This is on a Poweredge T110 II

Trying to upgrade a 2012 (non-R2) DC to 2022.
That jump isn’t possible, so I am upgrading to 2012 R2 first.

After in-Windows initial phase (which took ages), upon reboot there was the windows logo and twirls for a moment, then screen off (DPMS), then screen back on, but no mouse cursor and nothing happening, no display.
No disk activity.
Keyboard responding – num lock , caps lock, but can’t do anything.
waited ages.
powered off and back on, forced VGA / low-res driver, no difference.


System was already using Microsoft Basic display driver anyway, and no other unusual drivers present as far as I can tell.

Gave up.
Solution:
Upgrade to 2016 first instead. Much much faster initial phase of upgrade too – doesn’t run though and try to reconcile every hotfix and update that has been installed. What took almost an hour on 2012 -> 2012 R2 is taking 10 minutes.