Hello! I converted an old laptop with a broken screen into a home server, and it all works well except for one thing: when I reboot it (via ssh), if no screen is connected, it will get stuck and refuse to boot. as soon as I connect an HDMI monitor, the fans will start spinning and it will start booting as usual. Then I can remove the HDMI and it will work flawlessly. I don’t know if this is a linux problem, a GRUB problem, or a firmware problem.
Any idea on how to solve this, or on how to fool it into thinking a screen is connected? The problem is not the lid switch as I removed the magnet from the screen, so it thinks the lid is always open
Thanks in advance!
A HDMI Dummy Plug?
I didn’t think this could actually exist, just ordered one! thanks!
It works great! I use one for a headless server for steam remote play.
There’s an evangelion joke here that i’m not clever enough to make
Get in the Laptop Shinji.
These are also good for headless servers. GPUs tend to not “kick-in” if they don’t think a monitor is connected.
There is also vga to hdmi adapter that works
On windows I think you need a HDMI dummy plug as others mentioned here before but Linux has to have a way to run headless. You can run Linux in Qemu without a connected display. If you find anything on why it’s not booting please let me know!
It sounds like the issue is with the lid latch/sensor, not with the graphics. Some laptops may not boot if the lid is closed, and some have options on the firmware to enable to boot when the lid is closed / on a docking station.
This seems unlikely since it boots with a monitor attached. From past experience most laptops that refuse to boot while closed don’t boot even if an HDMI display is connected.
I don’t think this is the problem, as it refuses to boot even when the lid is open
That is why I also mentioned the latch/sensor, it may got stuck.
What do you mean? Like if the lid is open, but it thinks it’s closed?
There might be settings in the bios that allow you to disable the graphics card, not halt on errors or disable the internal screen, but they’re not usually exposed on laptop BIOS, they’re quite locked down.
I had an old laptop that I removed the screen from and it still booted. Perhaps if your screen has broken in a way that the GPU detects as a hardware failure, it might prevent booting? Maybe removing the screen entirely might solve the issue? Or at least disconnecting the internal cable from the screen to the motherboard…
Yes I already disconnected if, but still nothing :(
