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NOTE: This is not a duplicate of Cannot enter BIOS due to broken screen, because none of the solutions there solved my issue. Looking for further direction.

My old HP Pavilion 17 laptop is still running fine after 7 years of use. The only issue is the screen died, so I have a SVGA monitor connected, because I happened to have one on hand. In this way, I have been using the laptop as a desktop machine for a few years now. Unfortunately, I can't get into the BIOS to edit settings for virtualization to be compatible with Local by Flywheel.

It took me several attempts at reboots, hard shutdowns, and pressing F10 and ESC in various combinations of "spamming" (hitting the key repeatedly) and continuing to press down. I eventually realized that I actually probably was booting into BIOS (through Shift-Restart), but I couldn't see anything because it was booting to the broken internal display, rather than the connected external monitor.

WHAT I'VE TRIED ALREADY

I followed various pieces of advice from the above link as well as other sources. Here's what I've tried:

  • Changed 'What happens when lid is closed' in Power Management settings to "Nothing"
  • ViewSonic SVGA monitor connected to SVGA port on laptop
Eric Hepperle - CodeSlayer2010
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  • For all that BIOS can do, it is fairly dumb and for a laptop can only deal with the built in screen. Even a desktop needs the screen attached to the built-in video. Have you tried an HP Dock? – John Apr 02 '21 at 19:59
  • I'm a home user on a limited budget and don't have access to a free dock, so no. Although, when I worked for HP years ago, I remember we were always replacing docks for one reason or another for clients. – Eric Hepperle - CodeSlayer2010 Apr 02 '21 at 20:01
  • You most likely will not be able to enter BIOS the way the machine is at this point. – John Apr 02 '21 at 20:03
  • Bummer. Is there any other way I can enable VT-X? I'm getting an error from Local by Flywheel `This computer doesn't have VT-X/AMD-v enabled. Enabling it in the BIOS is mandatory.` That's really the only reason I'm trying to access the BIOS/UEFI. – Eric Hepperle - CodeSlayer2010 Apr 02 '21 at 20:08
  • Yes, I do understand, but you need BIOS to change this setting (I am in a VM now and that is how I have done this over time for all machines I used) – John Apr 02 '21 at 20:10
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    There are replacement screens from ~US$90, e.g. https://www.amazon.com/1600x900-Replacement-Compatible-HP-17-E146US/dp/B00MC3C8DU/ref=sr_1_5 , but that probably is beyond "limited budget". Also, the issue might be with controller or cable that replacing the screen would *not* fix. – DrMoishe Pippik Apr 02 '21 at 20:25
  • Every laptop in recent years could display the bios on the vga or hdmi port, you might try disabling hibernation while in win 10 and restart, then use F10 , see what happens. – Moab Apr 02 '21 at 20:32
  • "Is there any other way I can enable VT-X?" - I assume the default doesn't have it enabled, resetting the default settings could be dangers, if UEFI boot also isn't the default. To answer your question, there is no other way to enable VT-x, it must be done within the UEFI firmware settings. – Ramhound Apr 02 '21 at 20:37

1 Answers1

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I have just looked at the BIOS settings on a spare HP 14 laptop I have and have found the key sequence to enable virtualization.

You may be able to blindly enable virtualization by booting into the BIOS through shift-restart (or ESC repeatedly on startup) then the following:

Press F10 to enter BIOS settings, Right twice (or Left twice) for the System Configuration tab, Down once to highlight Virtualization Technology, Enter to select, Down to highlight Enabled, Enter to select it.

Then F10 for exit and save, then finally press Enter to confirm and your laptop should restart with virtualization enabled.

It could be different on yours but I think the layout is more or less the same on most HP laptops.

Aenfa
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  • This is worth a try and I appreciate the effort you put into typing this sequence out. My only concern is that going in blindly couldn't I possibly "brick" my laptop so now instead of a broken screen, there is a broken everything? – Eric Hepperle - CodeSlayer2010 Apr 05 '21 at 17:32
  • I would say the chances of "bricking" it is slim. You should be easily be able to reset the BIOS setting back to their defaults simply by pressing `F9`, `Enter` after pressing `F10` to enter BIOS settings. – Aenfa Apr 05 '21 at 22:05