Causes
- The monitor is on the wrong input or the cable is making poor contact — the M5 drives three 4K displays at once over HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4b, and USB-C (DP Alt Mode), and with multiple inputs in play it is easy for the display to sit on a different input than the one the M5 is using. A half-seated HDMI plug or a marginal cable is the next suspect — ACEMAGIC's FAQ tells you to re-plug the HDMI cable and switch display input methods before touching any drivers.
- The Intel UHD Graphics driver crashed or is corrupt — the M5 relies on the integrated Intel UHD Graphics (14th-gen, 32 EUs) for all three outputs. ACEMAGIC's FAQ describes the exact signature: the BIOS and Windows welcome screen appear, then the desktop is black — the display adapter driver has failed after the driver stack loads.
- The M5 fails to wake from sleep with the iGPU in a low-power state — HX-series chips aggressively gate the integrated graphics when idle. After hours of sleep, the M5 can wake with the display output dead even though the machine is running (fans spinning, LEDs on). A stale driver plus Fast Startup usually compounds this.
- A triple-display or adapter configuration the iGPU can't drive cleanly — using a USB-C hub or a cheap HDMI-to-DP adapter can present an EDID the M5's Intel graphics misreads, or the total pixel clock across three 4K panels can exceed what the integrated GPU drives reliably, leaving one or all screens black.
- Windows Fast Startup resumed from a corrupted hibernation state — the M5's BIOS or logo may appear, then Windows goes black instead of finishing the resume. A partially written hibernation file after an interrupted shutdown produces exactly the 'black after boot' symptom ACEMAGIC sees.
How to Fix
- Check the monitor and cable first — confirm the display is powered on and set to the correct input for the port the M5 is using, then unplug and firmly re-plug the HDMI/DP cable at both ends. Try swapping to a different cable entirely — ACEMAGIC's FAQ makes this the first step for the 'power light on but no picture' case.
- Switch to another output port — the M5 has three independent video outputs: HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4b, and USB-C with DP Alt Mode. Move the cable to a different port (or use a USB-C-to-HDMI cable on the USB-C port) to rule out a dead port. If the picture appears on one port and not another, the port or its connector is at fault.
- Restore the display driver without rebooting — press Windows logo key + Ctrl + Shift + B. Windows restarts the graphics driver stack, and this alone un-blacks the screen when the Intel UHD driver crashed mid-session — it is the shortcut ACEMAGIC's official FAQ recommends for lost display output.
- Boot into Safe Mode and repair the Intel graphics driver — if the screen goes black after the Windows welcome icon, the driver is failing at load. Hold Shift while clicking Restart → Troubleshoot → Advanced options → Startup Settings → Restart, then press 4 for Safe Mode. In Device Manager, expand Display adapters, right-click Intel UHD Graphics, choose Properties → Driver → Roll Back Driver if one is available, or uninstall and reinstall from ACEMAGIC's driver download page.
- Disable Fast Startup — in normal Windows, open Control Panel → Power Options → Choose what the power buttons do → Change settings that are currently unavailable and uncheck Turn on fast startup. This prevents the black-after-boot and dead-wake states that come from resuming a corrupted hibernation file, a known failure pattern on HX-based mini PCs like the M5.
- Power-cycle the unit completely — press and hold the power button for 15 seconds until the light goes out for a forced shutdown, then unplug the adapter and hold the power button for 40 seconds to clear CMOS. Reconnect the adapter and power on. This is ACEMAGIC's official reset for any stuck display or boot state, and it also clears a mis-read EDID/HDCP state on the video ports.
- Test your displays one at a time — with the M5 in a clean boot state, connect each monitor on its own first (HDMI alone, then DP, then USB-C), then add the next. This isolates a specific port, cable, or adapter in your triple-display setup. Avoid cheap passive USB-C-to-HDMI adapters — use a cable with a real DP Alt Mode chipset if the USB-C output is the one going black.
- Reinstall or update the Intel UHD Graphics driver — if the black screen returns, download the latest Intel Graphics driver from ACEMAGIC's official driver page or Intel's site, run the installer in clean mode (DDU in Safe Mode for a full wipe), and reboot. If the machine now boots with video but the desktop flickers or blacks out again, contact ACEMAGIC support — a small number of M5 boards show the same black-screen behavior across multiple drivers and ports, which points to the board's video circuitry rather than software.