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Electronic Theatre Controls Inc

Internal or External Screen of Apex Console goes dark

Symptoms/Issue

In the middle of programming, one screen of an Apex console suddenly goes dark.  The backlighting of the screen may remain lit, but nothing appears on the screen.

Description/Explanation of Issue

There have been occasional reports of this issue early in the rollout of Apex consoles.  Known causes include

Fix/Solution

If the screen returns to normal operation after a few seconds, it has recovered from the interruption and should continue to operate normally.  No further action is needed.

 

If the screen does not return to normal operation after 60 seconds, proceed with these troubleshooting steps:

Record the following information:
  • Date/Time the screen goes out
    • Press [Displays]+[Record] to put a "pin" in the logs if running the Eos application
  • What (if anything) was happening around that time (such as use of 2-way radios, plugging in USB thumbdrives, moving the monitors, etc)
  • Which screen is dark/off
    • If the screen is External, which DisplayPort connection is it plugged into
    • If the screen is External, are adapters being used
  • Whether the backlight appears on or not
  • Whether the mouse can appear on the dark screen
  • If touching the dark screen selects things / moves the pointer to the touched location - that is, if touch input is still working properly
    • This test can be performed any time prior to rebooting the console to avoid accidental input on Magic Sheets, Direct Selects, etc
Once it is safe to exit out of Eos software:
  • Exit to the Welcome Screen and verify if the monitor works
  • Navigate to Settings > General > Monitor Arrangement > Identify to see if a big white letter appears on that screen
  • Navigate to the Touch Screen Test in Shell > Settings > Maintenance to see if it displays properly (blue screen with white popup)
  • Once it is possible, reboot the console to see if the monitor immediately works again.
If, after that testing, the issue is persistent with the internal monitors then please email eos@etcconnect.com or call Technical Services to determine if replacement eMotion display driver is necessary. They will ask for the serial number of the console and any other notes you have taken on this issue. 

 

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