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I have an HP Compaq d5700 running Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit. It's plugged into my TV and serves as our media center. Recently, the built-in VGA display failed. Since I had no other compatible displays, I went with the easy solution and bought a cheap new GPU: a new-in-box Zotac Nvidia GT 710 with a PCIE x1 connection.
I installed the card, no problems. Prior to installing any drivers, I booted up to make sure the card & installation were good. They were: the generic Windows "Video Controller (VGA Compatible)" driver took over and I got a clear signal from the new card through both the VGA and HDMI ports. (Here is a boot log: https://pastebin.com/dQ74SuC1 )
Then I installed the driver (Nvidia 378.78 Win7/8-64bit), and my troubles began. Whenever I boot, one of two things happens:
(A) I get to the Windows splash screen, then the screen goes black and remains that way indefinitely, while the computer continues to audibly run. This is what usually happens. The boot log is always virtually identical. Here is one example: https://pastebin.com/F3d7eNyL
(B) I get past the splash screen, to the Welcome screen (just before the Login) screen, with mouse control and everything, and then, without warning, the computer reboots into Windows Recovery Mode. This happens rarely, and seems to be random. Here is a boot log: https://pastebin.com/JFYkRv4t
The only thing I can do is boot into Safe Mode and uninstall the drivers. Unfortunately, I need the drivers, since (as I understand it), they ultimately supply audio over HDMI to the TV. (We have no other speakers.) And the kids refuse to watch TV with no sound!
Here are some things I have tried:
Trying different cables, ports, monitors, etc.
Trying different drivers (436.48 - the latest driver; 365.19 - an older driver; 361.43 - the first supported driver; 340.52 - a stupidly old driver I tried out of desperation)
Reinstalling chipset drivers (Q965 Express)
Trying different installation configurations (only installing graphic drivers and none of the other bells and whistles, using the clean install option, etc. etc.)
Disabling Windows Driver Signature Enfrocement.
No matter what, I always got the same results.
It seems clear that there is some disagreement between my computer and the entire range of Nvidia drivers for this graphics card. But I have no idea what that disagreement might be, nor how I can proceed. I've been at this for a couple weeks, and have run out of ideas. But I've never been very good at hardware.
Is there anything else I can try, or is it time to give up and buy a new media PC?
BCSWowbagger
Posted 2019-11-10T22:08:07.037
Reputation: 11
Sometimes there might be issues with your BIOS / UEFI configuration. E.g., I have an Asus ROG board where the default "auto" value will always choose integrated over discrete graphics for some unfathomable reason (on-board rather than PCIe GPU). Might be worth taking a look over again if nothing else seems to do the trick? – Arctiic – 2019-11-10T23:59:17.880
Not a bad idea! I found the BIOS settings for Integrated Graphics / Integrated Audio. They were disabled, which I believe is correct. Just for fun, I re-enabled them, and the computer booted up all the way (even though I'm not using the integrated ports). It crashed when I tried to load YouTube, but still! First progress I've had in weeks! – BCSWowbagger – 2019-11-11T07:15:49.920
It is possible that your defective onboard is creating issues. It needs to be enabled to work iirc. Does your device manager look like this ? https://imgur.com/a/W6jArOO
– Natsu Kage – 2020-01-23T16:01:34.027It did indeed look like that, last time I was on it. (It's been a while, since I sort of gave up on a solution. But if you have an idea, I'm all ears!) – BCSWowbagger – 2020-01-24T19:45:37.493
I'd try installing the latest Nvidia drivers, as well as checking in the BIOS if Computer Setup—Advanced > PCI VGA Configuration is set to Automatic/etc. Be sure to disable VGA Palette snooping, just in case. – Natsu Kage – 2020-01-25T00:07:24.487