In the process of trying a new kernel this morning my screen stopped coming on until some point in the kernel loading. I don't get to see the boot menu or, if I press F1 early, the BIOS setup screen. It's an HDMI (Onn 21-inch) which displays a 'no signal' message briefly when there's no signal; when a signal first arrives another message gets displayed reporting the connection and resolution, for example 'HDMI 1920x1080' (It also has a VGA port.) I looked at all the monitor's setup configuration, reset them. It's as though the computer has decided not to display anything. Lenovo ThinkCentre M93P. Kernel 6.5.8, Slackware.

Does it happen from a pure cold shutdown of display and PC, or only on reboots?

Fancy/shmancy graphics shenanigans during boot and shutdown can have unwanted side-effects with some GPU/display combinations. Grub has gotten the idea it should be employing the BIOS' own GUI splash screen as part of its own or the init process in some configurations. Whether using elilo might also do or affect this I have no idea. If you have Plymouth installed, try uninstalling it. Adding or removing nosimplefb=1 to/from your kernel cmdline might have an effect. Disabling GUI boot splash in BIOS might be all that's required to stop it.

both

I display nothing. Not only do I not see the menu, I don't see the BIOS setup screen if I hit F1 - that's a serious problem. I don't see how linux can cause it.

I don't use any of these.

Agree. Does your motherboard has a factory reset jumper? If yes, try it.

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I managed to not finish my original reply. Is this Onn new in recent weeks, able to be returned to store for exchange? I would do so if possible. First, try it with some other computer to get an idea whether its related to your PC or its own problem. Also try different HDMI cable and type (VGA/DP/DVI) cable. With UEFI BIOS computers, some displays just don't like to get their act together quickly enough when a computer is turned on. Whether your computer is set to mask boot with a splash screen instead of POST messages, or vice versa, try switching it.

It does! I've had laptops for 25 years, forgot these desktops had those. I bought it a few months ago. I'll try to remember that for my next boot.

When I used the CMOS clear jumper routine the computer stopped working, as detailed in a separate thread.

I bought a 'new' used M93p. It wouldn't display anything until I cleared the CMOS. But it exhibits the same behavior: displaying nothing until about the same point in the boot process. But it will display when I run the BIOS setup. sigh! Why doesn't the cheap junk I buy work well anymore?

Is this an EFI system?
If yes then try grub instead of elilo.

Re: Post #1: I had that problem too.

It was a laptop with hdmi external hdmi monitor. The kernel video driver wasn't in te initrd, and I wasn't insmodding anything in grub. So the video came up when the kernel loaded the video module. You know when that happens because the onscreen typeface appears smaller.

Try 'insmod <your_video_module>' in grub and make sure it's in the initrd as well.

EDIT: IDK if you can load/preload modules in lilo/elilo.