# Black screen, can only see screen in safe mode



## JoshuaVH (Apr 1, 2017)

Out of nowhere my screen turned black when watching a video and ever since I have been getting a blackscreen when starting my pc. 
I have reinstalled windows but the problem still occurs on every startup. 
I have tried going into safe mode and uninstalling the display driver but when I start my pc I get a blackscreen after about a minute and after that the blackscreens occur right on startup.
When in safe mode however, I can use the pc perfectly and I get no blackscreen.


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## lochlomonder (Jul 24, 2015)

By virtue of the fact this is working in Safe Mode but not Normal Mode, this suggests to me there's an ongoing issue with the video driver. What's the make & model of the PC? Does it have a discrete video card or does it use onboard video?


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## JoshuaVH (Apr 1, 2017)

lochlomonder said:


> By virtue of the fact this is working in Safe Mode but not Normal Mode, this suggests to me there's an ongoing issue with the video driver. What's the make & model of the PC? Does it have a discrete video card or does it use onboard video?


My video card is the Radeon R9 290x (4GB)

EDIT: I have tried to install the correct driver for this graphics card but whenever I try to do so I get another blackscreen before the installation finishes. I have kept the pc running while it did so but after restarting the pc sometime later the same problem still occurs.


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## lochlomonder (Jul 24, 2015)

For starters, I would recommend logging on in Safe Mode and downloading the AMD Clean Uninstall Utility. Running this will remove all vestiges of the AMD drivers and software and will necessitate a reboot afterwards.

*Before* running the aforementioned utility, please download the drivers applicable to your card from here (either 32- or 64-bit, depending upon your operating system).

Once you've downloaded the drivers, run the Clean Uninstall Utility, wait until prompted to reboot, and then do so. Try logging in under Normal Mode and run the driver installer.


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## JoshuaVH (Apr 1, 2017)

lochlomonder said:


> For starters, I would recommend logging on in Safe Mode and downloading the AMD Clean Uninstall Utility. Running this will remove all vestiges of the AMD drivers and software and will necessitate a reboot afterwards.
> 
> *Before* running the aforementioned utility, please download the drivers applicable to your card from here (either 32- or 64-bit, depending upon your operating system).
> 
> Once you've downloaded the drivers, run the Clean Uninstall Utility, wait until prompted to reboot, and then do so. Try logging in under Normal Mode and run the driver installer.


I have just tried this and while in normal mode and installing the driver, my screen turned black again and it staying black


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## lochlomonder (Jul 24, 2015)

Okay, there may be an issue with the driver package. It's not the first time I've seen AMD drivers screw up like that. Go back into Safe Mode, re-run the Clean Uninstall utility, reboot, and then log on in Normal Mode. See if Windows 10 will recognise the card and install drivers for it. This may take some time, so be patient.


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## JoshuaVH (Apr 1, 2017)

lochlomonder said:


> Okay, there may be an issue with the driver package. It's not the first time I've seen AMD drivers screw up like that. Go back into Safe Mode, re-run the Clean Uninstall utility, reboot, and then log on in Normal Mode. See if Windows 10 will recognise the card and install drivers for it. This may take some time, so be patient.


I went into Safe Mode and ran the Clean Uninstall utility and after going back into Normal Mode it indeed took a long time for Windows 10 to recognise the card and install drivers for it. But when it did my screen turned black again and now every time I start my pc in Normal Mode I get the regular blackscreen again after about a minute in Normal Mode.


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## JoshuaVH (Apr 1, 2017)

I have noticed (after going back into Safe Mode and running the Clean Uninstall utility) that my blackscreen occurs the second my pc installs the drivers


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## JoshuaVH (Apr 1, 2017)

Another note: When the drivers are uninstalled and I go back into Normal Mode while the hdmi cable is plugged into my graphics card, I see the screen (until it installs a driver and it turns black), however when I plug the hdmi cable into my motherboard I get no screen at all until I plug it back into my graphics card where I do get a screen again (until it installs a driver and my screen turns black again). The same thing happens when doing this with a VGA cable.


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## 122660 (Apr 1, 2017)

Check under Device Manager and uninstall the driver from Display Adapter and reboot the system and windows will automatic reinstall the Display Adapter driver


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## JoshuaVH (Apr 1, 2017)

122660 said:


> Check under Device Manager and uninstall the driver from Display Adapter and reboot the system and windows will automatic reinstall the Display Adapter driver


As stated in an earlier response, I have already tried doing this and it resulted in me still getting blackscreens


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## lochlomonder (Jul 24, 2015)

UGH! This is why I moved away from AMD-based cards and back to Nvidia. Who manufactured the card? Do you still have old drivers you can try instead of the latest available for the card?


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## JoshuaVH (Apr 1, 2017)

lochlomonder said:


> UGH! This is why I moved away from AMD-based cards and back to Nvidia. Who manufactured the card? Do you still have old drivers you can try instead of the latest available for the card?


It is manufactured by ASUS and no I do not have any old drivers available. Because of the blackscreen problem I have formatted my entire pc and reinstalled windows (yet I still have the blackscreens)


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## lochlomonder (Jul 24, 2015)

Try downloading the drivers directly from ASUS. You can find them here.


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## JoshuaVH (Apr 1, 2017)

lochlomonder said:


> Try downloading the drivers directly from ASUS. You can find them here.


I did the Clean Uninstall and when back in Normal Mode I installed the driver directly from the ASUS website but on installing my screen just turned black again and stayed black


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## lochlomonder (Jul 24, 2015)

Can you post the details for the System Information Utility for your PC specs? From what I've read, this has been quite an issue for AMD-based cards with lots of people complaining about black screen issues. How old is the card? What's the power rating on the PSU? Have you physically checked the card to ensure it's running freely and not clogged up with any dust? Have you tried disabling any antivirus software you're running when you attempt to install the software?

It might also be worth trying Display Driver Uninstaller in Safe Mode in case the AMD utility is not cleaning out all vestiges of the software and drivers.


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## JoshuaVH (Apr 1, 2017)

lochlomonder said:


> Can you post the details for the System Information Utility for your PC specs? From what I've read, this has been quite an issue for AMD-based cards with lots of people complaining about black screen issues. How old is the card? What's the power rating on the PSU? Have you physically checked the card to ensure it's running freely and not clogged up with any dust? Have you tried disabling any antivirus software you're running when you attempt to install the software?
> 
> It might also be worth trying Display Driver Uninstaller in Safe Mode in case the AMD utility is not cleaning out all vestiges of the software and drivers.


*Details for the System Information Utility:*
Tech Support Guy System Info Utility version 1.0.0.4
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro, 64 bit
Processor: AMD A10-7850K APU with Radeon(TM) R7 Graphics, AMD64 Family 21 Model 48 Stepping 1
Processor Count: 4
RAM: 8114 Mb
Graphics Card: Microsoft Basic Display Adapter
Hard Drives: C: 931 GB (882 GB Free);
Motherboard: ASRock, FM2A88M Extreme4+
Antivirus: Windows Defender, Enabled and Updated

*Card age:* +/- 3 years
*Power rating PSU:* 80 Plus Gold
- The card is running freely and is not clogged
- I have tried disabling the antivirus when installing the software (after another failed attempt I turned it on again so thats why it is noted as enabled in the information above)
- I have tried the Display Driver Uninstaller in Safe Mode after running the initial AMD Cleanup Utility however this still resulted in me getting a black screen upon installing the graphics driver (I have tried both installing it myself and waiting until my pc does this automatically)


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## lochlomonder (Jul 24, 2015)

Since the chip incorporates onboard graphics, how about removing the card physically from the PC and going through the process of setting up the AMD drivers to the point you can get it working in Normal Mode. Only after that is working properly can you try progressing to the next step of reintroducing the discrete graphics card to the system.


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## JoshuaVH (Apr 1, 2017)

lochlomonder said:


> Since the chip incorporates onboard graphics, how about removing the card physically from the PC and going through the process of setting up the AMD drivers to the point you can get it working in Normal Mode. Only after that is working properly can you try progressing to the next step of reintroducing the discrete graphics card to the system.


I have done this and it worked perfectly without the GPU plugged in. However when I plugged the GPU back in I got another blackscreen before even getting to the desktop. Could it perhaps be a faulty GPU?


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## lochlomonder (Jul 24, 2015)

> Could it perhaps be a faulty GPU?


It's possible, but it could also be a conflict between the onboard graphics provided by the APU and the discrete graphics provided by the card. When you first installed the card, did you have to change anything in the BIOS to denote the graphics source to be used by the system?


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## JoshuaVH (Apr 1, 2017)

lochlomonder said:


> It's possible, but it could also be a conflict between the onboard graphics provided by the APU and the discrete graphics provided by the card. When you first installed the card, did you have to change anything in the BIOS to denote the graphics source to be used by the system?


I did not have to do that when first installing the card no


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## lochlomonder (Jul 24, 2015)

Sorry, I've run out of ideas as to how I may help you.


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