Connection to external monitor

Framework Laptop 13
1

Hi there,
Complete newbie here, finding my bearings on my new FW 13 (AMD Ryzen 7040 Series) running Ubuntu 24.04. One of the first things I wanted to do is connect the FW13 to an external monitor (specifically, a Philips 275E). I intend to share this monitor with another computer, so I am using an HDMI switch (VWRHAR, 4K 60Hz 3D). When I use the HDMI expansion card, for some reason it doesn’t work (the screen says there is no input). The problem is not with the HDMI expansion card, since if I plug in the HDMI cable coming from the monitor directly (i.e., bypassing the HDMI switch) it works just fine. But it’s not a problem with the HDMI switch, either: I tried to plug in the HDMI cable coming from the switch to a Hoyoki hub, and plugged the hub into a USB-C expansion card, and it works. So, the

USB-C expansion card > Hoyoki hub > HDMI cable > HDMI switch > HDMI cable > monitor

connection chain works, as does the

HDMI expansion card > HDMI cable > monitor

one, but not the

HDMI expansion card > HDMI cable > HDMI switch > HDMI cable > monitor

one. Has anyone else experienced this behavior? Any solutions come to mind? The workaround is effective, so it will do in a pinch, but I’m just puzzled by why this would happen this way.

2

Could that be a hdcp issue? Theory would be the hub allready strips hdcp so it works with the switch and with direct connection you got working hdcp but directly through the switch you got broken hdcp.

Other option would just be that the hdmi signal from the hub is just strong enough to survive the switch and the native signal isn’t.

1 Like
3

Wow, thanks, this is v. helpful!
The HDCP explanation sounds more probable, esp. since the other computer is a Mac Mini.
To corroborate this, I tried unplugging the Mac Mini HDMI cable from the switch and plugging in the FW13 HDMI cable from the HDMI expansion card to the switch: in this configuration, the switch worked fine, cycling back and forth between the image from the FW13 and black/no image (the unplugged second slot); as soon as I plugged the Mac Mini HDMI cable in, though, it reproduced the original behavior, i.e. the switch worked in changing the FW13 picture to the Mac Mini one, but then the monitor displayed the No input message when I tried to switch back, and thereafter only the Mac Mini connected properly.
Anyway, I had never heard of HDCP (!) so I am reading up (and it sounds so bad on so many levels…): any suggestions on where I could learn more about it, and (even better) a less-clunky fix than the one I’ve got going now?

4

I do agree with your assessment there, for a consumer this has negative utility.

Disabling hdcp on the mac may be worth a try.

You could also just use 2 different inputs on the display and switch between those.

5

Thanks for the suggestions: I’ll follow up and see where it takes me.