2018-08-15, 23:01
I'm an ASRock J4205-ITX owner and tech support vagabond having wandered here from the ASRock Intel Motherboards forum where I was an active participant in the thread titled "J4205-ITX HDMI output". Over time that thread gathered 97 comments filling 10 pages, but it has now slowly drifted into obscurity and currently resides on page six of the forum. I have arrived at this forum with the hope that some other person with a J4205-ITX, and using Windows 10, might be able to confirm what I believe to be an anomaly in the J4205 bios that causes a blank display problem with the HDMI port.
What I have encountered is that if the bios setting "CSM(Compatibility Support Module)" was previously set to Disabled, and an OS restart occurs when the HDMI connected LCD display is powered-off, the CSM(Compatibility Support Module) setting is somehow being changed to Enabled without any user intervention. Once the OS has loaded the LCD display will show a blank screen with a flashing mouse pointer rather than the expected Windows 10 Start screen.
Alternatively, if the OS restart occurs while the LCD display remains powered-on, the CSM(Compatibility Support Module) setting does not change and remains set to Disabled. The HDMI connected LCD display will function as expected once the OS has loaded after the restart. Below are the procedures I have performed to demonstrate the bios anomaly. With my J4205-ITX these outcomes are repeatable.
Procedure Notes:
1) I use the notation "CSM" as an abbreviation for the "CSM(Compatibility Support Module)" bios configuration found at the bottom of the J4205-ITX bios setup "Boot" page.
2) I use the notation "Windows 10 Start screen" as the screen displayed by Windows 10 at start-up that shows the current date and time. Pressing the "Enter" key, or left-clicking the mouse, will present the user log-in screen.
3) Windows 10 "System Information" (MSINFO32.EXE) reports System Summary -> BIOS Mode value as UEFI.
4) The following procedures were performed using bios version 1.40, the current version posted by ASRock for the J4205-ITX. I would be interested to know if this problem was resolved with the bios update series 1.50+1.60. I have avoided installing the 1.50+1.60 bios updates since they were retracted by ASRock shortly after the March release.
5) With my J4205-ITX and HDMI LCD display the following three procedures can be repeated with the same outcomes.
***** Procedure A : Blank screen with flashing mouse pointer *****
1) Power-on LCD display (connected to J4205 HDMI port)
2) Power-on computer
3) Enter bios setup (F2 key)
4) Set CSM to "Disabled"
5) Save bios changes and exit
6) Power-off LCD display
7) Wait for Windows to load (approximately one minute)
8) Power-on LCD display
9) Windows 10 Start screen is shown
10) Perform Windows Restart
11) Wait for Windows to load (approximately one minute)
12) No Windows 10 Start screen is shown. The LCD display is blank with a flashing mouse pointer.
Note:
Accessing the computer using the Windows Remote Desktop client, from a remote computer, does show the Windows 10 user log-in screen. Upon log-off from the Remote Desktop session, the LCD display, connected to the J4205 HDMI port, will then show the Windows Start screen. Performing a Windows Restart, and entering bios setup, reveals that CSM has changed to "Enabled".
*****
***** Procedure B : Bios CSM configuration changes from Disabled to Enabled *****
1) Power-on LCD display (connected to J4205 HDMI port)
2) Power-on computer
3) Enter bios setup (F2 key)
4) Set CSM to "Disabled"
5) Save bios changes and exit
6) Power-off LCD display
7) Wait for Windows to load (approximately one minute)
8) Power-on LCD display
9) Windows 10 Start screen is shown
10) Perform Windows Restart
11) Enter bios setup (F2 key)
12) CSM has changed to "Enabled"
*****
***** Procedure C : Bios CSM configuration remains set to Disabled *****
1) Power-on LCD display (connected to J4205 HDMI port)
2) Power-on computer
3) Enter bios setup (F2 key)
4) Set CSM to "Disabled"
5) Save bios changes and exit
6) Wait for Windows to load (approximately one minute)
7) Windows 10 Start screen is shown
8) Perform Windows Restart
9) Enter bios setup (F2 key)
10) CSM remains set to "Disabled"
*****
I reported these findings to ASRock tech support on July 12th 2018. As has been my experience with ASRock, I received the courtesy automated response informing me that tech support would contact me soon, but I have received no other correspondence since. I would appreciate knowing if anyone can verify this problem with the J4205-ITX bios.
For those that would like to read more about my journey with the J4205-ITX HDMI port here is some additional insight.
I purchased my J4205-ITX board in November 2016. I changed the bios so that Fast Boot and CSM(Compatibility Support Module) were disabled. I then installed Windows 10 Pro which, at that time, was the Anniversary Update v1607. The purpose for this computer was to have a low power, no fan, general purpose, desktop computer that I could also leave powered-on for file sharing. I am using the J4205 HDMI port with a dual purpose LCD TV/monitor as the display.
Everything was working well until I started to discover that when I powered-on the LCD TV I would occasionally find the Windows 10 display was blank except for the mouse pointer, which would flash about every three seconds. After some unexpected difficulty I eventually got the LCD display working and was able to review the Windows 10 event log.
It was in the Windows System log that I discovered repeated Warning entries during the time the LCD was blank. The log entries indicated that Windows 10 was resetting the Intel video driver about every three seconds. When the video driver was reset, this action caused the mouse pointer to flash, but this didn't explain why the LCD display would remain blank. The logged error was Event Id 4101 with the message; Display driver igfx stopped responding and has successfully recovered.
This problem only occurred when using the Intel video driver. When using the default Microsoft Basic Display Adapter driver the HDMI port functioned properly, but the limitations of this driver made using it for the long term impractical. So on December 28th 2016 I submitted my first tech support request to ASRock concerning this problem. I received the automated courtesy response informing me that I would be contacted soon. Unfortunately I am still waiting.
Frustrated by the lack of assistance from ASRock I eventually joined the ASRock user forum. There, in the Intel Motherboard forum, I found the thread titled "J4205-ITX HDMI output" where people were sharing similar frustrations with the HDMI port. It wasn't until a recent post made by member "Gussie" that I found a clue that allowed me to finally isolate the cause for my HDMI problem. Once I knew the cause I was able to develop some procedures to demonstrate the problem in a repeatable manner.
On July 12th 2018 I submitted my second tech support request to ASRock. This time I was able to provide procedures that would allow for a repeatable demonstration of a flaw with the J4205 bios. With this proof I thought ASRock would provide a quick confirmation of the problem and I would receive word about when a fix might be available. Now, almost five weeks later, I have received no response other than the token automated courtesy response that I would be contacted soon.
What I have encountered is that if the bios setting "CSM(Compatibility Support Module)" was previously set to Disabled, and an OS restart occurs when the HDMI connected LCD display is powered-off, the CSM(Compatibility Support Module) setting is somehow being changed to Enabled without any user intervention. Once the OS has loaded the LCD display will show a blank screen with a flashing mouse pointer rather than the expected Windows 10 Start screen.
Alternatively, if the OS restart occurs while the LCD display remains powered-on, the CSM(Compatibility Support Module) setting does not change and remains set to Disabled. The HDMI connected LCD display will function as expected once the OS has loaded after the restart. Below are the procedures I have performed to demonstrate the bios anomaly. With my J4205-ITX these outcomes are repeatable.
Procedure Notes:
1) I use the notation "CSM" as an abbreviation for the "CSM(Compatibility Support Module)" bios configuration found at the bottom of the J4205-ITX bios setup "Boot" page.
2) I use the notation "Windows 10 Start screen" as the screen displayed by Windows 10 at start-up that shows the current date and time. Pressing the "Enter" key, or left-clicking the mouse, will present the user log-in screen.
3) Windows 10 "System Information" (MSINFO32.EXE) reports System Summary -> BIOS Mode value as UEFI.
4) The following procedures were performed using bios version 1.40, the current version posted by ASRock for the J4205-ITX. I would be interested to know if this problem was resolved with the bios update series 1.50+1.60. I have avoided installing the 1.50+1.60 bios updates since they were retracted by ASRock shortly after the March release.
5) With my J4205-ITX and HDMI LCD display the following three procedures can be repeated with the same outcomes.
***** Procedure A : Blank screen with flashing mouse pointer *****
1) Power-on LCD display (connected to J4205 HDMI port)
2) Power-on computer
3) Enter bios setup (F2 key)
4) Set CSM to "Disabled"
5) Save bios changes and exit
6) Power-off LCD display
7) Wait for Windows to load (approximately one minute)
8) Power-on LCD display
9) Windows 10 Start screen is shown
10) Perform Windows Restart
11) Wait for Windows to load (approximately one minute)
12) No Windows 10 Start screen is shown. The LCD display is blank with a flashing mouse pointer.
Note:
Accessing the computer using the Windows Remote Desktop client, from a remote computer, does show the Windows 10 user log-in screen. Upon log-off from the Remote Desktop session, the LCD display, connected to the J4205 HDMI port, will then show the Windows Start screen. Performing a Windows Restart, and entering bios setup, reveals that CSM has changed to "Enabled".
*****
***** Procedure B : Bios CSM configuration changes from Disabled to Enabled *****
1) Power-on LCD display (connected to J4205 HDMI port)
2) Power-on computer
3) Enter bios setup (F2 key)
4) Set CSM to "Disabled"
5) Save bios changes and exit
6) Power-off LCD display
7) Wait for Windows to load (approximately one minute)
8) Power-on LCD display
9) Windows 10 Start screen is shown
10) Perform Windows Restart
11) Enter bios setup (F2 key)
12) CSM has changed to "Enabled"
*****
***** Procedure C : Bios CSM configuration remains set to Disabled *****
1) Power-on LCD display (connected to J4205 HDMI port)
2) Power-on computer
3) Enter bios setup (F2 key)
4) Set CSM to "Disabled"
5) Save bios changes and exit
6) Wait for Windows to load (approximately one minute)
7) Windows 10 Start screen is shown
8) Perform Windows Restart
9) Enter bios setup (F2 key)
10) CSM remains set to "Disabled"
*****
I reported these findings to ASRock tech support on July 12th 2018. As has been my experience with ASRock, I received the courtesy automated response informing me that tech support would contact me soon, but I have received no other correspondence since. I would appreciate knowing if anyone can verify this problem with the J4205-ITX bios.
For those that would like to read more about my journey with the J4205-ITX HDMI port here is some additional insight.
I purchased my J4205-ITX board in November 2016. I changed the bios so that Fast Boot and CSM(Compatibility Support Module) were disabled. I then installed Windows 10 Pro which, at that time, was the Anniversary Update v1607. The purpose for this computer was to have a low power, no fan, general purpose, desktop computer that I could also leave powered-on for file sharing. I am using the J4205 HDMI port with a dual purpose LCD TV/monitor as the display.
Everything was working well until I started to discover that when I powered-on the LCD TV I would occasionally find the Windows 10 display was blank except for the mouse pointer, which would flash about every three seconds. After some unexpected difficulty I eventually got the LCD display working and was able to review the Windows 10 event log.
It was in the Windows System log that I discovered repeated Warning entries during the time the LCD was blank. The log entries indicated that Windows 10 was resetting the Intel video driver about every three seconds. When the video driver was reset, this action caused the mouse pointer to flash, but this didn't explain why the LCD display would remain blank. The logged error was Event Id 4101 with the message; Display driver igfx stopped responding and has successfully recovered.
This problem only occurred when using the Intel video driver. When using the default Microsoft Basic Display Adapter driver the HDMI port functioned properly, but the limitations of this driver made using it for the long term impractical. So on December 28th 2016 I submitted my first tech support request to ASRock concerning this problem. I received the automated courtesy response informing me that I would be contacted soon. Unfortunately I am still waiting.
Frustrated by the lack of assistance from ASRock I eventually joined the ASRock user forum. There, in the Intel Motherboard forum, I found the thread titled "J4205-ITX HDMI output" where people were sharing similar frustrations with the HDMI port. It wasn't until a recent post made by member "Gussie" that I found a clue that allowed me to finally isolate the cause for my HDMI problem. Once I knew the cause I was able to develop some procedures to demonstrate the problem in a repeatable manner.
On July 12th 2018 I submitted my second tech support request to ASRock. This time I was able to provide procedures that would allow for a repeatable demonstration of a flaw with the J4205 bios. With this proof I thought ASRock would provide a quick confirmation of the problem and I would receive word about when a fix might be available. Now, almost five weeks later, I have received no response other than the token automated courtesy response that I would be contacted soon.
