Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

General discussion

Monitor in standby during boot process

Dec 9, 2003 10:40AM PST

My monitor stays in standby mode until it gets to the password screen for windows. I want to be able to see my bios. Any ideas how to fix this? I have a samsung syncmaster 900sl running xp on an asus p4s533 board and a raedeon 9000 pro graphics card

Thanks

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Re:Monitor in standby during boot process
Dec 10, 2003 12:46AM PST

Huemruz,

I've never seen what you're talking about. What do you mean by "Stand by" mode while it's booting? I assume you mean that the screen is "black", but that is normal during boot as it proceeds through the 'POST' screen. During the boot, do you ever see a small flashing cursor in the upper left corner while the screen is black?? The BIOS setup key should be pressed when the cursor is displayed.

Normal BIOS setup keys (F1, F2, F10 for Compaqs, or the Delete key) should be pressed, once per second, during the period immediately after boot and before the log in box loads. This should cause the BIOS selection screen to load.

Hope this helps and let us know...

Grif

- Collapse -
The two reasons I've encountered.
Dec 10, 2003 1:49AM PST

The first one was many years ago and ATI stopped offering that feature AFAIK!

1. The ATI card was programmed to some "DOS" screen refresh rate well beyond the capability of the display. When Windows finally starts, the Windows screen setting causes the screen to appear. Very unlikely this is your issue, but I note it just the same.

2. The ATI card has dual video outputs or you have some onboard video as well as this card. A slight setup issue in BIOS or video card has the video output on the other outputs until Windows comes up.

Bob