Black Screen

from Stardock Forums

Hi all, I have a problem So when there is no monitor connected to the client computer the multiplicty window appears black. When I connect a monitor then everything works fine. I use Multiplicity KVM not seamless. I have a small rendering farm with 8 clean install machines with 3ds max only. and windows firewall, windows 10 pro 64 (1803) -  I reinstalled Multiplicity,  i ran the bat file and updated the video card drivers.   All the slave machines have one screen plugged in from a physical KVM. If there is no monitor plugged in multiplicity displays a black screen. If i turn the monitor on with my real world KVM then Multiplicity works. This in my point of view points to some windows or display driver changes from the last update ...

I used multiplicity for 3 years in the exact same machines every day. I came back from holiday and after a few windows updates it doesn't work. 

I tried to press the monitor on the window and ctrl - alt - back space but it is not doing anything my screen remains black. The keyboard input passes through so (when i plug a monitor i see the task manager's green screen.) The switch monitor icon is grayed out. 

 

BEst  

 

multiplicity
16,980 views 6 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,

Sorry to hear you are having trouble.


I tried to press the monitor on the window and ctrl - alt - back space but it is not doing anything my screen remains black.

I have really not seen that not work, where Ctrl + Alt + Backspace (in combination with the alt monitor button) did not render the remote desktop.

That said (and perhaps not to the extent you want to test), these HDMI emulators should resolve the issue.  They are dirt cheap as well:

https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=hdmi+emulator&tag=googhydr-20&index=aps&hvadid=229087316358&hvpos=1t1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7290124805200557823&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9016897&hvtargid=kwd-298657188227&ref=pd_sl_8sv9d7soo7_b_p37

----------------
Sean Drohan
Stardock Customer Service Manager

Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

Yes the ctrl - alt - backspace doesn't do anything to wake up the screen.  The alt monitor says none found . 

Thank you i ordered the emulators and i hope it will be back to normal.   

The Political Machine 2024
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

Alex - did the emulator resolve this for you?

I am seeing the exact same issue.  All was working normally, then I left for a few weeks of vacation, return home to a lot of Win10 updates on both PCs, and now, my secondary machine MUST have a monitor plugged in, or the primary gets a black screen.

The connection stays active, but the screen is black.  Key strokes still transmit to the secondary from the primary.  There is just not video appearing to the primary - black screen. 

If I connect with the primary to the secondary while the secondary has a monitor plugged in (HDMI), KVM works normally.  If I unplug the monitor from the secondary, it stops updating video in the primary's KVM window.  If I plug the monitor back into the secondary, all resumes normal functionality.

Is there no setting anywhere to adjust this / correct this?  From what I can see, this breaks Multiplicity entirely for me, and I suspect we aren't the only ones.

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Yes all my machines work now with a dummy dongle . Except one. 

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

I suspect I will end up ordering one, then.  Thanks for the quick reply, Alex.

 

Sean, there are clearly multiple cases of this occurring - any ideas what changed in the update and if there is a software setting to remedy this as opposed to needing a physical dongle?

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting aphazia, reply 5

Sean, there are clearly multiple cases of this occurring - any ideas what changed in the update and if there is a software setting to remedy this as opposed to needing a physical dongle?

No and the 'fix' I posted earlier does works for most (Ctrl + Alt + Backspace and / or using the switch monitor option) - the dongle is a last resort option that I have only had to recommend a few times.

MP is not the only app that was affected by the changes made to Win10 and how headless PCs were handled:

Example:
https://superuser.com/questions/1280854/how-to-add-a-virtual-primary-monitor-in-windows-10

https://superuser.com/questions/947291/can-a-fake-second-display-be-enabled-in-windows-10

As you can see, there used to be a way to trick Windows...

One post I found interesting, however, was this:

https://superuser.com/questions/1286758/creating-a-fake-display-on-windows-10

I have not tried 'SpaceDesk' (or any other software that seems to simulate a monitor attached via software) but it would be interesting to see if it solved this problem.  I would be VERY interested if you were willing to try it and let us know.

----------------
Sean Drohan
Stardock Customer Service Manager

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