In-home streaming produces an entirely black screen for most modern games. Known workarounds don't work.

[airscottie]

I went through the checklist on this page to fix the "black screen" issue to zero success: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=3629-RIAV-1617

I've searched pretty much every page I can find on the issue, including alt-tabbing in and out, alt-enter to expand to full screen and out, creating a borderless display, loading on different monitors, increasing the packet size, and lessening the resolution - NOTHING works. I've also tried wired and wireless on both ends.

These games somehow work: Life is Strange, Witcher 3.

Nothing else works at all, including: Firewatch, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Fallout 4, and pretty much every other modern game (Witcher 3 was an anomaly).

I don't know what to do. The streaming simply doesn't work. My client computer is a Vaio laptop that was refurbished in 2013, host is an overclocked Skylake beast at 1440p. And no, changing the resolution to 1080p or even trying to boot Steam on a different monitor doesn't work.

What the hell is going on with this? Why is this so hard? I absolutely love the feature bit it just doesn't work as intended. Anyone have any ideas?

['eavy Metal]

I'm actually having very similar issues. The screen is either completely black or freezes at whatever the 'splash screen' for the game is. I'm also using a Skylake host machine, Core i5 6500, running Windows 10 and a GTX 760.

Sometimes changing my encoder settings helps (e.g. Downwell works in Software but not Hardware encoding... and inversely, The Witness works in Hardware but not Software encoding) but other games don't work at all (Cities: Skylines).

Some insight would be much appreciated!

[kreiselhoschi]

Don´t know, but all of those not working games do feature a launcher, don´t they?

Here´s a workaround that might possibly help you: start the game on your host, click away the launcher and once it runs, click stream on the client. Good luck!

[airscottie]

Originally posted by kreiselhoschi:

Don´t know, but all of those not working games do feature a launcher, don´t they?

Here´s a workaround that might possibly help you: start the game on your host, click away the launcher and once it runs, click stream on the client. Good luck!

Good idea, but doesn't work in practice. In addition, Firewatch has no launcher but isn't working either. For games with a launcher, sometimes the launcher WILL show (in full screen, oddly enough, even if it's not on the host machine) and then once the game loads it goes to all black.

[kreiselhoschi]

Strange thing is that games having issues while using IHS work as a charm when I stream them to my Shield TV using Nvidia streaming service provided by GeForce Exprience.

Sorry I was not able to help here.

[airscottie]

No problem. At least you tried. This seems to be a pretty widespread issue yet there's very little info out there about it beyond Steam's BS faq and a few forum posts.

[MasterMind]

hmm i came up with a fix for black screens using autohotkey and streaming the desktop directly, then launching the game...not sure if it will work for you but its worth a shot...I need to update the file to reflect months of changes but it shouldn't take me very long...I'll post the link when it's done if anyones interested...it may help...it may not but i find streaming the desktop and running games directly usually works better...plus autohotkey adds alittle more control over the stream...I have suspected for awhile that the black screens are basically caused by the link partially breaking...input doesn't work...screens black...requiring a shutdown and reloading of the stream...My autohotkey script will lock the stream to the desktop...and when the black screen happens it'll force focus onto another window, then the desktop again, effectively correcting the link....also fixes games that have black screens on exit too for desktop streaming...they've supposedly fixed some black screen issues however i still get them from time to time without my autohotkey file running the stream....so hopefully running the game while desktop streaming is active will fix this...however if it does not I may be willing to invest some time in making a fix for this...if its possible...

[airscottie]

Ok thanks for trying. When you post the link I'll check it out.

[MasterMind]

whats your hosts resolution and your clients resolution? Do you set them the same when streaming?

[airscottie]

Set the same, yeah. I have mulitple monitors on the host (1440p and 1080p) but have tried adjusting and just using the 1080p monitor. The client laptop is 900p, but I have it running to a 1080p television. Doesn't work on either. I plugged in my girlfriend's 1080p laptop, which didn't work either. I even tried a higher resolution MacBook Pro, which also didn't work.

[MasterMind]

hmm ok is the games resolution set to the hosts? Meaning is it changing the resolution on the host when the game starts? The script i've made can automatically adjust resolutions and such at the start of the desktop stream...however just to start with the basics we can try the script with just the basics...i'll have it up within the hour ok...

[MasterMind]

Heres the link https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/55243858/1-DESKTOP.exe
It's already precompiled...just place it on your desktop, go into steam and add a non steam game...point it to 1-DESKTOP.exe, when thats done goto the client and run it from there to stream it....once at your desktop on the client launch the game you want to play from there and let me know what happens...this is more designed to fix the start of desktop streaming and fixes when you exit a game and the stream breaks, with a black screen...however running the game from desktop streaming may fix your issue...if it does not let me know what game it is thats the problem and i'll try and come up with a solution...

[MasterMind]

if your unsure and know how to compile autohotkey scripts i'll provide the source if necessary...

[MasterMind]

Specific game you want to test this on? I've added to the script to apply the black screen fix while a game starts, however its setup only to work on games in a list within the script...I've tested this on GTA V repeatedly and it seems to be working but I don't get a black screen starting it up so you'll have to test it on a game your having problems with...you can either tell me the game that has the problem or i can give you the source and you can add it yourself...let me know

[Bruecke]

Have the same Problem with Dirt4.
Does your solution also fits to Dirt4?

[Monodex]

Slight Necro, but I have solved this issue for me. When streaming certain titles, I see the blizzard client icon in place of the game and a black screen is all i get. Closed the blizzard client and 0 issues with every game Ive tried. Hope this helps!