ESXi 7 - No Video

[Dr_Virt]

Just upgraded my lab to vSphere 7 and found there is no display. I cannot access the DCUI at all.

My video cards are Quadro K2000.

The video cards worked perfectly during the install. On reboot, the display is blank. The monitor is in and active and the vSphere install is working (can hit MGMT IP).

Anyone seen anything like this? Have any ideas why the display would blank out?

[a_p_]

Some thoughts:

The screen dims after some time, and should come back with pressing a key (e.g. the space bar) on the keyboard.

Maybe the active screen changed for whatever reasons. You can switch between screens using the ALT-F Keys., e.g. Alt-F2.

André

[Dr_Virt]

Have tested that and it doesn't apply unfortunately.

This is occurring as soon as vSphere loads. The BIOS and boot prices are displayed. When it switches to the ESX loader, the screen goes dark and never returns.

[a_p_]

Does the host has multiple video adapters/connectors, like VGA etc.? If so did you check whether the signal comes on another one?

André

[Dr_Virt]

The only video card is the Quadro K2000. I have tested all three ports on the device. None display the DCUI.

I have since run a series of updates (nothing applicable).

I have confirmed through the ESXi web client that the K2000 is detected and shows to be in good standing.

[a_p_]

This is more of a guess, but maybe the K2000 has been detected as a GPU device, and the host switched to headless (see Detecting a Headless System).

What you may try is to append ignoreHeadless=TRUE to the ESXi host's boot options to see whether this brings back the display.

André

[Dr_Virt]

I believe you are onto something.

Cannot find a way to add the boot options...

[continuum]

Enter SHIFT + O when the ESXi boots up

[Intlo]

I think this is what a.p. is suggesting (Shift + O):

Then appending ignoreHeadless=TRUE before pressing Enter to boot:

[Dr_Virt]

That is never presented. Once the post completes, it is either a blank screen or a single solid cursor.

I am able to export the DCUI and all of the Web UI works fine.

It is detected within ESXi and vCenter.

[Intlo]

You beat me to it while I was collecting screenshots for my reply :smileylaugh:

[Intlo]

Gotcha! I'm not versed well in the ways of the vCenter, but if you SSH to the host you may be able to use this to take care of it:

esxcli system settings kernel set -s ignoreHeadless -v TRUE

[Dr_Virt]

That allowed me to apply the configuration change. Now I have a blank screen with a solid (non-flashing) white cursor.

I have tried both the HP and GA installations.

This is weird...

Is there a basic VGA mode?

[Dr_Virt · Accepted solution]

Finally found it.

Had to set the BIOS to Legacy for video (not EFI). Now DCUI works perfectly. Weird.

[Intlo]

Hurrah! That is indeed an odd one. Hopefully if anyone else comes across it they'll find your solution here.

[Dr_Virt]

Did a clean install this morning with the updated BIOS configuration and everything ran smoothly.

Thanks again to all for your feedback in troubleshooting this unusual issue.