Problem installing driver for a dark monitor

I am running Windows 10 on a Dell Inspiron 3670 with a Dell p2119H monitor which have been running very well for several years. About a 2 months ago the monitor started blinking on and off, intermittently. The self-checks on the monitor indicated it was fine and I saw in Device Manager that the computer was recognizing only a PnP generic monitor, not the P2119H. I downloaded the monitor driver from the Dell website, installed it, and this fixed the problem. The problem seemed to have developed after an Windows update. Just yesterday, the monitor went dark. The self-check indicated it was fine, and changing the HDMI cable had no effect. I needed to connect the PC to our TV in order to see the files. I went to download the driver again but when I run the installer, it tells me to connect the computer to the monitor. The problem is that if I connect the PC to the monitor, I won't be able to see anything. Is there a way to reinstall the driver with the PC still attached to the TV? Thank you for any help with this. A few screen shots are below.

 

Just to add that when I attached the monitor directly to the TV box, the TV image appeared on the monitor.

 

I'm wondering why I get no display even with the generic driver. Is that not compatible with the monitor? I'm also wondering the the problem could be with the video card, but the fact that I get the computer displayed on the TV should eliminate that possibility, correct?

 

Thanks Tony D. The HDMI cable for the TV, which worked between the TV box and the monitor, was swapped for the HDMI cable for the computer, and didn't work between the two. That's what I meant when I said "...and changing the HDMI cable had no effect." So there is no communication between the monitor and the computer, yet both are functional. Isn't the computer video card responsible for sending the signal from the computer to the TV, where I could see the computer video? Assuming the video card is ok, I'm wondering what other components/software could be involved with the video signal between the computer and the monitor.

 

No I haven't. Thanks for the suggestion, which I will try. If that works, it would be a practical solution, but it would still leave me wondering what the problem between the HDMI ports might be. I thought it might be a software issue, and just updated the bios, which I haven't updated since purchasing the computer about 6 years ago. That had no effect on the problem. I wonder if it might be operating system-related, but find it hard to imagine an operating system issue that would affect communication between PC and monitor, but not between PC and the TV. I'll keep you posted.

 

To update, I unplugged the monitor from the power strip and unplugged the power cord to the PC and left overnight. This morning the display appeared normally for a time, but Microsoft asked me to log in another way due to the recurrent shut downs and restarts yesterday. Once I did, the monitor display started to flash on and off again intermittently, mostly dark and on for only a second or two. When I attached the HDMI cable to another monitor, the display appeared normally. For some reason, the signal between the PC and monitor isn't maintained. I also got a message that the monitor input timing was incorrect and should be set to 1920 x 1080 at 60 Hz. But I can't get to those settings on the monitor display. When I push to the button to take me to the onscreen display, it only shows the input settings, which is correctly set for HDMI, but I can't get to any other display settings. Also, on restarting, shouldn't the monitor communicate the appropriate settings to the PC automatically?

 

What problem component on the computer would this point to? I hope not the motherboard.

 

The PC has no issues with a larger display monitor or with the TV. What about a failure of the monitor to send setting information to the PC? But then again, the monitor displayed the laptop signal with no problems and the TV signal also. Still scratching my head!

 

I've made some progress. I got a message on the 2219 monitor saying that the resolution and refresh rate were not correct. I connected the 2219 monitor to the laptop and it showed it as a second monitor. I then checked the resolution and refresh rate in the display settings and saw that it was set for 1920 x 1080, 60 Hz (but wasn't sure if that was for the laptop display or the 2219). I then connected the 2219 back to the PC and saw the display settings on the 2219, set correctly. I closed the settings window and the display worked perfectly! It worked normally, without any blinking on and off. I thought I had fixed the problem. The computer and monitor went to sleep as they should. This morning, on waking the PC up, the monitor stayed dark! It didn't wake up. It seems it didn't get a wake up signal from the PC. Not sure if this is software related or a hardware issue.

 

A final update on this problem. It was suggested to me that the problems I was experiencing with the monitor could be due to weak battery and that I replace the coin cell battery (3V) on the motherboard, which I hadn't ever done. I did replace the battery with a new one, to no effect. I also noted that each time I connected the PC to a larger display monitor (Acer B277U) it responded normally even while the Dell monitor did not. Also, the last few times I connected the laptop to the Dell monitor, while it did respond, the display flashed on and off and some snowiness appeared in the image before it settled down. So, all in all, it looks like the Dell monitor has a problem. I'm disappointed that it only lasted 6 years. I bought it new, took good care of it, and love its design and performance. I'll recycle it and look for another one. Thanks for your help Tony D.

 

The rest of the story: I got a refurbished P2219H along with a 3-year warranty on Amazon to replace the faulty original monitor. I connected it to the Inspiron 3670 and the display started right up. Problem solved. The next day I awoke the computer from sleep, but the monitor stayed dark! Now I started to suspect the PC. A friend had loaned me an AMD Radeon 6450 graphics card for the troubleshooting. I installed the graphics card into the PC and started it up. The monitor display started normally. Throughout the day it worked fine, and starting from sleep normally. The next day after booting up, the monitor worked fine. I swapped the "new" monitor with the original monitor, and the original worked fine! So the problem was not the monitor after all, but the UHD 630 integrated graphics on the PC, which was likely intermittently acting up. In hindsight, I should have checked with the graphics card earlier, but my judgement was biased toward the monitor being the issue (even though I realized it could be the PC). I'm obviously not a computer technician, so live and learn.