Display Port problem (GTX1080Ti or the PG348Q)?

[Texman]

I have a problem where my NVidia branded 1080 Ti will not work in Display Port mode correctly on the PG348Q without some trickery on my end. The 1080 Ti works just fine with the Asus PG348Q supplied HDMI cable. But, if I connect the Asus supplied Display Port cable to my 1080 Ti, here is what happens:

• The monitor displays normal POST information at Boot and I can also enter into the BIOS for editing.
  
• Once the normal POST routine completes (checking memory, etc) the PC will next pause during the boot and ask for a password since the hard drive is whole disk encrypted.
  
• Right at the point that the screen should ask for that password, the screen clears and does not display the text that asks for the password.
  
• The PG348Q monitor will indicate that Display Port is not present. Without that password text dialog being displayed and entry of the password, there is no way to progress onto booting from Windows.
  

The motherboard is an EVGA SR-2 that fully supports PCiE 2.0 and has worked fine with several prior generations of EVGA NVidia-based GPUs. I have even tried using a different monitor that also supports Display Port and the result is the same as above. People are using my same motherboard with Titan X GPUs and I have the last (most recent) BIOS installed.

Here is what I am doing as a workaround. It requires that I start off on HDMI and then move to Displayport before I get to the Windows login screen:

• Connected both the HDMI and the Displayport cables between the PG348Q monitor and the 1080 Ti GPU. Since I can't get the Displayport to behave when it gets to that password screen during boot, the HDMI cable allows me to accomplish that part of booting.
  
• I boot the PC with the PG348Q set to "HDMI" input and enter the encrypted password so that I can move on to Windows.
  
• Once I've entered that password and the PC starts its routine to load Win7, I set the PG348Q to the Displayport input and wait for the Win7 screen to load.
  
• I have already gone into the NVidia Control Panel and set the Displayport screen as the "primary". So when Win7 is fully running, I'm on the Displayport input and monitor. Because I have (2) cables connected to the same monitor, Windows thinks that I have (2) monitors. But it is really the same PG348Q with (2) inputs.
  

My challenge is to figure out how to avoid having to do this every day since I don't leave the PC running 24x7. Has anyone else run into this either with this particular GPU and this monitor or possibly a different setup?

[JustinThyme]

I've heard of issues with the provided DP cable but only when trying to get the refresh rate to 100MHz.*

If it comes up after you log in this screams configuration issues. I don't know your MOBO but check BIOS for display preferences. If it's in auto set it to your GPU only. I don't see this being an issue with the monitor seeing how it works after your tricks done that has nothing to do with the monitor. For whatever reason you are not getting an output from the DP. You can also try using the other DP connection on the card. *

[Texman]

JustinThyme wrote:
I've heard of issues with the provided DP cable but only when trying to get the refresh rate to 100MHz.*

If it comes up after you log in this screams configuration issues. I don't know your MOBO but check BIOS for display preferences. If it's in auto set it to your GPU only. I don't see this being an issue with the monitor seeing how it works after your tricks done that has nothing to do with the monitor. For whatever reason you are not getting an output from the DP. You can also try using the other DP connection on the card. *

No, the problem happens when at low-level text display on-screen right after the POST sequence has finished. The encryption password is set to come up while in that mode, right after POST and before loading windows from the hard drive. The BIOS is an older, non-GUI, AMI BIOS that does not contain some of the more modern changes we have today. It is related to using Displayport because there is no problem with anything working properly (getting through to the encryption password and Win7) when using an HDMI connection to the monitor. My previous NVidia card (before installing this 1080 Ti) was solely DVI-D ports also worked flawlessly. My BIOS does not check for or care whether the GPU talks HDMI, Displayport or DVI. It just looks for a working GPU that meets PCiE 2.0 or older specs as does the motherboard.

I don't really think this is a monitor problem either. I think it is likely a NVidia 1080 Ti GPU situation where the card doesn't maintain a Displayport output once the initial POST sequence has been completed. I also don't think this has anything to do with the pause for the encryption password either since I lose Displayport low level textual display after POST completes. During POST, the Displayport is painting all the text to the screen. Having no success trying to get an answer at NVidia, I decided to give the Asus forum a try just in case someone else had experienced what I'm seeing.

Thanks for the reply.

[JustinThyme]

Well just to debunk a little, take it for what its worth, as again I dont know your configuration.

Im running an ASUS MOBO that does have setting in the BIOS for monitor choice. Mine runs a much faster PCIe 3.0 as plugging high end graphics into PCIe 2.0 is a waste of time and money as even at 16x it will be bottlenecked.
I too run the PG348Q
Connected to display port on 2x ASUS Strix 1080 A8G in SLI
Mine works flawlessly from the time I hit the power button until I turn the machine off and it enters sleep mode.
The one big difference is I'm not using the same encryption technique you do. My OS drive and programs are not encrypted, doesn't need to be. My sensitive storage on different drives are encrypted.
Other difference is Im running win 10 as win 7 is old news.

Im certain its not the display and certain its not the GPU or you would never get a DP out. Its your MOBO limitations, driver configuration, or other configuration issue. The monitor and GPU are slaves that just do what they are told to do.

[Texman]

JustinThyme wrote:
Well just to debunk a little, take it for what its worth, as again I dont know your configuration.

It's not a matter of "debunking" something. It is the difference between a mobo (the SR-2) that was in it's heyday 7 years ago vs your mobo that is "current technology". What you have as options in your BIOS are like "apples an oranges" compared to what was offered in a mobo/BIOS from 2010. Also the two mobos are very different in design and function (Gaming PC vs dual socket Workstation). You won't find much in common between them (other than the basics).

I know all about PCiE 3.0's benefits and my questions were not about bottle-necking differences between PCiE 2.0. Also, there are lots of good reasons to have a "whole-disk encryption" and it is a matter of personal preference. These things are just distractions from what I was asking about. It could well be that my SR-2 is the culprit due to the older design. But replacing a dual Xeon mobo with CPUs in the 3Ghz or greater speed range is not an inexpensive thing. Money is an object here.

No worries on my part. I was just seeking to see if another person that is not on current technology had faced and solved what I'm seeing. I'll drop the question at this point and move on.

[xeromist]

FWIW, I've noticed that in the past when I had both HDMI and DP connected to a GPU that it defaulted to HDMI during boot. Now both monitors are connected via DP and I don't see that anymore. You probably started with only DP connected but if you've always had both you should try disconnecting HDMI.

[Texman]

xeromist wrote:
FWIW, I've noticed that in the past when I had both HDMI and DP connected to a GPU that it defaulted to HDMI during boot. Now both monitors are connected via DP and I don't see that anymore. You probably started with only DP connected but if you've always had both you should try disconnecting HDMI.

I only moved to running both cables (HDMI and Displayport) due to the fact that Displayport stops communicating during POST and when I reach needing to enter my encryption password. HDMI works fine from Boot all the way to loading Windows. So, the only way that I could achieve both getting through Boot-up and run Displayport in Windows was to connect both cables. Its not an elegant solution but it allowed me to at least see if the 1080 Ti was actually communicating in Windows.

Using the menu control on the PG348Q, my workaround is to set the monitor input to HDMI and boot the PC normally. Once I'm past the encryption password and starting to head to Windows, I set the monitor input to Displayport and then all is OK from there.

[Crashcourse316]

Texman wrote:
I only moved to running both cables (HDMI and Displayport) due to the fact that Displayport stops communicating during POST and when I reach needing to enter my encryption password. HDMI works fine from Boot all the way to loading Windows. So, the only way that I could achieve both getting through Boot-up and run Displayport in Windows was to connect both cables. Its not an elegant solution but it allowed me to at least see if the 1080 Ti was actually communicating in Windows.

Using the menu control on the PG348Q, my workaround is to set the monitor input to HDMI and boot the PC normally. Once I'm past the encryption password and starting to head to Windows, I set the monitor input to Displayport and then all is OK from there.

I have seen this issue happen on laptops running BitLocker encryption while hooked up to a dock or external monitors. POST fine but the bitlocker pin entry prompt does not display on the external monitor when attached. This happened on multiple dell modeled laptops and some HP laptops that we had at my work. The solution was that we contacted the vendors and told them stuff was jacked up and they made a new BIOS that supported the external monitor during the Pin entry screen. I'm assuming your Mobo doesn't have an onboard video output? If it doesn't then I have no clue what the "fix" would be other than to contact ASUS and see if they know of the issue. In my opinion it is most likely a BIOS issue.

[Texman]

Crashcourse316 wrote:
I have seen this issue happen on laptops running BitLocker encryption while hooked up to a dock or external monitors. POST fine but the bitlocker pin entry prompt does not display on the external monitor when attached. This happened on multiple dell modeled laptops and some HP laptops that we had at my work. The solution was that we contacted the vendors and told them stuff was jacked up and they made a new BIOS that supported the external monitor during the Pin entry screen. I'm assuming your Mobo doesn't have an on-board video output? If it doesn't then I have no clue what the "fix" would be other than to contact ASUS and see if they know of the issue. In my opinion it is most likely a BIOS issue.

This is an EVGA dual-Xeon motherboard that was all the rage back in 2010 because it could certainly do Workstation duty, but also gaming since the BIOS supported overclocking the Xeons. It has served a myriad of needs that include graphic design, video production, crunching numbers for World Community Grid and of course gaming. But, EVGA ceased supporting the product with the final BIOS release back in 2013. So, I have a truly world-class motherboard that still serves a great many purposes, but just can't stay current with newer technologies. DVI-D was "king" when this mobo was in it's hey-day.

Maybe when I get some time to experiment, I'll slap a standard Win7 imaged drive in this rig (non-encrypted) and see what happens. Removing the whole-drive encryption from the existing drive is a very long procedure that I would not relish.

Thanks for the reply and additional thoughts from your experiences.

[Crashcourse316]

Texman wrote:
This is an EVGA dual-Xeon motherboard that was all the rage back in 2010 because it could certainly do Workstation duty, but also gaming since the BIOS supported overclocking the Xeons. It has served a myriad of needs that include graphic design, video production, crunching numbers for World Community Grid and of course gaming. But, EVGA ceased supporting the product with the final BIOS release back in 2013. So, I have a truly world-class motherboard that still serves a great many purposes, but just can't stay current with newer technologies. DVI-D was "king" when this mobo was in it's hey-day.

Maybe when I get some time to experiment, I'll slap a standard Win7 imaged drive in this rig (non-encrypted) and see what happens. Removing the whole-drive encryption from the existing drive is a very long procedure that I would not relish.

Thanks for the reply and additional thoughts from your experiences.

Lol yea decrypting/encrypting is annoyingly long. The issue stems from the TPM chip in the BIOS I believe. When that pin entry screen comes up it's running at a low level that's equal to BIOS since the chip is on the board. for some reason whenever the chip is being accessed through the BIOS the display capabilities were being cut. That's kinda what was going on with the stuff in the environment here. manufacturers made us a new BIOS that gave the additional capability to BIOS and the chip. If your issue is what we saw here and they don't support the board anymore you might be out of luck. maybe try a BIOS downgrade if your board allows it. try a couple previous versions would be what I would do if there was nothing new. plenty of times they "fix" something and it just breaks a bunch of other working things. anyways good luck.