Home Gaming Xbox One black screen? There’s a simple fix!

Xbox One black screen? There’s a simple fix!

1 min read
85

Have you tried turning it off and on again?

The most recent Xbox One update – which largely removes that awful sharpening effect – seems to have an unintended consequence. A number of users have found that it causes their consoles to output nothing but a black screen. don’t worry – your expensive, shiny new Xbox One hasn’t just become a brick. Microsoft is aware of the problem, and has a quick workaround for you.

If you’re experiencing nothing but black screens on your Xbox One, the solution is simpler than you might imagine, and exactly the sort of base troubleshooting that should happen anyway.

A Microsoft spokesperson has said to Kotaku:

“We are aware of the issue and are working on a resolution. This does not appear to be widespread, but can be addressed by the player by holding the Xbox One power button on the console for 10 seconds to restart.”

This is a very similar “fix” to the one required to get the Xbox One up and running again when its memory gets overloaded and games stop loading. Yup, a simple power cycle.

The update, which went live on February 11 allows users to better manage their games and apps, has a battery level indicator for controllers, USB keyboard support and “Significant performance and stability improvements.”  The most important issue though, the scaler that was producing poor, over-sharpened image quality in some upscaled games has been fixed, making Xbox One games look just that little bit better.

Last Updated: February 19, 2014

85 Comments

  1. TiMsTeR1033

    February 19, 2014 at 07:47

    Ms can’t seem to do anything right lately, really worries me what they have become.

    Reply

    • ToshZA

      February 19, 2014 at 08:01

      Well what’s happened here is that their Windows OS ethos has now transferred onto their other platforms or business areas. It was only a matter of time man.

      Reply

      • TiMsTeR1033

        February 19, 2014 at 08:04

        I just wish the same people who made the 360 could of made the Xbox One… kept things similar but more powerful and better.

        Reply

        • ToshZA

          February 19, 2014 at 08:07

          I must agree. The 360 hit all the right buttons, pun intended.

          Reply

          • Black

            December 13, 2014 at 16:46

            Yes. I love the 360!!

        • General JJ the ashamed

          February 19, 2014 at 08:22

          I have to agree.

          Reply

          • azure

            February 19, 2014 at 09:21

            Yup… We all loved the failure rate and constant issues 😀 RROD… Bring it on!

          • General JJ the ashamed

            February 19, 2014 at 10:06

            Have a pc luckily and only played on friends’ Xbox 360’s. 🙂

    • RinceandLeSIGH

      February 19, 2014 at 08:47

      While I agree even SONY have had issues with updates, it’s part of the territory (least I mention the millions of user info that has been stolen through SONY’s shoddy firewalls).

      Reply

  2. Matewis Jubilai

    February 19, 2014 at 07:52

    “What kind of operating system does it use?”
    “Err… it’s… Vista”
    “We are going to die!”

    Reply

    • RinceandLeSIGH

      February 19, 2014 at 08:47

      You shut that mouth of yours! *cries in corner

      Reply

      • General JJ the ashamed

        February 19, 2014 at 09:00

        I thought they would’ve upgraded all Rinces by now to at least Win 7.

        Reply

        • RinceandLeSIGH

          February 19, 2014 at 09:03

          Rince runs on Rum OS 9000+

          Reply

          • HvR

            February 19, 2014 at 09:08

            with the iGinger package?

          • Captain GUZ

            February 19, 2014 at 09:39

            lvl UP

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            February 19, 2014 at 09:39

            Is that a Linux-based OS? Because that would explain why are you constantly running Wine.

          • RinceandLeSIGH

            February 19, 2014 at 09:43

            *Whine 😉 Fixed for you 🙂

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            February 19, 2014 at 09:44

            Actually no, you didn’t. You ruined it. :/

          • General JJ the ashamed

            February 19, 2014 at 10:07

            That’s what she said

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            February 19, 2014 at 10:17

            *buff nails on chest*

    • Captain GUZ

      February 19, 2014 at 09:36

      vista what a load of byll

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief in Vegas

        February 19, 2014 at 09:40

        *vista
        *bull

        Reply

        • Captain GUZ

          February 19, 2014 at 10:26

          STOP

          Reply

  3. Mossel

    February 19, 2014 at 08:00

    LOL! IT Crowd win! Have you tried turning it off and on again?

    Reply

    • Captain GUZ

      February 19, 2014 at 09:33

      turing it off and on FTW

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief in Vegas

        February 19, 2014 at 09:40

        *turning

        Reply

        • Captain GUZ

          February 19, 2014 at 10:23

          soz I’m on leave so drinking time , spelling -100%

          Reply

          • Mossel

            February 19, 2014 at 12:30

            Drinking at 10 in morning. I love me some day drinking!

          • Captain GUZ

            February 19, 2014 at 16:27

            What……….. time is just anthother number

  4. trueLies

    February 19, 2014 at 08:03

    as always the xbox one proves yet again it has a lower resolution this time 0pixels @ 0fps

    Reply

  5. Lardus-Resident Perve

    February 19, 2014 at 08:19

    My first thought after reading the heading, was “Turn on your TV”. What is it with MS on this console? Other than the awesome controller, have they done ANYTHING right the first time?

    Reply

  6. General JJ the ashamed

    February 19, 2014 at 08:21

    I thought buying something else would be the best fix. Trolololo

    Reply

  7. Sir Rants A Lot Llew. Jelly!!!

    February 19, 2014 at 08:24

    I’m surprised MS didn’t put this down as a feature as they did with their mobile skype update.

    “Receive messages even when skype is closed” (and logged out).

    “See a black screen even when your console is on!”

    Reply

    • HvR

      February 19, 2014 at 08:34

      The Xbone black screen is the latest innovative MS development to reduce power consumption and make it more eco-friendly.

      Reply

    • TiMsTeR1033

      February 19, 2014 at 08:35

      Its the future!

      Reply

  8. TiMsTeR1033

    February 19, 2014 at 08:30

    gees what’s with the downvotes today?

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      February 19, 2014 at 08:31

      Butt hurt.

      Reply

      • JustAnotherGamer

        February 19, 2014 at 08:53

        butt hurt salty xbots.

        Reply

    • Captain GUZ

      February 19, 2014 at 09:38

      down votes =SPforever
      only relavate pc gamers

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief in Vegas

        February 19, 2014 at 09:41

        *relevant

        Reply

  9. Hammersteyn

    February 19, 2014 at 08:32

    That’s a fix for most Windows issues. So it seems legit that it would work for their console.

    Reply

    • HvR

      February 19, 2014 at 08:35

      This is so close to the truth for Windows 8 it isn’t even funny.

      Reply

      • TiMsTeR1033

        February 19, 2014 at 08:36

        Windows 8 a piece of crap. 8.1 I believe is alot better though.

        Reply

        • HvR

          February 19, 2014 at 08:38

          I didn’t have the time or balls to upgrade yet.

          I’ve just got 8.0 to play nicely with the drivers, I can now unplug my network cable and switch to wifi with out restarting.

          Reply

          • TiMsTeR1033

            February 19, 2014 at 08:40

            I am just glad using win 7 at work.

          • Admiral Chief in Vegas

            February 19, 2014 at 08:48

            I’ve never had any issues with 8.0, lots of the bugs I had in 7 are gone now

          • HvR

            February 19, 2014 at 09:04

            Nobody cares for your opinion IT minion.

            Everybody knows IT guys are paid by the NWO with porn featuring Bill Gates to promote Windows 8.

          • Admiral Chief in Vegas

            February 19, 2014 at 09:21

            dafuq is your problem dude?

            In any case I prefer Win8, starts up faster, no incompatibilities, and I’ve used every version of Windows out there

          • Kromas

            February 19, 2014 at 09:27

            Also 8 is best when using USB3/SSD/Multiple screen layouts since support is native.

          • Admiral Chief in Vegas

            February 19, 2014 at 09:32

            Agreed, so very much agreed!

          • Kromas

            February 19, 2014 at 10:46

            And the red screen of death is much more refreshing than the blue screen of death … oh wait that’s BF4 not windows. 😛

          • HvR

            February 19, 2014 at 09:30

            Only joking. I’m grumpy middle age man who doesn’t like change.

            On Win8, I think my biggest issue is that MS is changing Windows into iOS. Forcing interfaces and adding abstraction layers, probably better for everyday use but if you do more it gets in the way.

            Now MS is slowly converting me into a filthy Linux fanboy hippy.

          • Admiral Chief in Vegas

            February 19, 2014 at 09:32

            Haha, in any case, there are some annoyances, and I still use the older ways of accessing things, not the new fancy schmancy apps and so forth.

            Next time when you are on Win8, press and hold Windows key + X for an awesome menu

          • HvR

            February 19, 2014 at 09:57

            Actually my biggest gripe with MS is forcing me what OS to use.

            For instance with my current laptop I knew I was going to endless headaches and frustrations due to the software and custom peripherals I use with Windows 8.

            But due MS policies no vendor was allowed to sell me a new win7 license.

            Two major problems I did have with Win8 though (both fixed now), is that not all settings were available (or clearly available) in the classic control panel interfaces and in the Toddler interface. There was a problem in handing over from one network interface to the other, under certain conditions it will not hand over and get “stuck”.

            Also when not needed or prompted I normally only restart my machine only once a week so I couldn’t care less about fast start up times.

          • Admiral Chief in Vegas

            February 19, 2014 at 10:00

            Indeed, I actually only reboot when software install prompts it, rest of the time running like a baws

      • Hammersteyn

        February 19, 2014 at 08:40

        LOL it’s been the case since Windows 95. I think 3.1 was the most stable release yet.

        Reply

        • TiMsTeR1033

          February 19, 2014 at 08:41

          Windows Me wasnt too bad

          Reply

          • Admiral Chief in Vegas

            February 19, 2014 at 08:48

            I really hope you are kidding else you are banished to the dunce corner for a month

          • Kensei Seraph Moe Ninja

            February 19, 2014 at 08:57

            He’s probably never used any other version and even when he did use ME it was for 15 seconds.

          • Kromas

            February 19, 2014 at 09:26

            Windows Me had a personality of its own. That being said the personality was of an emo cutting himself to relieve the pain.

          • Hammersteyn

            February 19, 2014 at 09:28

            What?

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            February 19, 2014 at 09:28

            No he’s right. What would you rather have, WinME or incurable lung cancer?

          • Hammersteyn

            February 19, 2014 at 09:48

            Not much of a choice :/

          • TiMsTeR1033

            February 19, 2014 at 09:29

            I never said was good! wasnt too bad… Would you say vista was better or say Win 98

          • Hammersteyn

            February 19, 2014 at 09:48

            Win98

        • HvR

          February 19, 2014 at 09:07

          Well for non-gaming XP (after SP whatever) is the best choice for stability and compatibility.

          I think it is because it takes MS 7 years of development cycles to get a product right, probably why the 360 is good console.

          Reply

  10. A 2 Brute?

    February 19, 2014 at 08:35

    Solution, don’t buy an Eggs Box at all…. Huehuehuehue

    Reply

  11. JustAnotherGamer

    February 19, 2014 at 08:40

    720p to black! All hail the EGGSBAWKS OWNED!

    Reply

  12. Hammersteyn

    February 19, 2014 at 08:40

    XBOX One as in one colour. Black!

    Reply

    • TiMsTeR1033

      February 19, 2014 at 08:41

      Didn’t you hear black is the new green!

      Reply

      • ToshZA

        February 19, 2014 at 08:42

        You can have your screen in any colour, as long as its black.

        Reply

  13. RinceandLeSIGH

    February 19, 2014 at 08:51

    Suppose the team behind the update are feeling like this now… http://stream1.gifsoup.com/view3/3181329/it-crowd-jump-o.gif

    Reply

    • General JJ the ashamed

      February 19, 2014 at 08:59

      Seems about right

      Reply

    • Kensei Seraph Moe Ninja

      February 19, 2014 at 09:12

      My favourite has got to be the reaction of the front right guy. He watches his colleague walk up to the window, goes “Oh he’s letting in some fresh air” and then stares outside and as soon as he realizes what is going on he makes as though he hasn’t seen anything.

      Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      February 19, 2014 at 09:27

      Is that Peter Molyneux’s integrity?

      Reply

  14. Alien Emperor Trevor

    February 19, 2014 at 09:07

    Reboot to fix problem. So the Xbone is basically a Win PC? Who’da thunk it.

    Reply

  15. DrKiller

    February 19, 2014 at 09:22

    “USB Keyboard support”… For games or chatting?

    Reply

  16. Captain GUZ

    February 19, 2014 at 09:32

    Ya…… XBOX off, thats what u say

    Reply

  17. Gavin Mannion

    February 19, 2014 at 14:43

    ” USB keyboard support ” This is going to be awesome for searching on Netflix and Hulu…

    Reply

  18. James Jenkins

    June 11, 2014 at 02:04

    Nothing happened , when i turn on the xbox one its just a black screen it shows the xbox one logo at start up soon after its just a black screen with no audio.

    Reply

  19. steven

    September 3, 2014 at 04:52

    Yeah this did not work for me at all.

    Reply

  20. Just Another American

    September 4, 2014 at 18:30

    Been doing this since Windows ’95. Nothing new from Microshaft. Anybody making a Linux Playstation?

    Reply

  21. ssjchaseutley

    November 6, 2014 at 16:28

    Actually, that worked like a charm.

    Reply

  22. MJX

    January 18, 2015 at 19:25

    My Xbox one will not turn off and is not showing anything on the tv the controllers won’t connect to the xbox and the only way to turn it off is to un plug it .its showing blue screen no signal.

    Reply

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