Accidentally disabled video card in BIOS, now just a black screen

[newlife]

I'm writing this for my brother-in-law since he cannot see anything out of his monitor.  His monitor is completely black, even at startup.  He says this was caused after he entered BIOS and changed the setting for monitor/video card from PCIe to Onboard.  He can't change it back because his monitor is now completely black so he cannot see what he's doing.  Not a single thing is displayed, not even the HP blue intro screen before Windows loads.  The computer does seem to be working though, it's just that there is no video input.  Does anyone have a recommendation?  Here are a few things we've considered:

1) Temporarily add a new video card in the PCI slot, hook the monitor up to that, and use that to change the setting back.  

2) Remove BIOS battery for 5-10 minutes, then put it back in.  Would this reset the BIOS to the original settings?

3) Clean swipe with factory recovery CDs.  Does anyone know if the recovery CDs will also recover the original BIOS settings? 

The computer is a HP Pavilion m9000t.  Any input would be greatly appreciated...

[KiranTalluri]

HI,

How are you>

1) No, Adding an other PCI Card will not make Difference

2)Yes,  reseating the CMOS Battery will fix the issue if the BIOS Default for Primary Adapter is Video Card

3) No, Performing Recovery Does not fix it, it will not work at all, as we dont see anything on the Monitor to continue with recovery

One more option: 4) Connect the Monitor to Onboard VGA Port, access BIOS at Startup, and change the Primary Video Adapter to PCI X Card, restart the PC connecting the Monitor to Graphics Card again.

http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01077641

[erico · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Removing the RTC (BIOS) battery for more than five minutes will clear all custom BIOS settings (including time & date) and return all settings to default.

regards,

erico

[newlife]

He says he does not see an Onboard VGA port.  The other video card that came with the motherboard has TV in/out ports for TV cables but he says he didn't see a VGA port on it.  This is a HP Pavilion m9000t, should it have a VGA port on its onboard video card? 

He just said he unseated the CMOS battery but it didn't work.  I didn't ask him how long he left it out for.  So he should leave it out for at least 5 minutes? 

By the way, just before this happened, he did a BIOS update.  Still, removing the battery should still bring the monitor setting back to what it originally was, right?

If it still doesn't work, I've read things about changing the bios jumper settings to reset it.  Is that possible to reset BIOS by changing the jumper settings?  If so, which settings do we change?

[erico]

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@newlife wrote:

He says he does not see an Onboard VGA port.  The other video card that came with the motherboard has TV in/out ports for TV cables but he says he didn't see a VGA port on it.  This is a HP Pavilion m9000t, should it have a VGA port on its onboard video card?  (Onboard video means a chip integrated into the chipset with a port at the rear of the PC)

He just said he unseated the CMOS battery but it didn't work.  I didn't ask him how long he left it out for.  So he should leave it out for at least 5 minutes?  Yes. at least 5 minutes.

By the way, just before this happened, he did a BIOS update.  Still, removing the battery should still bring the monitor setting back to what it originally was, right? Only if he managed to do a successful update. Ask him what the BIOS told him . Did it say" successfully updated" BIOS file? If not...he might have bricked his motherboard.

If it still doesn't work, I've read things about changing the bios jumper settings to reset it.  Is that possible to reset BIOS by changing the jumper settings?Yes  If so, which settings do we change? There is a jumper that has position 4-6 as default and 2-4 for clear CMOS. put it in the 2-4 position with the battery out. The mobo spec sheet has an image of how it should look. 

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 the support web page for the Pavilion m9000t

 motherboard spec page for the PC. look where it says +Clearing CMOS settings.

best regards,

erico

[newlife]

Removing the BIOS battery solved the problem.  I don't know why it didn't work the first time when he said he tried it, perhaps he didn't leave it out for long enough.  I told him to leave it out for 20-30 minutes the second time.  Also, the first time he tried it, the power cord was connected to the computer - I told him to unplug it the second time.  Thanks for all your replies. 

[KiranTalluri]

I am glad that it worked for you..

Good Luck

[erico]

HI,

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@newlife wrote:

Removing the BIOS battery solved the problem.  I don't know why it didn't work the first time when he said he tried it, perhaps he didn't leave it out for long enough.  I told him to leave it out for 20-30 minutes the second time.  Also, the first time he tried it, the power cord was connected to the computer - I told him to unplug it the second time.  Thanks for all your replies. 

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Glad that it worked out for him. It was a pleasure to help.

best regards,

erico.