No video output

Insight & Feedback
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1

Suddenly, my Zimablade’s video output stopped working. I’ve already tried different miniDP adapters, monitors, and TVs — nothing works. I also tested USB-C and USB-A to HDMI adapters, but still no video output.

I can see the i915 driver initializing, but no external display is detected:

[    7.515808] [drm] Initialized i915 1.6.0 for 0000:00:02.0 on minor 0
[    7.528683] i915 0000:00:02.0: [drm] Cannot find any crtc or sizes
[    7.550775] i915 0000:00:02.0: [drm] Cannot find any crtc or sizes
[    7.561683] i915 0000:00:02.0: [drm] Cannot find any crtc or sizes

My last attempt was with an external GPU. It’s recognized by the system, but still no video output:

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Caicos [Radeon HD 6450/7450/8450 / R5 230 OEM]

lspci -k -s 01:00.0 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI] Caicos [Radeon HD 6450/7450/8450 / R5 230 OEM] Subsystem: Dell Radeon HD 6450 Kernel modules: amdgpu

While debugging, I noticed the following message in my dmesg output — not sure if it’s related:

[ 0.000000] [Firmware Bug]: Corrupted DMI table, offset 1223 (only 35 entries processed)

Any suggestions, tips? Could it be possible that I accidentally disabled something in the BIOS? My firmware is corrupted? I am using ZimaOS 1.5.

Thanks in advance.

2

Based on what you shared, here are a few things i suggest checking to help narrow down the issue:

  1. Mini-DP signal path
    I suggest trying a different direct mini-DP > monitor cable (not through an adapter), as the i915 message that it cannot find any CRTC or sizes may indicate the display path is not detected.
  2. BIOS display settings
    I suggest resetting BIOS to defaults, or checking if the primary display is set to Auto or IGPU. Sometimes this helps if a setting changed.
  3. External GPU behavior
    Since the AMD card is detected but gives no picture, i suggest testing without the external GPU first. Some GPUs may not initialize display output on this board.
  4. Adapters / converters
    I suggest avoiding USB-C or USB-A video adapters. A direct mini-DP > HDMI/DP cable is usually more reliable here.
  5. Firmware note
    The DMI table message might not be the root cause. If comfortable, i suggest checking for a BIOS reflash or update.
1 Like
3

Hi, thanks for the suggestions!

BIOS display settings
I suggest resetting BIOS to defaults, or checking if the primary display is set to Auto or IGPU. Sometimes this helps if a setting changed.

I’ve already tried resetting CMOS by removing the battery. There’s no way to check how display is set since there`'s no video output.

Firmware note
The DMI table message might not be the root cause. If comfortable, i suggest checking for a BIOS reflash or update.

That’s the issue: since i don`'t have any display output, I won’t be able to reflash the BIOS, a fresh ZimaOS installation or install another OS, like Debian.

4

Thanks for clarifying.

With no output even after CMOS reset, you should Contact support@icewhale.org
with your board model and summary of what you’ve tried.

5

I’ll try that, thank you!