Internal display not active

szumial · January 17, 2023

Hi! I have posted before, but the thread is old and got no solution to the issue. My Dell G7 7700 displays everything fine until booting to Windows. It has passed the internal LCD tests. I can only use it with an external screen (frustrating) or in safe mode where it works OK. I've done a clean install of Windows and once the drivers get updated with Windows Update, the problem comes back. Both GPUs are properly detected, but when I go to display settings, the internal screen is shown as not active. Does anyone have an idea what the problem might be? I don't want to start replacing elements piece by piece out of warranty. I have already tried re-plugging the LCD cable on the motherboard. If the display was broken, wouldn't it fail in bios as well?

Applefreak · January 17, 2023

8 minutes ago, szumial said:

Hi! I have posted before, but the thread is old and got no solution to the issue. My Dell G7 7700 displays everything fine until booting to Windows. It has passed the internal LCD tests. I can only use it with an external screen (frustrating) or in safe mode where it works OK. I've done a clean install of Windows and once the drivers get updated with Windows Update, the problem comes back. Both GPUs are properly detected, but when I go to display settings, the internal screen is shown as not active. Does anyone have an idea what the problem might be? I don't want to start replacing elements piece by piece out of warranty. I have already tried re-plugging the LCD cable on the motherboard. If the display was broken, wouldn't it fail in bios as well?

Have you tried updating the intel chipset and graphics drivers? Sounds like a driver issue to me if it works in bios. You could test with a linux live disc to confirm that it is related to windows and not a defect. Your original post mentions running Windows 11, that is a completele different nightmare as very few drivers are certified for 11.

szumial · January 17, 2023

I have everything up to date. For batch updates from Dell I use their Command Update application. Nvidia drivers are from their website. I am running Windows 11 at the moment, however today I have swapped the m.2 drive for another one with a Windows 10 installation. Once it went through Windows Update my internal display was gone again. It does seem like a driver issue, but it seems weird, I can't figure it out. I believe the internal display should run off the Intel integrated GPU - could it be damaged? That would mean the cpu is faulty, which in return means a broken MOBO. I'll check with a Ubuntu live usb tomorrow. What else could I try? Changing the memory? I have some soares which should be compatible.