Strange boot problem

[ElJerid]

Again a boot problm with an Asus P5Q Pro...
When I boot my PC, the screen remains black until Windows is started
(password screen). After that, everything is normal.
No boot info is displayed and worse, I can' t access the bios anymore. It's
like the bios display driver (if any?) is corrupted.
Searching the net, I found the same problem and the solution was to move the
Sata cables to the red connectors instead of the orange or white.
Another solution was to diconnect the power cord for a minute and restart.
None of this however solved my problem.
Is there a trick, or is the motherboard defective?
Thanks for help.

 

[Paul]

Again a boot problm with an Asus P5Q Pro...
When I boot my PC, the screen remains black until Windows is started
(password screen). After that, everything is normal.
No boot info is displayed and worse, I can' t access the bios anymore. It's
like the bios display driver (if any?) is corrupted.
Searching the net, I found the same problem and the solution was to move the
Sata cables to the red connectors instead of the orange or white.
Another solution was to diconnect the power cord for a minute and restart.
None of this however solved my problem.
Is there a trick, or is the motherboard defective?
Thanks for help.

I would be looking at the video card, and how you've cabled it.

It could be, that the BIOS "primary" video output, is not
currently connected to the monitor. The Windows driver is likely
capable of Plug and Play recognizing where the monitor is, and
putting the output on the correct connector. But the BIOS may
be fixated on one of the connectors on the faceplate. Try the
other connector, and see if it has the BIOS screens on it.

I don't think the BIOS has the ability to detect which
connector has the monitor. But Windows does, via Plug and
Play, and things such as impedance sensing on the video card,
or EDID over serial DDC on the monitor cable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_Data_Channel

If your keyboard is USB, and you cannot enter the BIOS with
the delete key, connect a PS/2 keyboard temporarily and test
with that. I'm not really sure whether there is a setting
in the BIOS, that can screw that up.

And if you did not happen to own a PS/2 keyboard, then
clearing the CMOS (with the computer unplugged), may
bring sanity to the box. You'd then have to re-enter
any custom BIOS settings.

Paul

 

[ElJerid]

I would be looking at the video card, and how you've cabled it.

It could be, that the BIOS "primary" video output, is not
currently connected to the monitor. The Windows driver is likely
capable of Plug and Play recognizing where the monitor is, and
putting the output on the correct connector. But the BIOS may
be fixated on one of the connectors on the faceplate. Try the
other connector, and see if it has the BIOS screens on it.

I don't think the BIOS has the ability to detect which
connector has the monitor. But Windows does, via Plug and
Play, and things such as impedance sensing on the video card,
or EDID over serial DDC on the monitor cable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Display_Data_Channel

If your keyboard is USB, and you cannot enter the BIOS with
the delete key, connect a PS/2 keyboard temporarily and test
with that. I'm not really sure whether there is a setting
in the BIOS, that can screw that up.

And if you did not happen to own a PS/2 keyboard, then
clearing the CMOS (with the computer unplugged), may
bring sanity to the box. You'd then have to re-enter
any custom BIOS settings.

Paul

Excellent, Paul !
I rebooted my PC with the secondary monitor on, and yes, all boot messages
appear on the second monitor. So I can also enter and view the bios now.
Thanks to your advice, I now remember that the problem first appeared after
the install of a second monitor for preview of Adobe Premiere edited video.
However, and although my problem is solved for 95%, I still don't know how
to restore the normal situation, where the boot info appears on the primary
monitor.
In the display properties, display 2 is set as "extend my windows desktop
onto this monitor", and the "use this device as the primary monitor" is not
set. For display 1, both settings are marked and greyed out, so they can't
be changed.
At least, now I know there is no hardware failure. Just find the good
settings...
Anyways, thanks again Paul.

 

[Paul]

Excellent, Paul !
I rebooted my PC with the secondary monitor on, and yes, all boot messages
appear on the second monitor. So I can also enter and view the bios now.
Thanks to your advice, I now remember that the problem first appeared after
the install of a second monitor for preview of Adobe Premiere edited video.
However, and although my problem is solved for 95%, I still don't know how
to restore the normal situation, where the boot info appears on the primary
monitor.
In the display properties, display 2 is set as "extend my windows desktop
onto this monitor", and the "use this device as the primary monitor" is not
set. For display 1, both settings are marked and greyed out, so they can't
be changed.
At least, now I know there is no hardware failure. Just find the good
settings...
Anyways, thanks again Paul.

Do both of the monitors have working EDID information ?
This tool claims to try to check the monitor information directly.

http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/moninfo.shtm

I had a problem something like you're describing, but now I
can't remember how I fixed it. I initially had a problem with
something being locked, when I was experimenting with
multiple monitors.

For some monitors, you can get a "monitor driver". My current 17" monitor
has a working EDID, and yet Windows doesn't display the name (pseudo or
real name). That improved, once the monitor driver was installed.
The purpose of the monitor driver, is normally to provide an ICM file
(for color management). But it also has an INF file with some registry
entries in it. That can help, if you're not seeing all the
resolution options that the monitor is supposed to support,
as the monitor driver has a max resolution registry entry.

Not all brands of monitors provide monitor drivers. Some companies
believe the EDID via the monitor cable, is the end of their responsibility.
But other companies continue to offer these small files for
download. The monitor driver for my monitor, is only a
6KB file. (Some companies stick like 100 monitor files in the
same download, and I don't understand who that is helping.
The file I got, is for just one monitor.)

Paul

 

[ElJerid]

Do both of the monitors have working EDID information ?
This tool claims to try to check the monitor information directly.

http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/moninfo.shtm

I had a problem something like you're describing, but now I
can't remember how I fixed it. I initially had a problem with
something being locked, when I was experimenting with
multiple monitors.

For some monitors, you can get a "monitor driver". My current 17" monitor
has a working EDID, and yet Windows doesn't display the name (pseudo or
real name). That improved, once the monitor driver was installed.
The purpose of the monitor driver, is normally to provide an ICM file
(for color management). But it also has an INF file with some registry
entries in it. That can help, if you're not seeing all the
resolution options that the monitor is supposed to support,
as the monitor driver has a max resolution registry entry.

Not all brands of monitors provide monitor drivers. Some companies
believe the EDID via the monitor cable, is the end of their
responsibility.
But other companies continue to offer these small files for
download. The monitor driver for my monitor, is only a
6KB file. (Some companies stick like 100 monitor files in the
same download, and I don't understand who that is helping.
The file I got, is for just one monitor.)

Paul

I finally solved the problem.
I desinstalled all monitors in device manager (there were 4: 3 Windows
defaults and 1 Syncmaster 2233HD), downloaded the latest drivers (Samsung
Syncmaster 2223NW and Syncmaster 2233HD) and reinstalled. Then I could
choose the right monitor in display properties... an surprisingly, then I
had the reverse situation, where the boot display was on monitor 1 and
windows on monitor 2... Funny...
The display properties are like "overwritten" by something else. So I looked
in the advanced Nvidia control panel, where there is a tab for multiple
displays setup, and the choice for selecting the display you want to use,
and selecting the Windows primary display. I changed those settings like I
wanted, rebooted, and finally it' s all ok !
Without your suggestion of booting with the second monitor on, I should
still be searching...
Thanks again !