HDMI port suddenly not working

I have a Windows 10 laptop with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 video card (I know... the laptop is not a young puppy).

This morning upon turning on my computer Windows wouldn't boot. The computer would turn on and I'd get the "SAGER" splash screen, since it's a custom built laptop by Sager from, but then the screen would go dark and nothing seemed to happen. I tried forcing powering off (long press on power button) and powering on again, but got the same result.

In somewhat of a panic, and without knowing why, I instinctively disconnected all devices connected to USB ports and also an external screen connected to the HDMI port. Then I tried powering down and starting the computer back up. This time Windows booted! Yay! But I not all was solved.

I began reconnecting devices one by one—a couple of USB hubs, a printer, and finally the 2nd screen via HDMI. Everything worked except for the 2nd screen. When I plugged in the HDMI cable, the screens said "No HDMI signal".

Here are the things I tried next:

1. Restarted computer.
   Result: the computer restarted, Windows booted normally, but still no HDMI signal
2. Tried different working HDMI cable
   Result: still no HDMI signal
3. Updated driver to latest driver via Nvidia GeForce Experience app: GeForce Game Ready Driver, Version 546.17, Release date: 11/14/2023
   Result: still no HDMI signal
4. Tried connecting 2nd screen to laptop using the Mini Display port, using the same HDMI cable and an HDMI to Mini Display converter.
   Result: screen works!

So while my screen is connected and working now, which is great, I wanted to ask here if there's any way to check whether my HDMI port is dead, or if there's still a possible solution that I haven't tried yet.

I also should note a couple of other things:

In Device manager I see there's an "Unknown device" listed under "Other devices"



Additionally, I do recall that maybe 3 or 4 days ago when I was shutting off my computer, I saw that Windows was going to install an update.

When I started the computer back up later, I had a message on the screen saying something along the lines of:

Don't turn your computer off. Installing updates. This may take several minutes...

I'm familiar with this process so was prepared to wait. I went and made myself some coffee, walked the dog, and after probably over 30 minutes the message was still there. I waited another 10 minutes and then figured something was wrong. Without a better alternative, I long-pressed the power button and forced the computer to shut off. When powering the computer back up, there was a message that said something like:

Installing updates

Windows came on and everything seemed fine. The HDMI port and the 2nd screen were working fine. I had shut off and powered on the computer at least a couple of times since and all was well, until yesterday when I powered on the computer in the morning and the issue began.

Please let me know if you have any ideas what I could try to further isolate the issue.


Thanks

Hi yes. I still haven't been able to solve the issue