Do different Arch-based distros use different drivers for the same kernel?

I always thought that if I download Arch-based distro X, it will have the same hardware support as Arch-based distro Z, as long as they use the same kernel, but I have doubts about this because of recent experience with one specific laptop (LG Gram 17 2022 17Z90Q, Intel Core i5-1240P).

Using Manjaro KDE for all my computers, it was my obvious choice to install the same OS on new laptop as well. After installation I noticed that if I remove some pre-installed apps (like Timeshift, for example) along with their dependencies, system enters endless boot loop after restart. Re-installed it 4 times, result was always the same, so my idea was it’s Pamac problem ( Pamac incorrectly removes "unrequired" dependencies on fresh installation ). Then I realized endless boot happens every time I change any system setting, for example: remove unneeded dependency, change monitor resolution scaling, etc. The smallest system change + restart = non-booting OS. Every. Single. Time.

I the installed Endeavour OS. Everything worked fine, I could make any system changes as usual, OS will always boot.

Then I tried installing Reborn OS (both using LTS and 6.2 kernel) and couldn’t even do it. Once installer is launched, system freezes and screen starts flickering (tried 6 times just to be sure).

So my question is - how it comes every distro has different support for the same laptop, even if I used the same kernel (tried open source and proprietary drivers as well). I realize each distro might have different look + some different packages, etc, but does each distro actually use tweaked kernels and drivers? Otherwise, I have no idea why it happens.

P.S. I was going to give Manjaro another shot and trying to install kernel 6.2 (comes with 6.1 by default), but… to my surprise, Kernel Manager (GUI) does NOT list any other kernl version on that laptop. It only shows 6.1 as recommended and installed, and it’s the only entry in the list. Never experienced it with other computers.

My personal theory on the subject - in most cases it is the user which lacks the understanding necessary to achieve the goal.

With an Arch based system only Manjaro diverges from the default Arch as Manjaro maintains kernels and related modules instead of pulling those from Arch.

Manjaro, EndeavourOS and RebornOS are basically identical - when it comes to the shared packages coming from Arch repository.

I think you expect that because it is based on Arch everyting is equal - but it is not and that is why Arch BBS is dedicated to Arch users - no derivatives allowed.

The varianse in the installation method - the scripts - the theming - all those factors which sets the systems apart is also the factors combined with the user’s level of understand or lack thereof will decide the outcome of any attempt.

The only way to achieve the knowledge required is hard work - no amount of installers or installer scripts and applications can help with that.

Plain and simple hard work - where you know what you need and why you need it - this is the only way to a succesful system - both when it comes to installation as well as the continued maintenance.

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You should provide information about your system and logs so that people can help you with troubleshooting. For example, when your system is broken, you boot from a live iso, chroot into the system, collect inxi output with journalctl logs and upload everything to the forum. Looking at your registration date, I believe you can easily do this.

If you didn’t uninstall Timeshift, but took a snapshot of a working system, you wouldn’t need to reinstall the OS countless times :melting_face:.

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It doesn’t matter which variant of Arch-based or anyother distro you use, they all use the same software.
The catch is that every distro makes it’s own selection of packages to include, and by that also the versions of those packages.

Fe. you say you use the same kernel but, that kernel can be compiled with different features on different distro’s, so they are not the same even though the kernel version looks same…
It’s like different installs of the same operating system but with different configurations.

Not even going into the different source-patches the distro’s apply to the software they provide…

Is your issue even driver related?