Manjaro boot leads to blank screen but fallback image boots fine

I am not sure if I should’ve necroed post 24473, but my situation seems to be different.

My laptop’s motherboard died last week and I got it serviced only to find that Manjaro boots to an unresponsive black screen. Fortunately, I could boot via fallback. I noticed that the time was behind by several months and had to timedatectl set-ntp true to fix it, which is odd but could point to what is wrong?

My USB ports are being weird and recognizes the wireless dongle for keyboard and mouse but not pen drives and hard disks. This unfortunately means no live usb boot to troubleshoot/fix, but I do have a Linux Mint installation in another partition if that helps.

Referring to the aforementioned post, I entered troubleshooting commands to hopefully figure something out but it’s hopeless.

Regenerating initramfs

sudo mkinitcpio -P
$ sudo mkinitcpio -P
[sudo] password for PackerMan: 
==> Building image from preset: /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux54.preset: 'default'
  -> -k /boot/vmlinuz-5.4-x86_64 -c /etc/mkinitcpio.conf -g /boot/initramfs-5.4-x86_64.img
==> Starting build: 5.4.80-2-MANJARO
  -> Running build hook: [base]
  -> Running build hook: [udev]
  -> Running build hook: [autodetect]
  -> Running build hook: [modconf]
  -> Running build hook: [block]
  -> Running build hook: [keyboard]
  -> Running build hook: [keymap]
loadkeys: Unable to open file: in: No such file or directory
  -> Running build hook: [filesystems]
==> Generating module dependencies
==> Creating gzip-compressed initcpio image: /boot/initramfs-5.4-x86_64.img
==> Image generation successful
==> Building image from preset: /etc/mkinitcpio.d/linux54.preset: 'fallback'
  -> -k /boot/vmlinuz-5.4-x86_64 -c /etc/mkinitcpio.conf -g /boot/initramfs-5.4-x86_64-fallback.img -S autodetect
==> Starting build: 5.4.80-2-MANJARO
  -> Running build hook: [base]
  -> Running build hook: [udev]
  -> Running build hook: [modconf]
  -> Running build hook: [block]
  -> Running build hook: [keyboard]
  -> Running build hook: [keymap]
loadkeys: Unable to open file: in: No such file or directory
  -> Running build hook: [filesystems]
==> Generating module dependencies
==> Creating gzip-compressed initcpio image: /boot/initramfs-5.4-x86_64-fallback.img
==> Image generation successful

I saw loadkeys was improper and tried loadkeys us and loadkeys -d to no avail.

System information

inxi -Fxxxza --no-host
$ inxi -Fxxxza --no-host
System:    Kernel: 5.4.80-2-MANJARO x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 10.2.0 
           parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.4-x86_64 root=UUID=e0fcfd2e-7cf1-49e7-8d7b-9147234f1db9 rw quiet 
           apparmor=1 security=apparmor udev.log_priority=3 
           Desktop: Xfce 4.14.3 tk: Gtk 3.24.23 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm4 dm: LightDM 1.30.0 
           Distro: Manjaro Linux 
Machine:   Type: Laptop System: ASUSTeK product: X541UVK v: 1.0 serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: ASUSTeK model: X541UVK v: 1.0 serial: <filter> UEFI: American Megatrends v: X541UVK.303 
           date: 05/23/2017 
Battery:   ID-1: BAT0 charge: 31.7 Wh condition: 31.7/34.6 Wh (92%) volts: 10.8/10.8 model: ASUSTeK ASUS Battery 
           type: Li-ion serial: N/A status: Not charging cycles: 61 
CPU:       Info: Dual Core model: Intel Core i3-7100U bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Amber Lake family: 6 
           model-id: 8E (142) stepping: 9 microcode: 42 L2 cache: 3072 KiB 
           flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx bogomips: 19204 
           Speed: 2400 MHz min/max: 400/2400 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 2400 2: 2400 3: 2400 4: 2400 
           Vulnerabilities: Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: Split huge pages 
           Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable 
           Type: mds status: Vulnerable: Clear CPU buffers attempted, no microcode; SMT vulnerable 
           Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI 
           Type: spec_store_bypass status: Vulnerable 
           Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization 
           Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Full generic retpoline, STIBP: disabled, RSB filling 
           Type: srbds status: Vulnerable: No microcode 
           Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected 
Graphics:  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 620 vendor: ASUSTeK driver: i915 v: kernel bus ID: 00:02.0 
           chip ID: 8086:5916 
           Device-2: NVIDIA GM108M [GeForce 920MX] vendor: ASUSTeK driver: nvidia v: 440.100 
           alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm bus ID: 01:00.0 chip ID: 10de:134f 
           Device-3: IMC Networks USB2.0 VGA UVC WebCam type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus ID: 1-6:3 chip ID: 13d3:5a01 
           serial: <filter> 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.10 driver: intel display ID: :0.0 screens: 1 
           Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.0x11.2") s-diag: 582mm (22.9") 
           Monitor-1: eDP1 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 143 size: 340x190mm (13.4x7.5") diag: 389mm (15.3") 
           OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 620 (KBL GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 20.2.3 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: Intel Sunrise Point-LP HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
           alternate: snd_soc_skl bus ID: 00:1f.3 chip ID: 8086:9d71 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.80-2-MANJARO 
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL810xE PCI Express Fast Ethernet vendor: ASUSTeK driver: r8169 v: kernel port: d000 
           bus ID: 02:00.2 chip ID: 10ec:8136 
           IF: enp2s0f2 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros QCA9565 / AR9565 Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Lite-On driver: ath9k 
           v: kernel port: d000 bus ID: 03:00.0 chip ID: 168c:0036 
           IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 933.38 GiB used: 162.79 GiB (17.4%) 
           SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends 
           ID-1: /dev/mmcblk0 model: 00000 size: 1.87 GiB block size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B 
           serial: <filter> 
           ID-2: /dev/sda vendor: Seagate model: ST1000LM035-1RK172 size: 931.51 GiB block size: physical: 4096 B 
           logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s rotation: 5400 rpm serial: <filter> rev: SDM1 scheme: GPT 
Partition: ID-1: / raw size: 205.82 GiB size: 201.59 GiB (97.94%) used: 162.77 GiB (80.7%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 
Swap:      Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache pressure: 100 (default) 
           ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 7.63 GiB used: 16.8 MiB (0.2%) priority: -2 dev: /dev/sda2 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 56.0 C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 2700 
Info:      Processes: 208 Uptime: 36m Memory: 3.72 GiB used: 1.47 GiB (39.5%) Init: systemd v: 246 Compilers: 
           gcc: 10.2.0 clang: 11.0.0 Packages: 1541 pacman: 1532 lib: 394 flatpak: 0 snap: 9 Shell: Bash v: 5.0.18 
           running in: xfce4-terminal inxi: 3.1.08

Partition information

sudo fdisk -l
$ sudo fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 931.51 GiB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors
Disk model: ST1000LM035-1RK1
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 2CBB7DD1-8753-4D5A-965D-37BCF3007B56

Device          Start        End    Sectors   Size Type
/dev/sda1        2048    1951743    1949696   952M EFI System
/dev/sda2     1951744   17952767   16001024   7.6G Linux swap
/dev/sda3    17952768  447639551  429686784 204.9G Linux filesystem
/dev/sda4   447639552 1521885183 1074245632 512.2G Microsoft basic data
/dev/sda5  1521885184 1953525134  431639951 205.8G Linux filesystem


Disk /dev/mmcblk0: 1.87 GiB, 2002780160 bytes, 3911680 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x00000000


Disk /dev/loop0: 110.57 MiB, 115941376 bytes, 226448 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop1: 97.86 MiB, 102612992 bytes, 200416 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop2: 97.74 MiB, 102486016 bytes, 200168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop3: 55.32 MiB, 58007552 bytes, 113296 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop4: 55.36 MiB, 58052608 bytes, 113384 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop5: 62.09 MiB, 65105920 bytes, 127160 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop6: 179.73 MiB, 188456960 bytes, 368080 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop7: 64.77 MiB, 67915776 bytes, 132648 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop8: 231.68 MiB, 242937856 bytes, 474488 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop9: 175.75 MiB, 184283136 bytes, 359928 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop10: 231.28 MiB, 242515968 bytes, 473664 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop11: 73.97 MiB, 77565952 bytes, 151496 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop12: 233.16 MiB, 244486144 bytes, 477512 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop13: 73.97 MiB, 77565952 bytes, 151496 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop14: 231.81 MiB, 243068928 bytes, 474744 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

sudo parted --list
$ sudo parted --list
[sudo] password for PackerMan: 
Model: ATA ST1000LM035-1RK1 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    File system     Name  Flags
 1      1049kB  999MB   998MB   fat32                 boot, esp
 2      999MB   9192MB  8193MB  linux-swap(v1)        swap
 3      9192MB  229GB   220GB   btrfs
 4      229GB   779GB   550GB   fat32                 msftdata
 5      779GB   1000GB  221GB   ext4


Model: SD 00000 (sd/mmc)
Disk /dev/mmcblk0: 2003MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: loop
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start  End     Size    File system  Flags
 1      0.00B  2003MB  2003MB  ntfs
efibootmgr --verbose
$ efibootmgr --verbose

BootCurrent: 0000

Timeout: 1 seconds

BootOrder: 0000,0002,0003,0001

Boot0000* ubuntu HD(1,GPT,ebd8dbca-c456-4c5e-b42e-9119713941b2,0x800,0x1dc000)/File(\EFI\UBUNTU\SHIMX64.EFI)

Boot0001* Manjaro HD(1,GPT,ebd8dbca-c456-4c5e-b42e-9119713941b2,0x800,0x1dc000)/File(\grubx64.efi)

Boot0002* Hard Drive BBS(HD,,0x0)..GO..NO........o.S.T.1.0.0.0.L.M.0.3.5.-.1.R.K.1.7.2....................A...........................>..Gd-.;.A..MQ..L. . . . . . . . . . . . .D.W.7.E.M.1.E.L........BO

Boot0003* CD/DVD Drive BBS(CDROM,,0x0)..GO..NO........o.H.L.-.D.T.-.S.T. .D.V.D.R.A.M. .G.U.E.1.N....................A...........................>..Gd-.;.A..MQ..L.L.K.H.9.P.2.3.1.2.6. .3. . . . . . . . ........BO

All I’ve managed to figure out so far is that I don’t have the same problem as the other thread since my partitions are looking proper.

Also I’m a fledgling when it comes to Arch/Manjaro so feel free to assume I know nothing.