I have a Pi500+ using our TV as a monitor via an HDMI cable. If the TV is switched on before the Pi is powered on, everything works fine. If the TV is switched on after the Pi boots, all I see on the screen is the mouse pointer (which moves in response to the mouse), the screen is otherwise completely blank. I don't see the login dialog, and if I enter my password, in the hope that this will log me in and show the desktop, I still see nothing.
If I press the power button on the Pi, to shut it down in an orderly manner, then I see the text "plymouth-poweroff.service" appear in the bottom left of the screen, exactly the same as when I power off from the desktop.
If the Pi can display the mouse pointer and the shutdown text, why can't it display the rest of the desktop? Any way to get around this problem other than always remembering to power the TV on first?
If I press the power button on the Pi, to shut it down in an orderly manner, then I see the text "plymouth-poweroff.service" appear in the bottom left of the screen, exactly the same as when I power off from the desktop.
If the Pi can display the mouse pointer and the shutdown text, why can't it display the rest of the desktop? Any way to get around this problem other than always remembering to power the TV on first?
Statistics: Posted by NickJP — Mon Dec 08, 2025 5:22 am