[Solved] Windows not booting under DVI (but D-SUB works OK)

[sdu]

Hello all, here is an unusual problem I am having. I have a GALAXY GeForce GT 430 using Windows 7 and a Sceptre X20WG-Naga LCD monitor. Recently, when I have tried to boot up and where Windows would normally display the flying Windows flag colors (with the text "Starting Windows") Instead it displays the green progress bar that says "(C) Microsoft Corporation" after that the monitor loses signal (but you can hear the Windows startup sound).

Some bullet points because I"m not sure which order to say them.

- I'm having this issue with my DVI cable only, if I connect a VGA (D-Sub) to the graphics card, it works fine (except it's VGA, which is poorer quality). Everything seems to function and I can play games and carry on like normal.
- I can boot into Safe Mode usually without problems (when using DVI), however it is hit or miss and a few times it just hangs on the screen where it is loading the drivers and a black bar appears at the top of the screen.
- I have tried uninstalling the drivers. In this case, when booting under DVI it loads normally (at a very low resolution without aero). When I reinstall the drivers it doesn't flicker my display and change the resolution as it usually would. Instead when I reboot I run into the same issue.
- I read somewhere online that it's possible the graphics card could be misreading the EDID from the monitor. One thing I tried was leave the monitor off when booting up until Windows had loaded. This kind of worked, but it hadn't detected my monitor at all (Normally, under Windows it would display the name of my monitor but it instead it says "Digital Display") and has an incorrect list of screen resolutions.

I'm not sure what is causing this as this was completely random. The only thing I had done prior to rebooting was install the software speedfan, and Core Temp I think. I have since uninstalled them but I doubt they had anything to do with this. I thought I had a spare DVI cable lying around but I cannot find it. I'm hoping it's just a matter of replacing it, though my monitor is also over 5 years old so it could be finally going kaput. I'm afraid to think it could be the video card but like I said, it is functioning normally using the D-sub.

Any help or advice appreciated. Thanks. Be gentle, I'm new here

 

[sdu]

I wound up just fixing it after doing a very quirky last resort solution I found somewhere. I thought it was so crazy I may as well give it a try! Here's what I did in case anyone else runs into this problem:

1. Shut down the computer
2. Remove the D-sub from both the graphics card and your monitor.
3. Disconnect power from the monitor and press the power button to discharge power.
4. Plug back in and start up computer.

What happened at first was I got the full-color flying windows bootscreen (rather than the progress bar) but my screen still wouldn't show up So I booted into safe mode and uninstalled the nvidia drivers again. Booted back normally to re-install them. Rebooted again and crossed my fingers and boom! I'm now back in glorious high-def DVI. Man if you are using VGA, there is a HUGE difference in quality.

Thanks anyway to those who were at least thinking of offering a suggestion. Hopefully this will be here if someone searching is having the same troubles

Ciao

 

[bishoplord]

I believe the problem may lie (maybe it's just my PC) with the monitor being in sleep mode. I've been researching this as well and came across your thread, so sorry for the late bump. At any rate, I've been experiencing a problem with the computer not displaying post with DVI or HDMI, but it displays with VGA (D-SUB). From what I read, the monitor is still in sleep mode when I go to power on the computer. Since the monitor wasn't ready to accept a signal (it was still asleep), the computer didn't know the monitor was connected until the display driver was loaded - at that point, it was at the log in screen.

This is just a theory. I haven't tested it yet as I'm at work and just found this answer, but it's been bugging me for quite some time that my HTPC with a Gigabyte board would not show anything until the sign on screen, while my livingroom PC shows all the POST BS from jump. It now makes sense, as the livingroom PC is connect to my 42" LG LCD TV and the TV was already on. All I had to do was turn it to the HDMI3 input and turn on the PC. But the HTPC the monitor is always in sleep mode and I turn the PC on "first"; The monitor only "wakes up" when the log in screen is present. Again, I'll try this tonight when I get home from work.

(On a side note, the only thing that doesn't make sense is that I don't have any POST info showing when the HDMI (for this computer, the HTPC) is connected to my projector. I never know when the computer will come on until the sign in screen is up and I always power on the projector first, then the computer. The damn thing could be sitting at a recovery point for all I know. However, I'm using Windows 8 now. I never had this problem with Windows 7. Windows 8 is great, just some quirks like this one that bothers me. Also, I'm not sure why the Gigabyte motherboard is so slow to boot when the Windows 8 settings (FastBoot) are the same as the livingroom PC (using an MSI motherboard) and that computer boots really fast. I'm talking a few minutes difference. I've even tried disconnecting all unessential USB devices and that still didn't make much of a difference in boot speed - and wouldn't explain why the MSI, with all the USB devices plugged in, would boot faster. Oh well, time to get rid of that Z68 Gigabyte board I guess.)