How to debug a black screen

[CptKirk]

This is starting to happen quite ofter and it is getting annoying. Something will be on and then suddenly black screen. A few seconds later it is back. Audio keeps playing while screen is black. It is random.

I've got hdhomerun prime - hd3000 - onkyo sr876 receiver - panasonic tc-p60 tv

If it is the receiver or tv I'm pretty much screwed.

I'm going to start noting down date/time stamps of when it is occurring, then start going through log files.

I can get to the log files for sagetv server and opendct.

Is there a way to get log files from a hd300?

Thanks

[KryptoNyte]

Hi, Kirk,

If you were to locate the recorded program that exhibits the problem on the SageTV server in Windows Explorer, are you able to play that file on the Windows computer by simply double-clicking on it (using VLC or Windows Media Player)? Does it also exhibit the black screen video cutting in and out in the same way you see it on the HD300?

[Tiki]

Have you tried skipping backward and replaying the segment to see if it stays black in the same spot? If it does, it would indicate a problem with the recording. If it plays OK, it would indicate a hardware problem of some sort.

I actually had a similar issue recently and traced it to the TV. I found it was a problem with one specific HDMI port in the TV (the problem went away when I plugged into a different HDMI port, and came back if I used the original port).

[stuckless]

I've seen this happen in my house as well... Sharp TV and MiBox2. I've often wondered if it's something do with the HDMI/HDCP. For me, if I see this happening, I can generally reboot the MiBox and things are good then for a couple weeks... and then randomly... it starts happening. I've never really tried using newer HDMI cables. I really don't think it's the video files themselves, since it happens so randomly, and, after a reboot, I'll resume to a few seconds before where it glitched, and it's now fine. I really do suspect that it's a software/hardware issue in the TV/MiBox (in my case).

If you google something like "HDCP black screen with audio" You'll see lots of different results with people having the same issue.

[RonBoyd]

I have the same issue periodically with our ROKU Ultra. The only cure I have found is to unplug the unit and plug back in. (Refresh doesn't work.)

[CptKirk]

Thanks for the feedback folks. Going to start the debug dance. Hopefully, I'll be able to track it down.