SC2 loads, but minimizes to taskbar

Technical Support
1

Just installed SC2 and launched it. I get a splash screen then it goes black and then minimizes to the taskbar. If I bring it up again the screen stays black and then minimizes again.

Deets:

Edition Windows 10 Pro
Version 20H2
Installed on ‎2/‎12/‎2021
OS build 19042.985
Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.2020.0

CPU
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 51 °C
Matisse 7nm Technology
RAM
32.0GB Dual-Channel Unknown @ 1197MHz (16-16-16-39)
Motherboard
ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. PRIME X570-P (AM4) 35 °C
Graphics
LG HDR 4K (3840x2160@60Hz)
4095MB NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER (MSI) 39 °C
Storage
931GB Crucial CT1000P1SSD8 (Unknown (SSD))
931GB Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 1TB (Unknown (SSD))
7452GB Western Digital WDC WD80 03FFBX-68B9AN0 SATA Disk Device (SATA ) 43 °C
7452GB Western Digital WDC WD80 03FFBX-68B9AN0 SATA Disk Device (SATA ) 43 °C
3725GB Western Digital WD My Book 1230 USB Device (USB (SATA) ) 41 °C
7452GB Western Digital WD Elements 25A3 USB Device (USB (SATA) ) 46 °C
Optical Drives
PIONEER BD-RW BDR-XD07 USB Device
Audio
USB Sound Blaster HD

2

Hey there Smellhole,

Starcraft 2 launching to a black screen and sometimes minimizing itself with no way to actually see the screen is usually related to drivers or settings. First is to make sure you have the latest driver for that RTX 2060.

Another idea is to see if the game works if forcing it to start in windowed mode.

  1. Click the Battle.net icon on the Battle.net desktop app.
  2. Select Settings from the dropdown menu.
  3. Click Game Settings and check the Additional command line arguments box under StarCraft® II.
  4. Type -Displaymode 0 in the box and click Done.

If this persists, can you provide a DxDiag file? Just copy and paste the text file created and paste it between two ~~~ like so:

DxDiag Here

If you have issues pasting here, use Pastebin and post the end of the link. (ie. 123456 for pastebin.com/123456)

3

Not sure why this worked, but it did.

I used the “additional command line arguments” and randomly put “-w” in there (I was just guessing, I don’t know if that’s even right). It started full-screen and I was then able to change the video settings so I can run it in a window.

It also now runs in full 4K.

Thanks for trying to help, though. :smile: