Blank Monitor Screen until Windows XP started

[Sotterraneo]

Hi,
I have just acquired a second-hand Compaq Matrox Millennium G200 (G2+ MILA/8D/CPQ) card.

It behaves in an odd way on bootup. When the computer starts up, it goes through all the motions/sounds of starting up, but the monitor remains completely blank until the Windows XP User Selection screen appears. At this point, the monitor will come to life and show what is happening.

This is the only graphics card I have ever seen that behaves like this!

I read somewhere that this particular model of card has no on-board BIOS and relies on the motherboard BIOS of the Compaq PC in which it lives to enable it to have a display while booting up. Looking in the Display Properties in Windows XP also suggests there is no BIOS (it lists a version number of 00.00.00 [or something like that]).

Have other people had the same issue? Is there any solution to it? Or do you guys just keep a spare 'normal' video card on hand for when you need to adjust any BIOS settings or do a reinstall of the operating system?

Thanks
Elia

[Kurt]

Is it an LCD screen?

[Sotterraneo]

Nope, just a regular CRT monitor plugging into a 15-pin analog VGA connector.

As I said, I have never seen a video card that behaves like this - and I have seen a LOT of video cards! Mind you, I have never seen a BIOS-less video card either.

Seems to me like you could almost call it a Win-graphics card (in reference to Winmodems and Winprinters, that utilise Windows to function). I guess it was only ever intended to be used on the original machine, whose motherboard BIOS was able to help the graphics card before Windows loaded up. Still seems like a rather silly design (I wonder what the benefit was?).

Thanks
Elia

[UtwigMU]

I think it's messed up BIOS that can no longer do DOS modes.

That happened to my G400. Shortly afterwards it crapped out completely. But luckilly then I found MURC, which directed me to Matrox tech support, which told me to use rstore utility, that brought card back to life.

[Novdid]

I've seen the same behaviour on my dad's rig. It's a R7500, the computer boots up, the screen goes blank for roughly a minute and after that the Windows XP user selection screen appears, and everything works as it should (performs right, etc, etc...). So I ignored it told my dad it's OK and he has'nt complained since!

Thing is that it happened after I reconfigured his system, but as I already said, the computer works beautifully so I haven't bothered.

[The PIT]

Sounds like the card bios. Had a G400 that did it until it wouldn't boot anymore. You then had too do the flash rescue operation too bring it back to normal op. Then the cycle would start all over again.

[Technoid]

definitly the Card bios

We had a lot of those cases here on murc in the early days