Problem is…There is no firmware to update!
@Fabby i just had another freeze, see below output of journalctl --system --boot=-1
I pressed the power key to reboot the laptop at 14:28:35
May 30 13:46:19 datanav audit[1]: SERVICE_START pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj==unconfined msg='unit=NetworkManager-dispatcher comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
May 30 13:46:29 datanav systemd[1]: NetworkManager-dispatcher.service: Succeeded.
May 30 13:46:29 datanav audit[1]: SERVICE_STOP pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj==unconfined msg='unit=NetworkManager-dispatcher comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
May 30 13:46:29 datanav kernel: audit: type=1131 audit(1622371589.175:105): pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj==unconfined msg='unit=NetworkManager-dispatcher comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
May 30 13:47:23 datanav dbus-daemon[347]: [system] Activating service name='org.kde.powerdevil.backlighthelper' requested by ':1.32' (uid=1000 pid=1282 comm="/usr/lib/org_kde_powerdevil ") (using servicehelper)
May 30 13:47:23 datanav dbus-daemon[347]: [system] Successfully activated service 'org.kde.powerdevil.backlighthelper'
May 30 13:55:32 datanav dbus-daemon[347]: [system] Activating service name='org.kde.powerdevil.backlighthelper' requested by ':1.32' (uid=1000 pid=1282 comm="/usr/lib/org_kde_powerdevil ") (using servicehelper)
May 30 13:55:32 datanav dbus-daemon[347]: [system] Successfully activated service 'org.kde.powerdevil.backlighthelper'
May 30 14:01:01 datanav CROND[4370]: (root) CMD (run-parts /etc/cron.hourly)
May 30 14:01:01 datanav CROND[4369]: (root) CMDEND (run-parts /etc/cron.hourly)
May 30 14:06:26 datanav dbus-daemon[347]: [system] Activating service name='org.kde.powerdevil.backlighthelper' requested by ':1.32' (uid=1000 pid=1282 comm="/usr/lib/org_kde_powerdevil ") (using servicehelper)
May 30 14:06:26 datanav dbus-daemon[347]: [system] Successfully activated service 'org.kde.powerdevil.backlighthelper'
May 30 14:28:35 datanav systemd-logind[358]: Power key pressed.Could my problem be attributed to the power devil thing?
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Doesn’t provide any meaningful info info.
Please provide a journalctl --priority=3 --boot=-1 | tail --lines=50 -
Probably not…
Output of journalctl --priority=3 --boot=-1 | tail --lines=50
May 30 14:29:18 datanav kernel: DMAR: [Firmware Bug]: No firmware reserved region can cover this RMRR [0x000000008e000000-0x00000000ae1fffff], contact BIOS vendor for fixes
May 30 14:29:19 datanav kernel: Bluetooth: hci0: unexpected event for opcode 0xfc2f
Also had another Freeze yesterday
See below output of journalctl --system --boot=-1
May 30 14:44:36 datanav kernel: audit: type=1131 audit(1622375076.268:96): pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj==unconfined msg='unit=systemd-tmpfiles-clean comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
May 30 15:01:02 datanav CROND[3311]: (root) CMD (run-parts /etc/cron.hourly)
May 30 15:01:02 datanav CROND[3310]: (root) CMDEND (run-parts /etc/cron.hourly)
May 30 15:03:59 datanav dbus-daemon[300]: [system] Activating service name='org.kde.powerdevil.backlighthelper' requested by ':1.31' (uid=1000 pid=986 comm="/usr/lib/org_kde_powerdevil ") (using servicehelper)
May 30 15:03:59 datanav dbus-daemon[300]: [system] Successfully activated service 'org.kde.powerdevil.backlighthelper'
May 30 15:10:11 datanav dbus-daemon[300]: [system] Activating service name='org.kde.powerdevil.backlighthelper' requested by ':1.31' (uid=1000 pid=986 comm="/usr/lib/org_kde_powerdevil ") (using servicehelper)
May 30 15:10:11 datanav dbus-daemon[300]: [system] Successfully activated service 'org.kde.powerdevil.backlighthelper'
May 30 15:11:26 datanav dbus-daemon[300]: [system] Activating service name='org.kde.powerdevil.backlighthelper' requested by ':1.31' (uid=1000 pid=986 comm="/usr/lib/org_kde_powerdevil ") (using servicehelper)
May 30 15:11:26 datanav dbus-daemon[300]: [system] Successfully activated service 'org.kde.powerdevil.backlighthelper'
May 30 15:12:38 datanav dbus-daemon[300]: [system] Activating service name='org.kde.powerdevil.backlighthelper' requested by ':1.31' (uid=1000 pid=986 comm="/usr/lib/org_kde_powerdevil ") (using servicehelper)
May 30 15:12:38 datanav dbus-daemon[300]: [system] Successfully activated service 'org.kde.powerdevil.backlighthelper'
May 30 15:12:43 datanav audit[3680]: USER_AUTH pid=3680 uid=1000 auid=1000 ses=2 subj==unconfined msg='op=PAM:unix_chkpwd acct="kevinm" exe="/usr/bin/unix_chkpwd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
May 30 15:12:43 datanav kernel: audit: type=1100 audit(1622376763.281:97): pid=3680 uid=1000 auid=1000 ses=2 subj==unconfined msg='op=PAM:unix_chkpwd acct="kevinm" exe="/usr/bin/unix_chkpwd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
May 30 15:14:24 datanav systemd-logind[314]: Power key pressed.
May 30 15:14:26 datanav systemd-logind[314]: Power key pressed.
May 30 15:14:27 datanav systemd-logind[314]: Power key pressed.
May 30 15:14:30 datanav systemd-logind[314]: Power key pressed.
May 30 15:14:30 datanav systemd-logind[314]: Power key pressed.
Again it happened just as when the backlight devil was being activated… 
I don’t know what the backlight devil is, so I can’t help you there…
And you were my only hope… 
I don't know what the backlight devil is, so I can't help you there...
It is a KDE service for adjusting the monitor backlight on laptops. (just learnt of this)
Yeah, but there is no coredump going on, so like I said:
I’m no subject matter expert, but from the symptoms above, it sounds like you need to pass an acpi parameter to your kernel.
See below:
Hope that helps!
Thanks for info, just followed the tutorial and added the command. Shall monitor and provide feedback. Had initially done the acpi_osi=Windows 2020 and my mouse frooze but adding the line acpi_osi=! i regained mouse control. All is left is to monitor the solution and see if it works.
Also just to add, i add deleted some services related to backlight inside of the systemd options, this solutions seemed to work for a while but then again the backlight helper showed itself up out of nowhere.
Will keep you posted.
Ok, sounds good.
If the acpi kernel parameters don’t help, it may be one of your devices is malfunctioning and causing the freeze-ups. You’ll have to dig further into the journal/kernel ring buffer in that case.
Don’t forget to mark this as solved if the above does the trick. 
Alright will monitor and revert. As for the digging further into journal/kernel we shall do that once we reach that bridge.
Is the trick supposed to affect screen brightness? I have noticed that while the laptop is on power the screen brightness goes up and am not able to change it, either through the keyboard shortcuts or through the energy savings settings same for when the laptop is on battery, the screen dims and am not to bring it higher.
Hey @Couch
Yes, the brightness special keys are controlled by acpi.
acpi_osi=! might cause issues with some devices. Probably, that’s behind your issue with the brightness keys.
You can either try with another Windows-like kernel parameter or find another kernel parameter applicable to your hardware. Doing some googling found this on the arch forum
I know this is like a try and error thing. In my case, I had constant freeze-ups, mostly right at the end of the boot sequence and acpi_osi='Windows 2020' worked for me. I have an optimus laptop though.
My laptop is a 2015 model so maybe the 2015/2016 version might be more applicable to me. i did the **acpi_osi=‘Windows 2020’ since its the last windows OS that i run on this laptop.
Update: replaced the windows 2020 with 2015 and regained control of the brightness controls however experienced an immediate freeze. Updated it to 2016 version and lost controls again.
Can i test out the xcfe solution on the KDE platform?
EDIT: Withdrawn. You’re already on the latest BIOS version.
Try also booting for kernels 5.10 and 5.4 as well. I know this might be contradictory to what you were told before but I think you haven’t tried them yet with the kernel parameters in.
Unfortunately the solutions did not work but thanks alot for your effort and time on this. Due to lack of enough time to play around and fix issues with this distro, i have moved on to another distro that fortunately just works out of the box.
@Fabby thank you too for your effort, but as i have stated above, i have moved on to another distro. Maybe we shall interact more once i purchase another laptop and try Manjaro again.
Cheers all!
Hi @Couch
That’s understandable.
Manjaro sometimes needs time and effort for getting things working the way you want. Most people here, including myself, find it fulfilling once you achieve that. It’s part of the deal.
Good luck. Hopefully you’ll come back at a later time.