I have a Dell Alienware PC and running Ubuntu 18.04 with Nvidia driver 460.32.03, however when I go to boot, often there is no display available on the monitor at boot; I have to type in my boot password and then username/password without a display and then the display will become available. However, sometimes the display does appear at boot. Is there some configuration I have that’s wrong? This computer previously had Windows installed by default.
Is there any display at all at boot, such as BIOS startup messages or a vendor logo or something? Or is the monitor just off the whole time?
After a boot cycle where the display was blank, can you please run sudo nvidia-bug-report.sh and attach the resulting nvidia-bug-report.log.gz file here?
Often, at startup, this is what happens:
No display (monitor is not receiving a signal, despite unplugging / replugging HDMI on both ends)
If I press F12 to enter BIOS, sometimes a display will come up, sometimes it will not.
If I type in my boot passphrase for Ubuntu (assuming I’m booting normally without entering BIOS), sometimes the display will turn on after that, but sometimes it will not.
If I wait after typing my boot passphrase, and then type in my login for Ubuntu, the display will turn on after that if it did not already turn on.
Also if my computer goes into suspend after some time inactive, I also struggle to get the display to come back on (this event is probably not captured in this bug report).
I’m attaching the bug report as requested.
nvidia-bug-report.log.gz (384.4 KB)
Interesting. When you say you enter your “boot passphrase” is that a passphrase you enter at the firmware boot screen before it loads Ubuntu? It sounds like a general problem with the monitor itself and not really a problem with the driver, since it sounds like the problem happens before the driver even loads.
Looking at your bug report log, it looks like the system booted with a basic 800x600 console and then the NVIDIA driver switched to a 3840x2160 mode when the X server started. It’s not clear from the log whether that 800x600 mode is expected, or if it used that as a generic fallback mode because it couldn’t communicate with the monitor. I would suggest contacting HP support – it’s possible there could be a firmware update available for the monitor, or something.
If the monitor has any power-saving settings available in its on-screen display menus, please try disabling them to see if the problem goes away.
The “boot passphrase” is the passphrase that is entered once Ubuntu starts, so after Ubuntu is loaded.
Hm you’re right, there was a sleep / power saving mode enabled by default. I turned that off just now and unplugged/replugged the HDMI cord and the screen showed up OK just now, I’ll have to try turning the machine off then back on to test this too.
The monitor itself should be that 3840x2160 size so the 800x600 is not intended, but I think you’re right that it might be related to the monitor being unavailable when that happens.
Thank you for the help so far! I’ll reach out to HP too.