Friday, June 8th 2018
NVIDIA Has a DisplayPort Problem Which Only a BIOS Update Can Fix
NVIDIA "Maxwell" and "Pascal" graphics architectures introduced support for modern display connectivity to keep up with the breakneck pace at which display resolutions are scaling up. The two introduce support for DisplayPort 1.4 and 1.3, however the implementation is less than perfect. Some of the newer monitors that leverage DisplayPort 1.4 or 1.3 standards don't function as designed on "Maxwell" (GeForce GTX 900 series) and "Pascal" (GeForce 10-series) graphics cards, with users reporting a range of bugs from blank screens until the operating system loads, to frozen boot sequences.
Unfortunately, these issues cannot be fixed by driver updates, and require graphics card BIOS updates. Luckily, you won't be at the mercy of lethargic AIC partners looking to limit their warranty claims by going slow on BIOS updates, or NVFlash rocket-science. NVIDIA released a tool which can detect if your graphics card needs the update, and then updates the BIOS for you, from within Windows. The app first unloads your driver, and flashes your graphics card BIOS (a process which must not be interrupted, lest you end up with an expensive brick).
Update: We have confirmation that the tool is intended for both reference-design and custom-design graphics cards.
DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA Graphics Firmware Update Tool for DisplayPort 1.3 and 1.4 Displays
Unfortunately, these issues cannot be fixed by driver updates, and require graphics card BIOS updates. Luckily, you won't be at the mercy of lethargic AIC partners looking to limit their warranty claims by going slow on BIOS updates, or NVFlash rocket-science. NVIDIA released a tool which can detect if your graphics card needs the update, and then updates the BIOS for you, from within Windows. The app first unloads your driver, and flashes your graphics card BIOS (a process which must not be interrupted, lest you end up with an expensive brick).
Update: We have confirmation that the tool is intended for both reference-design and custom-design graphics cards.
95 Comments on NVIDIA Has a DisplayPort Problem Which Only a BIOS Update Can Fix
This means that using the checksum to determine whether a BIOS has been modded or not is pointless, because all BIOSes flashed to GPUs will have valid checksums. Ergo, the only way a checksum could be used to detect a modded BIOS is if NVIDIA had a whitelist of the checksum of every known unmodded BIOS, and compared the current BIOS's checksum to that list.
Not nvflash for Pascal though... She's a different animal. Even the bioses are. They stepped up their game. You are correct cryptographic signatures are really what they use now.
Bonus points to Nvidia for offering the tool in Windows-only flavor :(
But yeah, this seems to be a pretty safe update.
I will bet hands down not a single laptop manufacture will release a display port upgrade!
Because it could be that mobile GPUs are ok. Or that a separate tool for mobile GPU will be available at a later date.
Of course, it could also be that mobile GPUs are customized in ways that make them impossible for Nvidia to handle. We'll have to wait and see.
Thanks.
This BIOS download update worked for me today, my monitor can finally see my PC via Display port. I've maxed the settings and GTA V runs like a dream.
Cheers
Smithead79.
I've got the Strix GTX 1060 6gb.