Xrandr says HDMI is disconnected for external monitor

That’s a “feature” of most modern laptops nowadays: the HDMI port is only run through the nVidia adapter to cut costs so you either have to go full nVidia without Intel (if the nVidia is cross-wired to the internal laptop screen as well, which is becoming a rarity as well) or use optimus-manager like @pobrn already said.

:man_shrugging: