Does HDMI work at all, eg: Do you see the Dell splash screen? Can you open BIOS setup by tapping F2 at boot? 

When you tested this monitor on another PC, were you using the HDMI cable from the 3020S or HDMI cable from the other PC?

How are you installing these BIOS updates, using SupportAssist, manually inside Windows or via the F12 menu Flash Update option entirely outside Windows?

Would help if you told us exactly the version number of BIOS where HDMI isn't working, the version number of the one you downgraded to (did HDMI work previously in this version?), and the older version number that won't install. 

BTW: Is the "Allow BIOS downgrade" option enabled in the currently installed BIOS?  For the one that won't install, did you use the  BIOS .exe file or did you accidentally try that version's BIOS .rcv file?

Have you tried clearing BIOS setup with the currently installed version?

1. With monitor connected by DP, reboot and start tapping F2 when you see the Dell splash screen to open BIOS setup
2. Copy down all current BIOS settings, to be safe
3. Power off, unplug power cord from rear of PC
4. Press/hold power button for ~15 sec
5. Open case and remove motherboard battery (check Service Manual for details)
6. Press/hold power button for ~30 sec
7. Reinstall the battery (Time for fresh Cr2032 coin cell battery?)
8. Close up and connect mouse, keyboard to USB and monitor to HDMI
9. Reboot and test HDMI

Aside from the fact that HDMI isn't working, is there any reason to prefer using HDMI over DP?

And please don't post the same question over/over/over again in threads about different PC models.

Good afternoon,

thanks and sorry I do not know how to set a notification for updates on this forum. As well I created the same topic in the section Inspiron laptops then I realized the error, I have an Inspiron desktop.

‘Does HDMI work at all, eg: Do you see the Dell splash screen? Can you open BIOS setup by tapping F2 at boot? ’

Does not work, I mean if I leave it there long enough after several minutes I see the image but then the monitor begins to go on and off

’When you tested this monitor on another PC, were you using the HDMI cable from the 3020S or HDMI cable from the other PC?’

the same cable

’ How are you installing these BIOS updates, using SupportAssist, manually inside Windows or via the F12 menu Flash Update option entirely outside Windows?’

using support assist

’Would help if you told us exactly the version number of BIOS where HDMI isn't working, the version number of the one you downgraded to (did HDMI work previously in this version?), and the older version number that won't install. ’

version now is 1.17 , the one I managed to downgrade to was version 1.14 but didn’t work either. I was not able to downgrade to BIOS 1.7 or 1.8. Now I am back on 1.17

’BTW: Is the "Allow BIOS downgrade" option enabled in the currently installed BIOS?  For the one that won't install, did you use the  BIOS .exe file or did you accidentally try that version's BIOS .rcv file?’

-I'm not too sure for the option, the desktop qould allow me to downgrade to an earlier version of the BIOS as explained before. 

-They are Application (.exe) files

While I see that it looks like a pretty simple operation the one you are indicating, would this void the warranty? I bought this in November 2023

Is there no other possible ways of trying without removing the motherboard battery?

Well the point is that I want everything working, because I believe that the problem is not only this monitor but any monitor with an HDMI-HDMI would I think encounter the same problem.

thanks a lot for your time, I appreciate this

It's odd that the latest BIOS shown on the Inspiron 3020S Support page is version Inspiron_3020_1.14.0.exe (June 5, 2024). So I wonder if they pulled BIOS 1.17.0 because of this HDMI and/or other issues. I'll see what I can find out....

Removing the battery to reset BIOS has no impact on your warranty.   So that's not a problem.  I'd do that and test HDMI again before going any further.

If that doesn't help and you know HDMI worked in BIOS version 1.14.0, you could try this: 

Go to this support page and download the .rcv file for BIOS 1.14.0 (not the .exe version). Save the .rcv file on an empty (non-bootable) USB stick, not larger than 8 GB, and formatted either FAT or FAT32.  Do not change the name of the file you download.

(If you're not sure about the USB's format, boot to desktop and plug this USB into the PC. Open This PC screen and click the little up-arrow so the screen shows all connected drives. Right-click the entry for the USB stick and select Properties. The General tab should show the format. Chances are good it's either FAT or FAT32.)

Once you have the BIOS 1.14.0 .rcv file saved on a FAT or FAT32 USB, power PC off normally from Windows. With the USB plugged in, power on and immediately press and hold the CTRL + ESC keys on the keyboard until keyboard backlight lights up. Release the CTRL + ESC key on the keyboard when keyboard backlight lights up.  Note: Computers that do not have a backlit keyboard, observe the Caps lock key light instead.

Then follow the rest of the instructions listed under "How do I initiate BIOS Recovery on a Dell desktop or all-in-one computer?" here.  You probably should print them ahead of time so you can follow them during the recovery.  The PC will shut off and restart itself automatically several times during the recovery, and may not look like it's doing anything. Do not press the power button. Just leave it entirely alone until you're safely back at the desktop.  Then test HDMI again...

Other questions...  Do you have an add-in video card (eg, NVidia or AMD) or only have onboard Intel Graphics? If you have an add-in video card, which one do you have?

If the monitor has its own On-Screen Display (OSD). open it and if set to "auto-select" the video signal, change that to HDMI and see if it works now with this PC now.

And FYI, ever since this forum's last software update, it lost the ability to send email notifications to users when there's a new post in a thread they're following. So you have to log in and click the Bell icon in upper right corner of the screen to check for notifications...

@RoHe​ 

A little confusion:

"BTW: Is the "Allow BIOS downgrade" option enabled in the currently installed BIOS? For the one that won't install, did you use the BIOS .exe file or did you accidentally try that version's BIOS .rcv file?"

But in another post above, you say use .rcv and not .exe.

@bradthetechnut  - You use the BIOS .exe file to install a BIOS update or BIOS downgrade, and always safest when done via the F12 Flash Update option, rather than using SupportAssist.  The BIOS .rcv file isn't used by SupportAssist or via the F12 menu.

If there's a major problem with a BIOS update, either PC doesn't work properly when installed, or PC won't even boot, you use BIOS Recovery with the BIOS .rcv file by pressing/holding Ctrl-Esc, instead of using the F12 menu. BIOS Recovery is more "aggressive" because it can fix more serious issues. 

So, different files types are needed, depending on which launch method is used...

@RoHe​ 

Thanks for the clarification.  :)  I knew .rcv stood for recovery, but forgot along the way.

@bradthetechnut - Seems like @mcy111 has disappeared. No responses to any of our recent questions or suggestions.

FWIW, this isn't first time Inspiron 3020 has suddenly lost HDMI output.  So might not even have had anything to do with the BIOS update.  And might explain why HDMI doesn't work even after downgrading from BIOS 1.17.0 to BIOS 1.14.0.

And we still don't know where/how BIOS 1.17.0 was found since it's not listed on the Inspiron 3020 support page.

Good evening,

The Inspiron has no added video card, I only see Display adapters : Intel UHD graphics 730

Please explain how you got BIOS 1.17.0 since it's not listed on Dell's support site for this PC model.

Have you tried doing a BIOS Recovery with the BIOS version v1.14.0 .rcv file?

Sorry I see now this is in fact version 1.14. I was somehow confusing. However I see that sometimes as well the video display gives problems, even if only at the beginning. Yesterday I could use for the whole day the HDMI-HDMI cable, but today it would not even show an image. Do you know how Dell handled the problems with the HDMI ports not working? Was this an HW issue or could it be resolved updating the settings with a patch or something?

Thanks

I may try the procedure with the CMOS battery in the next few days. Right now it's 10 pm so I'd rather not do anything. I will see in the coming days. If you find out anything, please feel free to drop in a comment. Thanks a lot

No known comments or fixes from Dell for this HDMI issue with Inspiron 3020. 

Are you sure it's not a problem with the monitor? You said it worked ok via HDMI on a different PC, but if it's an intermittent problem, you might not have used it enough over there to have seen the problem on the other PC. 

FWIW, I recently had problems with monitor used with my XPS desktop, but it seemed to work ok as external HDMI monitor with my Inspiron laptop during a brief test.  Got new monitor for desktop and that solved the problem. And after using old monitor for several days with the laptop, it died.  So it was entirely the monitor's problem...

May just need to used DP as a workaround until there's a fix.

Good morning and thanks. I am sure it's not a problem with the monitor. I have around 2 desktops and 3 working laptops. It works fine on all of them except the Inspiron. The inspiron as well gives me intermittent problems with the video display, meaning at the beginning I get a black screen and only after unplugging and plugging it back in it works ok.