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Media Center Quick Tip – Black Screen of Death Work-Around

Media Center Quick Tip - Black Screen of Death Work-AroundThe Problem :

If you don’t know what the Black Screen of Death (the other BSOD) then you are either incredibly lucky, or very smart. This is a problem that many people who have their Windows Media Center PCs directly connected to their televisions. What happens is if you stop the video that you’re watching, and then turn the TV off, when you turn the TV back on you may get a black display. You’ll be able to hear the sounds of Media Center, but the video won’t display. This problem seems to affect PCs which are equipped with AMD video cards more often than other manufacturers.

The Fix Work-Around

This work-around was provided to me by a fellow Windows Entertainment and Connected Home MVP, Pete Stagman. If you turn on your television, and see the BSOD, simply grab your remote control, and press the Live TV button! This seems to straighten everything out. Other options which work, but take significantly more time, involve rebooting the computer, or putting it to sleep and waking it back up. Of course there is another option: buy a different video card. Apparently NVidia video cards don’t seem to have this problem, or at least don’t have it as often as the AMD video cards. In AMD’s defense, as their drivers have gotten better this problem seems to happen less.

Update – A Permanent Solution

A Twitter friend, Maeglin73, suggested a more permanent solution to the problem. It will however cost you about $90. If you insert a Gefen HDmi Detective Plus in between your Windows Media Center PC and your television the device will prevent the Black Screen of Death from ever happening. It works by saving the EDID information even after you’ve turned off your television. Thanks Maeglin!

Author

  • Media Center Quick Tip - Black Screen of Death Work-Around

    Josh has been writing software since his parents brought home their first computer. His love for gadgets and technology eventually spurred a passion for home theater technology. After starting the DMZ, he received Microsoft’s MVP award for Windows Media Center. Even though the beloved home theater PC platform is all but dead he continues to tinker with consumer entertainment technology. He’s a life-long gamer and DIY smart home enthusiast. He co-hosts the Entertainment 2.0 podcast with Richard Gunther and the DMZ’s gaming podcast, Story Players, with Joe DeStazio.

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About the author

Josh Pollard

Josh has been writing software since his parents brought home their first computer. His love for gadgets and technology eventually spurred a passion for home theater technology. After starting the DMZ, he received Microsoft’s MVP award for Windows Media Center. Even though the beloved home theater PC platform is all but dead he continues to tinker with consumer entertainment technology. He’s a life-long gamer and DIY smart home enthusiast. He co-hosts the Entertainment 2.0 podcast with Richard Gunther and the DMZ’s gaming podcast, Story Players, with Joe DeStazio.

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  • I have never had the black screen of death and use a ATI 5770 card using HDMI out.  However I run out to a receiver first (well actually to a hdmi splitter first then the receiver) then to the tv.  I always turn on the tv and receiver at the same time, as the receiver has to be on to work, there will often be a buzz sound until I launch any app (usually Media Center) but it always works with no black screen of death. 

  • I seem to be having this problem with an Intel 4600 GPU. Even when I am able to get the screen back on, it’s gone to 1080i instead of 720p, then the interface is still 1280×720 just with black bars all around it. Right now I’m trying to experiment with just using the 1080i setting and see if it stays put like that.

  • So I know this is a very old post but I have 2 GTX 650 Ti Boost cards running SLI and Win 7 64 bit Pro, and I CONSTANTLY get the Black Screen of Death when simply switching between WMC and another application (although yes, sometimes when I turn back on the TV as well). And unfortunately the Live TV button has never brought my video signal back. 🙁 Unfortunate that I would have to gamble with a $135 part to see if it solves my issue.