Troubleshooting for SMP-S

There are many reasons why a screen may be black. The first things to check are mostly obvious:

• Is there power to the Player and the display?
• Is the HDMI cable connected between the player and the display?
• Is the display set to show the desired video input?

If the player's boot sequence (which includes a Scala logo on the upper right) is visible, but the display then goes black:

• Make sure that the display resolution set in Player configuration is correct and supported by the display
• If the Player is set to auto-logon but has the wrong password, then the screen will be black. (Moving the mouse will cause the mouse pointer to appear). From a fresh startup, you can successfully login to fix the problem with the following sequence:
  
  • Press <Enter>
  • Type the correct password
  • Press <Enter>
    
• Check Content Manager for the following:
  • Is there a channel assigned to the Player?
  • Is there content scheduled to play? Look for expired items, empty playlists, missing timeslots, etc. Double-check the player's timezone.
  • Has the player been communicating? (Players that cannot reach their Content Manager for 30 days can go black.)

Depending on the display resolution and the scaling setting, the OK and Cancel buttons in the Player Configuration tool may have been pushed off the bottom of the display. Here are some things you can do, in Windows Settings, under System then Display:

• Change the display resolution to a setting taller than 720 pixels
• Reduce the scaling setting ("Change the size of text, apps, and other items") to 100%

You can always use the hotkeys (Alt+O for OK, Alt+C or ESC for Cancel) even if the buttons are not visible.