Why do I get a blank screeen (no video output on HDMI) unless I leave mains power on? Aspire TC-885

hotrob

I have just purchased an Acer Aspire TC-885 (Core i5 with 16GB Intel Optane Memory, Intel UHD Graphics 630, Windows 10 Home) and a Lenovo L24q_10 24" monitor (resolution 2560 x 1440).  When I first connected it up and turned it on the monitor was just blank and it went into power saving mode (implying that there was no video signal coming from the HDMI socket).  There are two HDMI sockets on the PC so I tried swapping the cable around several times and eventually it started working, much to my relief.

The problem is that I can shutdown the PC and it will boot up again ok, but if I turn the mains power off at the socket (as I normally do overnight) then when I turn the PC on I again have the problem of no HDMI video output and the monitor is blank and goes into power saving mode.  It came with a sheet of paper saying it has a built-in power management unit that monitors system activity (on keyboard, mouse, hard disk, peripherals and video memory) and if no activity is detected for a period of time the computer will stop some or all of these devices in order to conserve energy.  It then talks about Fast Startup, and I followed the instructions to disable it.  So it should not be going into any kind of sleep mode as far as I can tell, so why do I need to leave the mains power on all night just so that the video display will work when I power-up the PC the next day?

(It's also very distressing to buy a new PC and find that the video display doesn't work!  It should work straight away when you turn the PC on!  The first couple of days I wasted 10 - 15 minutes just trying to get the display working.)

Commodore_1995#

So this proves that it is probably a driver problem, because it works perfectly on the TV, or on the monitor!

I recommend that you use the driverbooster program, with the computer connected to the monitor and update all available drivers! No need to download game programs! Download drivers only!

Sharanji

hotrob 
The On Board HDMI Port version is V1.4 and Resolution is 4096x2160 @30Hz.

The monitor should work when attached without having to install any driver, and would normally be detected by Windows as a "Generic PNP Monitor".    

To install the Lenovo L24q-20 Monitor Driver, locate and zip the lenovo_l24q_20_win10_driver file, and then browse to the unzipped folder, locate L24q-20.inf, and then right click on the file and select install.   

If the monitor is shown in device manager as an Generic Monitor you can also right-click on the Generic PNP monitor, select Update Driver, choose "Browse my computer for Driver Software" and point to the folder containing the unzipped driver software, which by default should be in C:\Users\<YourUserName>\Downloads\lenovo_l24q_20_win10_driver.zip\Windows10.

You may have to use the On Screen Menus of the monitor to select HDMI as the input source, but if you are seeing he spinning wheel it must be on the correct connection.   

If you are still having problem you might try another HDMI cable.

Hit 'Like' if you find the answer helpful!   
Click on 'Yes' if the comment answers your question!

hotrob

Thank you for your response.  I had in fact already installed the driver for the Lenovo monitor, so it is no longer showing up as a Generic PNP Monitor.  That didn't fix the problem.

I've just tried a different HDMI cable and that too didn't make any difference.

So it still doesn't display anything when booting after the mains power was turned off, although it seems that usually taking the HDMI cable out and plugging it into the other HDMI socket turns the display on.  It also displayed an open Microsoft Edge window showing the Microsoft help web page, which sort of implies it was starting up from some kind of sleep mode, because that window was not open when I shutdown.

Commodore_1995#

How are the button settings in the power options? Can you hit a photo?

hotrob

It was on the High Performance power plan, but I've now changed that to Balanced.  It's currently set to turn off the screen after 10 minutes of inactivity, and the PC is set to go to sleep after 15 minutes of inactivity.  Allow hybrid sleep is on.  Hibernate after 120 minutes.  Allow wake timers enabled.  Power button action is shutdown (but I normally shutdown from the Windows menu).  I've disabled 'Turn on fast start-up'.

Commodore_1995#

For power button, select power off; to the suspend button, select the suspend button!

When you press the power button, you can now see if the desktop really shuts down and the image appears on the monitor!

hotrob

When I press the power button it shuts down.  When I press it again (having left the mains power on) it boots up OK and the video is displayed on the monitor, as it should do.  It's only when I turn the mains power off that the video is not displayed on the first power up after turning the mains on again.  I can't see any obvious clues in the Event Viewer logs.

Commodore_1995#

When that happens, are the computer hours late? Does bios lose its settings?

hotrob

No, the BIOS settings, including the date and time, have not changed unexpectedly.

Commodore_1995#

When turning on the desktop, enter the bios by pressing f2; go to power section and in deep power-off mode, select disable!

hotrob

I have already tried that.  It didn't make any difference!

Commodore_1995#

what version of bios is currently installed?

hotrob

It has BIOS version R01-A2.

Commodore_1995#

Do you have an offboard video card? Or use only the onboard motherboard video card? Does this happen on the vga input?

hotrob

The PC has Intel UHD Graphics 630.  Looking through the vents I cannot see any cards attached to the motherboard apart from the memory cards, so I guess it must be a chip on the motherboard.  I don't have a VGA monitor or cable that I can try it with.

Commodore_1995#

I would like to see what is shown on integrated peripherals and advanced function! Is there any option that selects hdmi in bios?

hotrob

It seems consistent now that if I unplug the HDMI cable and then plug it back in to the same port then it doesn't work, but if I unplug it and plug it into the other HDMI port then the display comes on.  So if I start with it in port 1 then I have to unplug it and plug it into port 2, and if it starts in port 2 then I'll have to unplug it and plug it into port 1.

When I plug it into the other HDMI port and the display starts working (or maybe it's when I unplug it from the first port?), then the following is added to the Windows System event log:

Log Name:      System
Source:        GeneStor
Date:          15/09/2018 11:53:15
Event ID:      32768
Task Category: None
Level:         Information
Keywords:      Classic
User:          N/A
Computer:      Acer
Description:
The description for Event ID 32768 from source GeneStor cannot be found. Either the component that raises this event is not installed on your local computer or the installation is corrupted. You can install or repair the component on the local computer.

If the event originated on another computer, the display information had to be saved with the event.

The following information was included with the event:

[GeneStor] Fdo_EvtDeviceD0Exit: Enter

The specified resource type cannot be found in the image file

Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
  <System>
    <Provider Name="GeneStor" />
    <EventID Qualifiers="16389">32768</EventID>
    <Level>4</Level>
    <Task>0</Task>
    <Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
    <TimeCreated SystemTime="2018-09-15T10:53:15.143898000Z" />
    <EventRecordID>5788</EventRecordID>
    <Channel>System</Channel>
    <Computer>Acer</Computer>
    <Security />
  </System>
  <EventData>
    <Data>
    </Data>
    <Data>[GeneStor] Fdo_EvtDeviceD0Exit: Enter</Data>
    <Binary>00000000020028000000000000800540000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000</Binary>
  </EventData>
</Event>

hotrob

I couldn't see anything in the BIOS that refers directly to HDMI.  Under Advanced/Integrated Peripherals it only mentions SATA, onboard audio, onboard LAN and Intel RAID.  Under CPU and Chipset Configuration it says "Video Onboard" and Onboard Graphics Controller - Enabled.  Under Power it has Restore On AC Power Loss set to "Last State".

Commodore_1995#

I'd like to see the settings I've asked for before!

About the driver, try this: disconnect from the wifi network and make sure uninstalling and deleting the driver solves the problem and then restart the computer!

The computer will stick with the default driver and will not download a more current one as it will be disconnected from the internet!

Test with the standard windows driver by unplugging the computer from the power outlet and see if it gives you an image!

Then go to the intel.com website, click on support and ask to download the driver automatically and see solve the problem!

hotrob

Deleting the graphics driver and using the Windows default driver made it worse, i.e. it booted up with a blank display and just swapping HDMI ports didn't get the display working - I had to spend ages unplugging and plugging in the cable, and rebooting with the power button before I could get it working again (much like the problem I had when I first turned it on after I bought the PC).  I struggled to download the driver from Intel.com, although it seemed in the meantime to have automatically reinstalled the driver.  However, it had installed driver version 23.20.16.4973, whereas the version I downloaded and installed from Intel.com is version 24.20.100.6286.  It still hasn't fixed the problem, although at least it is back to working if I just swap to using the alternate HDMI port.

Commodore_1995#

Did you try disabling quick startup in power options?