Dell Precision 7920 Rack no video before Windows starts

Question

I'm installing Windows on 4 Dell Precision 7920 Rack machines. I use PXE-boot to do this and everything works fine. After a few restarts something strange happens. The machines all stop showing any video on the monitor before Windows loads. No Dell logo or opportunity to press F2 for bios. The machines all have Nvidia Quadro P2000 graphics cards. It's like there is some upgrade or policy change after Windows installs that changes the settings, so that the machines stop showing anything on screen before Windows.

I can get into bios if I use a VGA-cable and connect it to the internal video card. There is a setting in bios to turn off the internal video card, but it makes no difference if it's on or off. If the monitor is connected to the Nvidia-card, no video before Windows starts.

I have seen similar behaviour on Precision laptops connected to docking stations, but there you can solve the problem by changing the switchable graphics options in bios.

I have of course tried to connect to different monitors, but no luck. After searching online, I've tried disabling Fast boot in Windows power settings. I deactivated Secure boot in bios, just to see if that worked, but no luck.

Has someone come across this annoying problem?

Dell Precision 7920 Rack

Microsoft Windows 10 Enterprise

Nvidia Quadro P2200

BIOS ver. 2.9.4

DELL-Cares · Answer

We tried reaching you on a private message asking for the Service Tag but did not receive a response. Please feel free to reply to the private message whenever you are available.

DELL-Cares · Answer

Thank you! We have received the required details. We will work towards a resolution. In the meantime, you may also receive assistance or suggestions from the community members.

mazzinia_ · Answer

I've actually had something quirky happening on a quadro P series card ( a P600 ). Have you tried using a different gpu port ? ( if you are on 1 , switch to 4 as output connector )

DELL-Shine K · Answer

Is your server have multiple graphics card? If yes can you check whether any of the graphics card giving display during boot. You can also update iDRAC FW to latest version and see any change in behavior. You can download latest iDRAC FW from below link

https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=62gw1&oscode=wt64a&productcode=precision-7920r-workstation

aquilamarke · Answer

Thanks for the reply. I have already tried to use other ports on the gpu. I have also tried the newest driver from Dell and the one from her Nvidia website. No luck. Very strange problem.

Precision Fixed Workstations

Dell Precision 7920 Rack no video before Windows starts

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