Hi all,

I seem to be facing a black infotainment screen randomly once a month or so. It isn't a disaster, but it's surprisingly annoying and frustrating. I tried a few tricks I've found mentioned here and there to reset the system, but nothing worked, and instead so far it has only resolved a day later, by itself as if nothing was ever wrong.

Are there any reliable ways to wake the screen back up?

A related question: If you don't install a Pivi update (I'm currently being urged to install 4.2, but that doesn't address the problem), will the next update that comes along replace the offer, or do you have to install each update incrementally before the next becomes available?

Thank you.

 

What methods have you tried to reset the system? Just want to make sure I don't tell you to do something you've already tried.

 

The main one I've seen elsewhere and tried is holding down the volume control button for at least a minute. This actually does reset the Pivi system, but the screen remained blank after repeated tries. After reset, the screen is seen to be on (you can see the LCD glow), but nothing is presented. The driver's console is unaffected.

Of course, I also tried shutting down the car and restarting, but that didn't fix it, at least right away. All black screen events resolved by itself by the next day, so leaving it off for some unknown time seems to help.

 

I saw another thread about this. It seems that people can't reliably get it going again by resetting the system, etc. It's such a ridiculous bug (can't even turn on the screen!?) that it's rather shameful that it hasn't been properly fixed.

What seems to happen, as I've found myself, is that leaving the car off and idle for some unknown period of time will resurrect it. I haven't found that locking it is necessary. But anyway, that "solution" is not helpful if you actually want or need to drive somewhere.

Has anything else worked for anyone?

 

If the volume button doesn't work, I'd disconnect the battery under the passenger seat for a bit. The only time when a standard Pivi reset didn't work, I disconnected the battery for ten minutes or so and it fixed the problem I was having.

 

Only recovery method I have found is shut the car off, lock the doors, and let it sleep 15-20mins. Center screen should light up and act normally afterwards. Annoying bug, especially with the lose of the cameras when reversing. I did find that the parking sensors still work, however.

I upgraded to 4.2 and experienced the black screen once since the update. It's been a few weeks though so maybe it is more stable now? I feel like I just jinxed myself.

 

Do the update!

I had this issue monthly, after my last update a month or so ago I haven't had it happen once.

 

Unfortunately, this happened to me quite often about a year ago during the first few months I had the Defender. I’ve noticed that if I get out of the truck, lock it using the key fob, and wait for the hazard button’s illumination to turn off, I can then unlock it and the center screen comes back on without any issues. It seems that the hazard button illumination indicates the ECUs have gone to sleep. It’s quite annoying because it takes what feels like 5 minutes or more for that to happen.

 

Ok, so now I have the same issue as described here in this thread. Last year during a full 12 month period of a brand new custom order Defender 110’s ownership, I had this happen to me maybe once or twice max. Now it’s already happened to me twice in less than a week’s time. That’s not a good ratio. What the heck is going on here? I have always had (and still do have 3) Mercedes cars with the Command screen ranging from 2006–2018 and none of those has ever had this problem. Any idea how to stop this problem permanently?

 

When it happens, I’ve mainly used the engine shutoff/door lock/wait 5 mins or so method. I keep the software updated and the occurrences are less frequent than when I first got the vehicle. Not convenient, of course… Cincy’s suggestion is a good idea if you’re having frequent issues.