The HDMI port on my laptop is a bit faulty. If I stick a pencil under the cable, I can get a picture on the other screen. If I move the laptop even slightly, I may lose the picture.

Would it be possible to get the HDMI port replaced? Is this a common thing?

This is an HP laptop, about 18 months old.

I guess no. Probably it is soldered to the motherboard and you (or anybody) cannot repair a broken mobo.
but if you are lucky you can try something like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evbHNyJx9xA

One would have to think if it can be done, China would be the place. If it's that important to you price it - else after 18 months it might be time to upgrade anyway.

Very well may be a broken solder joint. I would re-heat the connections if it were mine. If it's a worn pin in the connector, a little more effort to replace the connector. Practice on any old piece of electronics.

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Hi,

Maybe swap out the cable as that can cause connection issues.

Hope this helps.

My take on it: If you're asking the question, you probably lack the skills, equipment & dogged determination necessary to do it.

If you had the skills, & equipment, you'd know that you could, but you'd still be left with the decision of did you want to risk trying it. I'd consider a repair shop, or like others said, try the cable first.

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Re-soldering the joints is not a particularly risky job. It will involve taking the laptop apart, though, and this is riskier if you ask me. When not familiar with the model then there is a chance of breaking something. Plus, it usually is a time consuming procedure. Maybe you are lucky and can access these joints after removing the bottom of laptop, then it will be easy.

Thanks for your replies!

The first thing I did was try a brand new cable, but same old!

I took it apart when it was new, just for a look.

2 Ryzen R7s and M.2 NVMe ssd, very fast!

But now, for about the same price I paid, I can get the same with R9 processors.

Maybe I'll get a new one, then try and repair this one, just in case it all goes pear-shaped!

Just that, in the classroom, since a couple of years, we have these new "intelligent blackboards", the HDMI must work, or I can't use it.

And I can't use the windows 7 system that comes installed with the "intelligent blackboards", Dark Ages!

They make those USB to HDMI adapters, I haven't used one, I'm guessing they are seen by system as USB video hardware. May help you out as a quick solution.

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Also maybe a USB-C to HDMI dongle (or usb-c docking station) could work. Depends on the laptop, but may be worth a try.

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Thanks, I'll look for such a dongle!

Yesterday, in class, the same problem.

In desperation, I pressed down hard with my thumb above the HDMI port, the top right-hand corner of the keyboard part.

That worked! It didn't cause any trouble after that all day!

Hopefully your USB-C supports video. Not all USB-C ports do. You might need USB-C to DisplayPort to get video from the USB-C.

If your eyes are up to task and you have a selection of dental picks, you may be able to tweak a damaged contact in the socket so that no wedging is needed. I have a lighted magnifier that keeps both hands free for such tasks.

There are so many solder contacts so close together for an HDMI socket that it's a resolder job I would not try. What I might try is a layer of epoxy at the socket entry on the side where push is needed. A dremel or equivalent could be used to trim the epoxy just enough so that a cable can be forced in. A similar equivalent push I'd try first might be a slice of plastic sheet cut from a throwaway food container in the socket first, then push in the cable so that it's snug.

I used USB-C connections a few years ago to hang multiple monitors off a Mac. I'd try an USB-C-to-HDMI cable before changing the whole laptop out.

HTH...

USB-C has video support, old USB does not, we are talking about very different dongles here. Linux does have support for USB video devices, probably won't have much hardware acceleration but its a video output our OP needs.

Edit: I just realized members here maybe did not realize USB video card and USB-C video out feature are not the same thing.
https://www.startech.com/en-us/faq/d...150-kernel-316

Just curious, did you check the video I sent? The replacement of HDMI can be found at the beginning, around 0:12.