Blank Screen With DVI

[Jane]

I have AIW 8500dv with 6.14 driver version and 9.2 Multimedia( ATI says that
is the latest for that card). It is connected to a 225bw Samsung FP. with
latest driver. When I connect with VGA I have no problems. When I connect
with DVI, I also have no problems at all, except just with the boot
process.The screen remains blank during boot up and comes on at the windows
xp home welcome screen. From there on no problems. It's as if the drivers
aren't loaded until the welcome screen. How do I get the boot up process
back with DVI? Thanks.

 

[peter]

Once upon a time when I still used ATI video cards and I bought my first LCD
monitor it did that exact same thing.
I solved the problem by hooking up both the VGA and DVI connection....I
could now see the boot screen.
I then fiddled with the primary/secondary display settings until one day it
just worked....and I quite cant remember what i did.
On My Secondary computer with a ATI Video card and a more modern driver that
problem never came up.
peter

 

[Jane]

Thanks Peter................Unfortunately the 8500dv only has one dvd-i
connection for either vga or dvi. I can't connect both at once.

 

[Geoff]

Thanks Peter................Unfortunately the 8500dv only has one dvd-i
connection for either vga or dvi. I can't connect both at once.

you can get DVI and VGA splitter cables, like this

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-X2026-DVI-...5550666QQihZ018QQcategoryZ74939QQcmdZViewItem

ok, not a great example on the piccys
but allows you to connect both DVI and VGA at once, they are made for cards
with a single DVI output like that one

 

[Custom Computers]

you can get DVI and VGA splitter cables, like this

http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-X2026-DVI-...5550666QQihZ018QQcategoryZ74939QQcmdZViewItem

ok, not a great example on the piccys
but allows you to connect both DVI and VGA at once, they are made for cards
with a single DVI output like that one

The Problem is VGA is an anolog signal and DVI is true digital signal.
The motheboar BIOS is simple DOS programing contained on a small memory
chip built on your motherboard. DOS was written long before they
thought up the digital video interface. BIOS chips are crammed full of
settings there is no room for a digital signal driver. So your not
getting a DVI signal till windows starts loading all your hardware
drivers, thus no digital signal output to the DVI interface between
your computer and your monitor. So you can use the splitter cable if
you want both a VGA monitor and DVI monitor connected at the same time
or simply plug in the VGA monitor using the adaptor that comes with
your video card to set up your BIOS then plug in the DVI monitor and
use it like you are now.

 

[Geoff]

The Problem is VGA is an anolog signal and DVI is true digital signal.
The motheboar BIOS is simple DOS programing contained on a small memory
chip built on your motherboard. DOS was written long before they
thought up the digital video interface. BIOS chips are crammed full of
settings there is no room for a digital signal driver. So your not
getting a DVI signal till windows starts loading all your hardware
drivers, thus no digital signal output to the DVI interface between
your computer and your monitor. So you can use the splitter cable if
you want both a VGA monitor and DVI monitor connected at the same time
or simply plug in the VGA monitor using the adaptor that comes with
your video card to set up your BIOS then plug in the DVI monitor and
use it like you are now.

nah, in this case i think it's just an older monitor that doesn't support
low res
or the video card forces output only to analogue on boot

the splitter cable just exposes both the analogue and digital parts of the
DVI plug
using the proper drivers in windows you should be able to output to both,
unless someone knows better on these single connecter cards ?

the only 'driver' the bios knows about is VGA('VGA' tends to get applied to
lots of things i suppose) and MS-DOS is long gone
as far as i know anyway

 

[Geoff]

It's as if the drivers aren't loaded until the welcome screen. How do I

get the boot up process back with DVI?

that is right, the video drivers arn't loaded till the welcome screen comes
up
i think your best bet would be to try and update the video card bios, newer
versions might detect the dvi plugged in, i doubt it though
i'd just live with it, if you need to get in the bios or something, you will
have to plug a normal monitor in i suppose

 

[Jane]

Does the latter part of your reply suggest I replace the vga with dvi while
the computer is running after boot up with vga?

 

[Custom Computers]

Does the latter part of your reply suggest I replace the vga with dvi while
the computer is running after boot up with vga?

You can it won't hurt anything.

 

[Jane]

Ok..............But I don't quite understand this. After I replace the vga
with dvi as you describe, will I still see the boootup process with
subsequent boots with the dvi only. And what changes to make this happen, or
is this just a one time thing?

 

[Jane]

Thanks Geoff...... I wasn't aware you could upgrade the video bios. How do
you do this for the 8500dvAIW and where do you get the updated bios??

 

[Custom Computers]

Thanks Geoff...... I wasn't aware you could upgrade the video bios. How do
you do this for the 8500dvAIW and where do you get the updated bios??

No you won't see your boot up screens with DVI and you can't upgrade
your video bios

 

[Geoff]

Thanks Geoff...... I wasn't aware you could upgrade the video bios. How do
you do this for the 8500dvAIW and where do you get the updated bios??

manfacturers website normaly, not much chance they will even have updates
for em though, video cards don't generaly need updating

are you sure your monitor can handle low res?
(open a command prompt and press alt+enter to fullscreen it, in windows)

 

[Jane]

Yes , it's a recent monitor and it can display low resolution.

 

[Jane]

OK ............Thanks guys. It would appear that a splitter is my only
continuing, long term option. Is there signal loss with this option?

 

[PhxGrunge]

Yes , it's a recent monitor and it can display low resolution.

The 8500 is DirectX 8 and pre-XP so the DVI capabilities were not finalized
when manufactured.
For what you want, you will have to upgrade the video card.

Flashing the card to a new Bios is only for the very computer savy expert
not to be attempted by the average computer user, and the 8500 is not really
supported any more.

 

[Geoff]

OK ............Thanks guys. It would appear that a splitter is my only
continuing, long term option. Is there signal loss with this option?

i can't find good info on this issue on the net, due to searching for 8500DV
dual monitor, just comes back with nubets with 2 video cards, or poeple
using their monitor and the tv out

the splitter doesn't copy the signal, your DVI port is actualy 2 seperate
outputs, if you get the right splitter, you could connect up both an
analogue and a digital monitor, and you should be able to use tham as
seperate screens
if you manage to connect up all 3 monitors, VGA, DVI, TV, you can only make
use of 2 of them at once
(anyone else done this on a card with a single DVI output? whats the deal ?)

also i spotted this comment:
"or that DVI switch (never noticed that on our 8500DV's) "
check your card for switchs or jumpers that might help, not sure what a 'DVI
switch' is supposed to do though

 

[Barry Watzman]

Re: "It's as if the drivers aren't loaded until the welcome screen."

That might be because they are in fact not loaded until the welcome
screen. There are no drivers during the boot process; support for that
time period depends on the firmware on the video card, and in your case,
it's safe to conclude that this firmware is incompatible with your
monitor. There is no solution other than to change the card or the
monitor. [In theory, a firmware update might fix the problem, but it's
unlikely either that such an upgrade exists or that you can get it.]

 

[Barry Watzman]

The bios is not a dos program. The bios is OS independent ... there is
NO operating system (DOS or anything else) in the BIOS.

No drivers are loaded until windows starts. Support prior to that
moment is a function of the firmware on the video card itself (the video
card bios, which is totally separate from the motherboard bios). In
this case, simply from how it's behaving, we can conclude that the video
card bios and the monitor are incompatible. There is really no fix for
this, although connecting both an analog and a digital connection
simultaneously might be a valid workaround.

 

[Barry Watzman]

Generally speaking, if a DVI connection is not established at the time
that the computer power is turned on, it cannot be established later.
The DVI port usually will not initialize unless the monitor is present
and powered (does not need to be turned on, but does need to be plugged
in) at the time that you turn the computer on.