Hey Daniel, sorry to hear about your cracked display and that annoying 8-beep error popping up when you disconnect the ribbon cable—let’s walk through some practical fixes to sort this out:

• Adjust BIOS display priority (most reliable solution)
  Power on your machine and press F2 repeatedly to enter the BIOS setup. Look for sections like Display, Video Settings, or System Configuration. Find an option named Primary Display, Default Display Device, or something similar. Change its value to your external monitor’s interface (e.g., HDMI, DP, or External Monitor) instead of the built-in LCD. Save the changes (usually by pressing F10) and exit. This tells the system to prioritize the external display on boot, so it won’t trigger the display failure beep when the internal ribbon is disconnected.

• Set external monitor as primary in Windows (if you can temporarily access the system)
  If you can reconnect the cracked display long enough to boot into Windows, or use a remote desktop tool to access the system, try these steps:

  1. Right-click on the desktop and select Display settings.
  2. Identify your external monitor in the display diagram.
  3. Check the box that says Make this my main display.
  4. Select the built-in display and choose Disconnect this display.
  5. Save the settings, shut down, then disconnect the internal ribbon cable. The system should now boot directly to the external monitor without triggering the beep.

• Disable error beeps in BIOS (last resort)
  If you just want to silence the beep (even if the system still detects the display issue), enter the BIOS again (F2 on boot). Navigate to System Configuration or Advanced Settings, look for an option like Beep Codes or Error Beep Enable, and set it to Disabled. Note that this will turn off all hardware error beeps, so you won’t get alerts for other potential issues—only use this if the first two methods don’t work.

• Hardware workaround (proceed with caution)
  Some users have reported covering the internal display’s ribbon cable connector on the motherboard with insulating tape to prevent the system from detecting the disconnected cable. However, this carries a small risk of damaging the motherboard if not done carefully, so only attempt this if you’re comfortable with hardware tinkering.

Hope one of these solutions gets your external monitor working smoothly without the beep hassle!

备注：内容来源于stack exchange，提问作者Daniel Outlook