Nvidia release firmware tool for all 64-bit Windows, fixes DisplayPort black screen, hangs

Towards the end of last month, Nvidia released a firmware update tool for DisplayPort (DP) 1.3 and DP 1.4. The green team explains in its support document that users who are running such display specifications without the necessary firmware can experience black screen until the OS is able to load. Aside from black screening, hang while booting can also occur. Essentially, what this tool does is detect if the GPU requires a newer firmware to properly run DP 1.3 and DP 1.4. Hence, the firmware update is meant to address compatibility issues. Turing (RTX 20-series/GTX 16-series) and newer GPUs already feature the updated firmware. Hence, your DP issues may be unrelated.

The software has been released for all 64-bit versions of Windows, ie, Windows 11, Windows 10, as well as unsupported ones like Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1. The driver is meant to work on Pascal cards (GTX 10-series) all the way back to Maxwell (GTX 900 series and GTX 750 series).

Nvidia writes:

To enable the latest DisplayPort 1.3 / 1.4 features, your graphics card may require a firmware update.

Without the update, systems that are connected to a DisplayPort 1.3 / 1.4 monitor could experience blank screens on boot until the OS loads, or could experience a hang on boot.

The NVIDIA Firmware Updater will detect whether the firmware update is needed, and if needed, will give the user the option to update it.

If you are currently experiencing a blank screen or hang on boot with a DP 1.3 or 1.4 monitor, please try one of the following workarounds in order to run the tool:

• Boot using DVI or HDMI

• Boot using a different monitor

• Change boot mode from UEFI to Legacy; or Legacy to UEFI.

• Boot using an alternate graphics source (secondary or integrated graphics card)

You can download the firmware update tool from Nvidia's official website via this link.

Thanks for the tip Aryeh Goretsky!

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