Computer screen goes dark for few seconds after restart

[L33T]

Checking if there was any graphics driver update. I had some what similar issue and i found out there was a new buggy update from nvidia that was causing one of my monitor to go blank.

 

[Scorpion Ghost]

If it happens after a restart, it must be one or more Windows process in the background, which runs after a restart/boot, e.g. update check. The issue is RAM related as you thought. How long do you usually wait before you start launching the programs? Wait more until the system is fully loaded and all background Windows processes finished their thang. While 32 GB of RAM is plenty, but 57 programs are a lot to run, they can get only 500 MB each. Maybe consider adding more RAM.

If you don't want to start all those programs manually everytime, make a batch file with all of them and don't forget to put delays between starts or use the "pause" command: https://stackoverflow.com/a/5535154

Yes always after a restart.

Well, I guess I never wait very long at all. Usually I start opening the programs immediately after the computer starts up (don't wanna waste any time you know )

The programs are Firefox Portables. As far as I know they're intensive heavy on the resources.

I don't need to add more ram. The issue I'm having is not really an issue. Everything works perfectly. It's just a waste of time that after every restart I start opening the programs, then the black screen pops up, then I close all the programs, and then I open them again. It's an unnecessary jerkoff that could be avoided. Buying more ram is overkill just to "fix" this. Besides, I don't think that would fix it anyway, but who knows maybe.

Open task manager then click on performance tab and open performance monitor.

do that when it starts up, and watch the memory usage, disk activity and processor.

look out for either the available ram going to zero, the processor maxing out or the disk queue peaking at 10 or more. Then you might pinpoint the issue.

I must admit though it sounds like graphics, and possibly the graphics is using some of the ram and the ram is running out causing the graphics to struggle? It may just be that on start up, many processes are consuming ram and perhaps not releasing it quickly enough, hence it running out.

but then once you close and re-open the programs, it’s only the program usage rather than programs SND other startup tasks.

anyway, I’d definitely be looking at performance monitor first off.

Okay I'll check that thanks

idk what everyone else above me said but as a computer repair specialist, its hard to say with that info you gave but I think it would be lucky to say you have a cpu heatsink thermal paste bond problem or the Hard drive/ssd you're running has a problem. I'd start with that and if you are running windows, do a quick defrag https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+run+a+defrag

Edit: After reading everything above me I would suggest not clicking on 57 programs when starting, try to go in groups of 5-10 but holy heck dude who runs 57 programs. check your ran and wait like 2 mins between opeining each group. maybe like set us a script to do so.

You should be good. It just sounds like you are chocking the ram when starting up and opening all of those.https://smallbusiness.chron.com/ram-affect-fast-computer-starts-up-69760.html

tl;dr: check ram as starting programs and/or wait like 5 mins after you computer fully starts

Well, I can't really click all 57 at the same time. I usually start the first 20-30 programs fairly quickly, and then with a 3-4 second delay on the rest of them one by one.

I think I'll wait a few minutes after I restart the computer next time and see how that goes, seems to be given advice by all. Because even though I don't have any program starting on startup that I know of, who knows what background fuckeries Windows is involved with.

Checking if there was any graphics driver update. I had some what similar issue and i found out there was a new buggy update from nvidia that was causing one of my monitor to go blank.

Honestly, I don't think it's the graphics. I think it's the ram tripping on acid

 

[Scorpion Ghost]

So I restarted the computer, waited about 8 minutes and opened task manager and clicked the performance tab.

I have CPU going between 0-5%, I have RAM sitting at 5%.

Down lower I have Utilization at 0%, and for some reason I have "Processes 120," and "Threads 1060," and "Handles 37244"

What are all these processes and threads and handles? I just restarted the computer, nothing is running on it at all.

So that's mindfuck 1.

And mindfuck 2 is I got some notification from Windows saying: "Display driver failed to start. Display driver failed to start; using Microsoft Basic Driver instead. Check windows update for a newer display driver."

Sooo I guess I'll try to update my display driver. And if anyone can tell me why are those processes/threads/handles at such numbers?

 

[Scorpion Ghost]

So normally I have windows updates disabled. Because updates are ALWAYS bad news wherever you encounter them (social networks, wordpress, windows, it's a constant thing. Updates are the devil )

I enabled updates to see if the display driver gets found/updates. I did the updates and restarted the computer twice.

Eventually I started opening my programs, and at program 38 I got the black screen. Then as I was closing down the programs I got the notification that display driver failed to start.

I went in device manager and my NVIDIA GeForce 210 display adapter ha the yellow mark thing on it, telling me there's a problem.

I clicked to update driver, did the search, and it tells me:

"The best drivers for your device are already installed.

Windows has determined that the best driver for this device is already installed. There may be better drivers on Windows Update or on the device manufacturer's website"

So I clicked to search for updated drivers on Windows Update. I did the search and it says I'm up to date, there's no drivers. It's no wonder, as I just did all the updates that were available 30 minutes ago.

Soooo...

Do I have to go look for updated drivers on NVIDIA's website now? Ohhh jesus...

 

[Scorpion Ghost]

I went on NVIDIA's website and downloaded a driver that should support my graphics card. But after running the installer I got:

"This NVIDIA graphics driver is not compatible with this version of Windows.

This graphics driver could not find compatible graphics hardware."

Awesome...

 

[cheva]

Other than the absolutely necessary ones I would disable all programs from the Start-up tab in the task manager. Also in the services set everything non-critical to manual rather than automatic.

 

[Scorpion Ghost]

So I right clicked the NVIDIA icon in my taskbar, then clicked to check for updates. It says "No new updates are available."

However in the updates tab/window I have:

"Available driver - 12/14/2016, Version: 342.01"

And I have:

"Installed - 8/25/2019, it doesn't say version"

There's a button next to the Available driver, so I clicked to download. It's downloading 300 MB. When it downloads I'll try to install it.

My graphics card is quite old. I bought it second hand and the only reason I bought it was because my motherboard didn't have an integrated one and after putting together the entire computer I could not get it to display on any monitor so I bought this graphics card just to get the computer to show up on a monitor so that I can actually use it.

 

[Scorpion Ghost]

The installer worked this time. It installed a bunch of shit. PhysX system software, 3D vision controller driver, HD Audio driver, graphics driver, NVIDIA GeForce experiencce, 3D Vision Driver.

Anyway, I restarted the computer now and let's see what the hell we did...

 

[Scorpion Ghost]

Ok after restart in Device Manager the graphics driver looks good. No more yellow checkmark on it.

I started turning on my programs and at program 30 I got the black screen.

I went to NVIDIA in taskbar and searched for updates, and it seems to find a newer version. But when I click to download it I get "Unable to connect to NVIDIA. Try again later"

MOTHERFUCKER!!!

I restarted the computer and tried doing the update again, but now it says that my GeForce driver is up to date. And in Device Manager it looks good.

Started opening programs, and on program 41 I got the black screen. HOWEVER, I checked all the programs and they didn't bug out. I don't have to close and re-open them all now, they didn't bug out

And then as I opened program 57 I got the black screen and most of the programs got fucked. Now I gotta close and open them all again...

And AGAIN I got the notification that display drivers failed to start...

So then I closed all programs and opened them again AND FASTER then I was doing before, and they all opened fine. And I can sense the computer is running a little faster and a little smoother after the black screen thing.

I wish I knew what happens with the black screen to put the computer in gear...?

 

[HoNeYBiRD]

I wish I knew what happens with the black screen to put the computer in gear...?

It happens, because you max out the RAM by starting that many programs in a short time frame, when it disappears, the RAM usage is normalized, the FF instances finished the launch process and they're idling waiting for you to start the macros. If it disappears at all and you don't have to restart the machine again. lol Programs usually use a lot more RAM, when launching compared to when idling or sometimes even when running a task. Plus if you don't wait for the system to fully load, Windows processes will require some RAM too until they finished, whatever they're doing after booting. They occupy the RAM and induce a high disk usage, now if you launch a lot of programs on top of this, that's when all hell breaks loose. And that's why it only happens, after a system boot/reboot.

Those are browser instances you're starting. You have 32 GB RAM total and you run 57 instances, that's roughly 500 MB per instance, the system uses some RAM too. Browsers are notorious RAM consumers, without you noticing, they can use a lot more RAM than half a giga, multiple times that.

I think, the solution was already posted: start the instances either one by one leaving the needed delay between starts or start them in smaller batches, start only 5 at the same time, wait for them to fully load and only then start the next batch. 32 GB RAM should be able handle that. If it works like this, try 10 instances maybe and when you found the safe number, which doesn't cause black screen, make a batch file of starting x instances at the same time, then insert a pause command:

Start FF1
Start FF2
Start FF3
Start FF4
Start FF5
Pause
Start FF6
Start FF7
Start FF8
Start FF9
Start FF10
Pause
....and so on

The pause command is there, so you can check, if the instances are fully loaded and just after that start the next batch. If you create this batch file, you make your life a lot easier, because you only need to run the .bat file compared to starting 57 browsers manually.

And if anyone can tell me why are those processes/threads/handles at such numbers?

Modern systems have many programs running in the background. The vast majority must be Windows processes and some belong to drivers, if you didn't install anything else and your system is not infected. Look for them with the name of the .exe on Google, you can find out what those are and whether it's safe to kill some of them and remove them from the startup programs. But it shouldn't make too big of a difference honestly. You have 32 GB of RAM, the system uses maybe 2 GB, so this is not the issue.

 

[HiPurple]

This graphics driver could not find compatible graphics hardware."

Update your drivers. (You should do this regularly anyway, e.g. with DriverMax Free).

https://www.drivermax.com/download.htm

 

[jaintb]

https://www.drivermax.com/download.htm

i think it is best to download drivers from the official site and don't use 3d party..
run a ramtest (MemTest86)
you can check the gpu for errors or overheating ( furmark)
You can check the logs to see any other information.

 

[Scorpion Ghost]

It happens, because you max out the RAM by starting that many programs in a short time frame, when it disappears, the RAM usage is normalized, the FF instances finished the launch process and they're idling waiting for you to start the macros. If it disappears at all and you don't have to restart the machine again. lol Programs usually use a lot more RAM, when launching compared to when idling or sometimes even when running a task. Plus if you don't wait for the system to fully load, Windows processes will require some RAM too until they finished, whatever they're doing after booting. They occupy the RAM and induce a high disk usage, now if you launch a lot of programs on top of this, that's when all hell breaks loose. And that's why it only happens, after a system boot/reboot.

Those are browser instances you're starting. You have 32 GB RAM total and you run 57 instances, that's roughly 500 MB per instance, the system uses some RAM too. Browsers are notorious RAM consumers, without you noticing, they can use a lot more RAM than half a giga, multiple times that.

I think, the solution was already posted: start the instances either one by one leaving the needed delay between starts or start them in smaller batches, start only 5 at the same time, wait for them to fully load and only then start the next batch. 32 GB RAM should be able handle that. If it works like this, try 10 instances maybe and when you found the safe number, which doesn't cause black screen, make a batch file of starting x instances at the same time, then insert a pause command:

Start FF1
Start FF2
Start FF3
Start FF4
Start FF5
Pause
Start FF6
Start FF7
Start FF8
Start FF9
Start FF10
Pause
....and so on

The pause command is there, so you can check, if the instances are fully loaded and just after that start the next batch. If you create this batch file, you make your life a lot easier, because you only need to run the .bat file compared to starting 57 browsers manually.

Modern systems have many programs running in the background. The vast majority must be Windows processes and some belong to drivers, if you didn't install anything else and your system is not infected. Look for them with the name of the .exe on Google, you can find out what those are and whether it's safe to kill some of them and remove them from the startup programs. But it shouldn't make too big of a difference honestly. You have 32 GB of RAM, the system uses maybe 2 GB, so this is not the issue.

Thanks for taking the time to answer such a comprehensive answer man, appreciate it.

Waiting for the computer to fully load makes no difference. I thoroughly tested that yesterday. I waited and waited, multiple restarts, windows updates, graphics update, and each time the one-time black screen after opening 30+ programs was inevitable.

How long I wait between opening each program makes no difference. If I go slower I'll just extend how long before the black screen hits. If I go super fast I'll get blacked around window 30. If I go slower, by window 57 it will happen.

Only AFTER the black screen thing the computer works good 100%. I wish I knew why so I can fix it without having to every time open 30/40/50/57 programs, get black screen, close 30/40/50/57 programs, open 57 programs, run 57 programs. What a jerkoff.

Now, this:

It happens, because you max out the RAM by starting that many programs in a short time frame, when it disappears, the RAM usage is normalized, the FF instances finished the launch process and they're idling waiting for you to start the macros. If it disappears at all and you don't have to restart the machine again.

This doesn't seem to be the case. Because after the black screen I have to CLOSE ALL FF INSTANCES AND REOPEN THEM. So they haven't opened and are sitting idle waiting for me to run my macros. I can't run the macros after the black screen because the browsers I managed to open lose their shit. I can't click on menu tabs, I can't click on any extension that should open a popup, nothing. So I have to close all the browsers and reopen them. And in fact, when I reopen them after the black screen I can open them faster than before, they open faster, they load faster, it all works better. But why?

 

[HoNeYBiRD]

when I reopen them after the black screen I can open them faster than before, they open faster, they load faster, it all works better. But why?

Recent data read from the hard disk are cached in RAM, because there is a good chance that they will be read again soon. This reduces the need to read from the physical disk. Over time these cached data are replaced by other data, that has been read more recently. But if you re-open a program right after closing it, most or all of the data from the disk is in the cache, so it comes in much more quickly than reading it off the disk itself.

 

[hustlenomics916]

It may be your graphics card or I would try to reset cmos

 

[Scorpion Ghost]

Recent data read from the hard disk are cached in RAM, because there is a good chance that they will be read again soon. This reduces the need to read from the physical disk. Over time these cached data are replaced by other data, that has been read more recently. But if you re-open a program right after closing it, most or all of the data from the disk is in the cache, so it comes in much more quickly than reading it off the disk itself.

FUCK! YES! Forgot about the cache. That's it, you're right.

So we have a diagnosis, what's the cure? Taking my sweet time opening the programs?

Here's what I'll do. On the next restart in 2-3 days I'll really take my time between opening the programs. I mean, I'll do 30+ seconds in between each program. Then the black screen issue shouldn't arise. If it does, well, anyway I'll try it and report back when I do with the results.

Cheers

 

[HoNeYBiRD]

FUCK! YES! Forgot about the cache. That's it, you're right.

So we have a diagnosis, what's the cure? Taking my sweet time opening the programs?

Here's what I'll do. On the next restart in 2-3 days I'll really take my time between opening the programs. I mean, I'll do 30+ seconds in between each program. Then the black screen issue shouldn't arise. If it does, well, anyway I'll try it and report back when I do with the results.

Cheers

Yea, try that. It should work.

 

[Scorpion Ghost]

Yea, try that. It should work.

I tried it.

I waited a few minutes after the computer restarted. Then I opened the programs very slowly with 10+++ seconds delay between each program. At program 43 I got the black screen.

So that's not it. Something else happens to cause this.

And now (like every time) I will close all the programs. And then I can open them even with just a 2 second delay and there will be no black screen and no issues.

Maybe, I don't know, maybe the computer doesn't get overclocked properly when it starts, and then when it's pushed after a certain demand it gets overclocked = black screen = and then it stays overclocked until I restart it again.

I don't know. I'm just guessing here.

 

[Scorpion Ghost]

Yea, try that. It should work.

I just learned how to create a batch file and created one that opens all 60 programs (I increased it to 60 programs now ) with a 6 second delay between each.

It's good because save me a lot of time. Until now I was always opening all programs manually like a moron.

Oh well. But still, the process of restarting the computers now is:

Restart computer -> Run batch file -> at some point after program 30 get black screen -> stop batch file -> close all programs -> run batch file

When that process is completed my programs are all opened and ready for use. If I could figure out what the black screen shit is all about I could eliminate the part in Red from the process :/

 

[HustleTong]

Any auto-startup utilities, maybe. They tend to open up while boot.