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#221361 - 03/04/2002 21:06 My screen is completely black
nightspd
stranger

Registered: 03/04/2002
Posts: 4
Help. Today I noticed that my display is completely black. It plays just fine, but the display is competely unreadable. I unplugged the unit and plugged it back in, turned it on and the display comes on normally, but then it goes black as it tries to display. Any ideas?

Thanks.


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#221362 - 04/04/2002 06:32 Re: My screen is completely black [Re: nightspd]
Demon
newbie

Registered: 24/01/2002
Posts: 28
Is the entire LCD black, or is does it look more like the light isn't working?

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#221363 - 04/04/2002 11:50 Re: My screen is completely black [Re: Demon]
nightspd
stranger

Registered: 03/04/2002
Posts: 4
It's black, as if every pixel is being used and the contrast is turned ALL the way up. If I turn out the lights and watch the display as it's playing music...you can see ripples in the LCD where it's changing the timer and/or the menus are displayed. At one point I was playing w/the buttons and I "think" (think cause I can't tell for crap! ) I turned on the inverted scope and it came back to normal for a milisecond and I saw the scope and the timer, but then it was gone. I will say this, the last display I was using "WAS" the inverted scope.

This is weird cause it was working fine then...bam..I'm curious if maybe, maybe it's something w/the receiver.arf and if there's a way to completely reset the receiver and download a new receiver file (or isn't that done every time it boots up and attaches to the server).


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#221364 - 04/04/2002 13:36 Re: My screen is completely black [Re: nightspd]
andy
carpal tunnel

Registered: 10/06/1999
Posts: 5914
Loc: Wivenhoe, Essex, UK
You are right in thinking that every time you restart the receiver it starts from scratch and fetches it's software again. I guess you could try reinstalling the receiver manager software just in case the receiver.arf has become corrupted, but to be honest it sounds like a hardware failure.
_________________________
Remind me to change my signature to something more interesting someday

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#221365 - 04/04/2002 14:46 Re: My screen is completely black [Re: andy]
Demon
newbie

Registered: 24/01/2002
Posts: 28
Try to unplug it for a few seconds and then plug it back in. I know I had to do this to get the Display Server to work properly.

:d:

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#221366 - 04/04/2002 14:52 Re: My screen is completely black [Re: Demon]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31563
Loc: Seattle, WA
Unplugging is not necessary to make it reboot. You can press the power button several times quickly to force a cold-reboot and make it re-detect and re-grab the software.
_________________________
Tony Fabris

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#221367 - 04/04/2002 16:42 Re: My screen is completely black [Re: tfabris]
nightspd
stranger

Registered: 03/04/2002
Posts: 4
Yeah..I've tried unplugging and plugging it back in after about 10 minutes of no power..but it does the same thing. What I notice is that when I press the power button, the screen turns on and is backlit as normal..like the screen is working ok..but then when the software boots (or loads or whatever), that's when it goes black and you can JUST barely make out the big RIO on the screen as it tries to display.

Demon..what problems were you having? When you say your display wasn't working properly, what do you mean?

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#221368 - 05/04/2002 07:07 Re: My screen is completely black [Re: nightspd]
Demon
newbie

Registered: 24/01/2002
Posts: 28
I had installed the Display Server patch, which allows you to control the unit from a web browser. In order to force the RIO to download the new ARF file, I had to unplug it. I didn't know about the "repeated press of the power button" trick.

I've never actually had a problem with the display, other than the fact that its tiny and not on my TV.

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#221369 - 06/04/2002 02:24 Re: My screen is completely black [Re: Demon]
altman
carpal tunnel

Registered: 19/05/1999
Posts: 3457
Loc: Palo Alto, CA
Sounds like a bad contrast setting - which is strange, as the contrast is reset on a cold boot. I don't have a receiver handy, can anyone give this guy the exact button sequence to get to the contrast control?

Hugo

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#221370 - 07/04/2002 12:29 Re: My screen is completely black [Re: altman]
Roger
carpal tunnel

Registered: 18/01/2000
Posts: 5680
Loc: London, UK
Menu, turn right 3 clicks, push in, right one click, push in, turn to adjust.
_________________________
-- roger

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#221371 - 08/04/2002 07:54 Re: My screen is completely black [Re: Roger]
Dobbin
new poster

Registered: 30/08/2000
Posts: 35
Sounds like instructions to crack a safe

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#221372 - 08/04/2002 11:51 Re: My screen is completely black [Re: Dobbin]
nightspd
stranger

Registered: 03/04/2002
Posts: 4
So I called SonicBlue support (who were very helpful BTW) and they suggested I unplug the unit from power and leave it overnight to allow the unit to completely reset. Low and behold, this fixed the problem!! Go Figure...:D

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#221373 - 08/04/2002 13:20 Re: My screen is completely black [Re: Dobbin]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31563
Loc: Seattle, WA
Sounds like instructions to crack a safe

More like getting extra lives on a Nintendo console game. Already covered here.
_________________________
Tony Fabris

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#221374 - 08/04/2002 13:24 Re: My screen is completely black [Re: nightspd]
tfabris
carpal tunnel

Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31563
Loc: Seattle, WA
they suggested I unplug the unit from power and leave it overnight to allow the unit to completely reset. Low and behold, this fixed the problem!!

Wow, that's strange. I wouldn't have thought this would have been any different than unplugging it for 5 seconds or repeatedly pressing the power button. Very interesting.

Empeg guys, can you explain why this is the case?
_________________________
Tony Fabris

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#221375 - 09/04/2002 07:44 Re: My screen is completely black [Re: tfabris]
rob
carpal tunnel

Registered: 21/05/1999
Posts: 5335
Loc: Cambridge UK
Ermm.. I think there must be some kind of voodoo going on at SB support - but hey, it worked!

Rob

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