The Fire TV Stick is a useful gadget to turn your ordinary television into a smart one within seconds. However, this gadget might not be compatible with all TVs. Users have reported Fire Stick black screen in case of incompatibility. Yet, this is not the only case where the Fire TV Stick’s screen turns black.
Users have complained that a black screen popped out of the blue even though the Fire TV Stick used to work on their devices. It might be a loose connection, weak internet connection, software glitch, or something else that might have triggered a black screen on your Fire TV Stick.
Let’s check out how you can address the situation and restore your TV experience.
1. Examine the Input Source of Your TV
Perhaps, your television has plenty of HDMI ports, and you have connected the Fire TV Stick to any one of them. Now, you can see nothing but a black Fire Stick screen on your TV. The reason behind this might be that you have selected an HDMI port other than the actual port to which the Fire TV Stick is connected.
Double-check whether you have chosen the wrong HDMI source as input. If yes, ensure that you change the input source to the right HDMI port. Now, examine if you can enjoy your Fire TV Stick experience.
2. Change the Power and Other Accessories
It’s better to stick to the recommended configuration regarding Fire TV Stick’s connection. You can plug the gadget directly into the TV, but you should use the HDMI extender. Plug the Fire TV Stick properly into the provided power adapter through the USB cable or HDMI extender. In addition, take care of the connection, and it shouldn’t be loose.
You can try changing the power and other accessories if you think that they are damaged. However, you should go only for certified and recommended accessories for the Fire TV Stick. Or else counterfeit or third-party accessories might not be the best fit, and they can damage the gadget furthermore.
3. Restart the Fire TV Stick
Restarting a fire TV Stick might solve the temporary glitch. However, a Fire TV Stick doesn’t have a physical Power button. Thus, you have to detach the gadget from its power source to eliminate the Fire Stick black screen issue.
So, remove the Fire TV Stick from its power source. Let it rest for 30 seconds, and after that, you can reconnect the Fire TV Stick to its power source. This power cycle should resolve the temporary software glitch that occurred to your Fire TV Stick.
As an alternative, you can hold the round middle button or Select button and the Play button from the Fire Stick remote. Hold these buttons for 5 seconds, and then let them go off to restart the Fire TV Stick. Try this when the remote control is functional.
4. Try another HDMI Port
Chances are there that the HDMI port in use is defective. A power surge might damage an HDMI port, or it might have gone corroded. As a quick rescue, you might use another working HDMI port to fuel up your Fire TV Stick.
Simply plug the Fire TV Stick into a working HDMI port on your TV. Set up the gadget if required and check if it fixes the Fire Stick black screen problem.
5. Check the Internet Connection
A weak internet connection might interrupt your experience with the Fire TV Stick. And, you can encounter a Fire Stick black screen on your TV. The internet connections should be strong enough for streaming 1080p and 4K videos. And, the speed should be 10Mbps and 20Mbps, respectively, for streaming in 1080p and 4K.
You might be experiencing a black or buffering screen because of poor internet signals. Try troubleshooting such errors by restarting the network connection. Turn off the router and modem for a while. Then, restart the connection and check if it helps.
You can also call the Internet Service Provider and ask if anything is wrong right now. Otherwise, you can power cycle all the devices to retain a recommended connection.
6. Plug the Fire TV Stick into a Different TV
Your TV might be a problem too. You can be sure about this by testing the Fire TV Stick on a different TV. Connect the Fire TV Stick to another compatible TV and examine if that works. If it doesn’t, then your TV is fine, and the Fire TV Stick might be at fault.
7. Examine the Compatibility between the TV and the Fire Stick
Have you plugged in the Fire TV Stick for the first time into your TV and experienced a black screen? Well, incompatibility might be a factor behind this. You might notice a Fire Stick black screen when the TV’s HDMI ports don’t support the requirements.
For instance, any TV’s HDMI port should support at least HD or Full HD content to be compatible with Fire TV Stick 4K. So, the HDMI ports must handle 720p or 1080p content at a refresh rate of 50 or 60Hz. You need to check the HDMI port’s compatibility before you purchase the Fire TV Stick. Otherwise, you might experience a Fire Stick black screen.
You might purchase a compatible TV for your Fire TV Stick, but it will be an expensive deal. Therefore, Fire TV Sticks are not for older technology or TVs. Only new-generation TVs with the above-mentioned HDMI support will be the best option for Fire TV Sticks.
8. Update Fire TV Stick’s Firmware
Reportedly, outdated firmware of the TV Stick can create random glitches. An existing bug in the Fire TV Stick’s operating system can lead to a black and unresponsive TV screen.
If you can access Fire TV settings, then here’s what you can do to update the current firmware:
- Navigate to the Fire TV Stick Settings.
- Next, choose the option that says, ‘My Fire TV’.
- After that, locate the About option and choose ‘Check for updates’.
The Fire OS will start looking for any available firmware or update automatically. If it finds anything, then it will install the update, and you can check if the Fire Stick black screen appears anymore.
9. Clear Cache
Overflowing cache files on Fire TV applications might prevent the Stick from performing normally. Check out the following steps to clear the cache on Fire TV apps:
- Head towards Settings on your Fire TV screen.
- Next, choose the Applications option.
- Navigate to the Manage Installed Applications option.
- Select the app whose cache you want to clear.
- Afterwards, choose Clear Cache, followed by Clear Data.
Wrapping Up…
Check if the Fire TV Stick overheats, and that might be the reason you can view a black screen. Unplug the gadget and let it cool down before you insert it again. Additionally, you should check out Amazon servers to find out if they are problematic.
No matter how hard you try, you can see a Fire Stick black screen with down Amazon servers. Otherwise, you might have to replace the fire TV Stick after getting it checked by an expert.
