. If you need any help, feel free to reach out to us.

Have a great day! 

Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.