Black screen after installing image 4.6 on Pi 4 B w/ 4GB

[calikw]

Hi everyone-

Just got the Pi 4 after using an ODROID for a while and am having some difficulties with the prebuilt image install.

After the image is loaded on the SD card and installed, the drive partition resizes, reboots, displays the Pi logo, runs the startup sequence, displays the retropie logo, then goes back to the sequence, gets to the command Reached Target Login Prompts, displays the disclaimer, then the screen goes black and never comes back.

Unplugging and replugging the power, the issue repeats.

I know Pi4 is still in beta, but it seems some folks have been able to get it installed okay. Would appreciate any help/advice out there! Thanks!

Pi 4 B w/ 4GB
OEM Power supply
Retropie 4.6 prebuilt image for Pi 4 downloaded from site, md5 confirmed
Using SanDisk Extreme 32GB

Dell monitor attached via HDMI to left hand port (closest to power port)
USB keyboard attached

The image was downloaded from retropie website and installed on the SD card using ApplePiBaker and Etcher. Tried them both separately, both verified the image copy, and both had same problem happen.

Config file from the SD card below:

# For more options and information see
# http://rpf.io/configtxt
# Some settings may impact device functionality. See link above for details

# uncomment if you get no picture on HDMI for a default "safe" mode
#hdmi_safe=1

# uncomment this if your display has a black border of unused pixels visible
# and your display can output without overscan
#disable_overscan=1

# uncomment the following to adjust overscan. Use positive numbers if console
# goes off screen, and negative if there is too much border
#overscan_left=16
#overscan_right=16
#overscan_top=16
#overscan_bottom=16

# uncomment to force a console size. By default it will be display's size minus
# overscan.
#framebuffer_width=1280
#framebuffer_height=720

# uncomment if hdmi display is not detected and composite is being output
#hdmi_force_hotplug=1

# uncomment to force a specific HDMI mode (this will force VGA)
#hdmi_group=1
#hdmi_mode=1

# uncomment to force a HDMI mode rather than DVI. This can make audio work in
# DMT (computer monitor) modes
#hdmi_drive=2

# uncomment to increase signal to HDMI, if you have interference, blanking, or
# no display
#config_hdmi_boost=4

# uncomment for composite PAL
#sdtv_mode=2

#uncomment to overclock the arm. 700 MHz is the default.
#arm_freq=800

# Uncomment some or all of these to enable the optional hardware interfaces
#dtparam=i2c_arm=on
#dtparam=i2s=on
#dtparam=spi=on

# Uncomment this to enable infrared communication.
#dtoverlay=gpio-ir,gpio_pin=17
#dtoverlay=gpio-ir-tx,gpio_pin=18

# Additional overlays and parameters are documented /boot/overlays/README

# Enable audio (loads snd_bcm2835)
dtparam=audio=on

[pi4]
# Enable DRM VC4 V3D driver on top of the dispmanx display stack
dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d
max_framebuffers=2

[all]
#dtoverlay=vc4-fkms-v3d
overscan_scale=1

[calikw]

Whelp, I went back into the config and uncommented hdmi_safe and it's displaying the welcome screen now.

Are there any config changes I should make or do I just need to keep hdmi_safe on all the time?

[mitu]

You left out the most important part - what TV/Monitor are you using ? If the resolution is not detected by the Pi, then you can configure it in config.txt - see this page for the available resolution list and how they can be added to config.txt.
hdmi_safe just forces a 640x480 resolution and ignores the EDID info reported by the display, which may not be ideal.

[calikw]

@mitu Thank you for the information. The Pi is currently connected to a Dell U241 monitor, but I also tried connecting to a Sony 4K LCD TV as well.

On the Dell monitor, I altered the config so that hdmi_safe was commented out again, and set hdmi_group=2 and hdmi_mode=68. This monitor supports 1920x1600 at 60Hz so I assume that would be a good match. When the Pi is booted with this new config, the startup screen is shown at a much higher resolution, but when it gets to the part where ES would start, the screen once again goes blank.

I still seem to only be able to get ES to start if hdmi_safe is enabled.

[mitu]

@calikw said in Black screen after installing image 4.6 on Pi 4 B w/ 4GB:

hdmi_group=2 and hdmi_mode=68

Since this is a TV, I'd recommend using

hdmi_group=1
hdmi_mode=16

[calikw]

Thank you again. I will try those settings with my TV and report back.

With the Dell U241 computer monitor, do you have a recommended setting I should try since the 1920x1600 @ 60Hz did not work (although it should based on how I use the monitor for my desktop computer)?

[mitu]

@calikw said in Black screen after installing image 4.6 on Pi 4 B w/ 4GB:

1920x1600 @ 60Hz

Is your monitor really working at 1920x1600 @ 60Hz? The settings you used set a 1920x1200 @ 60h mode for the monitor, but your monitor has a native 1080p display, so you should be using (for DMT)

hdmi_group=2
hdmi_mode=82

[calikw]

Yes, the monitor is indeed working at 1920x1600 @ 60h. I've gone through and tested several different combinations of the hdmi group and mode, but none of them worked except hdmi_safemode.

However, I discovered by slowly manually turning on the safe mode options that disabling the EDID detection seems to fix the problem. With EDID detection ignored, all of the settings that I could not get to work before now work for me. So I guess I'll leave the EDID disable on for now.

hdmi_ignore_edid=0xa5000080

Thank you for your patience and help in assisting my troubleshooting!

[calikw]

Hi @asksolutions01 !

It was fixed using the information in the thread above. I had to disable the EDID detection and add manual configuration settings on my display via the config file.

This is also the info from the online documentation:

hdmi_ignore_edid
Setting hdmi_ignore_edid to 0xa5000080 enables the ignoring of EDID/display data if your display does not have an accurate EDID. It requires this unusual value to ensure that it is not triggered accidentally.

Link to the documentation website

[A Former User]

This post is deleted!