After a long period dormant, system update result is locale error when booting

Not ideal for a rolling release distribution; that said, it might have been even longer, and much more impractical to update.


If your /home is on a separate partition, or if you are capable of copying the content of /home to temporary location, then performing a fresh Manjaro installation might be the fastest option to return you to a relatively troublefree system.

Otherwise, the current issue(s) you are experiencing may only be the proverbial tip of the iceberg.

The latest Manjaro Installer ISO is recommended;

likewise a Ventoy USB, as a bootable ISO launcher solution:


If you don’t feel the need for a fresh installation, I’ll remind you that the Known Issues and Solutions section of every Update Announcement topic will likely be invaluable.

Regards.