BIOS vs Windows display discrepency

thurst0n

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I'm not sure if this is the correct place to post this, but I will try to describe my problem as best I can.
I just bought a PNY nVidia 6200 256MB graphics card. I installed it, and have been playing around with it for a few days. I changed the primary display to the 6200 in windows, and then noticed that during teh start up of my computer, I couldnt see anything. So i pulled the monitor coord and connected it directly to my mobo, and changed the display in the bios.

For some reason I still have a problem. After the initial BIOS boots, it goes black, and i gave it about 2 minutes before I would shutdown and had to change the display back to the mobo via the BIOS. Then after exiting bios the black screen asking which bootup mode I wanted was displayed. It said something about possibly being from a recent hardware change.
I don't remember this happening when I first got the card a few days ago.
I can only see this display when the primary display is selected as the integrated graphics through BIOS.
No matter what when/if the computer makes it into windows the display goes through the 6200.
I am able to enter the BIOS through both displays. it is only that screen between BIOS and windows that only displays through integrated graphics, and only when integrated is selected in BIOS.

Any ideas would be awesome.
I have been using RivaTuner v2.09 and I am pretty sure it only will let me OC when "auto" (6200) is chosen in bios. I am also not sure it is booting up as OC. I'm very tired and can't remmeber all the things i've done/specific results.

ANYTHING HELPS!
Thanks everyone!
 
You need to go into the bios again and somewhere in there will be the option to dissable the onboard graphics chipset.
It sounds to me like its being given priority by default whenever you restart the computer.

Mactronix
 

thurst0n

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Could this perhaps be because of a physical setting on the motherboard?
I was looking more closely at the mobo, and I noticed small things I'm not sure what they are or what they do. I made the mistake of removing one not realizing that it was only connected to 2/3 of the pins. i wasn't sure which way it was supposed to go back. I haven't been having any other problems but I dont know if this is the cause/solution.

I dont know where I completely disable the onboard graphics. I will look again, but I only saw the one place.
Here is a screen from cpuz showing the chipset and the BIOS version. There is probably an update that could fix this problem, but I haven't had any issues until now.
mainboardcpuz.jpg

Thanks again.
 

thurst0n

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Ok I did a little bit more testing. It is definately not reseting to integrated graphics each time I restart my computer.
I'll try to make this a little more simple.

1)Windows is Set to display through 6200 Always works

2)When BIOS display is set to "auto" I see the computer posting through the 6200. After it gets past this it flickers the windows logo with the status bar underneath for about 1 second, then the screen goes dark, and my monitor power button goes from green to orange. Meaning the monitor is on but it has no signal. Same as if my computer is shutdown but my monitor is on.
3)When BIOS display is set to "onboard" I can see the post through the integrated graphics display connection and then to see windows I must manually pull the coord out and put it in my 6200.

So my problem is obviously somewhere in #2. #3 is functional but really annoying. Hope this is easier to understand.
 
Well the little things you speak of are called jumpers and they control various features of the PC depending on which one you messed with. It will tell you in the Motherboard Manual where it should be set.
Failing that let me know what model of dell it is and i will see what i can do.
Mactronix
 

thurst0n

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Well everyone, still no luck. It seems that when the 6200 is set as the primary adapter in the BIOS. The computer won't let it display windows. I have no idea why. I stole my girlfriends monitor to do some troubleshooting. I settup dual display to see if I could isolate the problem. No luck. The display connected to the 6200 would go standby as soon as windows started to load.

I could only see windows in the monitor displaying through the integrated graphics, even though the 6200 was set to primary, and the integrated was only set to extend the desktop onto the integrated monitor. The 6200 monitor would still go into standby mode, even though windows were opening to there so I couldn't see them. So I knew the computer was trying to send something there I just can't figure out why it's not displaying.
I ended up accidentally setting the computer to standby mode when I tried to shutdown. When I came out of standby mode, both monitors were functioning properly. I am now even more confused than before.

I have a feeling there must be a driver issue, or the card is simply bad. I would still very much appreciate ANY advice!

The jumper in question is the one directly next to the higher of the 2 PCI slots.
 
Well it looks like we need to check the basic stuf like is the card connected from the primary port (if it has two outs).
I think we could be getting bogged down with the whole Bios issue. I have only ever had to use the bios to dissable the onboard graphics, never have i set priorities here, that has always been done in windows.
Start from scratch. Have it set so that you are running the intergrated. First make sure you have a copy of the drivers you want to use, probably the latest from the vendors site or a set you know work. Put them (the executable file) either on the desktop or in your documents. Uninstall all the drivers that are to do with the card, use drivercleaner if you like, personally i have only needed to delete the drivers using add or remove in the control pannel. I also delete the folders they were in as well.
Power down the PC and then remove the card. Reboot and make sure its all working right. Check to see if all the drivers seem to be gone.
Shut down again and install the card, restart and you should get a display from the card, (you should get a display with out the drivers and most add on cards over rule the onboard anyway) if not it will be the onboard still.
Go to the display properties (right click on desk top- then properties-then settings. See which one is set as primary and switch them around if needed. once you have it running on the card as primary you can then install the drivers. If its not showing the card as an option then install the drivers and then go back to the settings and recheck to see which display is set to where.

Fingers crossed for you
Mactronix :)