HP Spectre freezes when connected to external screens using HDMI

[JaredM1]

I recently purchased a HP monitor 25es and connect it to my HP Spectre x360 2013 (13-4005dx) through HDMI. It works fine for a few minutes, then completely freezes. The screen freezes, no errors, nothing, I just can't do anything. I've updated windows (Windows 10 Home, 1709 build 16299.19). 

I've run through the Windows troubleshooter and found no issues. 

Any ideas?

[Riddle_Decipher]

@JaredM1

Thank you for posting on HP Forums, 

Riddle_Decipher is at your service. 

As I understand the spectre freezes when connected to an external display via HDMI,

Don't worry as I'll be glad to help, however, to provide an accurate resolution, I need a few more details: 

Did you update the video card drivers and/or the BIOS?

If you haven't, Please Click here to find and install the same,

If the issue persists, I recommend you create a new user account and check if that works, also, does it provide a error on blue screen or any errors before it crashes?

If it does, please do elaborate and help me, help you! 😉

Let me know how that pans out

feel free to give me a virtual high-five by clicking the 'Thumbs Up' icon,

followed by clicking on 'Accepted as Solution' as it would help the community gain more knowledge,

And Have a great day Ahead!

[JaredM1]

I have updated all drivers and the bios. No change. I also reformated the SDD, re-installed Windows 10. I continued to experience the same issue. Additionally, I've installed Ubuntu 17.04 and experienced the same issue. I then upgraded to Ubuntu 17.10, which runs on Gnome shell instead of Unity. Same problem. 

The only difference I notice between the operating systems is that it seems to take longer for the freeze to happen on Ubuntu, than it does for Windows. Sometimes it will occur after several hours on Ubuntu, but usually at least once a day. On Windows, it will occure after 10 to 15 minutes. If I am running chrome it seems to be faster. My intuition is that it has something to do with memory because Windows 10 is more resource intensive than Ubuntu and Chrome is famous for being a memory hog. Other browsers, such as Opera, seem to run longer before the freeze happens.

I'm convinced this is not operation system specific. It has something to do with the laptop. I've tried multiple hdmi cables, two monitors, and one OLED tv. The tv is the only one I haven't seen a freeze on yet. It's possible that because it's running on 30hz that the Intel display driver is keeping up. Unlike the monitors, which both run at 60 hz. 

[simplementNat]

Hello, I have the same trouble.

The freeze is only if there is an HDMI screen connected.

I run only ubuntu.

You tell to update the bios, how can I do that ?

[mlamla]

Thanks for posting this question! I have the very same problem - same laptop, Windows 10, different external monitor (LG) with HDMI, freeze after a couple of minutes.

However, I am using a different external HP monitor with a HDMI cable at university where I never experienced such a problem.

I would be very grateful for advice! Thanks!

[SueT2]

Hi I've been having this problem & solved it by connecting my Spectre X360 to the monitor using a mini DP to DP cable.  The cable was cheap to buy and I've gone from having crashes several times a day to NONE since I started using the new cable.  Hope this works for other people too.

[Ri_12dc]

I had the same problem and can confirm that switching to a mini displayport has helped solved the issue.

[Juanmannnn]

Same problem. Will try with the Mini DP port and post if it works.

It would be great to have feedback from HP on what the reason for the fault is.

This is a high-end laptop,  it is not expected to fail in such basic activities...

[EeDd]

I switched to using a mini DP to HDMI cable and have not had a freeze up for the last 2 weeks.

[Iiotnrg]

Hi I've been having this problem as well & also solved it by connecting my Spectre X360 to the monitor using a mini DP to HDMI/DVI/VGA Adapter.

When using  dual boot Mint 19 no problem with HDMI, but using Windows 10 and HDMI, then system completely freezes after a random time period normally a few minutes.

Have updated all the drivers, but still the same behaviour.  System feezes.

@HP please solve this?