Black screen with cursor after screen is off

Updated to KDE 6, etc.and running newest LTS kernel on a T430 Thinkpad.

When I walk. Away for a while, plugged in, or trying to wake up laptop after it’s been closed a while I get a black screen with the cursor. Nothing else, no SSDM login screen. All I can do is hold the power button to force it to shut off. After restarting it works until the screen shuts off or laptop sleeps again. Any ideas?

It wouldnt be there if the screen was showing anything either.

SDDM is a display manager and you use it to login the first time.

After that your screen locker is the, on KDE, kscreenlocker.

On to the issue.

Maybe some system information to start:

inxi -Farz

This guide will also include tips like how to format code etc:

inxi -Farz
System:
  Kernel: 6.6.30-2-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 13.2.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.6-x86_64
    root=UUID=fd979e97-fda3-46fc-9367-13bb68274046 rw quiet apparmor=1
    security=apparmor udev.log_priority=3
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.0.4 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.1.0
    wm: kwin_x11 with: latte-dock vt: 2 dm: SDDM Distro: Manjaro
    base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 2349GCU v: ThinkPad T430
    serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: LENOVO model: 2349GCU serial: <superuser required>
    part-nu: LENOVO_MT_2349 uuid: <superuser required> UEFI-[Legacy]: LENOVO
    v: G1ETC1WW (2.81 ) date: 06/18/2019
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 33.6 Wh (55.4%) condition: 60.7/56.2 Wh (108.1%)
    power: 30.5 W volts: 11.5 min: 10.8 model: SANYO 45N1023 type: Li-ion
    serial: <filter> status: charging
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i5-3320M bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Ivy Bridge
    gen: core 3 level: v2 built: 2012-15 process: Intel 22nm family: 6
    model-id: 0x3A (58) stepping: 9 microcode: 0x21
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 2 tpc: 2 threads: 4 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 128 KiB desc: d-2x32 KiB; i-2x32 KiB L2: 512 KiB desc: 2x256 KiB
    L3: 3 MiB desc: 1x3 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1199 high: 1200 min/max: 1200/3300 scaling:
    driver: intel_cpufreq governor: schedutil cores: 1: 1200 2: 1197 3: 1200
    4: 1200 bogomips: 20760
  Flags: avx ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX unsupported
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Unknown: No mitigations
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
    prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; IBPB: conditional; IBRS_FW;
    STIBP: conditional; RSB filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not
    affected
  Type: srbds status: Vulnerable: No microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics vendor: Lenovo driver: i915
    v: kernel arch: Gen-7 process: Intel 22nm built: 2012-13 ports:
    active: LVDS-1 empty: DP-1, DP-2, DP-3, HDMI-A-1, HDMI-A-2, HDMI-A-3,
    VGA-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0166 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Chicony thinkpad t430s camera driver: uvcvideo type: USB
    rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 2-1.6:5
    chip-ID: 04f2:b2da class-ID: 0e02
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.13 with: Xwayland v: 23.2.6
    compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vesa
    dri: crocus gpu: i915 display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1600x900 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 423x238mm (16.65x9.37")
    s-diag: 485mm (19.11")
  Monitor-1: LVDS-1 model: Seiko Epson 0x324c built: 2010 res: 1600x900
    hz: 60 dpi: 131 gamma: 1.2 size: 310x174mm (12.2x6.85") diag: 355mm (14")
    ratio: 16:9 modes: 1600x900
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel crocus platforms: device: 0 drv: crocus
    device: 1 drv: swrast surfaceless: drv: crocus x11: drv: crocus
    inactive: gbm,wayland
  API: OpenGL v: 4.5 compat-v: 4.2 vendor: intel mesa v: 24.0.6-manjaro1.1
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 4000 (IVB
    GT2) device-ID: 8086:0166 memory: 1.46 GiB unified: yes
  API: Vulkan v: 1.3.279 layers: 4 device: 0 type: integrated-gpu name: Intel
    HD Graphics 4000 (IVB GT2) driver: mesa intel v: 24.0.6-manjaro1.1
    device-ID: 8086:0166 surfaces: xcb,xlib
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 7 Series/C216 Family High Definition Audio vendor: Lenovo
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:1e20
    class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.6.30-2-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
  Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.0.5 status: off with: pipewire-media-session
    status: active tools: pw-cli
  Server-3: PulseAudio v: 17.0 status: active with: 1: pulseaudio-alsa
    type: plugin 2: pulseaudio-jack type: module tools: pacat,pactl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel 82579LM Gigabit Network vendor: Lenovo driver: e1000e
    v: kernel port: 6080 bus-ID: 00:19.0 chip-ID: 8086:1502 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp0s25 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6205 [Taylor Peak] driver: iwlwifi
    v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 03:00.0
    chip-ID: 8086:0085 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter>
  Info: services: NetworkManager, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 447.13 GiB used: 236.74 GiB (52.9%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: SanDisk model: SSD PLUS 480GB
    size: 447.13 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 04RL scheme: MBR
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 447.13 GiB size: 439.04 GiB (98.19%)
    used: 236.74 GiB (53.9%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
Swap:
  Alert: No swap data was found.
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 44.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (rpm): fan-1: 2559
Repos:
  Packages: 1869 pm: pacman pkgs: 1832 libs: 479 tools: pamac,yay pm: flatpak
    pkgs: 20 pm: snap pkgs: 17
  Active pacman repo servers in: /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
    1: https://forksystems.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    2: https://mirrors2.manjaro.org/stable/$repo/$arch
    3: https://volico.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    4: https://mirror.futureweb.be/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    5: https://mirror.dkm.cz/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    6: https://fastmirror.pp.ua/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    7: http://ftp.riken.jp/Linux/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    8: http://ossmirror.mycloud.services/os/linux/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
Info:
  Memory: total: 16 GiB note: est. available: 15.31 GiB used: 2.27 GiB (14.8%)
  Processes: 253 Power: uptime: 17m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
    avail: s2idle wakeups: 2 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
    suspend, test_resume image: 6.11 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,upowerd
    Init: systemd v: 255 default: graphical tool: systemctl
  Compilers: clang: 17.0.6 gcc: 13.2.1 Shell: Bash v: 5.2.26
    running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.34

Now what’s interesting is it just happened again. But this time I was able to type in my password and it took it even though the screen was black except cursor. Kind of strange. Hmm.

I’m using a dual screen, with two different sized screens, and one of my “desktops” are showing mostly black, except some of the background from the other screen is overlapping.

this showed up randomly yesterday, and I don’t recall making any changes to my system that could be the culprit.

also at the same time this started happening, I noticed some strange behavior in programs where mouse clicks weren’t working, could move the focus to the button and hit enter to do the mouse click though.

I had no issues like this on KDE5, so I want KDE5 back. or if there’s been some backend changes to Manjaro that can’t be rolled back, I’d like to find another distro if this isn’t going to be solved.

the desktops are temporarily fixed by changing the primary screen to the other screen, but the problem comes back by itself.

output of inxi -G

Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics
    driver: i915 v: kernel
  Device-2: NVIDIA GA106 [GeForce RTX 3060 Lite Hash Rate] driver: nvidia
    v: 550.78
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.13 with: Xwayland v: 23.2.6 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting,nvidia unloaded: nouveau dri: crocus gpu: i915
    resolution: 1: 1920x1200~60Hz 2: 1680x1050~60Hz
  API: EGL v: 1.5 drivers: crocus,kms_swrast,nvidia,swrast
    platforms: gbm,x11,surfaceless,device
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa v: 24.0.6-manjaro1.1
    renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 4600 (HSW GT2)
  API: Vulkan v: 1.3.279 drivers: nvidia,intel surfaces: xcb,xlib

edit: I have now tried clearing the cache with:

rm -r ~/.cache/* 

and after logging out and logging in, the screens look normal again, but if the problem comes back, will update here.

I suggest starting your own new thread with this issue rather than attempting to hijack someone else’s thread. Doing so will allow others to focus solely on your particular issue.

Cheers.

3 Likes

I think your issue is related to what I posted in the 5-18 update thread @ [Stable Update] 2024-05-18 - Linux-Firmware, PHP, Gitlab, Qt6 - #80 by Daniel-I

If what I found is correct, it’s an issue that currently exists under X11 and not Wayland. And as @cscs pointed out, kscreenlocker is involved, and there was mention in the link I provided there that made it sound like they may need to expand it’s logging (or was it powerdevil?) to expose the root cause.

Like you mentioned, although the screen is black/blank, you can type your password in and get back to the desktop session. I also mentioned in my posts that if I switched away from TTY2 (like TTY1 {ctl-alt-F1}, TTY3 {ctl-alt-F3}, etc…) and then switched back to TTY2 (ctl-alt-F2) the blank screen would be replaced by SDDM.

So, we may need to wait for the upstream fix if X11 is preferred (I’ve returned to X11 as plasma6 broke using gamescope for me) over a Wayland session. Use the TTY-toggle if you want to force refresh SDDM to show, or skip that and type in your password like normal; assuming it’s there.

Also, since you mentioned powering down your running PC, I’d like to mention another option that runs way less risk of file corruption that could render your PC unbootable and/or corrupt your data files… REISUB as explained @ [HowTo] reboot / turn off your frozen computer: REISUB/REISUO

I’m facing the same issue:

$ inxi -Farz
System:
  Kernel: 5.15.158-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 13.2.1
    clocksource: hpet avail: acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.15-x86_64
    root=UUID=3fb81935-3c2a-4b83-ae67-7b8f75e23839 rw apparmor=1
    security=apparmor resume=UUID=338139c5-0361-42c0-9573-dbd00f711a01
    udev.log_priority=3 acpi_backlight=none
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.0.4 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.1.0
    wm: kwin_x11 with: krunner vt: 2 dm: SDDM Distro: Manjaro base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 20UH001QGE v: ThinkPad T14s Gen 1
    serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: LENOVO model: 20UH001QGE v: SDK0J40697 WIN
    serial: <superuser required> part-nu: LENOVO_MT_20UH_BU_Think_FM_ThinkPad
    T14s Gen 1 uuid: <superuser required> UEFI: LENOVO v: R1CET65W(1.34 )
    date: 06/17/2021
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 14.8 Wh (32.6%) condition: 45.4/57.0 Wh (79.6%)
    power: 9.0 W volts: 10.9 min: 11.5 model: SMP 5B10W139 type: Li-poly
    serial: <filter> status: discharging cycles: 1711
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 4750U with Radeon Graphics bits: 64
    type: MT MCP arch: Zen 2 gen: 3 level: v3 note: check built: 2020-22
    process: TSMC n7 (7nm) family: 0x17 (23) model-id: 0x60 (96) stepping: 1
    microcode: 0x8600106
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 8 tpc: 2 threads: 16 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 512 KiB desc: d-8x32 KiB; i-8x32 KiB L2: 4 MiB desc: 8x512 KiB L3: 8 MiB
    desc: 2x4 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1420 high: 1654 min/max: 1400/1700 boost: enabled
    scaling: driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: schedutil cores: 1: 1568 2: 1654
    3: 1397 4: 1420 5: 1394 6: 1331 7: 1395 8: 1397 9: 1391 10: 1355 11: 1359
    12: 1311 13: 1396 14: 1311 15: 1631 16: 1414 bogomips: 54317
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed mitigation: untrained return thunk; SMT enabled with STIBP
    protection
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow mitigation: safe RET
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
    prctl and seccomp
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; IBPB: conditional; STIBP:
    always-on; RSB filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Renoir [Radeon RX Vega 6 ] vendor: Lenovo driver: amdgpu
    v: kernel arch: GCN-5 code: Vega process: GF 14nm built: 2017-20 pcie:
    gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 ports: active: eDP-1
    empty: DP-1,DP-2,HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 06:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:1636
    class-ID: 0300 temp: 42.0 C
  Device-2: IMC Networks Integrated Camera driver: uvcvideo type: USB
    rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 2-2:2 chip-ID: 13d3:5405
    class-ID: fe01 serial: <filter>
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.13 with: Xwayland v: 23.2.6
    compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: amdgpu unloaded: modesetting
    alternate: fbdev,vesa dri: radeonsi gpu: amdgpu display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.00x11.22")
    s-diag: 582mm (22.93")
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 mapped: eDP model: ChiMei InnoLux 0x14f2 built: 2018
    res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 158 gamma: 1.2 size: 309x173mm (12.17x6.81")
    diag: 354mm (13.9") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 640x480
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: amd radeonsi platforms: device: 0 drv: radeonsi
    device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: kms_swrast surfaceless: drv: radeonsi x11:
    drv: radeonsi inactive: wayland
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: amd mesa v: 24.0.6-manjaro1.1
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: AMD Radeon Graphics (radeonsi
    renoir LLVM 17.0.6 DRM 3.42 5.15.158-1-MANJARO) device-ID: 1002:1636
    memory: 500 MiB unified: no
  API: Vulkan v: 1.3.279 layers: N/A device: 0 type: integrated-gpu name: AMD
    Radeon Graphics (RADV RENOIR) driver: mesa radv v: 24.0.6-manjaro1.1
    device-ID: 1002:1636 surfaces: xcb,xlib
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD Renoir Radeon High Definition Audio vendor: Lenovo
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 06:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:1637 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: AMD ACP/ACP3X/ACP6x Audio Coprocessor vendor: Lenovo
    driver: snd_rn_pci_acp3x v: kernel alternate: snd_pci_acp3x,snd_pci_acp5x
    pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 06:00.5 chip-ID: 1022:15e2
    class-ID: 0480
  Device-3: AMD Family 17h/19h HD Audio vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 06:00.6
    chip-ID: 1022:15e3 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k5.15.158-1-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: sndiod v: N/A status: off tools: aucat,midicat,sndioctl
  Server-2: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
  Server-3: PipeWire v: 1.0.5 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: Lenovo driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1
    port: 2400 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp2s0f0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel pcie: gen: 2
    speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:2723 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter>
  Info: services: mld, NetworkManager, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel AX200 Bluetooth driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 2.0
    speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 6-4:3 chip-ID: 8087:0029
    class-ID: e001
  Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: see --recommends
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 1.82 TiB used: 1.32 TiB (72.8%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Samsung
    model: SSD 970 EVO Plus 2TB size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter>
    fw-rev: 2B2QEXM7 temp: 37.9 C scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 32 GiB size: 31.2 GiB (97.50%) used: 27.1 GiB (86.9%)
    fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3 maj-min: 259:3
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 512 MiB size: 511 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 17.4 MiB (3.4%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 32 GiB size: 31.2 GiB (97.50%)
    used: 16.37 GiB (52.5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p4 maj-min: 259:4
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: yes
    compressor: zstd max-pool: 20%
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 64 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 43.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 42.0 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): fan-1: 0
Repos:
  Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 2012 libs: 462 tools: pamac
  Active pacman repo servers in: /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
    1: https://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/linux/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    2: https://mirror.alpix.eu/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
Info:
  Memory: total: 32 GiB note: est. available: 30.58 GiB used: 4.3 GiB (14.1%)
  Processes: 375 Power: uptime: 11h 49m states: freeze,mem,disk
    suspend: deep avail: s2idle wakeups: 3 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown,
    reboot, suspend, test_resume image: 12.23 GiB
    services: org_kde_powerdevil,upowerd Init: systemd v: 255
    default: graphical tool: systemctl
  Compilers: clang: 17.0.6 gcc: 13.2.1 Shell: Bash v: 5.2.26
    running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.34

My workaround: In “Zugangshilfen” (Access aid) I have a sound and colour blinking for CAPS-Lock. Now facing the black screen, I press CAPS-Lock and the screen shows up for Log-In.
Strange: With KDE5, I had to press ENTER before using the fingerprint. With KDE6 after pressing ENTER, the screen turns black again with a little button “Log-In”, but without any function. From here, only ALT-PRINT-R-E-I-S-U-B is possible.
How can this be solved?

have you try with TTY

sudo systemctl restart sddm.service 

same result since decembre 2023 with nvida card & Xfce

I’m not trying to hijack anybody’s thread. I don’t appreciate that kind of accusation, it’s not friendly or helpful. Rather than creating a new thread, i first searched for threads relating to black screens. I am not a KDE6 expert so how would I know if my black screen was or was not related to the OP’s black screen? If my post in this topic is not exactly in the technical scope of what you think the problem is, just ignore it instead of assuming bad intentions. I know how to create a topic, but also I know that various possible duplicate topics aren’t smart either. Your response was rude.

Nonetheless, it would serve to attract responses specifically useful to your issue.

Something that truly isn’t helpful are the amount of ‘me too’ type responses posted, typically by newer users, that tend to detract greatly from the thread.

Rather than react to my use of the term hijack - which, incidentally, this is often called - perhaps you could instead appreciate the intention, which was to steer you toward a potentially better outcome.

Cheers.

Edit:- Do you experience the same issue if you switch to Wayland at login?

Edit2: I just noticed the additions to your previous post; made after reading mine - I’m guessing for no apparent reason other than perhaps an attempt to diminish my response.

As suggested, try Wayland; to see if that gives you any better results, however, I’m no longer interested in assisting further - not meaning to be rude - it’s just a statement of fact.

Cheers.

3 Likes

I will try this next tip next time and report back.

You have no swap space defined. If your energy saving is set to hibernate (for example) this is not so great. When a computer hibernates, the data has to be written somewhere - that somewhere is usually a swap partition (or less commonly, a swap file). It could likely be the root cause of what you’re experiencing.

Just something to consider. Cheers.

1 Like

Black screen today, and noticed that when I move the cursor to the spot where you type the password (if the box were visible) the icon changes from the pointer arrow to the “text entry” style. I entered the password as usual and got in.

So this is a nuisance but not a roadblock since it’s easy to see where the text entry field should be.

FYI… my issue appears to only occur on X11 if I have only one monitor… connect a second monitor and SDDM shows up like it should on lock.

Definitely strange!

I’m just glad to have found a workaround. My kid uses this laptop more than me. No more drama, although they’re not happy with Latte dock no longer working. Now we’re rocking the classic Windows taskbar setup!

I had Latte Dock, and now, I’ve set mine up looking more like macOS. Using two panels - traditional style up top - floating style below, centered much like a dock - with the dodge option, it’s probably the closest we’ll get.

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This problem has recently started happening for me. Lenovo laptop, no external monitor or other peripherals. Happens on both automatic screen lock and manual lock with meta-L. I get a blank screen with mouse cursor… usually. Every now and then it magically works correctly and I see the login screen. Haven’t been able to figure out any difference between the two conditions. Literally if I just sit there trying it over and over, it might work correctly maybe 1 in 10 times?

As others have said, I can blindly type the password to log in. Simply switching away from the TTY and back also makes the login screen appear.

ksystemlog shows no errors and looks identical when it works and when it doesn’t.

Following advice from a similar forum thread I’ve tried this to no avail:

sudo pamac upgrade --force-refresh --enable-downgrade

Here’s my inxi -Farz

System:
  Kernel: 6.5.13-7-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 13.2.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.5-x86_64
    root=UUID=4037aebe-ac6c-49bb-a42e-072ca153b4a4 rw quiet splash
    udev.log_priority=3
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.0.5 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.5.0
    wm: kwin_x11 vt: 2 dm: SDDM Distro: Manjaro base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 20R9 v: Lenovo ThinkBook 13s-IWL
    serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10 v: Lenovo ThinkBook 13s-IWL
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: LENOVO model: LNVNB161216 v: SDK0J40697WIN
    serial: <superuser required>
    part-nu: LENOVO_MT_20R9_BU_idea_FM_ThinkBook 13s-IWL
    uuid: <superuser required> UEFI: LENOVO v: 9YCN32WW date: 04/18/2019
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 26.6 Wh (100.0%) condition: 26.6/45.0 Wh (59.2%)
    volts: 15.4 min: N/A model: Celxpert SR Real Battery type: Li-poly
    serial: <filter> status: full
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i7-8565U bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Whiskey Lake
    gen: core 8 level: v3 note: check built: 2018 process: Intel 14nm family: 6
    model-id: 0x8E (142) stepping: 0xB (11) microcode: 0xF6
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 tpc: 2 threads: 8 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 256 KiB desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB
    L3: 8 MiB desc: 1x8 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 974 high: 997 min/max: 400/4600 scaling:
    driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave cores: 1: 988 2: 997 3: 994 4: 927
    5: 932 6: 968 7: 996 8: 997 bogomips: 32012
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling mitigation: Microcode
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: retbleed mitigation: IBRS
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
    prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: IBRS, IBPB: conditional, STIBP: conditional,
    RSB filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel WhiskeyLake-U GT2 [UHD Graphics 620] vendor: Lenovo
    driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-9.5 process: Intel 14nm built: 2016-20
    ports: active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0
    chip-ID: 8086:3ea0 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Chicony Integrated Camera driver: uvcvideo type: USB rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-7:2 chip-ID: 04f2:b61e
    class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.13 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.2
    compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vesa
    dri: iris gpu: i915 display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.00x11.22")
    s-diag: 582mm (22.93") monitors: <missing: xrandr>
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: AU Optronics 0x5a2d built: 2018 res: 1920x1080
    dpi: 166 gamma: 1.2 size: 293x165mm (11.54x6.5") diag: 336mm (13.2")
    ratio: 16:9 modes: 1920x1080
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel iris platforms: device: 0 drv: iris
    device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: iris surfaceless: drv: iris x11: drv: iris
    inactive: wayland
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa v: 24.1.6-arch1.1
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics 620 (WHL
    GT2) device-ID: 8086:3ea0 memory: 7.48 GiB unified: yes
  API: Vulkan v: 1.3.279 layers: N/A device: 0 type: integrated-gpu
    name: Intel UHD Graphics 620 (WHL GT2) driver: mesa intel v: 24.1.6-arch1.1
    device-ID: 8086:3ea0 surfaces: xcb,xlib
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Cannon Point-LP High Definition Audio vendor: Lenovo
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel alternate: snd_soc_skl,snd_sof_pci_intel_cnl
    bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:9dc8 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.5.13-7-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
  Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.2.2 status: off with: pipewire-media-session
    status: active tools: pw-cli
  Server-3: PulseAudio v: 17.0 status: active with: pulseaudio-alsa
    type: plugin tools: pacat,pactl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Cannon Point-LP CNVi [Wireless-AC] driver: iwlwifi v: kernel
    bus-ID: 00:14.3 chip-ID: 8086:9df0 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp0s20f3 state: up mac: <filter>
  Info: services: mld, NetworkManager, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel Bluetooth 9460/9560 Jefferson Peak (JfP) driver: btusb
    v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 1-10:4
    chip-ID: 8087:0aaa class-ID: e001
  Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 2 state: up address: see --recommends
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 476.94 GiB used: 313.03 GiB (65.6%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Kingston model: OM8PCP3512F-AB
    size: 476.94 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s
    lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: ECFK52.3 temp: 25.9 C
    scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 476.31 GiB size: 467.77 GiB (98.21%)
    used: 313.02 GiB (66.9%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3 maj-min: 259:3
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 512 MiB size: 511 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 5.8 MiB (1.1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
Swap:
  Alert: No swap data was found.
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 39.0 C pch: 33.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Repos:
  Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1459 libs: 388 tools: pamac pm: flatpak pkgs: 0
  Active pacman repo servers in: /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
    1: https://mirror.alpix.eu/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    2: https://gsl-syd.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    3: https://nnenix.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    4: https://mirrors.ocf.berkeley.edu/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    5: https://coresite.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    6: https://mirrors2.manjaro.org/stable/$repo/$arch
    7: https://mirror.truenetwork.ru/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    8: https://manjaro.c3sl.ufpr.br/stable/$repo/$arch
    9: https://irltoolkit.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    10: https://mirror.archlinux.tw/Manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    11: https://ziply.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    12: http://ossmirror.mycloud.services/os/linux/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    13: https://mirrors.up.pt/pub/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    14: https://fastmirror.pp.ua/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    15: https://ftp.gwdg.de/pub/linux/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    16: https://mnvoip.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    17: https://repo.ialab.dsu.edu/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    18: http://ftp.rz.tu-bs.de/pub/mirror/manjaro.org/repos/stable/$repo/$arch
    19: http://ftp.tsukuba.wide.ad.jp/Linux/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    20: https://southfront.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    21: https://manjaro.mirrors.lavatech.top/stable/$repo/$arch
    22: https://mirror.ibakerserver.pt/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    23: https://codingflyboy.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    24: https://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/repo.manjaro.org/repos/stable/$repo/$arch
    25: https://cofractal-ewr.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    26: https://opencolo.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    27: https://manjaro.ynh.ovh/stable/$repo/$arch
    28: https://manjaro.ipacct.com/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    29: http://manjaro.mirrors.uk2.net/stable/$repo/$arch
    30: https://nocix.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    31: https://mirror.math.princeton.edu/pub/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    32: https://ridgewireless.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    33: https://mirrors.manjaro.org/repo/stable/$repo/$arch
    34: https://ask4.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    35: https://ohioix.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    36: https://mirror.easyname.at/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    37: https://mirror.2degrees.nz/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    38: https://uvermont.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    39: https://forksystems.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    40: https://volico.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    41: https://quantum-mirror.hu/mirrors/pub/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    42: https://edgeuno-bog2.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    43: http://mirror.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    44: https://ipng.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
Info:
  Memory: total: 16 GiB note: est. available: 15.32 GiB used: 2.57 GiB (16.7%)
  Processes: 245 Power: uptime: 3m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: s2idle
    avail: deep wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
    suspend, test_resume image: 6.11 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,
    power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 256 default: graphical
    tool: systemctl
  Compilers: clang: 18.1.8 gcc: 14.2.1 Shell: Zsh v: 5.9 default: Bash
    v: 5.2.32 running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.35


Please dont hijack topics that 3 month old.

Anyways your Kernel is long time EOL… switch to 6.6 LTS or 6.10

1 Like