Can't login, screen goes black on any keypress mouse and keyboard

Support KDE Plasma
1

Hi all, I’m getting a strange issue where after a period of time after a fresh Manjaro install I go to log in and when I click any keyboard key or any mouse button the screen briefly goes black, and then the login screen appears again.

I’ve googled this and not found anyone with the same issue so far, but maybe I’ve missed something?

I’m not currently able to use tty, due to pressing any button the screen just going black on any keypress any nothing else happening.

I understand I can likely fix this from a live usb and use timeshift to fix things locally. But this happens after every fresh install, and I’d really like some help understanding what’s going on.

System info:
Thinkpad E14 Gen 3 laptop
CPU: Ryzen 7 5700U
24gb Ram

Cheers

Update:
results of the below:
journalctl --boot=-1 --priority=3 --catalog --no-pager

1 Like
2

Hi @mrmistral and welcome to the Manjaro community.

I do not have a solution to your issue; frankly, there are likely many possibilities, but you haven’t provided any actionable information. For others to help more effectively, at the very least, provide some system information:

inxi --admin --verbosity=8 --filter --no-host --width

and any applicable logs, for example:

journalctl --boot=-1 --priority=3 --catalog --no-pager

As an infrequent forum user, it may be beneficial to take some time to familiarise yourself with Forum requirements; in particular, the many ways to use the forum to your benefit. To that end, some or all these links will be invaluable:

Last, but not least, the Stable Update Announcements, which you should check frequently for important update related information.

Cheers.

3

Hi there,

Thanks for getting back to me. I’d be happy to provide any logs, the issue I have is that I can’t actually get to at terminal as each time I press a button the screen goes black and then comes back and the keypress hasn’t been registered. Or could I run those commands from a live USB?

I’ll have a read through your links in more detail as well, though too, to see if I’ve missed anything in being able to access logs etc.

4

How about booting to the multi-user.target instead? See cscs’s guide, in the section on Grub options and Boot Parameters.

5

Oh brilliant, I’ll have a look at that this evening. Nice one, much appreciated.

6

I also recommend to switch at the login screen (SDDM) at the bottom left, between X11 and Wayland.

If this is possible to adjust with your mouse. :man_shrugging:

7

Ah unfortunately, mouse clicks also make the screen go black haha. But thanks for the suggestions, I thought this was a wayland issue in a previous install, so I’ve switched to X11.

1 Like
8

Download the latest available full Manjaro ISO, and create a bootable DVD/USB with it; or better still, create a Ventoy USB and just drag the ISO to it.

With this, you’re then able to boot into a live Manjaro environment and perform many actions you’re currently unable to do. Naturally, you will need another computer (or ask a friend) to prepare the installer disk.

If you have an older Manjaro installer, you could use that instead – but please, do not use an older Manjaro to reinstall with, if it comes to that.

From a Manjaro Live environment, you can repair Manjaro (via chroot) and generate logs and system information as needed.

9

Very much appreciated I’m working on that now.