HP Z2: Windows 10 LTSC 2021 and NVIDIA RTX driver - the screen goes black after reboot

Possible causes and solution(s)

• Causes

Un-valid UEFI combination for secure boot:
Workstation OS re-installed: Windows 10 LTSC 2021 and Nvidia driver: issue with black screen (workstation does not boot up).

The secure boot does not recognize this as a valid UEFI combination of OS & video board and blocks the booting.

• Solution

Uncheck the secure boot: workstation boots up, and there will be no issue with display; the NVIDIA Windows 10 Pro driver works fine under Windows 10 LTSC.

On clean (new) workstation:

• Remove NVIDIA card
• Install Windows 10 2021 LTSC + updates + reboots
• Install HP updates firmware/BIOS + reboot
• At startup-up <ESC> to enter BIOS:
  • Uncheck Secure boot
• Shutdown PC
• Install NVIDIA card and connect monitor (DP cable)

When installing the A4000 card:

Disable these below Power management options in BIOS setup:

• Runtime Power Management
• Extended Idle Power States
• S4/S5 Maximum Power Savings
• PCI Express Power Management
• SATA Power Management

Boot options

• Disable *Fast Boot

Secure boot options:

• Enable Secure boot

After these changes the workstation boots up with Secure Boot enabled and A4000 card installed.

BIOS is reachable after restart/shutdown/power-on

• HP Desktop PCs - Computer Does not Start After Installing a Video Card (Windows 10, 8)