Compaq Presario 8000Z - No Video Init on Warmboot

(Deliberate crosspost; sorry - the HP user groups seem to be no more.
Pointers to better venues accepted.)

A friend has a two-year-old 8000Z desktop (Athlon, Nvidia 5200 AGP graphics)
which has, according to the markings, an Asus "K8N8X-LA" MB. I presume this
is an OEM. It does respond nicely to the NForce3 4in1 driver suite, giving
UDMA5, which Compaq/HP has never seen fit to supply(!).

Remaining problem: on every warm boot, there's no video init. No graphics
card signature; no system ROM msgs; can't even see the BIOS screens.
Otherwise, a warm boot seems to proceed normally, though "in the dark." This
is not nice for software updates and maintenance.

Yes, I'm using a tube monitor that can respond down to 58Hz. BIOS is latest.
BIOS video priority has no effect. Suggestions?

Frank Haber wrote:
>
> (Deliberate crosspost; sorry - the HP user groups seem to be no more.
> Pointers to better venues accepted.)
>
> A friend has a two-year-old 8000Z desktop (Athlon, Nvidia 5200 AGP graphics)
> which has, according to the markings, an Asus "K8N8X-LA" MB. I presume this
> is an OEM. It does respond nicely to the NForce3 4in1 driver suite, giving
> UDMA5, which Compaq/HP has never seen fit to supply(!).
>
> Remaining problem: on every warm boot, there's no video init. No graphics
> card signature; no system ROM msgs; can't even see the BIOS screens.
> Otherwise, a warm boot seems to proceed normally, though "in the dark." This
> is not nice for software updates and maintenance.
>
> Yes, I'm using a tube monitor that can respond down to 58Hz. BIOS is latest.
> BIOS video priority has no effect. Suggestions?

Can you borrow another monitor ? And see if video does appear on that ?
With a different monitor, check to see if the monitor receives a signal.
On my LCD, I'd get a yellow LED if there was no signal. I'd also
get an error on the onscreen display (OSD), if the video signal was
outside the range of normal video modes.

Occasionally, my FX5200 will produce a funny mode, on a reboot. The
mode is corrected as soon as the Windows desktop is initialized. It
might happen one time in twenty reboots. My OSD does complain, but
doesn't state what resolution or frequency is being used. I can tell
the video card is attempting to display text, but it is garbled
enough not to be readable.

Can you get into the BIOS ? Is your monitor able to display the BIOS
screen ? The BIOS could well be using the same mode, whether you
enter the BIOS or not. I'd look for the "Full Screen Logo" setting
and play with that. If it is enabled, maybe the Logo is a black
image, which is effectively blanking the screen for you. Try disabling
the Full Screen Logo, and see if the POST messages appear instead.

Best guess,
Paul

There is never a signal. There is never any video, even when booting a DOS
floppy. This is not Windows- or driver-related. The BIOS setting has no
effect.

Frank Haber wrote:
>
> There is never a signal. There is never any video, even when booting a DOS
> floppy. This is not Windows- or driver-related. The BIOS setting has no
> effect.

Another idea for you. Is it possible the video card has multiple
output connectors, and the BIOS or DOS output is showing up on
a different connector ? I think mine defaults to the VGA connector.
Maybe your output is on TV/Svideo.

Paul