Black screen of death (BlSOD) is an error screen that appears on different operating systems (OS) when the system shuts down to prevent further damage. It can be caused by missing files or kernel panic, and solutions involve replacing the file or reinstalling the OS. Some BlSODs can show error codes or an information dump, and different OS handle them differently.
Black screen of death (BlSOD) is a term that refers to a variety of error screens produced by different operating systems (OS). The specific meaning behind each black screen of death can vary between operating systems, although it usually means that the system has been shut down to prevent further damage. In some cases, the screen may contain text explaining what happened, while in others it will simply be blank. Other consumer electrical devices, such as video game systems that have crashed or stopped working, can also exhibit a black screen of death.
Most operating systems have contained some form of black error screen or another. Early versions of Windows® may have a BlSOD in connection with a disk operating system (DOS) program that does not load properly. This was less of an error screen than a symptom of the error. The computer typically switches to a text mode associated with DOS but fails to load a program properly, resulting in a completely black screen with a flashing white cursor across the top. At that point, the only solution would usually be to reboot the system.
Later versions of Windows® may also include a black screen of death, although this is usually associated with the operating system not loading. This could be the result of a missing file causing the computer to freeze during the boot cycle. Solutions to these black screens of death typically involve using another computer or a bootable compact disc (CD) to replace the file, or reinstalling the operating system.
Other black screens of death can be real error screens. Operating systems based on the Linux kernel, such as Mac OS® X, will often have some type of BlSOD. These black screens of death are typically associated with a kernel panic, when the operating system encounters a fatal error from which it cannot recover. The screen usually goes black and displays an error message in white font. Kernel panic and the associated black screen of death is similar to how Windows® operating systems can display a blue screen of death (BSOD) after encountering a fatal error.
Under certain circumstances, a black screen of death can be referred to as a trap screen. These screens typically appear after the kernel has encountered a fatal error and can show a variety of error codes or an information dump. Each operating system handles this type of screen differently, although often there are a number of actions the user can take. Some operating systems allow a key combination to trigger a soft reboot or a different combination to produce a kernel dump for diagnostic purposes. Other operating systems may only provide the option to physically power cycle the machine.
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