Apple TV 4K Recovery Mode with Blank Screen

Question

Apple TV 4K Recovery Mode with Blank Screen

Why does Apple TV 4K 3rd generation go into recovery mode with a blank screen if I hold down both back and play/pause buttons at the same time on the remote for six seconds and trigger over-the-air recovery on the iPad and then ask for the 6-digit code from the TV screen? I cannot enter the code from the screen because the screen remains blank while the Apple TV light blinks slowly. I got out of recovery mode and restarted back to normal mode by holding down the back and home buttons on the remote for six seconds. After restarting back to normal mode I checked the analytics data in settings and found log files that begins with forceReset-Full and when I open the file it show a large amount of analytic data.

Apple TV 4K

Posted on Sep 26, 2024 7:38 PM

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Answer 1

Sep 27, 2024 6:55 AM in response to Keith Weisshar

Why does Apple TV 4K 3rd generation go into recovery mode with a blank screen if I hold down both back and play/pause buttons at the same time on the remote for six seconds

What else did you expect from that button combination? A restart? That is the legacy (deprecated) combo. And you did hold it too long (>5). This combo is not described in the current regular-user Siri Remote documentation. Please learn the current combos, see below.

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Siri Remote button functions for end users:

Use your Siri Remote with Apple TV - Apple Support

Siri Remote button combinations for end users:

Restart just the Siri Remote: TV + Volume Down button.
Pair the Siri Remote (again): Back (or Menu) + Volume Up button.
Restart the Apple TV box: Back (or Menu) + TV button.
Change video settings (resolution) until a valid one is found: Back (or Menu) + Volume Down button.
Take screenshot (for games): Pause/Play + Volume Up button. (Can also be assigned to game controller buttons. Meant to be shareable from within the app, to iCloud Photos.)

Siri Remote button combinations for developers:

Running analytics: Pause/Play + Volume Down button.

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Answer 2

Sep 29, 2024 3:19 AM in response to Urquhart1244

The blank screen occurs if I did not have the monitor's HDMI input set to Apple TV via the OSD and then I switch to that input while in recovery mode. The animated picture of the phone next to Apple TV will only show if the monitor's HDMI input is set to Apple TV before booting into recovery mode via back+play/pause button combo on the remote. This is the same button combo used to put the older Apple TV HD into DFU mode to trigger iTunes DFU mode restore via USB.

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