Why is the BIOS not visible when my Dell workstation boots with a PCoIP Remote Workstation Card?

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August 27, 2018

Last modified: 09/03/2023, 6:10 pm

Knowledge Base Article Troubleshooting Setup Display Remote Workstation Card

Scenario

The BIOS on a Dell R5500/R5400 is not visible on boot up. After the OS loads, the monitor then displays the desktop.

On some graphic cards, only the primary port is active during the POST phase of the host PC boot process. For example, when using a Quadro 4000 GPU, the primary port is the DVI port. If only the GPU's DisplayPort is connected to the PCoIP Remote Workstation Card but the DVI port is not, the POST will not be visible. If experiencing this issue while running firmware 4.0.3, upgrade to firmware 4.1.0.

 

Workaround/Fix

If the BIOS is not visible when starting your Dell R5400 or R5500 server, it may be due to the initial configuration of your workstation. Please ensure the correct installation of all cables and settings are made to access the BIOS. For each server model listed below, ensure all conditions have been observed before attempting to access the BIOS remotely.

 

Dell R5500

    • Contains a Tera2 PCoIP Remote Workstation Card.
    • Contains the Dell A09 BIOS.
    • The BIOS category called Post Behavior must have the PCoIP REMOTE ACCESS setting enabled. (requires a local monitor connected prior to the first PCoIP connection).
    • The PCoIP Remote Workstation Card's primary display connector (identified by the lowest number listed beside the display connector) must be plugged into the GPU's primary connector. (check your GPU manufacturer's documentation to identify the GPU's primary display connector). If using the other GPU connectors, then the connector with the next highest priority should be used.
    • The PCoIP Zero Client's primary connector must be connected to the primary monitor. (identified by the lowest port number listed beside the PCoIP Zero Client display connector).
    • Ensure the GPU has the latest driver installed.

 

Dell R5400

    • Remote BIOS access with Tera2 PCoIP Remote Workstation Cards is not supported on this platform.

    • For Tera1 PCoIP Remote Workstation Cards, first use a local monitor to access the BIOS and configure the Post Behavior setting called FX100 Remote Access to enabled. The BIOS should now be visible when connected remotely through a PCoIP Zero Client.

 

 

Pertains to:
  • Remote Workstation Card 4.0.3

 

Notes:

  • Using the non primary ports on either the PCoIP Remote Workstation Card, PCoIP Zero Client or GPU, may prevent the BIOS from being displayed and/or cause the no source signal error message. 
  • It is recommended you install PCoIP Remote Workstation Card firmware 4.1.0
  • The Dell R5500 with a Nvidia NVS 295 GPU, PCoIP firmware 4.0.3 will display an error "An unsupported display has been detected; this will prevent the system from entering the BIOS setup menu. Please verify your display and display connectors. Press F1 to continue." The fix for this is to upgrade to PCoIP firmware 4.1.0.