Need help: lost the display driver on my desktop; cannot see what I'm doing

[United Gnosis]

A Microsoft Update during a Mercury Retrograde..! You're a brave soul.

So.., it sounds like you have a corrupted video driver thanks to anti-virus software being overly enthusiastic. That's an interesting problem. How do you fix a video problem when you need video to see? That's very 'Mercury Retrograde' in character.

Well.., here's a quick fix to try: (found here: Windows 10 Black Screen after Update: Resolve the Black Screen Problem)

I like that whole, "It will detect any issue with the display adapter and fix it immediately" part. It seems too good to be true, but worth a try.

The way your video card got confused, having a driver install cancelled part way through by anti-viral software sounds like it might have created a problem which is a bit more difficult to solve. Hopefully your video card isn't 'bricked'. That would be miserable, (though it also seems like an extreme result of a regular update issue, so probably unlikely).

So basically, you need to drill down to a generic driver taking over so you can do all the fancy fixes from there.

It may end up being one of those problems where you just need a second computer and a computer geek friend with extra hardware (like a portable USB monitor) to come over and noodle for an afternoon, so you can swap parts, download drivers onto USB sticks and such. What a tiresome chore! (Though it is fun to have a friend over.)

Anyway, I just wanted to chime in with that quoted quick-fix in the hopes it would work.

Good luck!

The concerns re:bricking are what you do in safe mode. The vga drivers are likely still fine, and only the card-specific ones corrupted. The way to do it it to go in safe mode - it only loads the bare vga drivers. But if Palinurus can't see anything, he needs to boot to BIOS, and see from there.

Palinurus, is there any visual feedback when you boot the computer - do you get a post? If so, boot into BIOS - you need to be clicking the hotkey from the first second the computer boots, - usually it's DEL, but sometimes it's F2 or F10. Anyways, booting to safe mode and doing the full DDU is the proper thing to do. You don't bother with windows trying to rebuild mismatched drivers, you wipe and do a clean install. It's the reliable solution.

 

[Palinurus]

Hello again. I'm back.

I tried switching the cables to test whether they could be the issue. First I disconnected the display-port cable and reconnected it in reverse order. No signal. Then I disconnected the display-port cable again and moved over to HDMI-cable. No signal either. The monitor is in auto-switch by default but even when I switch manually to either display-port or HDMI #1 (4K connection) depending on which cable was connected, I got no signal.

My conclusion is that the desktop is not producing any meaningful signal output to drive the monitor display.

I'm now going to use the screen wake-up key sequence @Woodsman has kindly provided. Fingers crossed !

 

[Palinurus]

I like that whole, "It will detect any issue with the display adapter and fix it immediately" part. It seems too good to be true, but worth a try.

Okay, I tried. With both cables and in each case both before and after entering my personal PIN-code. There was no short beep sound nor any other reaction. No image on display and the monitor shuts itself down again after notification of "no signal".

Now I'm stuck again. I seem to be able to get into safe mode as well as into bios mode (judging on the sounds my desktop does or doesn't make) but cannot do anything with them because my monitor doesn't work in those modes either.

 

[rs]

Okay, I tried. With both cables and in each case both before and after entering my personal PIN-code. There was no short beep sound nor any other reaction. No image on display and the monitor shuts itself down again after notification of "no signal".

Now I'm stuck again. I seem to be able to get into safe mode as well as into bios mode (judging on the sounds my desktop does or doesn't make) but cannot do anything with them because my monitor doesn't work in those modes either.

I really think you need to consider that somehow the problem is your monitor. I know it seems awfully coincidental, but a black screen in BIOS boot up really, really points to your monitor or something fundamentally wrong with your graphic card or chip. If your monitor has HDMI, try plugging it into a DVD/BluRay player to see if you see video.

 

[Palinurus]

Thanks for your input, rs. It's clear to me that there's something fundamentally wrong with my graphic card, as you put it.

I reiterate, the problem started while updating the display driver when a virus program intervened half way through because of a Trojan detection and aborted the installation of the driver there and then.

It would be rather bothersome to connect a DVD/BluRay player to the monitor but it is doable as a measure of last resort. However, the monitor as it is now produces a screen-view of its manufacturer's logo while booting and an also visible pop-up window that notifies "no signal" before shutting down automatically because of that. So I take it the monitor works as it should, it only doesn't get a proper signal from the desktop to work with.

 

[Ellipse]

1/ Do you have the possibility to check the monitor with another PC, a laptop perhaps?

2/ Does the faulty PC have a separate graphic card (I mean one plugged into the main board)?

 

[rs]

Thanks for your input, rs. It's clear to me that there's something fundamentally wrong with my graphic card, as you put it.

I reiterate, the problem started while updating the display driver when a virus program intervened half way through because of a Trojan detection and aborted the installation of the driver there and then.

It would be rather bothersome to connect a DVD/BluRay player to the monitor but it is doable as a measure of last resort. However, the monitor as it is now produces a screen-view of its manufacturer's logo while booting and an also visible pop-up window that notifies "no signal" before shutting down automatically because of that. So I take it the monitor works as it should, it only doesn't get a proper signal from the desktop to work with.

Because you get the monitor logo does not mean the monitor "works". Sure, under the power-up sequence it "produces controlled light" but that doesn't mean it can show video from your computer (or anything else). Try a DVD. Just prove to yourself it can produce something other than the boot-up logo and that the interface is not somehow broken.

 

[Palinurus]

1/ Do you have the possibility to check the monitor with another PC, a laptop perhaps?

Yes, I do but I'm not sure how to connect the two to really test the monitor from the laptop's output.

I take it, I should use a HDMI cable?

2/ Does the faulty PC have a separate graphic card (I mean one plugged into the main board)?

The desktop has two graphic cards. An Intel UHD 630 which is the standard card used in most activities. That was the one which was updating when the process was aborted.

It also has a special dedicated graphic card for gaming, which is an Intel RTX 2070 I believe. That one is mostly used via NVIDIA drivers, AFAIK. I don't game that much, so it goes mostly unused but it's up-to-date driverwise.

Because you get the monitor logo does not mean the monitor "works". Sure, under the power-up sequence it "produces controlled light" but that doesn't mean it can show video from your computer (or anything else). Try a DVD. Just prove to yourself it can produce something other than the boot-up logo and that the interface is not somehow broken.

Yes, I understood your point completely.

I'm just not ready here and now to implement your suggestion right away, but I will eventually do so when I can make time available to try that.

It's rather complicated to perform this procedure as I have to move equipment and cables from one room to another and don't have enough space available as things stand. So that will take some rearranging also before I can even start.

 

[Possibility of Being]

I reiterate, the problem started while updating the display driver when a virus program intervened half way through because of a Trojan detection and aborted the installation of the driver there and then.

Not a techie by any means but I've learned from my own experience that sometimes clinging to a sequence of events that 'has lead to' whatever may be a factor preventing you from considering and testing other possibilities, FWIW.
Hope you can solve your problem soon.

 

[Palinurus]

PoB, thank you for your kind words. The problem will not be solved overnight or any time soon, I reckon. These things are complicated in every which way you look at it and therefore time consuming. There are also other priorities to meet and different chores to fulfill.

As for clinging to a sequence of events or a fixed idea, I don't really think that applies here. I'm completely open to any and all suggestions or tentative explanations, and have tried already quite a lot of the suggested remedies (which I couldn't have come up with myself BTW; so networking works like a charm, as far as I'm concerned), but so far to no avail qua results. That's all. I will be soldiering on until I get the thing working again - even when I have to go to a repair shop ultimately to get it fixed.

But In that case, I wouldn't be learning as much of the technical stuff as I do now.

 

[Ellipse]

Yes, I do but I'm not sure how to connect the two to really test the monitor from the laptop's output.

I take it, I should use a HDMI cable?

If you have an HDMI connector on the laptop, yes. If not the VGA. What you can . There's at least 4 types of video connectors today so it's easy to not have the right combination. The laptop should detect the screen automatically.

The desktop has two graphic cards. An Intel UHD 630 which is the standard card used in most activities. That was the one which was updating when the process was aborted.

It also has a special dedicated graphic card for gaming, which is an Intel RTX 2070 I believe. That one is mostly used via NVIDIA drivers, AFAIK. I don't game that much, so it goes mostly unused but it's up-to-date driverwise.

If the screen work, this is certainly the problem. I guess the PC use the Intel chipset when you boot in the "mode sans échec". So plug the monitor into it and do the "mode sans échec" manipulation.

If it still not work, remove the extra graphic card and boot normally. The system will use the Intel driver and bypass the faulty one.

 

[IncenDiary]

This is not going to be fun. You will probably have to completely uninstall the Intel Gfx drivers to get back to Microsoft Basic Display Adapter. You can also try plugging into various ports on the GFX card and try bypass the onboard display, but I have low hopes that might work. If you have a disc for your motherboard you might be able to install an earlier version of drivers, otherwise you will have to download the drivers for your motherboard intel display and try install it there. I have been in similar situations, it's a nightmare...

 

[Palinurus]

Thanks Ellipse. The laptop has one HDMI connector but nothing else. I'll try that one to test the monitor as this is a lot easier to do in my situation than plug-in a DVD/BluRay player. But when I'm at it, I may be able to combine both methods consecutively - if time permits and it should appear necessary after the first test.

If the screen work, this is certainly the problem. I guess the PC use the Intel chipset when you boot in the "mode sans échec". So plug the monitor into it and do the "mode sans échec" manipulation.

I'm not quite sure whether I understand your reasoning here. I already tried safe mode via several different approaches but never got any visuals while doing so. When we have established by other means that the monitor is indeed still capable of rendering a visual of any sort, the main problem with the desktop just remains unsolved - safe mode not withstanding.

I take this opportunity to first and foremost thank all those who contributed so far, for their efforts and their time. It has been a great help - regardless of the lack of immediate results - to know this community will step in as a back-up of sorts for any problem one may encounter; and it especially helped to keep at bay any upcoming panic or stress overload which I for one am rather prone to in this type of situations. I mean, in 15 years of computer handling this is the first time I encounter such a tricky problem with so low probability of success resolving it.

Tomorrow I will not be online for long, just to sort out my mail and such. Friday evening is the one evening every week I hold reserved for other stuff than computing. In fact, it's my movie night and I'm not ready to give that up as of yet. Currently, I'm re-watching Star Trek Voyager (the full journey) and about to complete season two - with five more to go.

I'll be back on Saturday evening and hope to have tested my monitor one way or the other by then. Thanks for reading.

This is not going to be fun. You will probably have to completely uninstall the Intel Gfx drivers to get back to Microsoft Basic Display Adapter. You can also try plugging into various ports on the GFX card and try bypass the onboard display, but I have low hopes that might work. If you have a disc for your motherboard you might be able to install an earlier version of drivers, otherwise you will have to download the drivers for your motherboard intel display and try install it there. I have been in similar situations, it's a nightmare...

I hope @PoB will read this one, lol.

Today's computers don't come with disks or even in-built disk drives any more. I'm not even sure my desktop has a recovery partition somewhere, and I cannot test that either at the moment. Have to consult the MSI website for that one, I think..

I guess your implicit advice really is to call in a professional to get things working again - if ever possible.

 

[Ellipse]

I'm not quite sure whether I understand your reasoning here. I already tried safe mode via several different approaches but never got any visuals while doing so. When we have established by other means that the monitor is indeed still capable of rendering a visual of any sort, the main problem with the desktop just remains unsolved - safe mode not withstanding.

Before the crash, I guess the PC was using the dedicated graphic card to output the video and so your monitor was probably connected to it.

But yesterday, when you booted into the winRE mode and still had no display, the explanation is certainly that Windows used the Intel video output. And their was no monitor plugged into it.

 

[IncenDiary]

Something else you can try is to unplug the GFX card completely out the PC, and unplug the hard drive(s) and try boot with the monitor in the onboard slot only, because if this still results in no display, it cannot be a software problem, but some other strange hardware conflict. Normally in these situations I take the entire PC apart and try get the naked motherboard on a bench and get it working there, then put the GFX back in and see if it works, then the hard drive and boot into Windows and see if it works, before putting it back together. It's a huge mission, but I have many times had people's non-booting computers, taken it out the case, where it then mysteriously works, and put it back together, and they ask me how I did it, and I didn't really do anything.....