Ever since Fire TV software update 51.1.6.1 and Fire TV Stick software update 54.1.2.1, I’ve been hearing from readers who have been having blank screen issues with their Fire TV devices. Switching TV inputs or simply waking the Fire TV from sleep is resulting in a blank black screen being outputted by the Fire TV device. Restarting the Fire TV device seems to always resolve the issue. After a bit of troubleshooting and testing, I’ve determined the issue lies in changes to the way Fire TV devices handle HDCP, a form of digital copy protection used by most HDMI devices. I’ve found a solution to the issue, but I’ll tell you right now, you’re probably not going to like it.
High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection, more commonly known as HDCP, is a form of copy protection that Fire TVs and most HDMI devices use to prevent nefarious individuals from making digital copies of protected content. The Fire TV and Fire TV Stick will check that your television is an authorized HDCP compliant device before sending the video signal over the HDMI cable.
With software updates 51.1.6.1 and 54.1.2.1 for the Stick, it appears that Fire TV devices have changed when they enable HDCP encryption of the video signal. According to my test results, Fire TV devices used to only enable HDCP when copy protected content was being played. Since the 51.1.6.1/54.1.2.1 update, and continuing with the latest 51.1.6.2/54.1.2.2 update, Fire TV devices now enable HDCP immediatly at boot up. It used to be that connecting the Fire TV to a non-HDCP compliant display resulted in normal operation until you tried playing copy protected video, which would then cause the screen to go blank. Starting with updates 51.1.6.1/54.1.2.1, if connected to a non-HDCP display, during bootup of the Fire TV you will see the white Amazon logo followed by the colorfull Fire TV logo as expected, then it immediatly goes to a blank black screen.
The change to immediately-on HDCP encryption is causing issues with select televisions and A/V receivers. The HDCP check is failing, resulting in the Fire TV thinking it’s connected to a non-HDCP compliant device which then causes the Fire TV to produce a blank output signal. The failure seems to most commonly occur when the Fire TV is waking up from sleep or when the input source on the television is changed away from the Fire TV and back again. My theory is that, since the Fire TV HDCP check now occurs so early, some televisions are not ready to communicate that they are HDCP compliant.
The issue does not seem widespread enough for me to recommend not updating to the latest software version for this reason alone. It will likely not affect you or your TV. The simplest solution to overcome the issue, if it does affect you, is to reboot the Fire TV while the TV is already on and set to the Fire TVs input. You can reboot the Fire TV by holding the SELECT button and PLAY button on your remote for 10 seconds. You can do this even if you are looking at a blank black screen.
An alternate solution to bypass this issue all together is to place an HDMI splitter in between the Fire TV and your television. I purchased and tested the Etekcity 1×2 HDMI Splitter for this article and can confirm that it fixes the issue. An HDMI splitter is meant to turn one HDMI signal into two. In order to do this, it must perform the HDCP check in place of your television. Since the splitter is always on, it is always ready to respond to an HDCP check regardless of how early the Fire TV performs it.
I know the two solutions I’ve suggested are in no way ideal. One is inconvenient, while the other requires spending money to fix a problem that shouldn’t be there in the first place. If you’re experiencing this blank screen issue, you should absolutely contact Amazon and let them know in hopes that a future software update fixes the issue.
Update
9/4/2015 Several people have reported that Fire TV version 51.1.6.3 and Fire TV Stick version 54.1.2.3 have fixed this issue
@AFTVnews
AFTVnews
I can also confirm running into one of these:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0049S6ZUS
and then into this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00T2MLNBM
bypasses this issue also.
My other fire tv that is plugged directly into an HDMI port is having this problem, however, I’ve not yet noticed it on the Fire Tv Stick that is also plugged directly into an HDMI port (it may not have updated yet).
To be honest, I was starting to think that the Fire Tv in our bedroom was flaking out, I’m so glad I’m not the only one having this issue. Will be discussing with customer service tonight.
To clarify, the HDMI to Component converter in your second link is what make syou setup bypass this issue. HDCP cannot be carried over Component, so it’s essentially being removed by that converter. The HDMI switch in your first link is not necessary. For those curious, most HDMI switches will not remove HDCP.
But the splitter referenced in the article does remove HDCP? I have used a couple of splitters and they never removed HDCP. If that were the case you could record hdmi content. HDCP strippers are usually very expensive and hard to find.
I can confirm that the HDMI switch in the first link does not resolve the issue. I was using that before the update and now I am having the black screen issue. I will try to contact Amazon and see if they give me any resolution.
Amazon Fire TV latest FW
I ran into this problem after updating to 51.1.6.2_user_516011120. It only happens on my Panasonic plasma TV. My LG (connected to Onkyo receiver) is affected by this issue.
I had tried to figure out the issues for days. Finally, after reading this post, I have reverted the affected firetv console back to 51.1.6.0_user_516009820 and all is fine now. Thank you for posting this issue.
Hi Moe,
How can I rollback to 51.1.6.0? I have the non-rooted Fire TV.
Thanks.
Best regards,
I have a rooted firetv. so it was simple for me to rollback. I dont know how to rollback a non-rooted firetv. You only option is to wait for an update from Amazon.
My fire tv is rooted, how do I revert back? It’s on a blabk screen. I cannot access anything except things that use voice control.
If you have a rooted FireTV and need to revert back, your best bet is going to be ADB.
How and where can i roll back to 51.1.6.0? I’m rooted but don’t know how to do this. Also how do i block the updates?
Is the source code to the Fire TV available? Hypothetically, couldn’t the new software be patched to revert to the old behavior based on a diff of the codebase from when it was first introduced? Isn’t that what was done for the eFuse?
Amazon does not provide the entire source code. Just the parts they are required to under various open source licenses. Even if you could locate and reverse the HDCP change, you can’t install modified software on the Fire TV unless it’s rooted.
Yes, but many of us ARE rooted. Hmmm. Maybe an XPosed module would be the better bet.
If you’re talking about rooted devices, then yes, it’s possible someone can revert the change. If you’re rooted and this is an issue for you, then it’s best to just downgrade to 51.1.6.0 until this is resolved by Amazon.
I have 2 questions regarding this.
1. I have a Fire TV that had been acting strange its on a very old flat screen TV via HDMI. I’ve not had any black screen issues, but it has had random sound issues not hearing sound, most notabled in Netflix KIDS side only. changing inputs back and forth then fixes the problem. could this be related perhaps?
2. Could it also be an option to downgrade to the version just before these these latest releases that introduced that via CWM? (All of my FTV’s are rooted)
EDIT: I just went to attempt downgrade, and realized this FTV is already on 51.1.6.0 so it would seem HDCP issue is not related.
HDCP issues are all or nothing. It wouldn’t just cause audio issues but let video through.
As for downgrading rooted devices, yes you can absolutly go back and install 51.1.6.0 if you want. The process is identical to upgrading / installing a new pre-rooted ROM.
I updated yesterday and during 1 hour of watching Netflix, the screen went blank 3 times. I don’t know if this problem has with the topic to do. But It just went blank, and i thought the FireTV was running in the background, but I had to reboot to get the picture back and restart Netflix.
Thank you for discovering the issue. I’ve been searching for the answer, knowing that my Fire Stick was recently updated.
Unfortunately your first solution does not work for me. When I reboot, the same thing happens. Amazon logo appears and then blank screen.
I was thinking it was faulty. At least I did not buy another one.
Does the issue exist even if you have the Fire TV connected via A/V receiver?
Yes I have a pioneer elite I get a black screen
I told Amazon about the issues I was having with the new update, they insisted that I’m the only one to report that issue and it must be a faulty box, they are sending me a replacement.
I contacted Amazon as well. Tech support opened a ticket and escalated. He also thought it was related to the recent upgrade
I called regarding the issue and Amazon is sending me a replacement box.
Amazon sent me a replacement box when I reported the issue, it still has the same fault, but rebooting it from the remote gets around it, so I can live with that until there is a permanent fix.
Just wanted to thank you for reporting this. I switched my Fire TV wiring to directly to the tv (instead of through a Sony Google TV) and the problem was resolved. I thought my fire tv was somehow bricked!!
Thanks again!!
Unplugging my HDMI cable and plugging it back in brings my picture back! It’s faster than a reboot and doesn’t require another powered device (HDMI splitter). Although I really am hoping someone releases an xposed mod for us rooted users. I’m thinking I may just make a thread over at XDA-Developers forum requesting that someone work some magic.
Same for me. I’m glad this works; prior to this, I was unplugging the power from the FireTv and plugging it back in to reboot.
I’ve noticed that the problem occurs when I turn off my TV. When I turn it back on again, that’s when my screen is blank (dark), and I have to unplug/replug my HDMI cable.
There’s a thread over at XDA-Developers asking for a fix…
http://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/themes-apps/fire-tv-hdcp-blank-screen-issues-fix-t3186796
I am having this exact same issue since the last update. I have to restart using the remote while the TV input is on the FIRE TV device, or by unplugging the power cable from the back. This happens every time i switch off the HDMI input to another, or let the device go into sleep mode.
THIS IS RIDICULOUS AMAZON!!!!!!!
I have just got off the phone with the tech support for the fire tv and they had no clue about this issue. They wanted to send a new one out to me and for me to return the old one. After the chat with Tech support, and me knowing about this article, I had to inform them about this page and that sending a new one out will not fix the issue at hand. Lets hope this will be corrected in the next FW update.
This was the email received from them:
Hello,
Thanks for taking time to share your thoughts about your fire Tv. Your comments and suggestions will help us improve our store and offer better service to our customers.
HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection) is a digital copy protection system that helps to prevent unauthorized duplication of digital audio and video content when a content player is connected to devices such as monitors, TV, or other external devices.
Amazon automatically checks your display for HDCP requirements when you start playing an HD title. If you‘ve purchased HD content and your display doesn’t meet HDCP requirements, we’ll let you know that you are receiving the SD version instead of the HD version. If your display meets HDCP requirements, the HD version of the video will play.
For more information about content protection, go to:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/?nodeId=201329260
mazon Fire TV and Fire TV Stick automatically check for and install software updates, even when they’re in sleep mode.
To view your current software version or manually check for a software update:
1. From the Home screen, select Settings.
2. Select System, and then select About. You will see the current Software Version.
3. Select Check for System Update to manually check for a software update. If an update is available, it will automatically start downloading.
4. After the download is complete, select Install System Update to install the update, or it will automatically install the next time your device is idle for 30 minutes or is rebooted.
To learn more about software updates for your device, visit:
Amazon Fire TV: https://www.amazon.com/firetvsoftwareupdates
Fire TV Stick: https://www.amazon.com/firetvsticksoftwareupdates
Another annoyed Customer. Mine is out of warranty so I can’t even get a replacement. They offered me $59 for a replacement one. Going to try to swap my two units and maybe root this one if that will resolve it.
Does simply unplugging the HDMI cable & plugging it back in do the trick for anyone else? I couldn’t imagine having to reboot the FireTV every time it’s sleeping and the TV was off for a period of time! That would be exponentially more annoying than the HDMI cycling. Which I find unbelievably irritating. I’m almost to the point that I’ll be flashing 51.1.6.0 back on there!
Unplugging the hdmi cable does it for me either…I do not need to restart.
I linked this thread to the german customer support and surprisingly got a call from them.
They told me that they are aware of this problem and a fix is coming. Well…sounds good at first but they also asked me if I tried another HDMI cable :-/
I asked them if they could at least forward my request to 2nd or better 3rd Level…and they offered me a call-back.
If anyone got news please keep us all updated.
Excellent! @AFTVNews should update the main blog with that quick fix too. It’s definitely the quickest way for people who have quick access to the HDMI cable. So far the best way for me personally was downgrading to bueller-51.1.6.0_516009820-rooted
Update:
I finally got a fix for this. (works for me…perhaps anybody can test it too)
I just connected the FireTV to another HDMI-port on my TV. First I used a port called “HDMI 1/DVI” and after sleep I had a blackscreen and no button on the remote could wake up FireTV. Changing the port to HDMI 2 now does the trick for me. If I change HDMI-source and go back to FireTV after 30-45min I still got a black screen BUT I can wake up the FireTV by pressing any button on my remote…even my logitech harmony live hub which is bluetooth can wake up FireTV.
Maybe someone can check this out…
That’s very interesting! I’ll check that out and see if it makes any difference for me. I just looked on my TV and I have 3 HDMI ports, 2 on the back and 1 on the side. I’m currently in HDMI 2 on the back. I’m going to try the side and see if that makes any difference.
Although this issue is fixed in the latest update. It’s still pretty important to have an easy fix for this since a handful of us won’t upgrade, in hopes of a stagefright root exploit, or any exploit for that matter.
Do they not even test their updates more then once before rolling them out? Is there any way to watch NFL Network on the fire TV stick?
Update:
I finally got a fix for this. (works for me…perhaps anybody can test it too)
I just connected the FireTV to another HDMI-port on my TV. First I used a port called “HDMI 1/DVI” and after sleep I had a blackscreen and no button on the remote could wake up FireTV. Changing the port to HDMI 2 now does the trick for me. If I change HDMI-source and go back to FireTV after 30-45min I still got a black screen BUT I can wake up the FireTV by pressing any button on my remote…even my logitech harmony live hub which is bluetooth can wake up FireTV.
Maybe someone can check this out…
I’ve got the same issue on my Fire TV… I chatted a couple times with Amazon support and pointed them to this article. They claimed I’m the first they’ve heard of this issue, after trying different HDMI cable and ports, and a factory reset, they insisted sending me a new unit will fix the issue, but I doubt it. I just tried it on a different TV and it seems to work fine.
What brand TVs are people having issues on? I’ve got a Panasonic Plasma TV, as somebody else has noted.
Panasonic Viera (2010 plasma) DOES have blank screen issue.
Samsung Series 5 (2011 LED) DOES NOT have blank screen issue.
Mitsubishi
Mine was doing it connected to an Acer TV. I say was because for the past 2 nights it appears to be fixed!!!
I now have 51.1.6_3_user_516012020
I swear it was broken on 51.1.6_2
So excited!!
Since update 51.1.6.3 this issue is resolved…here’s @rbox prerooted stock roms for the FireTV…
http://forum.xda-developers.com/fire-tv/development/prerooted-stock-images-t2882337
And @AFTVnews.com roms download page…
http://www.aftvnews.com/roms/
Hi, I don’t think the latest update has completely fixed this issue.
I only got the FireTV a couple days ago and I’m still getting this blank screen issue on one of my TV’s but not the others.
It is definetely on 5.1.1.6.3, so I am not sure what else to try.
I have tried rebooting, unplugging HDMI/power, all the previous suggestions, except buying converters/switches. None of these have worked.
Any suggestions?
I can confirm 1.6.3 isn’t resolving it for everyone (me). I was pulling my hair out and finally just decided to try reverting to 1.6.0. It worked like a charm.
This won’t help unrooted people, but if you’re rooted and still having a problem with 1.6.3, try going back to 1.6.0. It solved it for me. Hopefully this will be fixed eventually, but considering 1.6.3 solved it for most people, I’m not so sure Amazon will be motivated to do so. :/
How do you revert if you can’t get rid of the black screen ?
I was sent 2 new boxes, each one goes to the blank screen after initial setup. Now when I restart all I get is “retrieving date” and then goes black. I installed the splitter as suggested, it too did nothing. The tech I spoke to at Amazon as expected said she has not heard of any issues! I have a visio.
What now?
Like to know is ur problem solved … if yes please post resolution as I am also facing same issue.
thanks
I get the dreaded black screen all the time now to the point we can’t tolerate it. I’m plugged into an older (~2009) Vizio TV via a much newer Denon x1100w amp. All apps are effected (Netflix, ESPN, Kodi, HDHomeRun Kodi addon, etc).
Sometimes it is a brief outage, sometimes it won’t come back. Only video is lost, while the audio continues playback. Toggling the inputs on the Denon fixes the problem every time, but only temporarily.
However, the black screen issue is non-existent when I’m plugged directly into the TV. But I’m still convinced this is a Fire TV issue as any other device plugged into my amp causes no problems.
I’m pretty certain all the Fire TV blank screen problems started in the last update (51.1.6.3_user_516012020).
My next stop is attaching a newer TV.
Update: I tried connecting to a different, newer TV as suggested in this thread and the problem isn’t solved.
Now I’m wondering about trying this config: Fire TV HDMI —> TV set HDMI –> Amp via optical out. Everything we watch has compressed audio anyway so hopefully there wouldn’t be any further degradation of the audio.
Update: All is well with fire tv directly connected to my older Vizio TV. No hickups tonight. I’m using the optical out on the tv to feed audio to my Denon. Hope this might help someone. Thanks AFTVnews great place to visit!
Same problem, fire tv worked fine turned it on the other day. Blank screen.
Old tv upstairs worked fine with it.
I have Sony Bravia tried all these suggestions and I found turning the TV off at the plug for 1 min then on again sorted it. At least for now. Hope this helps
I have the exact same issue too. I have the Fire TV 2 and amazon is acting completely oblivious to this issue in-spite of all these discussions in this thread. My observation so far:
1. This issue is completely related to the HDCP port on your TV as the original article states.
2. Switching to a different HDMI port is not an option for me because this is the only port I can get 4K content. Fire TV requires that the HDMI port it connects be HDCP in order for the 4k content to be sent to the TV.
I do have a couple of workarounds for now:
a). Use the remote to reboot the Fire-TV, it usually doesn’t take more than 15 seconds for the TV to boot.
b) if you have the Netflix App, keep the app active all the time before you turn your television off. When you turn the TV back on, you’ll see that you no longer have the blank screen. I think netflix somehow keeps sending HDCP signal regardless of the connection status.
*** Issue Resolved **
I had the exact same issue too. I have the Fire TV 2 and the same issue. But the issue is resolved now that Amazon suggested me to connect the Fire TV directly to the wall outlet instead of a power strip. There is some issue with the way it interprets the voltage and hence the issue. I switched to the wall outlet and everything is great my life’s back to normal now.
KanexPro SP-HD1X24K 4K HDMI 2-Port Splitter works. Went through 3 different hdmi spiltters before finding one that works. Got it at Frys for about 30 bucks
This splitter just removes the hdcp so you can view the screen.
Just bought an LG4K TV and have the Black screen problem on my Fire Stick as many others seem to have. Seems like the Stick is on in the background because I hear the clicking that you hear when toggling the Fire stick remote. This device worked on my older TV and other TV’s in my house but for some reason not this one. I have read through this thread and see some temporary fixes for some and what seem to be solutions for others. Before I go out and buy splitters or call Amazon and waste time waiting for them to send me a replacement that still won’t work, can someone tell me how to downgrade my update to 51.1.6.0 as I am still an amateur to this? Btw, I think this forum is great. Thank you AFTV NEWS.
What about fixing the HDCP blank screen issue for the 2nd gen device? I recently got it and updated the SW to 5.0.3.1 but I can’t use it on my other LCD TV which is a LG BTW. Any and all help is greatly appreciated. Getting close to returning the product (rather than buy another LCD TV).
Hi,
My AFTV powers on, goes to a white Amazon logo and then stays at a blank black screen and doesn’t get to the home screen (or any other kind of screen). I’ve tried the TV resolution trick (hold up and rewind or 10 secs), reset (select and play for 10 secs) and system factory reset (right and back for 10 secs) and although all of these things did show signs of life, none of them got me any further than the black screen. I’ve also tried different HDMI’s, different TV’s, Ethernet in & Ethernet out and micro SD in & out.
Is there anything anyone can suggest?
Thank you in advance!
(I’m using most recent OS as of roughly the start of the year (2016))
I’ve just purchased a Fire TV and I am getting the same problem. I have a Firestick as well and that works okay though.
I’m on my second stick and both have the same blank screen issue. I’ve tried to use 3 different hdmi ports and have it plugged into wall. I’m returning it and getting a Roku.
I am having the same problem. I do need to know if this occurs when using a fire stick app? or while watching a program on Dish. My LG turns off while watching any program on dish. I am not sure if this has occurred while watching any amazon prime video.
I get a different problem, but it sounds as if it is connected:
When I boot my Fire TV without the beamer (beamer is in standby, HDMI is connected OR HDMI is not connected at all) I either can’t start any music playback or it is heavily distorted. As soon as I start and connect the beamer, the music playback is fine. When I disconnect HDMI, music will stay fine until the Fire TV is rebooted.
I’m using a first gen. Fire TV with Kodi (tried 15.2&16.0b5) connected to my receiver via S/PDIF and via HDMI to my beamer.
The sound output in the Fire TV is configured as Stereo via HDMI and DD via S/PDIF.
In Kodi, it is set to Stereo 2.0, best match, and pass through.
Stick was running fine, came home turned on my tv and switched to hdmi 2 and no output from the fire stick, no signal displayed on screen.
Any ideas, seems like it crapped out.
I had the same problem,when I had the resolution settings set at auto.when I changed the settings to 1080 the problem was solved.Hope this helps…
Thanks! That worked for me.
When my wife is watching tv in the other room with an Amazon TV fire box, my Dish remote will not work on my TV in the kitchen. The Dish receiver box is in the iving room next to my wife’s tv.How can I get my Dish remote to work at the same time?
Just started to happen to now (I have the same Amazon fire box since it came out), it started lately since the update with Alexa. Never happened before ;-(
Now the Tv and receiver have to be on before waking up the box.
rooted my aftv2 yesterday, all went ok but now if i change channel or turn tv off then i need to unplug hdmi and plug back in again to get picture back, so frustrating, wish i never rooted it now
well after removing openvpn settings/installtion and busybox all is working fine now
I’m having this problem right not with fire tv 2nd gen. Day after last update. I have the hdmi going into a Sony receiver/soundbar, never had this problem. Just a blank screen after boot.
And I’ve done the unplug thing fire tv and hdmi n tv. Tried plugging fire into wall nothing. Thinks this is retaliation for Kodi?
no its not…kodi works just fine…
I am having the issue while watching shows. I’ll be in the middle of a show or movie and tv goes black (like loss of signal from fire box). I pause my show til screen comes back (anywhere from 3-15 seconds), then play again. It generally will do this several times in a row.
My tv says Amazon in white and won’t do anything after that but if I plung it into my blue ray receiver it plays just fine. Can anyone help because Amazon techs sure can’t.
Did you ever get ananswer to your issue? Im having the same problem now…
Our fire stick was working fine until yesterday…now when we try to access it will not connect. It is hooked up to our receiver in order the use the surround sound. Had no issues up until now, was there another new update???
I have the same Problem since a few days. It seems that it is caused by the last update that was installed a few days ago. (FireTV 4K Version)
Same problem – blank screen after Amazon logo appears. Disconnected power, router, etc.. but with no luck. I called Amazon and they made me run through the same sequence with no luck. They quickly offered to send me a new box. I’ve had the fire tv for seven months.
Holding the play and select button fixed it! Thank you!
Thanks to this post, this blank screen just happened to my fire tv version1, was watching netflix and selected one of their content shows and screen blanked, only solution was to switch hdmi cable with the att uverse box. Had been working on this for 2 days! un plugging,special keypresses-could hear the keypress so I persisted knowing it had to be solvable.
What ever the problem is, they need to fix it. Two days ago my fire stick when crazy, now all it does is flash at me. I have and LG flat screen. I am not a techie and don’t know what to do. HELP!!!!!
My fire stick just went to a black screen, i did an update and it just went to a black screen. I tried to wake it up by pressing the play button and select button and nothing happen I need help. Thank you
Just ordered a new Fire TV generation with the latest firmware. Keeps dropping the signal.
I’m still on a very old firmware of a rooted Fire TV generation 1 and navigating the menu is much faster. Also Fire TV generation 2 remote is much flimsier and feels much more cheaper.
My initial impression of the Fire TV generation 2 has been pretty disappointing so far. Only reason I upgraded was to try all the new apps since I didn’t want to lose my root or go through the hassle of upgrading.
Ok come home wake up fire stick an it just jumps to a black screen. I’ve tried rebooting it nothing… I have a LG TV and stick is already connected to HDMI port.Can somebody help me pls
It seems that this is a recurring issue. I have the Latest software on the new FireTV Stick and am experiencing this problem. It works on my older TV, not on the newest one.
So Fire TV is intermittent (blank screen) and Fire Stick TV is not. At least that’s what we find on two different TVs. $99 vs $49 with decreased performance? We will be returning the Fire TV since it is flawed and very aggravating to watch/use. Shame on you Amazon!
My Firestick powered, then went to a white Amazon logo and then to a black screen. The reset (select and play for 10 secs) and system factory reset (right and back for 10 secs) did NOT work. I also tried the other HDMI ports but nothing worked. Someone posted about plugging power direct to electrical outlet, so I tried swapping out my cheap power strip instead withn a higher quality model and voila! The video came right up and has been working since!
Hi everyone. I have the same problem with the black screen on kodi 16. No matter what I did or reinstall the result was the same.
Last week I download Kodi Krypton 17 beta 5 and sideload it to my Amazon Fire TV. Kodi Krypton 17 showed splash screen and started without any problem. Of course I had to add all of the repos, but I’m not going to complaint. As of today, Kodi is still working.
Hope this helps.
I just purchased a brand new Samsung UHD 55″ 4K tv and the first time I plug in my rooted Fire Stick it shows Amazon symbol then after that goes to black screen. It’s plugged in HDMI and wall charger. What is the best way to correct this? So upsetting after purchasing a new tv and can’t watch my device. Help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Just purchased, 20th Dec 2016, I have an old LG. This happened to me, Amazon logo then black screen. Also the info bar says 720p 60Hz so I know it’s connected.
I went into the TV settings/setup whilst in HDMI input, went to ‘Option’ menu and down to ‘Mode Setting’ and then selected ‘Home use’ again.
It’s working!
Good luck, Nige.
This is so frustrating, have the Fire box which has been fine for 11 months, an update a few days ago killed it, there now seems to be some compatabilty issue with my TV.
Spoke to Amazon nonhelp line who said they would send a new box out, “won’t that have the same issue if you run the same firmware version” I ask, “no shouldn’t be a problem, call us if it does” was the reply.
New box arrived 2 days ago, set it up no problem, then it swanned off & updated & promptly died…. Been through same discussions with nonhelp desk & tell me no one else has this problem.
Was actually considering updating my TV but seeing recent comments I’m not sure that would be any use.
I had the same issue of intermittent blacking out of the video screen. None of the suggestions that I found on the Internet would work.
Here’s how I fixed mine:
Unplug all HDMI/AV connections to the TV except for the FireStick. Viola! Intermittent black screens are gone.
Hope this helps!
I got the latest version of Firetv last week. I have it hooked to my new Vizioc M series 4K through the 4K capable HDMI port. (It only has one 4K capable). The first few days no issues. Yesterday when I first switched to the fire tv port it was white static screen. I unplugged and rebooted and good to go. It did the white static screen an hour later in between episodes on Netflix as it was loading. I hit home a few times and the home screen finally showed. It happened again later waking it from sleep. I am not switching ports as I bought it solely for the capability to stream 4K. Definitely sucks. I may return and hope new one is better but from this thread I’m not hopeful.
Guys this happened to me this morning I guarantee you there is no need to buy any extra parts this can be resolved. I simply plugged my firestick into hdmi2 port as it was previously in hdmi1 then switched my firestick and tv off and on at the socket then it worked. Its just a connection error i reccomend anyone having this problem tries this before stressing good luck and hope this works for you
Thank god for your post Tina,I just experienced this problem and being out of work at the minute buying an extra part for my stick wasn’t an option for me. I did as you instructed and my stick is now working again, thanks again for posting this on here I’m very grateful for all your help :D
HDMI 1& 2 ports on my tv have this issue. I tried HDMI three and all is well.
If I wake up my AFTV I get a black screen and after 20-30 seconds it reboots automatically. After that time consuming process all works fine until next standby/wake up cycle. Man this is sh!t!
Tina’s fix worked for me to. I tried multiple things; different TV HDMI ports, different receiver HDMI ports, reset Fire TV, plugged Fire TV directly into TV and it would turn on display then plug it back into receiver and it would still go black. Once I unplugged everything from the wall and plugged it back in all worked fine (had the Fire TV plugged back into my receiver like it was when the issue started this morning).
the fix is to go to applications, choose amazon video, delete both data and cache then reboot firetv. Make sure to unplug firetv for 10 secs then plug again after reboot. Then video should work flawlessly.
Fire Tv worked great til about a week ago now nothing but a black screen. Amazon has sent 3 boxes and same thing. I see white amazon on screen then goes black. I have an LG TV older model. Has anybody figured out the cure??? Amazon Tech support is clue less.
Works just fine on other Tvs.
IM IN ARGENTINA, USING A PHILIPS 55 TV … USED IN ORLANDO AND THE FIRE WORKED OK… NOW I COME TO MY COUNTRY AND WHEN I TURN ON MY FIRE TV THE AMAZON NAME APPEARS AND THEN THE SCREEN GOES BLACK.. I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO
This info helped me, but mine was a little different. Apparently my Vizio TV forgot it was hdcp compliant. All HDMI inputs had worked for months, then all of a sudden all sources were returning a hdcp non-compliant message. Finally figured the problem was the TV. Turned it off, then back on and it did not fix it, had to actually UNPLUG the TV for a few moments and when it came back on all HDMI inputs were working!
Thank you! This worked. We had tried everything else, but unplugging TV did the trick.
My video and remote are working just fine but my display config is set way to large and I can get onto the screen to adjust it and my arrow keys won’t do anything to adjust the config
Pleas help. Tell me what to do!
Just connected my 2nd Gen Fire TV to a new Sony xbr-65x900e and I get the dreaded black screen after sleep. Restarting fixes it but that is a bit of a nuisance. I assume there is no obvious fix?
My fire tv stick’s sw is updated tonthe latest version 5.2.6.1. I noticed when i watch movies it is screen and sounds are intermittent. It displays black screen periodically. Please have this fixed in your next update.
Thank you
I have the Sony XBR 900e and 850e and both have this issues. The Amazon logo is in white then the entire screen goes black. Only solution I have found is to hold the power button on the sony remote for 10 seconds and it will completely shut down and restart and after that the Fire Stick fires up correctly. It works fine with my Vizio and Samsung TV’s just not the Sony Bravia.
So I’ve got the same problem … No display from Fire TV
The box was working perfectly.
I powered it off for a couple of weeks and when I attempted to use it again, it seems to power up, but there is no picture/menu/logo displayed.
Things I’ve tried so far:
1)Powered off and on again – no change. The light on front flashes normally and then stops flashing. No flickering/image on TV.
2)Pressed select “Select”+”Play” to reboot the box. I can see the LED go out and then come on again. No flickering/image on the TV.
3)Pressed “Up”+”Rewind” – I can see the LED on the AFTV change to orange and flashing for while, but again no image on the TV.
4)I can successfully ping the box from a PC.
5)I’ve disconnected all other HDMI cables from the TV and carried out all the tests above – no change.
6)I’ve disconnected the AFTV from the HDMI cable and replaced with a laptop – this works perfectly, I can use the TV from the laptop.
7)When the AFTV has gone to sleep/standby and the TV is switched off, pressing “SELECT” wakes up the AFTV and switches on the TV, but still nothing is displayed.
So it seems that the AFTV is functioning correctly and receiving commands from the remote, but it still refuses to display any image/picture/icon/menu, i.e. anything.
Any ideas? Something else I can try? Known problem? Can fixed by opening the box?
Thanks in advance
Thanks for your experimentation writing such a detailed, and comprehensive article on the issue – along with the interim solutions. It was really annoying and, at least now we know the problem has a workaround – until Amazon writes a bug fix.
I know this is an old post. On my much older Sharp Aquos TV, the Fire stick 2nd gen was working fine up until about a week or so ago. Now the Input 4 hdmi doesn’t detect a signal from the fire stick. The screen stays black. I press the home or select button to try to wake up the fire tv, but the screen stays the same. The TV only has two hdmi ports. The other hdmi, input 5, is for cable. Been reading the comments and unsure what to do. The fire stick has no problems on my newer Vizio. The Fire OS is 5.2.6.8
The Problem is Back in 2020