Precision Tower 3620 won't show logo on boot

What do you have for a monitor and what connection are you using?  Have you tried any other monitors?

I'm not sure if speedstep's answer at the end of this thread applies here (it's for a different PC), but if it helps, I'd be remiss to not mention.  https://www.dell.com/community/Optiplex-Desktops/7010-usff-1440p-32-inch-monitor/m-p/7395399#M36228  Either way, hopefully this jogs an answer.

My apologies for the slow response, it's been a rough season.

I've tried a Lenovo and a Dell monitor, as well as switching out from one Dell kybd to another. So far anything before the OS doesn't show up when pressing F2 or F12. It does seem to not boot if I press F12; that makes me think it's actually in the Boot Menu but not showing anything. Both monitors show the login screen once the OS boots.

The original OS was Windows, but I've installed Linux (CentOS 7). That's one of the things that confuses me, I've actually had this to work before, it just won't work now. I've tried both Display Port and DVI connections, to no avail. The 3620 doesn't seem to have a VGA port, and the one VGA card I found doesn't match any of the card slots.

Thanks!

I appreciate the help, but prefer public messages. Thank you for understanding.

To answer the latest question, having a video card, as explained originally and in the subject line, does not show the Dell logo on boot. That's the core issue. No idea where the video card was bought, but it works. It shows the post boot OS activity.

I was asked privately to gather some more information. Here are the answers I have so far.

Regular Model: D13M

Regular Type: D13M002

Type of video card:  Dell branded ATI Radeon HD4550, Foxconn N15235.

It was recommended that I remove the video card and use the on-board HDMI. There are two HDMI ports, and I used an HDMI to DVI cable. The ports were under a sticker that said "Non-Active Ports", which seems true since neither one gave any signal to the Lenovo monitor.

Hi,

Thank you for the details.Please allow us some time, we shall have the details checked and get back to you with an update.

Regards,

Aishwarya Pillai

This is odd, your Precision Tower 3620 should have at least two DisplayPort connectors and one HDMI on board.  Are these ports optional?  I understand your workstation may not show the BIOS splash screen on the discrete graphics card, but it should work on the integrated (motherboard) one.

It would be the first 3620 I see that does not have an integrated graphics card on its mainboard.

Edit: I would remove the discrete graphics adapter before attaching a monitor to the rear video ports.  I think these ports are disabled if an external graphics card is found.

The rear of the 3620 looks like this:

https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/sln305208/precision-tower-3620-visual-guide-to-your-computer?lang=en

I did remove the add in graphics card before testing, but no video *at all* with either onboard Display Port. Have not tried the HDMI port, but those were the three that were covered by the "Non-Active Ports" tag.

Also, I don't see how to edit an earlier response. For the message time-stamped "01-08-2020 05:14 AM", it should be "There are two Display Port Connectors, and I used a Display Port to DVI cable."

On a different note, didn't we figure out having half a dozen video connectors was bad, about 20 some years ago?

You are right.  The technical guidebook for your workstation states that certain Xeon processors (E3-1220, E3-1240, and E3-1270) do not have integrated graphics support.  Your workstation may have one of these processors, so it depends entirely on the add-on card.

Sorry, I cannot help.  I would be able to provide you some random tips (e.g. reseting the NVRAM on the workstation by means of the PSWD and RTCRST jumpers on the motherboard or removing the CMOS battery to return the UEFI BIOS to default settings), but nothing I would really consider good advice.  In fact, I am not really sure reseting the NVRAM will be good at all as it may turn your system unbootable if it does not allow you to go into BIOS later.

If the add-on card has multiple video ports, may I ask you to connect the monitor to another one?  Perhaps there is only one video port active before the operating system takes control of the discrete graphics adapter.

Hello,

I've stumbled on the exact same issue, trying to resolve it now, but no luck so far. It is with a Xeon CPU, no integrated video, I switched to UEFI and video disappeared. Is it possible to go back to legacy mode? What if I install an UEFI compatible GPU?

Looks we're all in the same boat here I have the same issue with my T1700 and am tying to find a solution 

My guess is you have the following setting disabled "Enable Legacy Operation ROMs".withing the BIOS this prevents the BIOS from loading the boot rom of the graphics card which in turn results in no video during boto up until the windows kernel fully boots and takes over video.

Could try the follwoing reset procedures for the NVRAM/BIOS

https://www.dell.com/support/article/en-ie/sln284985/how-to-perform-a-bios-or-cmos-reset-and-or-clear-the-nvram-on-your-dell-system?lang=en

I had the same problem, and this worked for me.  Go into the BIOS Setup and select "Video>Primary Video Slot".  Change from "Auto" to whatever PCI slot your video card is in.  For me it was "slot one".  

@SebDooris​

My guess is you have the following setting disabled "Enable Legacy Operation ROMs".

I have disabled this by mistake.

Now I tried to reset BIOS / NVRAM to no avail.

• I tried reseating the battery.
• I tried this ‎Precision 3620 RTCRST | DELL Technologies

Could I try anything else?

Above post was answered here:  https://www.dell.com/community/en/conversations/precision-fixed-workstations/precision-3620-no-video/6552b16c7fb3c34126a0bda8