Skip to content

01-problem-statement.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
67 lines (50 loc) · 2.87 KB

01-problem-statement.md

File metadata and controls

67 lines (50 loc) · 2.87 KB
Raw

1. Problem statement

1.1 Summary

On an HPE ProLiant ML10 Gen9 with the onboard Intel HD Graphics P530 (8086:191d), a monitor connected through the motherboard's DisplayPort — in practice nearly always via a DP → DVI → HDMI or DP → HDMI adapter — does not produce a picture under a normal Linux graphics stack.

Two distinct behaviours are reported:

Configuration Result
nomodeset on the kernel command line (the “safe” default) Boots to a fixed 1024×768 desktop. No GPU acceleration. Resolution cannot be changed in software.
nomodeset removed (“normal” boot) Black screen / “no signal” from the motherboard. Sometimes a dark mouse cursor flickers in a corner.
Windows Server / Windows Often no display at all after driver install, or a “generic” 640×480 desktop.

1.2 Why people hit this

The ML10 Gen9 motherboard exposes two DisplayPort 1.2 connectors and no HDMI/DVI/VGA. The overwhelming majority of monitors in this price bracket are HDMI. So the realistic chain is:

[motherboard DP] ──► [DP→DVI plug] ──► [DVI→HDMI cable] ──► [monitor HDMI]

At least three things are wrong with that chain on this hardware:

  1. nomodeset is not a resolution fix — it disables kernel mode-setting entirely, leaving you with the firmware’s fixed framebuffer.
  2. EDID (the monitor’s “capabilities chip”) is not passed reliably through cheap passive adapters, so the driver cannot see that a monitor is attached.
  3. On Intel, a dual-mode (“DP++”) port appears twice: once under its DP name (DP-1) and once under its HDMI name (HDMI-A-1). Force-enabling the wrong one, or both, makes the driver fight itself.

1.3 Scope of this repository

In scope:

  • Every Linux distribution we can cover with a bootloader-based fix (GRUB and systemd-boot), including per-distro commands.
  • Windows Server 2012 R2 → 2025 and Windows 10/11.
  • FreeBSD and the common virtualisation/“NAS” platforms.
  • Hardware alternatives (active adapters, KVMs, alternative connectors).

Out of scope (documented only):

  • Reflashing the BIOS/firmware.
  • Adding a discrete GPU.
  • Multi-monitor tiling edge cases.

1.4 Reference hardware (used for every measurement here)

Item Value
System HPE ProLiant ML10 Gen9 (ML10Gen9), BIOS 1.010
CPU Intel Xeon E3-1225 v5 @ 3.30 GHz (4 cores, VT-x)
iGPU Intel HD Graphics P530, PCI 8086:191d, subsystem 8086:2212
Display outputs 2 × DisplayPort 1.2 (DP++ capable, per VBT)
Display 1366×768 monitor on HDMI
Cable chain DP → DVI plug → DVI→HDMI cable → monitor
OS (reference) Linux Mint 22.3, kernel 7.0.0-38-generic, Mesa 25.x
Other kernels tested 6.14-generic (RHEL/Debian-style naming irrelevant)

Raw captures live in ../examples/.