Black Screen after turning TV off, then back on

[RehabMan]

I have my HTPC set to stay on all the time (don’t want to sleep due to Ceton card wakeup authorization delay), and every once in a while when I turn the system on (ie. TV on, AVR on) I end up with just a black screen.  Media Center is there… running full screen… but just black.  Hitting Ctrl+Alt+Del then ESC fixes the problem, but this is driving me (and my wife) crazy.

I’ve also seen it happen when switching between sources on the AVR (say from XBOX 360 back to HTPC).

Here is my general setup:
– HTPC: Core i3-530, running latest Intel HD drivers. 1920x1080p HDMI to AVR.  Everything running at stock speeds.  Audio is through optical on ASUS mobo (I had too many problems with audio via HDMI and I need the audio to go to two locations via spdif splitter).
– AVR: Yamaha HTR-5063
– Second AVR: Sony STR-DE675 (just for second zone [outdoor] audio)
– TV: Samsung 50″ Plasma PN50B860

I read one report that this might be caused by different refresh rates between Win7 desktop and Media Center… and have made sure they are both using the same refresh rate (59.94).

I may run out and pick up a new (and expensive) HDMI cable to see if it solves the problem, as there are some reports that it could be caused by bad cables.  I have no reason to believe the cable is bad… it was working just fine with the comcast cable box.

Is anyone else seeing this?  Any ideas on how to solve?

[George L. Schmauch Jr.]

Are you running the latest drivers for your onboard graphics?  (I’m assuming that’s how your TV is connected, since you didn’t list a GPU.)

Just to be clear, it’s not that the TV is in standby or off, right?  The TV is actually on, but the Windows screen is black?

[RehabMan]

Running latest drivers from Intel site for Core i3 Intel HD graphics.  And yes.. no discrete video card (I tried an ATI 5570 that I have laying around, but two problems: 1) things got too hot w/ the fanless 5570 right next to the Ceton, and 2) 29/59 refresh rate bug on HBO content).

TV going from standby to on.  Also same for AVR — standby to on.  TV/AVR are on. HTPC was always on.  Media Center running full screen, but all I see is black screen.  I think if I move the mouse, I see the mouse pointer, but that’s it.  Ctrl+Alt+Del, then see blue Ctrl+Alt+Del screen, then ESC to get back to full screen Media Center.  Everything happy after that.

Very intermittent… only happens every other day or so.

[George L. Schmauch Jr.]

[quote=”RehabMan”]
TV going from standby to on.  Also same for AVR — standby to on.  TV/AVR are on. HTPC was always on.  Media Center running full screen, but all I see is black screen.  I think if I move the mouse, I see the mouse pointer, but that’s it.  Ctrl+Alt+Del, then see blue Ctrl+Alt+Del screen, then ESC to get back to full screen Media Center.  Everything happy after that.
[/quote]

This might be an EDID issue.  Try [url=http://software.thydzik.com/hdmion-a-solution-to-loss-of-dvi-video-epid-signal-on-hd-tvs/]this hdmiOn tool[/url] and see if that has any effect.

[RehabMan]

Interesting… I tried that tool on my dual-monitor dev machine.  Several times, I was able to get my main monitor (Dell U2410, DVI to DVI on ATI 5670) to stay black.  The secondary monitor (Dell 1901FP, VGA to VGA on same ATI 5670) always came back up. For grins, I ran MonInfo on the secondary, so I could use it to see the EDID data when the main monitor was blank.

Interestingly, the EDID data for the blacked-out monitor was fine.  All same as when the display wasn’t blank.

I have a couple of take-aways with this tool and/or this “black screen” problem:

– The “black screen” happens with diverse hardware.  HTPC is Core i3 integrated Intel HD graphics to AVR to TV.  My dev machine is ATI 5670 dual monitor DVI/VGA.

– Maybe it is HDCP related… My 1901FP is not HDCP aware (too old), where-as my U2410 is HDCP compliant.

– Still very intermittent.  I had to try quite a few times to make the problem happen.  I assigned hdmiOn.exe to a keyboard shortcut, just so I could run it quicky.

– It seems that since “black screen” happens with my dev machine using hdmiOn.exe to turn the displays off/then on again, I think it is likely it would not fix the problem I’m seeing at the HTPC.

– This seems more and more like some sort of Windows bug.  Maybe it has been there a long time — there are reports of exactly the same bug happening as far back as XP Media Center.

– Even if hdmiOn.exe could help me, I was hard-pressed to find an event in Task Scheduler I could use to trigger it.  Perhaps a custom app could monitor for changes in display status and trigger an event which would trigger the app.

More experimentation to come… when I have the time…

[Anonymous]

I have a similar setup (HTPC always one and connected HTPC (i3-530) -> AVR -> TV) and was also having repeated problems with the display after turning the TV off for the night.  I finally broke down after much hair pulling and purchased a Gefen HDMI Detective.  Once installed, all of my issues went away. 

[RehabMan]

I was thinking about the Gefen product as some others have also reported success with it.

Where do you place the HDMI Detective?  I assume between the HTPC and the AVR?

[Anonymous]

[quote=”RehabMan”]
Where do you place the HDMI Detective?  I assume between the HTPC and the AVR?
[/quote]

As you correctly assumed, the HDMI detective is placed between the AVR and the HTPC. In other words, the connection is the following:

HTPC -> HDMI Detective -> AVR -> TV

[Andrew Van Til]

[quote=”tcs2tx”]
I finally broke down after much hair pulling and purchased a Gefen HDMI Detective.  Once installed, all of my issues went away. 
[/quote]

Before buying an HDMI detective see if CEC is enabled on your AVR.  I used to have this issue all the time with my 4650 and enabling CEC “fixed” it.

I haven’t had it with CEC on or off with my i5, but I also built the HDMION into the macro that turns the TV on/off (HDMION logic fires when the display turns off and again when it turns on).

[PAPutzback]

I had this issue a long time ago and a new mother board fixed it. But now that am sharing a Ceton tuner to the box the issue came back. My fix is to select live tv and then change the channel, and wait. Ceton should build the HDMIon logic into its driver. I’ll have to tinker with the Logitech events to maybe shutdown the Media Center app and restart it.

[NitDawg]

I have the same issue on my setup, 7MC –> AVR –> TV all via HDMI. I do not power down my HTPC, just a “stop” command and power off the AVR and TV. I have 3 different issues…1) Sometimes I get a wonky resolution, which if I exit and restart 7MC, all returns to norm; 2) Blank screen v1 which can be resolved by changing inputs on my AVR or power cycle the AVR (I think both of these are EDID issues?); 3) The black screen o’ nothing per the OP. For that I have to use Windows+L, login screen re-appears, and then I can get back into 7MC.

[PAPutzback]

That gives me a couple of ideas to start with for reprogramming the remote. 

1. When I enter the activity send a close command to the MC and then a start

2. Turn off the AVR then turn back on and choose the right input. 

Because I know if I fiddle enough in the blind with the MC interface it will come back up. Now back in the day with my AMD 690G board I had to program a function to run HDMIon. 

 

[NitDawg]

[quote=PAPutzback]

That gives me a couple of ideas to start with for reprogramming the remote. 

1. When I enter the activity send a close command to the MC and then a start

2. Turn off the AVR then turn back on and choose the right input. 

Because I know if I fiddle enough in the blind with the MC interface it will come back up. Now back in the day with my AMD 690G board I had to program a function to run HDMIon. 

 

[/quote]

Yes, on start-up you could Power the AVR first set to input X, fire up TV, then set another command to the AVR to go to the HTPC input. I also have heard you can somehow have Harmony put in a delay to the AVR power up to ensure the TV is fired and loaded first. 

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