In computing, a screen of death is an informal term for a type of computer
operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also in ...
error message displayed onscreen when the system has experienced a
fatal system error. Computer users have dubbed these messages "screens of death" because they typically result in unsaved work being lost and often indicate serious problems with the system's hardware or software. These error screens are usually the result of a
kernel panic
A kernel panic (sometimes abbreviated as KP) is a safety measure taken by an operating system's kernel upon detecting an internal fatal error in which either it is unable to safely recover or continuing to run the system would have a higher ...
, although the terms are frequently used interchangeably. Most screens of death are displayed on an even background color with a message advising the user to restart the computer.
Notable screens of death
![Forced-linux-kernel-panic-under-qemu](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/67/Forced-linux-kernel-panic-under-qemu.gif)
* The
Blue Screen of Death (also called BSoD, or stop error) is a common name for a screen displayed by the
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
operating system when a critical system error occurs. By far, this is the most famous screen of death.
*
Black Screens of Death are used by several systems: One is a failure mode of
Windows 3.x Windows 3.x means either of, or all of the following versions of Microsoft Windows:
* Windows 3.0
* Windows 3.1x
Windows 3.1 is a major release of Microsoft Windows. It was released to manufacturing on April 6, 1992, as a successor to Windo ...
. One appears when the bootloader for
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, which was released five years before, at the time being the longest time span between successive releases of ...
and later fails. Also in
Windows 11
Windows 11 is the latest major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system, released in October 2021. It is a free upgrade to its predecessor, Windows 10 (2015), and is available for any Windows 10 devices that meet the new Windows 11 ...
previews the Blue Screen of Death was changed to black.
*The Orange Screen of Death is an orange screen that appears when the
GPU or other hardware components encounter a fatal error. Some had this issue with
BitLocker, while others experienced it while using an external monitor.
![TiVO green screen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/TiVO_green_screen.jpg)
* A Green Screen of Death is a green screen that appears on a
TiVo with a message that includes the words "the DVR has detected a serious problem and is now attempting to fix it" or "A severe error has occurred". Its appearance often means that the hard drive is corrupted and it will attempt to clean up, check, and/or repair the
TiVo Media File System
The MFS or Media File System is a proprietary file system used on TiVo hard drives for fault tolerant real-time recording of live TV.
Although MFS is still not particularly well understood by programmers unaffiliated with the TiVo corporation, ...
. A Blue Screen of Death on a
Windows Insider
Windows Insider is an open software testing program by Microsoft that allows users globally who own a valid license of Windows 11, Windows 10, or Windows Server to register for pre-release builds of the operating system previously only accessible ...
build appears as green instead of blue, starting with build 14997. A Green Screen of Death also appears on the Xbox One and PlayStation 5.
* The
Purple Screen of Death is used by
VMware ESXi
VMware ESXi (formerly ESX) is an enterprise-class, type-1 hypervisor developed by VMware for deploying and serving virtual computers. As a type-1 hypervisor, ESXi is not a software application that is installed on an operating system (OS); ...
, a server virtualization product by
VMware, Inc.
VMware, Inc. is an American cloud computing and virtualization technology company with headquarters in Palo Alto, California. VMware was the first commercially successful company to virtualize the x86 architecture.
VMware's desktop software ru ...
It is displayed in the event of a fatal kernel error. The screen provides error codes that can be used for debugging purposes.
* Four Red Screens of Death are used by different systems: One appears in early beta versions of
Windows Vista
Windows Vista is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft. It was the direct successor to Windows XP, which was released five years before, at the time being the longest time span between successive releases of ...
, but it later became a black screen. Another appeared in
Windows 98
Windows 98 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of Microsoft Windows operating systems. The second operating system in the 9x line, it is the successor to Windows 95, and was released to ...
beta builds and is caused by
Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI). It also appears on the Atari Jaguar System if there is a loading cartridge error or a pirated cartridge is detected, marked by the sound of a roaring jaguar and a red Atari Jaguar logo on a screen that changes color from black to red. And the last one is the
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...
's Red Screen of Death, it is very similar to the PS2 startup screen, except after the startup, a red screen appears with a message saying "Please insert a
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...
or PlayStation 2 format disc." The sound at the start of the Red Screen is actually a low pitched version of PS2 menu screen with a creepy whistle and then the ambient sounds like the menu. This error can be obtained by inserting a non-compatible disc/game disc e.g., a
PC disc and later
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...
discs with the new banner.
* A White Screen of Death appears on several other operating systems,
content management system
A content management system (CMS) is computer software used to manage the creation and modification of digital content (content management).''Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Strategy''. Ann Rockley, Pamela Kostur, Steve Manning. New ...
s and
BIOS
In computing, BIOS (, ; Basic Input/Output System, also known as the System BIOS, ROM BIOS, BIOS ROM or PC BIOS) is firmware used to provide runtime services for operating systems and programs and to perform hardware initialization during the ...
es. One is in
iOS 7, and the screen of death appears when a white
iPhone 5
The iPhone 5 is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the 6th generation iPhone, succeeding both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, and preceding both the iPhone 5S and 5C. It was formally unveiled as part of a press e ...
or later or a white
iPod Touch
The iPod Touch (stylized as iPod touch) is a discontinued line of iOS-based mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. with a touchscreen-controlled user interface. As with other iPod models, the iPod Touch can be used as a music pl ...
(5th generation) is frozen. Everything on the screen goes white, and a black Apple logo is all that's displayed on the screen.
* A Yellow Screen of Death occurs when an
ASP.NET
ASP.NET is an open-source, server-side web-application framework designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. It was developed by Microsoft to allow programmers to build dynamic web sites, applications and services. The name stan ...
web app encounters a problem and crashes.
* A
kernel panic
A kernel panic (sometimes abbreviated as KP) is a safety measure taken by an operating system's kernel upon detecting an internal fatal error in which either it is unable to safely recover or continuing to run the system would have a higher ...
is used primarily by
Unix
Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and ot ...
and
Unix-like
A Unix-like (sometimes referred to as UN*X or *nix) operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, although not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification. A Unix-li ...
operating systems: the Unix equivalent of
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
's Blue Screen of Death. It is a routine called when the kernel detects irrecoverable errors in runtime correctness; in other words, when continued operation may risk escalating system instability, and a system reboot is easier than attempted recovery.
* A
Sad Mac
The classic Macintosh startup sequence includes hardware tests which may trigger the startup chime, Happy Mac, Sad Mac, and Chimes of Death. On Macs running macOS Big Sur or later the startup sound is enabled by default, but can be disabled by ...
is a symbol used by older-generation Apple Macintosh computers, starting with the original
Macintosh 128K
The Apple Macintosh—later rebranded as the Macintosh 128K—is the original Apple Inc., Apple Macintosh personal computer. It played a pivotal role in establishing desktop publishing as a general office function. The motherboard, a CRT monit ...
, to indicate a severe hardware or software problem that prevented startup from occurring successfully. A
similar symbol exists for the
iPod
The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes ...
.
* A
Sad Tab is an icon featuring a frowning folder displayed on a
tab in
Google Chrome
Google Chrome is a cross-platform web browser developed by Google. It was first released in 2008 for Microsoft Windows, built with free software components from Apple WebKit and Mozilla Firefox. Versions were later released for Linux, macOS ...
when that tab crashes. The symbol shares the face of the Sad Mac.
* The
Bomb
A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-t ...
icon is a
symbol
A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...
that was displayed when a
classic Mac OS
Mac OS (originally System Software; retronym: Classic Mac OS) is the series of operating systems developed for the Macintosh family of personal computers by Apple Computer from 1984 to 2001, starting with System 1 and ending with Mac OS 9. The ...
program had an
application crash. The bomb symbols were also used by the
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...
line of computers when the system encountered a
fatal system error. The number of bombs indicated the exact cause of the error.
*
Guru Meditation
Guru Meditation started as an error notice displayed by the Amiga computer when it crashes. It is now also used by Varnish, a software component used by many content-heavy websites. This has led to many internet users seeing a "Guru Meditation ...
is the name of the error that occurred on early versions of the
Amiga
Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...
computers when they
crashed
"Crashed" is the third U.S. rock single, (the fifth overall), from the band Daughtry's debut album. It was released only to U.S. rock stations on September 5, 2007. Upon its release the song got adds at those stations, along with some Alternativ ...
. It was also used on the
Nintendo DS
The is a handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens working in tan ...
, most commonly seen when using
homebrew
Homebrewing mainly refers to small-scale, non-commercial manufacture of a drink, typically beer.
Homebrew or home brew may also refer to:
Computing
* Homebrew Computer Club
* Homebrew (package manager), for macOS and Linux
* Homebrew (video game ...
. (The top screen was black, and the bottom screen was red with white debug font saying "Guru Meditation Error! data abort!" with some hex addresses below it.)
*
Kernel Debug Land is the name of the Kernel Debugger users of
Haiku
is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or se ...
/
BeOS
BeOS is an operating system for personal computers first developed by Be Inc. in 1990. It was first written to run on BeBox hardware.
BeOS was positioned as a multimedia platform that could be used by a substantial population of desktop users a ...
are dropped into when a kernel crash is experienced.
See also
*
Kill screen
''Kill Screen'' (stylized as ''KILL SCREEN'') was a print and online magazine founded in 2009 by Jamin Warren and Chris Dahlen and owned by Kill Screen Media, Inc. It focused on video games and culture, but also included articles based on ent ...
*
Xbox 360 technical problems
The Xbox 360 video game console
A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed ...
(Common name for a hardware error is the 'Red Ring of Death')
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Screens Of Death
Computer errors
Internet memes introduced in the 1990s