A great emulator for PC gaming on PlayStation is ePSXe. The downside is that it’s not flawless. Although ePSXe has a few small issues and glitches, none of them are serious enough to stop you from enjoying the program.
However, the black screen error on ePSXe can be extremely annoying. Every time you load the game because of this error, the emulator goes black. This can happen for many reasons and there are different solutions. Everything you need to know about how to troubleshoot ePSXe black screen on Windows is covered in this post.
What is the ePSXe black screen error?
The emulator usually displays a few seconds of static before loading the game. The purpose of this static is to prevent the emulator from displaying the loading screen. To let players know how long the game will take to load, developers use loading screens. The term “black screen” refers to this static electricity. Some games can have colored static as you may have noticed. This is to let players know the game is loading when they see colored static in some games.
The lack of static loading in the emulator is the cause of the ePSXe black screen problem. This means that nothing will be visible to you, not even a dark screen. Instead, you will be presented with a static black screen.
How to Fix ePSXe Black Screen in Windows – Before You Begin
There are a number of reasons why the emulator won’t load static. Installing the latest version of ePSXe should be your first priority. Bugs are occasionally fixed in updated versions of the emulator. If you have the latest version and this problem persists, you need to fix the problem. Before proceeding, verify that your Windows settings are correct. Make sure DirectX 9, Wrapped Shading,
Transparency, DirectX 9 and Hardware Speaks are disabled. If these options are selected, the emulator will not load statically. If everything is configured correctly but you’re still having issues, we’ll have to dig a little deeper.
Turn off transparency
There is a transparency setting on your computer that applies to all windows. This means that if you have transparent windows enabled, the emulator doesn’t have to load statically. Go to Windows Control Panel and find “Appearance and Personalization” and turn off transparency. Find the “Change Appearance” section and select “Window Color and Appearance” after loading the window. Once the window has loaded, scroll down and under “Transparency” click “Turn off transparent windows.”
Once done, restart your computer and try running the emulator again. Make sure the setting is turned off. If you click it and it turns back on, you’ll have to do it again.
Turn off DirectX 9
Statics are actually loaded by ePSXe using DirectX. A DirectX malfunction prevents the emulator from displaying any static electricity. There are two ways to ensure that DX9 is disabled. The first method is to launch the Task Manager by pressing “Ctrl + Shift + Esc.”
After starting Task Manager, click on “More details”. From there select “Processes” and then scroll down to “DirectX”. To stop the process, click the “End Process” button. Try loading the game after the process has been stopped.
If that doesn’t work, try turning off DirectX 9 in the Windows Control Panel. Click “Turn Windows features on or off” under “Programs.” When you see “DirectX” here, click the “Disable” button. You may need to restart your computer for this to take effect.
Turn off wrapped shading
The Wrapped Shading feature of the Windows operating system is used to create text on a black background. Your ePSXe will almost certainly use this feature because it’s so common. If so, you need to disable this feature. To do this, go to the “Ease of Access” section of the Windows Control Panel. After you get to the “Ease of Access” section, click the “Make your computer easier to see” button.
In the newly loaded window, click the “Change text display method” button. From the drop-down menu here, choose “Use a contrasting background color”. After completing this procedure, restart your computer and try the emulator again. Verify that the feature is disabled. If not, you will have to repeat it. Although not the only cause of this problem, wrapped shading is the most common.
Turn off Hardware speaker
Either way, ePSXe will use your hardware sound card if you have one. While most sound cards shouldn’t have a problem with this, it’s still important to check. Open the Windows Control Panel and go to the “Sound” area to make sure that the sound card is not in use. After finding the “Recording” section in the “Sound” section, click the “Default recording settings” button. Select your sound card under “Playback devices” if you find it. Make sure it is selected before clicking “Apply”.
After completing this procedure, restart your computer and try the emulator again. Verify that the hardware call has been disabled. If not, you will have to repeat it. This is one of the most common causes of the ePSXe black screen problem, but it is not the only one.
Try a different video plugin
You may need to replace your video plugins if the ePSXe black screen error persists after disabling everything else in this list. ePSXe offers a wide range of video plugins. But each of them will have unique characteristics and one of them may be the source of the black screen error. To change the video plugins, open the “Plugins” menu in the emulator menu bar. You will see a list of all the video plugins that ePSXe supports. Change your video plugin and restart the emulator. If the black screen error disappears, you will need to change the video plugins. If not, you’ll have to try something else.
Conclusion
Many factors can cause the emulator to display a blank screen. The good news is that most of these causes are easy to fix. Making sure the settings are accurate is the best thing you can do. Once done, check your emulator settings to make sure everything is configured correctly. If problems persist, try a different video plugin. There is a possibility that a simple switch will solve the black screen error.
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