# Black Android TV Screen



## marsh1n (Oct 30, 2002)

I've been using the Tivo Stream 4k for about 48 hours so far. One of the issues I'm having is the Android TV screen is black after the device has been on for a few hours. It's really annoying since you have to reboot the device by unplugging it and plugging it back in to get it back. 

Is anyone else experiencing this problem?


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## jimpmc (Oct 31, 2001)

marsh1n said:


> I've been using the Tivo Stream 4k for about 48 hours so far. One of the issues I'm having is the Android TV screen is black after the device has been on for a few hours. It's really annoying since you have to reboot the device by unplugging it and plugging it back in to get it back.
> 
> Is anyone else experiencing this problem?


Yes, it has happened to me a couple of times. I did find a way to get it working without unplugging it, as that is a pain in my setup. For me, Google Assistant was still working, so I would press that, tell it to Open Settings. From there you can either Restart the device under Device Preferences/About, or go into the Apps menu, See All Apps, show System Apps, and then Force Stop the AndroidTV Home.


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## yaggermr (May 11, 2020)

marsh1n said:


> I've been using the Tivo Stream 4k for about 48 hours so far. One of the issues I'm having is the Android TV screen is black after the device has been on for a few hours. It's really annoying since you have to reboot the device by unplugging it and plugging it back in to get it back.
> 
> Is anyone else experiencing this problem?


+1


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## SugarBowl (Jan 5, 2007)

+1


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## marsh1n (Oct 30, 2002)

jimpmc said:


> Yes, it has happened to me a couple of times. I did find a way to get it working without unplugging it, as that is a pain in my setup. For me, Google Assistant was still working, so I would press that, tell it to Open Settings. From there you can either Restart the device under About, or go into the Apps menu, show System Apps, and then Force Close the AndroidTV Home (or Launcher, I can't remember and I'm not with the device at the moment)


This is a huge help. Thanks. Unplugging it is a huge hassle.


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## CMH (May 7, 2020)




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## cybergrimes (Jun 15, 2015)

I haven't seen any black screens since I did this:
Guide: How to remove "TiVo Recommended" row from home screen


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## Nels (May 20, 2008)

I got this unit on Saturday. Set it up and the picture quality was great. But then the problems started.
1. As others have noted, after I turned the TV off it would randomly turn back on again. And there was not way to shut if off except by unpluging the power. 
2. For the past two days when I tried to turn it on I just get a black screen. All I can do is switch the input. No other buttons do anything.
3. I guess I'll be sending this back to TiVo.


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## BillyClyde (Mar 3, 2017)

Are all of you powering it using the USB on your TV instead of using the included power brick?

I noticed I had no black screens the whole time I used it in another room with the power brick, then I moved it to a bedroom tv and just decided to use the TV’s USB port, which worked initially but then today, the next day it was turned on, I then had my first black screen on the Android TV home screen. 

Maybe not having the proper power is the cause? TiVo does say you must use the supplied power adapter.


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## pldoolittle (May 2, 2002)

Started with me last week. Using the supplied adapter. This behavior is limited to the Android TV app.

FWIW, small PCs with power management, notably the Raspberry Pi, will act strangely with low power. This is common when one grabs any random USB supply on hand. Took me awhile to figure this out. I was using a 2.1A and the Pi needed 3.0. It would fail only when load passed a certain threshold. 

This behavior, in my case, is limited to the Android TV app. That suggests a bug.


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## jimpmc (Oct 31, 2001)

cybergrimes said:


> I haven't seen any black screens since I did this:
> Guide: How to remove "TiVo Recommended" row from home screen


Same here. I had it happen a couple of times in the first week of use. Since I removed the suggestion bar, I have not had any black Android TV screens with continual usage over the past 2 weeks.


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## pldoolittle (May 2, 2002)

Done. Hope it works.


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