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Sometimes when I start or reboot my computer the screen stays black and won't receive signal from the display adapter. Rebooting the machine once or twice makes it work again.

The weird thing is that if I have my headphones plugged in I can hear the Ubuntu startup sound and the IP address responds to ping. So that means the system doesn't hang, it just doesn't display the image. There are no error 'beep' sounds and no leds are flashing on the mobo. So far I have tried the following:

  • another monitor
  • removing the GPU and using the on-board graphics
  • unplugging all SATA devices
  • clearing the CMOS
  • setting the default GPU in UEFI manually (tried on-board and PCIe both)

Any suggestions what should I try next? I have the latest BIOS.

UPDATE I tried the following:

  • disabling the graphics adapter switching ability
  • unplugging and re-plugging the DVI cable on both ends when it goes black
  • swapping out the DVI cable for another one
  • swapping out the monitor while it is still black

I haven't overclocked anything and increasing the screen brightness won't do it because the screen goes in sleep mode.

More details:

  • KHX1600C9D3K2/8GX Kingston HyperX memory 8 GB
  • XFX Ati Radeon HD 6850 connected to a single monitor with DVI
  • Intel Core i5 2500K, LGA1155, 3.3 GHz
  • SeaSonic M12 SS-500HM 500W power supply
  • Samsung HD103UJ 1 TB HDD
  • M-Audio Delta Audiophile 2496
  • Grub dual boot Ubuntu 13.10 (was 12.10 when I first posted) and Windows 7
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  • How are the monitors connected? VGA? HDMI? DP?
    – terdon
    Commented Oct 15, 2013 at 17:18
  • Here's an idea! If you can SSH into the system, then do so and run lspci | grep VGA. If that comes up empty, it's quite possible that the graphics card is suffering from a hardware-related failure.
    – dotVezz
    Commented Oct 15, 2013 at 17:26
  • Oh wait, you tried using the onboard graphics? Well, try to SSH anyway and see if Ubuntu can see a VGA controller anyway. Although since you've essentially tried two controllers, I'm not exactly sure what to expect or how to interpret results haha.
    – dotVezz
    Commented Oct 15, 2013 at 17:29
  • terdon: DVI (single monitor). dotVezz: I SSH'd the machine while the screen was black and the output of lspci | grep VGA didn't differ from the "working output".
    – miq
    Commented Oct 16, 2013 at 16:48
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    I assume you have tried simply unplugging and re-plugging the DVI cable on both ends when it goes blank? Have you tried swapping out the DVI cable for another one? When this happens, have you tried swapping out the monitor while it is still blank? Also please update your post as you answer questions to these comments because it saves people time when reading about your problem and not having to dig through comments for information.
    – MonkeyZeus
    Commented Oct 29, 2013 at 20:28

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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There's probably a setting in the UEFI BIOS that will let you set the default graphic adapter, as well as disable/enable the graphics adapter switching ability that your motherboard has (very cool feature, btw!).
Try disabling the switching ability (should be in Advanced/System Agent Configuration/iGPU Multi-Monitor) and make sure that your default adapter is set to the card you are currently using. Let us know what happens.

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After many years, the problem is finally solved.

First I bought a new GPU (GeForce GTX 970) last year. That didn't affect the situation. Last month I bought a new monitor (Asus ROG PG278Q) and that fixed the issue.

I'm still not 100 % sure what was the culprit, but it had to do something with both the GPU and the monitor (not cable). I'm pretty sure this answer won't help many people. I just had to let you know the solution.

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