Black screen or no picture

Symptom

You connected to a device as an operator, but the session window shows a black area instead of the remote screen, or a Waiting for video… badge appears at the top. Sometimes the picture comes through but goes black when the other person locks the screen or an administrator approval prompt opens.

Likely causes

• Lock screen, sign-in screen or UAC prompt: Windows shows these screens on a separate, protected desktop (the secure desktop). If the client runs as a normal app, it can't capture them.
• The service isn't installed or has been stopped: to see the lock screen, the sign-in screen and UAC prompts, the client must run as a service.
• Wrong session (RDP): if the computer is also used over Remote Desktop (RDP), the client may be capturing a different Windows session than you expect.
• Screen sharing permission not granted on an Android device.
• Privacy screen: if the person on the other side says their own screen has gone dark, this isn't an error; the privacy screen may be on.

How to fix it

1. Install service mode

If the client on the remote computer shows Service not installed for admin support:

1. Click Install in the warning.
2. Give administrator approval in the User Account Control (UAC) prompt.
3. Wait for the Service installed — admin support ready. message and connect again.

Once the service is installed, the lock screen, sign-in screen and UAC prompts are also visible to the operator. See Set up unattended access for details.

2. Start a stopped service

If the client shows Service stopped — remote access is off, click Start and give administrator approval.

3. Choose the right session (computers used over RDP)

When the Polpo Desk service is installed on the remote computer, you choose which session you see when you connect. In the Connecting to device… window (where you wait for approval or can type the session password), pick one under Session to show:

• Active session (default): the signed-in desktop (e.g. RDP).
• Sign-in screen: the sign-in/lock screen on the computer's own physical console.

If you get a black screen or the wrong session, you can also switch during the session: choose Switch to sign-in screen or Switch to active session in the Actions menu. Polpo Desk restarts in that session on the remote computer, and the console reconnects automatically within a few seconds without asking for the password again.

4. Android devices

The Android client asks for screen sharing permission with a system dialog at the start of every session. The person at the device must approve it; if they decline, no picture comes through. See Android TV and phone client for details.

5. Check the privacy screen

When the operator turns on the privacy screen, the remote computer's own screen goes dark and shows a message, while the operator keeps seeing the real screen. If the other side sees a black screen, turn off the privacy screen from the session toolbar. See Privacy screen for details.

6. Update the client

On some graphics cards and on systems using HDR or more than one GPU, the first picture can come through black; the client detects this and switches to an alternative capture method on its own. If the problem continues, update the client on the remote computer to the latest version: Updating the Windows client.

When to contact support

If the service is installed, the right session is selected and the client is up to date but there is still no picture, contact us. Attach the log file from the remote computer: C:\Windows\Temp\polpodesk-native.log in service mode, %TEMP%\polpodesk-native.log in normal mode. To open a support request, see Creating and tracking a support request.