Getting wild “flickering” after the update on a Lenovo Thinkpad X260. After booting the screen displays a few lines of text, turns alternating black and grey.
Only way to access the system is via USB boot disk and chroot.
Downgrading the mesa drivers didn’t help. 
1 Like
first thing to try would be to boot into different kernel
2 Likes
Thats what I tried first, too. 
Should have mentioned it. Rebuilt initramfs and grub too, to be on the safe side and reran the system update to make sure it’s at least complete.
Tried to boot into runlevel 3 editing grub config without success.
Downgraded mesa driver to 25.1 as suggested in this thread.
Gave up and cried for help.
I’ve split your post and its replies in to this dedicated thread.
Could you provide us with the output of inxi -zv8c0 from the chroot environment? This may help here. 
2 Likes
Thanks. 
manjaro-chroot -a ✔
grub-probe: error: cannot find a GRUB drive for /dev/sdb1. Check your device.map.
grub-probe: error: cannot find a GRUB drive for /dev/sdb1. Check your device.map.
==> Mounting (ManjaroLinux) [/dev/sda1]
--> mount: [/mnt]
[manjaro /]# inxi -zv8c0
System:
Kernel: 6.12.25-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.2.1 clocksource: tsc
avail: hpet,acpi_pm parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-x86_64 lang=en_US keytable=us tz=UTC
misobasedir=manjaro misolabel=MANJARO_KDE_2501 quiet systemd.show_status=1 splash driver=free
nouveau.modeset=1 i915.modeset=1 radeon.modeset=1
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: ERR-101 tk: Qt v: N/A wm: kwin_x11 tools: avail: light-locker dm: N/A
Distro: Manjaro base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 20F5S1WF00 v: ThinkPad X260 serial: <filter> Chassis:
type: 10 serial: <filter>
Mobo: LENOVO model: 20F5S1WF00 v: SDK0J40697 WIN serial: <filter>
part-nu: LENOVO_MT_20F5_BU_Think_FM_ThinkPad X260 uuid: 218e2dcc-30f9-11b2-a85c-b326239f9b82
UEFI-[Legacy]: LENOVO v: R02ET73W (1.46 ) date: 01/08/2020
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 18.8 Wh (97.8%) condition: 19.2/23.2 Wh (83%) volts: 12.2 min: 11.1
model: SONY 45N1111 type: Li-poly serial: <filter> charging: status: not charging control:
start: 0% end: 100% cycles: N/A
ID-2: BAT1 charge: 15.3 Wh (91.7%) condition: 16.7/23.5 Wh (71.1%) power: 12.1 W volts: 11.36
min: 11.4 model: LGC 45N1127 type: Li-ion serial: <filter> charging: status: discharging control:
start: 0% end: 100% cycles: N/A
Memory:
System RAM: total: 16 GiB available: 15.04 GiB used: 1.47 GiB (9.8%) igpu: 32 MiB
Array-1: capacity: 16 GiB slots: 1 modules: 1 EC: None max-module-size: 16 GiB note: est.
Device-1: ChannelA-DIMM0 type: DDR4 detail: synchronous size: 16 GiB speed: 2133 MT/s volts:
curr: 1.2 width (bits): data: 64 total: 128 manufacturer: Samsung part-no: M474A2K43BB1-CRC
serial: <filter>
PCI Slots:
Slot: N/A type: MediaCard status: available length: other bus-ID: 00:00.0
Slot: N/A type: N/A status: available length: other bus-ID: 00:00.0
Slot: N/A type: N/A status: available length: other bus-ID: 00:00.0
CPU:
Info: model: Intel Core i5-6300U socket: U3E1 bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Skylake gen: core 6
level: v3 note: check built: 2015 process: Intel 14nm family: 6 model-id: 0x4E (78) stepping: 3
microcode: 0xF0
Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 2 cores: 2 threads: 4 tpc: 2 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: 400 min/max: 400/3000 base/boost: 2400/8300 scaling: driver: intel_pstate
governor: powersave volts: 1.0 V ext-clock: 100 MHz cores: 1: 400 2: 400 3: 400 4: 400
bogomips: 20004
Flags: 3dnowprefetch abm acpi adx aes aperfmperf apic arat arch_capabilities arch_perfmon art
avx avx2 bmi1 bmi2 bts clflush clflushopt cmov constant_tsc cpuid cpuid_fault cx16 cx8 de
ds_cpl dtes64 dtherm dts epb ept ept_ad erms est f16c flexpriority flush_l1d fma fpu fsgsbase
fxsr ht hwp hwp_act_window hwp_epp hwp_notify ibpb ibrs ida intel_pt invpcid lahf_lm lm mca
mce md_clear mmx monitor movbe mpx msr mtrr nonstop_tsc nopl nx pae pat pbe pcid pclmulqdq
pdcm pdpe1gb pebs pge pln pni popcnt pse pse36 pti pts rdrand rdseed rdtscp rep_good sdbg sep
smap smep smx ss ssbd sse sse2 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 stibp syscall tm tm2 tpr_shadow tsc
tsc_adjust tsc_deadline_timer vme vmx vnmi vpid x2apic xgetbv1 xsave xsavec xsaveopt xsaves
xtopology xtpr
Vulnerabilities:
Type: gather_data_sampling status: Vulnerable: No microcode
Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: Split huge pages
Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable
Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
Type: mmio_stale_data mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
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; BHI: Not affected
Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
Type: tsx_async_abort mitigation: TSX disabled
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel Skylake GT2 [HD Graphics 520] vendor: Lenovo driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-9
process: Intel 14n built: 2015-16 ports: active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1, DP-2, HDMI-A-1, HDMI-A-2
bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:1916 class-ID: 0300
Device-2: Bison ThinkPad P50 Integrated Camera driver: uvcvideo type: USB rev: 2.0
speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 1-8:4 chip-ID: 5986:0706 class-ID: 0e02
Display: server: X.org v: 1.21.1.18 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: modesetting
alternate: fbdev,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 display-ID: :0
Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: LG Display 0x03cd built: 2012 res: 1366x768 dpi: 125 gamma: 1.2 chroma:
red: x: 0.580 y: 0.349 green: x: 0.333 y: 0.569 blue: x: 0.157 y: 0.122 white: x: 0.314 y: 0.329
size: 277x156mm (10.91x6.14") diag: 318mm (12.5") ratio: 16:9 modes: 1366x768
API: OpenGL Message: Unable to show GL data. glxinfo is missing.
Info: Tools: de: xfce4-display-settings x11: xdpyinfo,xprop
Audio:
Device-1: Intel Sunrise Point-LP HD Audio vendor: Lenovo driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:9d70 class-ID: 0403
API: ALSA v: k6.12.25-1-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: 1.4.7 status: n/a (root, process) tools: pw-cli
Server-3: PulseAudio v: 17.0-43-g3e2bb status: off with: pulseaudio-alsa type: plugin
tools: pacat,pactl,pavucontrol
Network:
Device-1: Intel Ethernet I219-LM vendor: Lenovo driver: e1000e v: kernel port: N/A
bus-ID: 00:1f.6 chip-ID: 8086:156f class-ID: 0200
IF: enp0s31f6 state: down mac: <filter>
Device-2: Intel Wireless 8260 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1
bus-ID: 04:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:24f3 class-ID: 0280
IF: wlp4s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Info: services: NetworkManager, systemd-timesyncd, wpa_supplicant
WAN IP: No WAN IP found. Connected to web? SSL issues? Try enabling dig
Bluetooth:
Message: No bluetooth data found.
Logical:
Message: No logical block device data found.
RAID:
Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 259.97 GiB used: 43.67 GiB (16.8%)
SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 model: SSD 240GB size: 223.57 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 0A0
ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Transcend model: JetFlash 8GB size: 7.48 GiB block-size:
physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: USB rev: 2.0 spd: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 tech: SSD
serial: <filter> fw-rev: 8.07
ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: Kingston model: DataTraveler 2.0 size: 28.92 GiB
block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: USB rev: 2.0 spd: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0
tech: N/A serial: <filter> fw-rev: 0000
Message: No optical or floppy data found.
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 191.57 GiB size: 187.5 GiB (97.88%) used: 43.67 GiB (23.3%) fs: ext4
block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 label: N/A
uuid: 8b4e97eb-61d0-4ed2-8743-4e067a312d6d
Swap:
Alert: No swap data was found.
Unmounted:
ID-1: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2 size: 32 GiB fs: swap label: N/A
uuid: bc7f538d-26c1-4153-899c-93dbfd27738f
ID-2: /dev/sdb1 maj-min: 8:17 size: 4.17 GiB fs: N/A label: MANJARO_KDE_2501
uuid: 2025-05-08-17-58-28-00
ID-3: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18 size: 4 MiB fs: N/A label: MISO_EFI uuid: CD05-2F69
ID-4: /dev/sdc1 maj-min: 8:33 size: 28.92 GiB fs: fat (32 bit) label: THLORENZ uuid: 3E79-E7AE
USB:
Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 12 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s)
lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
Device-1: 1-1:2 info: Kingston Digital DataTraveler SE9 type: mass storage driver: usb-storage
interfaces: 1 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 power: 100mA
chip-ID: 0951:1665 class-ID: 0806 serial: <filter>
Device-2: 1-6:3 info: Transcend Information JetFlash type: mass storage driver: usb-storage
interfaces: 1 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 power: 200mA
chip-ID: 8564:1000 class-ID: 0806 serial: <filter>
Device-3: 1-8:4 info: Bison ThinkPad P50 Integrated Camera type: video driver: uvcvideo
interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 power: 500mA
chip-ID: 5986:0706 class-ID: 0e02
Hub-2: 2-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 6 rev: 3.0 speed: 5 Gb/s (596.0 MiB/s) lanes: 1
mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 38.0 C pch: 38.0 C mobo: 26.8 C
Fan Speeds (rpm): fan-1: 2909
Repos:
Packages: pm: dpkg pkgs: 0 pm: pacman pkgs: 1379 libs: 438 tools: pamac pm: flatpak pkgs: 0
Active pacman repo servers in: /etc/pacman.conf
1: https: //download.manjaro.org/pkgs/mesa
Active pacman repo servers in: /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
1: https: //mirror.netcologne.de/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
2: https: //mirror.init7.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
3: https: //mirrors2.manjaro.org/stable/$repo/$arch
4: https: //mirror.23m.com/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
5: http: //ftp.uni-kl.de/pub/linux/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
6: https: //mirrors.manjaro.org/repo/stable/$repo/$arch
7: https: //mirror.dkm.cz/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
8: https: //ftp.gwdg.de/pub/linux/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
9: https: //manjaro.mirror.garr.it/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
10: https: //manjaro.mirrors.uk2.net/stable/$repo/$arch
11: https: //manjaro.kurdy.org/stable/$repo/$arch
12: https: //ask4.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
13: https: //mirror.komelt.dev/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
14: https: //mirror.vinehost.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
15: https: //mirror.alpix.eu/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
16: https: //mirrors.eric.ovh/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
17: https: //mirror.alwyzon.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
18: https: //manjaro.syxpi.fr/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
19: https: //mirror.futureweb.be/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
20: https: //mirror.easyname.at/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
21: https: //www.mirrorservice.org/sites/repo.manjaro.org/repos/stable/$repo/$arch
22: https: //ftp.rz.tu-bs.de/pub/mirror/manjaro.org/repos/stable/$repo/$arch
23: https: //mirrors.nic.cz/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
24: https: //ftp.free.org/mirrors/repo.manjaro.org/repos/stable/$repo/$arch
25: https: //manjaro.mirror.wearetriple.com/stable/$repo/$arch
26: https: //manjaro.ynh.ovh/stable/$repo/$arch
27: https: //mirror.koddos.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
28: https: //mirror.raiolanetworks.com/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
29: https: //ftp.belnet.be/mirrors/manjaro/repos/stable/$repo/$arch
30: https: //manjaro.mirrors.lavatech.top/stable/$repo/$arch
31: https: //mirrors.dotsrc.org/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
32: https: //mirror1.sox.rs/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
33: https: //mirrors.cicku.me/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
34: https: //mirror.ibakerserver.pt/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
35: https: //ftp.tu-chemnitz.de/pub/linux/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
36: https: //quantum-mirror.hu/mirrors/pub/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
37: https: //ftp.snt.utwente.nl/pub/linux/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
38: https: //mirror.it4i.cz/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
39: https: //mirror.telepoint.bg/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
40: https: //ba.mirror.garr.it/mirrors/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
41: https: //ipng.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
42: https: //ftp.lysator.liu.se/pub/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
43: https: //fosszone.csd.auth.gr/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
44: https: //nnenix.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
45: https: //mirror.mobinhost.com/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
46: https: //manjaro.ipacct.com/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
47: https: //ftp.psnc.pl/linux/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
48: https: //forksystems.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
49: https: //mirror.hostiko.network/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
50: https: //ftpmirror1.infania.net/mirror/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
51: https: //coresite.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
52: https: //cofractal-ewr.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
53: https: //distrohub.kyiv.ua/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
54: https: //ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
55: https: //ct.mirror.garr.it/mirrors/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
56: https: //mirror.bouwhuis.network/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
57: https: //ohioix.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
58: https: //ftp.linux.org.tr/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
59: https: //mnvoip.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
60: https: //mirror.math.princeton.edu/pub/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
61: https: //ftp.cc.uoc.gr/mirrors/linux/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
62: https: //mirror.truenetwork.ru/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
63: https: //mirrors.up.pt/pub/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
64: https: //volico.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
65: https: //manjaro.grena.ge/stable/$repo/$arch
66: https: //mirror.datacenter.by/pub/mirrors/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
67: https: //mirrors.gigenet.com/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
68: https: //nocix.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
69: https: //ftp.caliu.cat/pub/distribucions/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
70: https: //mirror.xenyth.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
71: https: //mirror.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
72: https: //codingflyboy.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
73: https: //irltoolkit.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
74: https: //ziply.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
75: https: //muug.ca/mirror/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
76: https: //mirror.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
77: https: //mirror.dc.uz/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
78: https: //opencolo.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
79: https: //manjaro.mirror.liquidtelecom.com/stable/$repo/$arch
80: https: //repo.ialab.dsu.edu/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
81: https: //mirror.xeonbd.com/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
82: https: //mirror.dimensiondata.com/mirrors/manjaro.org/stable/$repo/$arch
83: https: //mirrors.atlas.net.co/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
84: https: //bd.mirror.vanehost.com/Manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
85: https: //mirror.freedif.org/Manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
86: https: //mirror.kamtv.ru/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
87: https: //mirror.meowsmp.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
88: https: //mirrors.sonic.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
89: https: //gsl-syd.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
90: http: //ossmirror.mycloud.services/os/linux/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
91: https: //mirrors.ucr.ac.cr/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
92: https: //manjarolinux-mirror.cloud.mu/stable/$repo/$arch
93: https: //mirror.phoepsilonix.love/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
94: https: //mirrors.jlu.edu.cn/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
95: https: //edgeuno-bog2.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
96: https: //mirror.2degrees.nz/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
97: https: //manjaro.c3sl.ufpr.br/stable/$repo/$arch
98: https: //mirrors.ocf.berkeley.edu/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
99: https: //linorg.usp.br/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
100: https: //mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
101: https: //manjaro.repo.cure.edu.uy/stable/$repo/$arch
102: https: //kartolo.sby.datautama.net.id/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
103: https: //mirror.nju.edu.cn/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
104: https: //ftp.tsukuba.wide.ad.jp/Linux/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
105: https: //mirrors.sjtug.sjtu.edu.cn/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
Processes:
CPU top: 5 of 199
1: cpu: 250% command: ps pid: 2736 mem: 3.88 MiB (0.0%)
2: cpu: 10.2% command: plasmashell pid: 1251 mem: 277.2 MiB (1.7%)
3: cpu: 5.5% command: kwin_x11 pid: 1189 mem: 168.0 MiB (1.0%)
4: cpu: 4.9% command: gpg-agent pid: 741 mem: 4.10 MiB (0.0%)
5: cpu: 4.1% command: Xorg pid: 1092 mem: 91.8 MiB (0.5%)
Memory top: 5 of 199
1: mem: 277.2 MiB (1.7%) command: plasmashell pid: 1251 cpu: 10.2%
2: mem: 168.0 MiB (1.0%) command: kwin_x11 pid: 1189 cpu: 5.5%
3: mem: 117.2 MiB (0.7%) command: konsole pid: 1828 cpu: 1.5%
4: mem: 116.8 MiB (0.7%) command: yakuake pid: 1479 cpu: 1.6%
5: mem: 109.4 MiB (0.7%) command: kded6 pid: 1188 cpu: 1.2%
Info:
Processes: 199 Power: uptime: 1m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep avail: s2idle wakeups: 0
hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot, suspend, test_resume image: 5.97 GiB
services: org_kde_powerdevil, power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 257
default: graphical tool: systemctl
Compilers: clang: 20.1.8 gcc: 15.2.1 Client: systemd inxi: 3.3.39
[manjaro /]#
Since my USB drive was running mesa 25.0 I used manjaro-downgrade to take mesa and libmesa down another notch.
Still no success.
Updating the kernel to linux617 worked, though, so the problem might not have been related to the mesa driver. Weird.
BTW read the notice about 6.17 being not production ready and tried 6.16 - doesn’t work. Even weirder.
1 Like
Sorry I didn’t reply earlier; I was going to mention that your inxi shows x11 but then remembered that this is from chroot.
Which session are you using now? echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE … if not Wayland, maybe switching to that may produce favourable results with the other Kernels?
Also, I see you have no swap defined; although probably not related, this may be worth tending to especially if you use a browser a lot, or do any other “memory-intensive” tasks.
You say you only downgraded the mesa driver – however, did you see this under Known Issues and Solutions?
@soundofthunder Thanks for your reply. Yes, saw that and tried after checking out older kernels. Didn’t work.
@BG405 Still running X11. Switching to Wayland might be an idea… thanks!
Noticed ‘no swap’, too - strange. The system has a generous swap partition - have to look into it. Or do a full reinstall over the weekend.
Has your swap partition been enabled?
The command is:
sudo swapon /dev/sda2
…but, please use it in context of the instructions at;
- Swap (Manjaro Wiki)
You’ll likely be glad you did;
especially as you have no Nvidia in the mix.
1 Like
Tested the current ISO images on my wife’s Thinkpad X-260:
- XFCE (manjaro-xfce-25.0.8-250902-linux612.iso) gives black screen with flicks into grey
- Cinnamon (manjaro-cinnamon-25.0.3-250609-linux612.iso) works
- Gnome (manjaro-gnome-25.0.8-250902-linux612.iso) gives black screen with flicks into grey
- KDE (manjaro-kde-25.0.8-250902-linux612.iso) gives black screen with flicks into grey
Problem might be related to the splash screen… 
This may be a possibility; what happens if you press e at the GRUB boot menu, then remove “quiet” and “splash” from the GRUB cmdline before booting?
Did that months ago… 
Strongly suspect Plymouth being involved - found a similar problem in this forum. Guess my next step is removing Plymouth to see what happens.
2 Likes
Indeed. Removing plymouth from the HOOKS line in /etc/mkinitcpio.conf should be sufficient for a test.
1 Like
Worth a try, but unfortunately, it didn’t do the trick. Uninstalled Plymouth using this guide. Removed the hook and uninstalled the packages.
Boots until the message ‘Triggering uevents…’ - then again the flashing black/grey screen on all older kernels.
Didn’t find a solution, but after applying the stable update 2025-09-26 the machine boots again.
Even swap is back online - no idea why it suddenly works again.
Magic.
Thanks to all for helping me.
2 Likes
Closed without a solution.