Black Screen on Echo Show- All Other Suggestions Tried

[neophlegm]

Plan

Premium

Country

UK

Device

Echo Show 5

My Question or Issue

Symptoms: Either using voice, or using the spotify app, to play music on my Echo Show results in a black screen. If by voice, I get vocal confirmation but nothing plays. If in the app, I can see and select the device and it will show (on the app on my phone) that playback is in progress, but the Echo Show displays a black screen only.

All my other Echo devices work perfectly.

Attempts so far:

Everything here, and in many other places. Summarised though

• Updated all software/firmware
• Removing and re-enabling and linking the Spotify skill (i.e. removing and relinking my Spotify and Echo accounts)
• Several soft and hard device resets
• Clearing cache
• Checking Spotify is default player and explicitly saying "spotify" in voice commands
• Tried on different network configs and WiFi (including using recommended Google DNS)

Would really appreciate the help as it's slowly driving me mad and it's the main place I use my Spotify account.

[Maria]

Hey there @neophlegm,

Thanks for posting on the Community & kudos for the troubleshooting you've tried!

We're gathering info about this from users who are experiencing similar issues around the forum. In order for us to investigate this further & report it to the right folks, however, we need some more details.

It would be great if you could send us a video showing how things look from your end. Should the files be too large to attach here in the Community, you can send them to us as unlisted YouTube videos or via Google Drive.

Also, did you notice if this happened after any specific points? For example - after an update to the device's firewire or to the Spotify app.

We'll keep an eye out for your reply.

[neophlegm]

Hi, no updates or anything that I was aware of. I just tried to DM you a link but the private message page doesn't seem to work? Could you message me and I'll send the vid?

[OscarDC]

Hey @neophlegm,

Thank you for keeping in contact. 

That's an odd behavior, the Private Messages (PM) seem to be working well on our end. So in this case, you can try it again from an incognito window or a different browser to see if it makes any difference. 

If you're still having a hard time sending a PM, you can attach the video to your next response by using the Insert Video option in the post editor. In addition, taking into account that you have a link to the video, feel free to paste it in your next response as well.

We'll be on the lookout. 

[neophlegm]

Link to video here

No luck with messaging. Picture attached of what I get attempting to chat. This example in (vanilla) Chrome on android. 

 

[MihailY]

Hey @neophlegm,

Thanks for the video!

Sorry to hear you're still having trouble with the PMs. From the screenshot you've sent, it looks like you're not logged into your account. Can you try tapping the "Log in" button at the top and let us know if it works then? You also need to enable PMs by following the steps in this guide.

Regarding your issue with the Echo Show, please check your device's settings and see if you have a toggle to turn off the screen when not in use. You can also try disconnecting your Spotify account from the Amazon app and when reconnecting, click on "Not you?" at the bottom of the login page and re-enter your login credentials. (these seem to have worked for other Amazon users facing the same issue here and here)

There are further similar reports on Amazon's forum (thread 1, thread 2) so it's a good idea to also check with their support team in case this is a known issue that they're still working on.

In any case, let us know how you get on.

[neophlegm]

Logging in didn't make a difference so I'm trying the 'enable PM' steps but I'm stuck in a loop. Accepting here...

Leads to here:

Which leads back to the consent agreement. I've disabled all my extensions just in case and also tried in private browsing.

I will try the solution above for the black screen issue but it's worth noting the linked problems aren't precisely what I'm experiencing. It seems very particular to trying to run Spotify: no other Amazon 'Skills' have the issue. I'm not saying it's not necessarily an Amazon problem though!

[MihailY]

Hey @neophlegm,

Thanks for your reply.

Agree the PM setting is a bit confusing since it leads you back to the consent page. I can confirm however that you've enabled them successfully, I've now sent you a test message.

Apologies for the threads, the issue is indeed similar, but not quite the same. In any case, it wouldn't hurt to try the troubleshooting and check with Amazon support. Please get back to us with the result so we can continue the investigation.

Appreciate your cooperation on this!