Question Something very odd happening with my monitor/Windows/Bitlocker ?

Perene

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Oct 12, 2014
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This is my current PC:

SSD: 2 TB NVME, Windows 11 Pro installed;
second drive 4 TB regular SSD

Both encrypted with BitLocker, which uses TPM and PIN. CPU is i5 11400, MSI Z590-A Pro. The motherboard uses latest firmware, so are all apps and Windows.

Windows using a password, too, after I enter BitLocker's. Both SSDs encrypted. 32 GB of RAM (DDR-4).

Using: USB-C to Micro-B 3.2, external Blu-ray drive. Had to buy a 2 meter-cable.
Video card: RTX DUAL-RTX3060-O12G-V2
Monitor: 4K, Acer, XV280K-B
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Also, I discovered the following:

- The monitor had to be changed: AUTO SOURCE set to OFF, and INPUT: choose HDMI 1 (2.0). Otherwise, it would show no screen after installing this Windows. I even had to connect the PC to a TV, to configure later, before I figured out this, during a format.

- BitLocker also had to use a particular CMD/Windows 11 setting, otherwise the monitor would be turned off during a restart or I turn it ON for the 1st time, and without this change, the CPU would also power off:

bcdedit /set {bootmgr} bootshutdowndisabled 1

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EXPLANATION required before I tell what's wrong:

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The command bcdedit /set {bootmgr} bootshutdowndisabled 1 affects the behavior of the system during the shutdown process and its interaction with BitLocker pre-boot authentication in the following way:

Preventing Clean Shutdown: By setting bootshutdowndisabled to 1, the system is configured to avoid performing a clean shutdown when shutting down the computer. Instead, it forces a "dirty" shutdown, which means the system does not fully power off but instead enters a hibernation-like state.

Impact on BitLocker and Monitor: When BitLocker is enabled with pre-boot authentication (requiring a PIN or password before the operating system loads), the system typically shuts down completely after the user enters the correct PIN. However, with bootshutdowndisabled set to 1, the system skips the normal shutdown process and enters the hibernation-like state instead.

Maintaining Power for BitLocker: By avoiding a clean shutdown, the system maintains power to essential components, including the CPU and memory, during the boot process. This ensures that BitLocker's pre-boot authentication process remains active, allowing the user to enter the PIN or password to unlock the encrypted drive.

Impact on Monitor: In some configurations, when the system enters this hibernation-like state, it may result in the monitor turning off or entering a low-power state. However, the behavior can vary depending on the specific hardware, firmware settings, and power management configurations of the system.

User Interaction: When the user restarts the computer or turns it on after it enters this hibernation-like state, the monitor may remain off until the user interacts with the system (e.g., by pressing a key or entering the BitLocker PIN). Once the user provides input, the monitor typically turns on, and the BitLocker pre-boot authentication screen is displayed, prompting the user to enter the PIN.

Overall, enabling bootshutdowndisabled with BitLocker helps ensure that the system maintains power and remains in a state where pre-boot authentication can occur, allowing users to unlock encrypted drives without the need for a clean shutdown and reboot process. However, the exact behavior of the monitor during this process can vary depending on system configuration and settings.
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What is happening and I can't figure out WHY:

- I bought 100 BD-Rs from RITEK, and only the last 5 (at least) turned out to be coasters. All of them. I tried with ImgBurn, CDBurnerXP, even BurnAware, all these apps returned some sort of error, stuck with Writing LEAD IN, or Write Error after a while, or rejecting after a few minutes the media. One of them returned a Writing error after almost 90%.

It seems:

- Either these last discs are broken (perhaps some sort of surface scratch or smudge (and I did notice a very small in a few of them), even if minimal, can spoil the burning), or my drive, after more than 200 burnings, started to fail.

I still need to verify which of these scenarios happened. And in all attempts of these last that failed, I used the slowest speeds.

But here's the thing:

- Once the burning failed, ImgBurn or the app was not responding, and I either had to hit control+Alt+DEL and force their closure, or restart the machine. Because Windows was pratically stuck with this process, in terms of hanging the app opened in Explorer, so it took a while to restart (you know, when a program is taking longer to be cleared of memory/task process), or I simply stopped waiting after the "Windows is restarting" screen, and hit the power button of my PC case.

What happened AFTER (and this more than once, so it's not a coincidence, it's a certainty) was what surprised me the most:

- After Windows restarted, or I turned the entire PC off (after a failed BD-R burning), the monitor would go off completely - when it's on, we get a blue LED - when it's off, an orange.

The LED remained orange, so it said "no signal", and the PC wasn't turned off. It was ON. And how did I find it was on the BitLocker PIN screen? I typed, despite no image on this ACER LCD - my password - and voila! The monitor turned ON again, and went to the actual Windows login screen.

And to make sure the
bcdedit /set {bootmgr} bootshutdowndisabled 1

Was active, I asked IA how to verify that. And it is enabled. Which explains why the PC doesn't turn off by itself, if I don't inform BitLocker's PIN.

This is a bug that is very, very odd, indeed.

It looks like the ASUS external Blu-ray drive, when dealing with this MSI motherboard (or perhaps the RTX 3060 card), somehow causes the monitor to go off after a restart, if the burning fails.

But why? There's no reason why this would ever happen. If I didn't know better, I would have to plug a TV again in this computer, just to see any image again.

And once I am logged into Windows, everything is fine, again, for good. Even after I turn off the PC completely.
 
BitLocker also had to use a particular CMD/Windows 11 setting, otherwise the monitor would be turned off during a restart or I turn it ON for the 1st time, and without this change, the CPU would also power off:

that command also disables the time out for the bitlocker pin. so might explain why CPU doesn't just turn PC off.

SO CPU reaction with it in its default state (which I assume is 0) makes me think the TPM isn't sending the PIN to bitlocker. Bitlocker key screen only has a 1 minute timer on it so it could be PC is reacting to that on a startup.

PIN is stored in TPM which is on CPU** but can be controlled by BIOS

have you looked in bios to make sure TPM is actually on? It might not be the default setting and if you updated it, might have turned it off.


You say this install? did it have windows on it before or first time?

The monitor reacting to how windows shuts down is strange. It shouldn't have any effect. I don't know how its related.

So monitor wouldn't restart after a restart? Have you tried a different HDMI/|DP cable?

Impact on Monitor: In some configurations, when the system enters this hibernation-like state, it may result in the monitor turning off or entering a low-power state. However, the behavior can vary depending on the specific hardware, firmware settings, and power management configurations of the system.

explains:

The LED remained orange, so it said "no signal", and the PC wasn't turned off. It was ON. And how did I find it was on the BitLocker PIN screen? I typed, despite no image on this ACER LCD - my password - and voila! The monitor turned ON again, and went to the actual Windows login screen.

No signal on monitor means GPU not sending one... if PC is hibernating or in a state like it, might send the off signal to monitor. Hitting enter may have also had same reaction as password. If it was in a semi hibernate form, any key press would wake it.

Need to fix the need to enter that command as without it the PIN isn't entered by TPM at shutdown and it never tells BIOS to turn PC off. Only if you enter the pin yourself will it do anything. Its stuck. I can find advice on how to enable that setting but not how to turn it off.

I don't use bitlocker so I don't know it well.

I would try the Blueray drive on another PC and see if it has same problems.
Used monitor on other PC with win 11/bitlocker? It seems odd.

just trying to isolate problem. If both work fine in other situations, we can look at PC.

long shot, do you use any 3rd party Anti virus as I seen one person have similar problems and removing AV made it go away.

right click start
choose terminal (admin)
if it doesn't open as Powershell, click the drop down arrow in title area and pick it from list
copy/paste this command into window:
Repair-WindowsImage -Online -RestoreHealth
and press enter
Then type SFC /scannow
and press enter
Restart PC if SFC fixes any files as some fixes require a restart to be implemented
First command repairs the files SFC uses to clean files, and SFC fixes system files
SFC = System File Checker. First command runs DISM - https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/what-is-dism?view=windows-11

thats just checking windows files.

is this you?
https://community.acer.com/en/discu...-rtx-3060-and-msi-z590-a-pro-mb-properly-bios as if its not, you have a clone...

if it is you, is that your ram?
https://www.corsair.com/us/en/p/mem...00mhz-c16-memory-kit-black-cmk16gx4m2d3000c16
its only 16gb total, if you using 2 slots... set is 16gb total. At least it answered one question I had:
System specs:
I have this system:
CPU i5 11400
CPU cooler: NOCTUA, NH-U12S, chromax.black
Motherboard: MSI Z590-A Pro
Video card: RTX 3060
RAM: 2 slots, 16 GB each (#2 and #4), Vengeance CMK16GX4M2D3000C16
PSU: Corsair 650W, 80 Plus Gold, Semi Modular, TX650M
CASE: Lancool 216 (Lian Li)
Monitor: LCD Acer XV280K-B (4K native)

Main SSD where Windows 11 is installed: WD_BLACK SN850X (2 TB NVME)
2nd SSD: Samsung 870 EVO, 4 TB

Plugged into the USB-C: External Blu-ray burner, ASUS SBW-06D5H-U

I can guess it is you as well, you mentioned autosource in this post, That HDMI change is strange. I only found that Acer link as I went looking for new firmware for monitor... something odd with its reaction to windows.

One thing, tried resetting bios?

I edited this a few times so if something doesn't make any sense, its why :)

**TPM in a compartmentalized part of the CPU that the cores themselves can't directly access. Its done this way for security reasons. The only way CPU can talk to it is via the bios. On AMD CPU it actually uses an ARM core, just to be different.
 
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That was me on the Acer forums. My Windows 11 install I am using is very recent. I formatted the entire computer (100% of data was erased, nothing preserved, meaning a clean install, from scratch), I have two SSDs - NVME with 2 TB (WD) and Samsung's 4 TB regular SSD. Also, 32 GB of RAM, so two 16 GB each, DDR-4 (before, I used two 8 GB). Another change was the new PC case.

The MSI Z590-A Pro is confirmed to be using the latest firmware, from here:

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/Z590-A-PRO/support

Dated 2023 - I updated myself, more than once.

This is my experience with this monitor after doing a clean install of Windows 11:

- The LCD XV280K-B shows no image (this was a TOTAL surprise to me, after the installation was done). I was so out of ideas, that had to unplug everything and connect to a TELEVISION SET, to operate. Then, finally I got image. I was thinking back then this was due to a NVidia problem, or Windows. Not even BitLocker was involved (hadn't thought of using YET).

I also had a suspicion this was a faulty PSU, or some sort of conflict with the motherboard's iGPU (if I didn't have the regular RTX 3060, it would still produce image).

The thing is, the Acer 4K monitor is connected to HDMI #1, and the monitor (this is a proven issue/flaw - no question about it) cannot for the life of Jesus detect any image if the option "Autosource" is ENABLED. You need to do 2 things: turn this off and also inform "INPUT: HDMI #1".

That's right, you need to make the choice, not allow the monitor to detect anything.

That took care of the bug, and now the monitor always show image.

- When I did a recent install, BitLocker was enabled to fully encrypt both SSDs. And in both cases, I opted for using PIN pre-boot, and also a Windows 11 password.

That was when I found another hindrance mimicking the last one: the monitor showed NO IMAGE (again?) and turned the entire computer off after a short while.

The only way to fix this was to type the BitLocker's PIN, so Windows would reappear, and the LCD turned itself on after you blindly type BitLocker's password (there was no image).

The command:

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bcdedit /set {bootmgr} bootshutdowndisabled 1
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Was the only way to fix this. For good.

Which I had to discover myself, otherwise I would have taken the PC to try fixing what wasn't broken (PSU? video card? Windows? BitLocker?)

But as I said on this thread, things continue to be in rare instances, recreating the same scenario of getting rid of image (as if the monitor sometimes gets too shy to turn that LED blue instead of orange = off).

As I said on this thread:
https://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=185422

When the burning (done with an external Blu-ray drive, the SBW-06D5H-U, plugged with the USB-C to Micro-B 2 meter cable) failed, and the app (ImgBurn or CDBurnerXP) didn't respond (once or twice I had to hit control+alt+del and force closing), this could or not trigger the NO IMAGE bug again, so I had to type BitLocker's PIN without seeing the prompt (after restarting Windows).

This made me think if the failing while burning didn't affect the motherboard somehow (a power surge?) or Windows 11 itself, to provoke this, ignoring the:

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bcdedit /set {bootmgr} bootshutdowndisabled 1
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Used before (and no, it's not disabled, I went to CMD to check that, again). Ever since this happened 2 or 3 times, it didn't ever again, so it was only caused after these failed attempts at burning discs.

What does this have to do with anything?

Of all 100 Ritek BD-Rs I bought, 93 worked, yet 7 failed (they probably had some surface scratch, I might have noticed this in a few, or anomaly during production, resulting in corrupted data - consider I used 99% of the disc space most of the burnings, leaving 200 MB space left). The funny thing is that I bought 2 batches of 50 BD-Rs each, and the last discs used from the 2nd batch were failing. This made me wonder if the drive itself wasn't dying. It turns out it were the discs, because after probably 5-6 fails one after the other, the last disc I tried, burned 100% OK and the verification made by IMGBURN/CDBURNERXP was successful.

As that user hinted, the problem, I'd say 95% of chance this was Ritek's blank media low quality, not the drive failing somehow (which I still have to confirm after buying more discs). It's funny because I have almost 250 BD-Rs burned to this date (this external drive is not even 1 year old), and before only 1 disc with a very small scratch/anomaly had failed. Never 7 out of 100, and even more strange, 7 of the last of these many.

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Another strange scenario is when this LCD turns itself off, after a while, when inactive. I configured power and sleep settings in Windows 11 to turn the hard drive/monitor off, after at least 120 minutes. Sometimes I came back to this PC and instead of showing the screensaver, the monitor was off. The thing is, I don't remember leaving the desk for these 2 hours. Again, if this was a wrong turning it off instead of respecting my wishes to show a screensaver after almost 30 minutes, I can't say.

This may be very well be another strong indication this monitor doesn't work 100% with Windows/my hardware.

You mentioned a firmware, and I don't think there is one. The Acer manual is very poor/thin, you can't even say what good its internal options are (and as far as I know, no guides on the internet).

I really hope all I described doesn't come back to haunt me again. Windows 11 is also a very bad OS (or version), don't think for 0.5 second it's good:
https://www.techspot.com/news/10260...per-windows-11-performance-comically-bad.html

Note: this PC is clean of malwares, too. I asked for help in the MBAM forums and if there was anything there, it's gone now.

About the BIOS, TPM is enabled there. CPU is the i5 11400.

This link shows what CMD says about Bitlocker. Key protectors are TPM and PIN, and numerical password.
 
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Not only TPM is showed there (link here)

I made sure this W11 install didn't use any hack to allow TPM bypassing. The CPU is TPM-ready. PROOF here

I can only assume these specific instances when the monitor goes off were caused by Windows not acting as it should (not a surprise, considering how awful this OS is)/some inconsistency with the monitor's signal. I hope this doesn't happen again in the future.

I'll try burning more discs in the future, this time another brand, I hope these last attempts were not good anyway (which is very likely due to the brand's reputation), and this doesn't mean the drive is starting to fail/not work properly.

Indeed it's getting harder to get good discs, the first I bought were BD-RE. Now you can't find any at least here in Brazil, but if we look into the U.S., these are becoming a lot more rare, too. They are also probably more expensive and prone to fail in the long run than BD-Rs.
 
IMG-3703.jpg

IMG-3704.jpg


There you go, it happened again. Monitor turns off despite not even 30 minutes after I left the desk. It should have showed the screensaver and that's it. It seems Windows 11 has a bug that randomly does that. I configured to wait hours (2-3 at least) before turning off anything. When the screensaver is interrupted, Windows should ask for the login password (picture #2).

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...ver-turn/32475067-66e4-4edd-8b1c-632be71cfac1

I'll investigate this link to see if any of the ideas apply.