Why Does My Motherboard HDMI Not Work?

Sometimes you can’t get the HDMI connected to your motherboard to work, no matter how careful you are in setting up the connection. 

So what does it mean when the motherboard HDMI does not work? Should you write it off and cut your losses? Or can it be redeemed with a few tricks and hacks? 

Below, we share common motherboard HDMI mishaps we’ve encountered and the steps we took to restore motherboard HDMI functionality. 

Motherboard HDMI failure may be caused by: a defective cable, a dead port or device, or a faulty motherboard. It could also be due to incompatibility between the graphics card and the onboard graphics chip. However, once you figure out what’s causing the glitch, most of these are fixable.

Possible Causes and Solutions

Several factors could cause your motherboard HDMI to stop working. Before troubleshooting the causes of the malfunction, confirm that your CPU has integrated graphics (IG). 

IG comes in the form of the Integrated Graphics Device (IGD), a graphics processing unit that is built into the motherboard. Note that the motherboard video will not work if your CPU does not have this feature. 

The good news is that most high-powered computers have IGD, so this should rarely be the problem. But it helps to be sure the feature is there, especially if you’ve built the computer yourself.

Below are the main causes of motherboard HDMI malfunctions and the ways to solve them:

1. Faulty HDMI cable

At times, the reason your motherboard HDMI is not working is because of a defective cable. 

Solution: Replace the cable

Test the cable on another device. If it doesn’t work, then you know the cable is the problem and needs replacing. If the cable works well, keep troubleshooting the issues below until you find where the disconnect is.  

2. Faulty HDMI port

If the HDMI port is dead, the motherboard HDMI will not work. Follow these steps to determine whether this is the case:

• Go to Properties on your computer. Under Display Manager, look for Display Adapters. Is the HDMI port listed? If it is, you’re in luck because it means you’re dealing with a fixable error.
• Right-click the list of items and go to Properties. Confirm the status of the HDMI port. If it says the device is working properly, your HDMI port is working as it should.

If it asks you to troubleshoot the device, it means the port is functional. But there is a technical glitch interfering with its functionality.

Once the computer identifies the glitch, it sends a request to fix the error. This request shows up as a prompt on the computer screen. 

Usually, it asks you to click a button or input some information. Follow each prompt as the computer corrects the error.

If the computer cannot rectify the error, it will send you a failure alert. At this point, there’s nothing more you can do other than replace the port.

If the HDMI port is not listed under Display Adapters, it means the port has malfunctioned, hence why the computer cannot read it.

Solution: Replace faulty ports

If you have several HDMI ports on the motherboard, test them all to see whether there is a faulty port. Then replace it.

3. Faulty devices

If the motherboard, HDMI socket, or PCIe ports (if you’re using a dedicated graphics card) are faulty, it can cause the HDMI to stop working.

Solution: Replace faulty devices

Replace any devices that have malfunctioned. It could be the motherboard itself, the HDMI socket, or the graphics card. 

4. Integrated graphics is off

The HDMI port may not work if your computer’s Integrated Graphics Device is off. This is more likely to happen when you don’t have a discrete graphics card and are relying on the onboard GPU to render videos and images.

Solution: Turn integrated graphics on

This step requires you to access your BIOS. To access the BIOS, you may need to boot the computer. 

Press the power button to turn on the computer, and as the machine boots, pay attention to the computer screen. 

Indicated on the screen will be the keys you must press to access the BIOS. If unsure of how to do this, consult your motherboard manual for step-by-step guidance or watch this video tutorial.

Go to Chipset or System Agent Configuration—depending on what menu your BIOS brings up—then to Graphics Configuration Menu or Integrated Graphics.

If your BIOS menu does not have these exact titles, open each item until you see Internal Graphics. Some operating systems have IGPU Multi-Monitor or CPU Onboard Graphics Multi-monitor instead.

If Integrated Graphics is disabled, enable it, and that should solve the problem.

5. Conflict between your graphics card and built-in graphics chip

Adding a dedicated graphics card may create conflict with the IGD even though they share a lot of similarities and ideally do the same thing. 

Solution: Resolve the conflict between the integrated graphics chip and the graphics card. 

To do this:

• Remove the IGD drivers before installing your graphics card. 
• Install the drivers for the new graphics card.
• Install the dedicated graphics card.
• Reinstall the integrated graphics software/drivers.

6. Missing drivers

If the IGD or the graphics card drivers are corrupted or missing, the motherboard HDMI will not work. 

Solution: Install missing drivers

If any drivers are corrupt or missing altogether, reinstalling/installing them solves the issue.

7. Inadequate resources

This is where two or more devices must share resources, such as RAM, Direct Memory Access (DMA) channels, hard disk space, or cache space. 

Sometimes, the resources are not enough to go around. Because integrated graphics have to share memory with the computer system, the HDMI can grind to a halt when demand for memory is high.

Solution: Add a dedicated graphics card if you don’t already have one. 

It will take the pressure off the system memory because the video card will not be sharing memory. You get improved performance as a result.

Another way to ensure that resources are shared fairly between components is by giving the motherboard automatic control over resources. You will find this option in the BIOS.

If you wish to connect two or more monitors, check that your graphics/video card can support multiple monitors. You can add up to four monitors: two on your graphics card and two on your motherboard. 

On average, graphics cards come with two HDMI ports. Likewise, the motherboard has two HDMI slots dedicated to graphics cards: the PCI-E x16 and the PCI-E x8.

Conclusion

There are many reasons why your motherboard HDMI may not be working. Most of the time, it will be because of hardware failure, software failure, or compatibility issues. Other times, it is as simple as replacing the cables or ports or tweaking the settings.

Once you identify the root of the problem, it becomes easy to find a solution. And the steps shared above will show you how.