Problems with Acer CB272U and NVIDIA GTX 1650

Since driver updates three months ago my Dell XPS 8940 with an NVIDIA GTX 1650 Super video card refuses to display Windows graphics to the Acer CB272U monitor (connected via HDMI). The boot screen appears normally, but then instead of displaying the Windows 10 login screen, there is a black display. The CB272U does not indicate there is a lack of signal, but it is a black display.
In the meantime, the Dell XPS will boot into Windows 10 normally when the CB272U is connected to the onboard Intel UHD video. Indeed, after booting into Windows connected to the Intel video, I can unplug the HDMI cable from the onboard HDMI port and plug into the NVIDIA HDMI and now Windows display does appear on the CB272U.
All of this started after an update (by Dell) that included; BIOS, NVIDIA driver and Intel driver. Over three months all efforts to resolve this have been unsuccessful, including; reinstall of drivers multiple times, reinstall of Windows multiple times, replacement of the NVIDIA GTX 1650 video card, replacement of the Dell motherboard and a second replacement of the NVIDIA card. Dell is stumped. For the first three months this XPS/NVIDIA/CB272U combination worked fine.
Everything points to an issue with Dell XPS and/or NVIDIA card (or their drivers), but has anyone run into a similar issue with the CB272u and NVIDIA cards?

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billsey

Double check to see what resolution it's setting for your desktop. If it's higher than the monitor supports (either in size, i.e. 3840x2160 on a 1080p screen or in frequency, i.e. set to 72Hz when the monitor only does 60Hz) you'll get a blank screen. When you connect the screen while Windows is running Windows does a plug and play request for screen settings and uses those. Try changing to a lower rez, then back to the preferred rez, to make sure it's saved in Windows, then reboot with it connected.

MotoWPK

Thanks for the reply and suggestion.
The graphics default to the native resolution and scan rate of the CB272U. I did try lowering the rez then changing back again and it made no difference.
I have thought that perhaps the NVIDIA card will display when the monitor is plugged into after Windows has started because some hand shaking is occurring. Of course I would expect that should also occur during a normal start up when the monitor is already plugged into the NVIDIA card and wonder if perhaps that is not happening for some reason. That the system will correctly start Windows with the monitor connected to the onboard Intel graphics confirms, I think, that it's not the monitor, but still wonder if there is some setting, on the monitor of the graphics card or within Windows, that would resolve this.

billsey

Yes, it might be how the Dell is initializing the display ports. With Acer desktops the onboard video is disabled when there is a GPU installed, with most Dells they leave the onboard active. The BIOS might not be doing the GPU initialization right...

MotoWPK

The Dell BIOS has a display selection section set, by default, to automatically choose which display to use; discrete (NVIDIA) or onboard (Intel). I assume during boot it detects which display port is connected and subsequently 'uses' that display. Have tried setting it to choose as the default NVIDIA in lieu of automatic and...no difference, same problem.
I mentioned that I can start windows with the HDMI cable plugged into the onboard graphics, then switch it to the NVIDIA display port and it will now display. Interestingly, if I reboot (and the NVIDIA will display then, just not if you shut down and restart), have display from the NVIDIA card and switch the HDMI cable to the onboard graphics port...black display. So this cable switching works only in one direction. I don't know what that means, if anything.
With all that, have tried resetting the BIOS to the initial, default, and problem still exists.
NVIDIA suggested using an older driver, January or older since the problem began with a March update. Same problem.
At this point I have to think it is; 1) hardware, though that seems unlikely given that the NVIDIA card has been replaced twice and the motherboard once, or, 2) there is some incompatibility with the NVIDIA GTX 1650 and Dell XPS machines with current releases of Windows. You'd think that Dell and NVIDIA would have come up against numerous other cases, but they claim not to have.

billsey

Yeah, I wonder if it's not some sort of race condition that happens when the EFI load initializes the GPU. That would be hardware, but determined by both the GPU card itself and the PCIe x16 slot on the motherboard. Both would need to be out a little in order to trigger it. It would be interesting to test with two monitors, one on each GPU, then swap them to see if anything acts differently. I have three or four XPS boxes here at the house, but they are all way too old (gen 2 CPUs) to have any chance of reproducing it here. Try Googling the process for rebuilding the EFI partition, maybe that would speed the load of the NVIDIA initialization code. Are you booting the XPS from a HDD or SSD, and if it's a SSD is it on a SATA port or on an M.2 port?

MotoWPK

Pulled out my old (approx. 9 years) 24" Acer P224W, which connects via DVI vs HDMI, and the problem never occurs. After reinstalling Windows, the problem is now occurring intermittently with the CB272U. There is clearly a difference between the P224W and CB272U and I am suspicious of some communication issue between the CB272U and the NVIDIA graphics card. The XPS boots from an SD...do not know if it is on an SATA or M.2 port.

MotoWPK

Update - Acer CB272U monitor sent back for repair. Upon return, the included service note stated the "main board" had been replaced. Monitor operated correctly for approx. 4 weeks, until I had occasion to unplug it for about 72 hours. Upon plugging it back in, the problem reappeared, which is: the Windows boot screen displays properly, but when the Windows display should appear, there is a blank screen. The monitor is indicating it has a signal (i.e. status light in lower righthand corner is blue and there is no "no signal" message displayed).
As before, I connect my 10 year old Acer P244W monitor and it works without issue.
So, any clues what is happening here? Why would the monitor work successfully, then stop just because it was unplugged from power for a while?
With not display it's difficult to obtain information from the system, but one theory I have is that the monitor is failing to successfully execute the 'handshake' that occurs with the PC when Windows boots. When the CB272U has worked, I can go into the display settings (either via Windows display settings or the NVIDIA control panel) and it indicates it is connected to an Acer CB272U and has set the resolution and scan rate to the native monitor settings. The same is true when I connect the Acer P244W monitor. So, my working theory (guess?) at this point is that Windows requests info from the CB272U but the monitor is not responding, resulting in the boot process perhaps hanging (waiting for a reply from the monitor).
That sounds reasonable, but why would the CB272U work upon return from repair (with the main board having been replaced) then stop after having been disconnected from power for a while?
Will appreciated any suggestions.

Garbage

I have a HP gaming PC also with the 1650 Super...also using the same monitor....ALSO having a similar issue. It doesn't happen anywhere nearly as frequently using DisplayPort compared to HDMI. I have better luck turning the monitor on after turning the PC on and keeping the input auto detect off. I have no idea what's causing it. I was using an 11 year old Dell 1080p monitor until 2 weeks ago with only an occasional similar issue for the last 4 months. I've tried removing/installing all sorts of drivers and windows updates. Switching USB devices around. Removing them entirely. Using different combinations of keyboards and mice. I can't figure it out. My most recent thing that's worked for a few days and it hasn't happened again YET is removing Avast antivirus.

I'm out of ideas...

Also, if I plug in another monitor after the black screen occurs on startup with this Acer monitor, I still get no display on the old monitor(s).

MotoWPK

I have found no difference changing HDMI cables or using DP. I have also tried turning of the CB272U's auto input detect - no difference. The issue only arises with the CB272U. When I connect the P244W - no problem.
As for the PC, I have tried updates and Windows reinstalls more time than I can count. Also, first thinking it was the PC, Dell replaced the GTX1650 twice, the motherboard once, then replaced the whole PC with one equipped with a GTX1660. No difference. It was only after all this that I tried connecting my Acer P244W and, seeing it worked fine, realized the issue is the CB272U monitor.

Garbage

I forgot to turn my monitor off before turning on my PC again....and it did the same exact garbage. Anytime I have to power it down by the power button and try again I get a diagnosing PC screen because of this nonsense. I bought it 2 weeks ago and I've officially given up on this POS. I will be returning it to the store tomorrow.

Thanks for posting your misery story regarding this which helped me realize there's no hope in fixing this issue. Sorry I won't be able to work towards finding a fix with you. Having a nice screen is meaningless when it doesn't come on properly. Hopefully you can get yours sorted out someday, but F this monitor.

Garbage

I forgot to turn my monitor off before turning on my PC again....and it did the same exact garbage. Anytime I have to power it down by the power button and try again I get a diagnosing PC screen because of this nonsense. I bought it 2 weeks ago and I've officially given up on this POS. I will be returning it to the store tomorrow.

Thanks for posting your misery story regarding this which helped me realize there's no hope in fixing this issue. Sorry I won't be able to work towards finding a fix with you. Having a nice screen is meaningless when it doesn't come on properly. Hopefully you can get yours sorted out someday, but I've already boxed mine up to take back to the store.

Garbage

I forgot to turn my monitor off before turning on my PC again....and it did the same exact garbage. Anytime I have to power it down by the power button and try again I get a diagnosing PC screen because of this nonsense. I bought it 2 weeks ago and I've officially given up on this POS. I will be returning it to the store tomorrow.

Thanks for posting your misery story regarding this which helped me realize there's no hope in fixing this issue. Sorry I won't be able to work towards finding a fix with you. Having a nice screen is meaningless when it doesn't come on properly. Hopefully you can get yours sorted out someday, but I've already boxed mine up to get a refund.

Garbage

I forgot to turn my monitor off before turning on my PC again....and it did the same exact garbage. Anytime I have to power it down by the power button and try again I get a diagnosing PC screen because of this nonsense. I bought it 2 weeks ago and I've officially given up on this POS. I will be returning it to the store tomorrow.

Thanks for posting your misery story regarding this which helped me realize there's no hope in fixing this issue. Sorry I won't be able to work towards finding a fix with you. Having a nice screen is meaningless when it doesn't come on properly. Hopefully you can get yours sorted out someday, but I've already boxed mine up to get a refund.

Garbage

I forgot to turn my monitor off before turning on my PC again....and it did the same exact garbage. Anytime I have to power it down by the power button and try again I get a diagnosing PC screen because of this nonsense. I bought it 2 weeks ago and I've officially given up on this POS. I will be returning it to the store tomorrow.

Thanks for posting your misery story regarding this which helped me realize there's no hope in fixing this issue. Sorry I won't be able to work towards finding a fix with you. Having a nice screen is meaningless when it doesn't come on properly. Hopefully you can get yours sorted out someday, but I've already boxed mine up to get a refund.

Edit: This site refuses to show my post now using multiple browsers/devices.

rscroggin

I'm having the very same problem with the monitor connected to the DP. I have a Dell XPS 8940, Windows 10 Home, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti, CB272U Monitor. If I do a shutdown and then power back up I get through the Dell boot screens, but then the screen goes black and stays that way. I never see Windows. If I power up connected to the INTEL onboard graphics, it boots up just fine. If I then unplug from the onboard DP and plug into the NVIDIA card DP it works fine. But if I ever shutdown again or our power goes out, I have to boot with the onboard DP, then switch to the NVIDIA DP to use it. Doing a Restart of the computer does not cause a problem. The NVIDIA card works fine. It only happens when the computer is powered off (for whatever reason) and then started again.

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