Sometimes black screen after boot

After installing Manjaro GNOME with proprietary drivers the system sometimes doesn’t boot. I have to reboot a few times to see the login screen. Otherwise it shows a black screen or stucks at the UEFI manjaro loading screen.

Output of inxi --admin --verbosity=7 --filter --width:

System:
  Kernel: 5.4.188-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.4-x86_64
    root=UUID=136ebe7f-4d38-424d-8892-2d28ef49fb5a rw quiet splash apparmor=1
    security=apparmor udev.log_priority=3 pcie_aspm=off
  Desktop: GNOME v: 41.5 tk: GTK v: 3.24.33 wm: gnome-shell dm: GDM v: 41.3
    Distro: Manjaro Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: ASUSTeK product: N552VX v: 1.0
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: N552VX v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required>
    UEFI: American Megatrends v: N552VX.304 date: 05/08/2019
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 29.4 Wh (100.0%) condition: 29.4/31.7 Wh (92.7%)
    volts: 14.4 min: 14.4 model: ASUSTeK ASUS Battery type: Li-ion serial: N/A
    status: not charging cycles: 180
Memory:
  RAM: total: 7.67 GiB used: 2.2 GiB (28.6%)
  RAM Report:
    permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required.
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i7-6700HQ bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Skylake-S
    family: 6 model-id: 0x5E (94) stepping: 3 microcode: 0xEC
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 tpc: 2 threads: 8 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 256 KiB desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB
    L3: 6 MiB desc: 1x6 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 800 min/max: 800/3500 scaling: driver: intel_pstate
    governor: powersave cores: 1: 800 2: 800 3: 800 4: 800 5: 800 6: 800 7: 800
    8: 800 bogomips: 41621
  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
    hle ht hwp hwp_act_window hwp_epp hwp_notify ibpb ibrs ida intel_pt
    invpcid invpcid_single 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 rtm
    sdbg sep smap smep 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: 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: spec_store_bypass
    mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl and seccomp
  Type: spectre_v1
    mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW,
    STIBP: conditional, RSB filling
  Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 530 vendor: ASUSTeK driver: i915 v: kernel
    ports: active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1,HDMI-A-2 bus-ID: 00:02.0
    chip-ID: 8086:191b class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: NVIDIA GM107M [GeForce GTX 950M] vendor: ASUSTeK driver: nvidia
    v: 510.60.02 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s
    lanes: 8 link-max: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:139a class-ID: 0302
  Device-3: IMC Networks USB2.0 HD UVC WebCam type: USB driver: uvcvideo
    bus-ID: 1-4:2 chip-ID: 13d3:5666 class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
  Display: x11 server: X.org v: 1.21.1.3 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.1
    compositor: gnome-shell driver: X: loaded: modesetting,nvidia
    alternate: fbdev,nouveau,nv,vesa gpu: i915 display-ID: :1 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-size: <missing: xdpyinfo>
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: LG Display 0x046f built: 2014 res: 1920x1080
    hz: 60 dpi: 142 gamma: 1.2 size: 344x194mm (13.54x7.64") diag: 395mm (15.5")
    ratio: 16:9 modes: 1920x1080
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 530 (SKL GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 21.3.8
    direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Family HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:a170
    class-ID: 0403
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.4.188-1-MANJARO running: yes
  Sound Server-2: JACK v: 1.9.20 running: no
  Sound Server-3: PulseAudio v: 15.0 running: yes
  Sound Server-4: PipeWire v: 0.3.49 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Wireless 7265 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel pcie: gen: 1
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:095a class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
    broadcast: <filter>
  IP v6: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: ASUSTeK driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s
    lanes: 1 port: d000 bus-ID: 03:00.1 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp3s0f1 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
    broadcast: <filter>
  IP v6: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
  WAN IP: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
    bus-ID: 1-9:4 chip-ID: 8087:0a2a class-ID: e001
  Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: down bt-service: enabled,running
    rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes address: see --recommends
Logical:
  Message: No logical block device data found.
RAID:
  Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 447.13 GiB used: 18.7 GiB (4.2%)
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Patriot model: Burst size: 447.13 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: SSD
    serial: <filter> rev: K1.3 scheme: GPT
  Optical-1: /dev/sr0 vendor: TSSTcorp model: CDDVDW SU-228GB rev: AS00
    dev-links: cdrom
  Features: speed: 24 multisession: yes audio: yes dvd: yes
    rw: cd-r,cd-rw,dvd-r,dvd-ram state: running
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 212.52 GiB size: 208.13 GiB (97.93%)
    used: 18.68 GiB (9.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 maj-min: 8:5 label: N/A
    uuid: 136ebe7f-4d38-424d-8892-2d28ef49fb5a
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 512 MiB size: 511 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 25.6 MiB (5.0%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda4 maj-min: 8:4 label: NO_LABEL
    uuid: D8E7-D599
Swap:
  Alert: No swap data was found.
Unmounted:
  ID-1: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 size: 499 MiB fs: ntfs label: Recovery
    uuid: 42008C00008BF965
  ID-2: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2 size: 16 MiB fs: <superuser required>
    label: N/A uuid: N/A
  ID-3: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3 size: 233.51 GiB fs: ntfs label: N/A
    uuid: B0EAB062EAB0268E
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: Hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 16 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 1-4:2 info: IMC Networks USB2.0 HD UVC WebCam type: Video
    driver: uvcvideo interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s power: 500mA
    chip-ID: 13d3:5666 class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
  Device-2: 1-5:3 info: Razer USA DeathAdder Essential type: Mouse,Keyboard
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 3 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s
    power: 500mA chip-ID: 1532:0098 class-ID: 0300
  Device-3: 1-9:4 info: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface type: Bluetooth
    driver: btusb interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 8087:0a2a class-ID: e001
  Hub-2: 2-0:1 info: Super-speed hub ports: 8 rev: 3.0 speed: 5 Gb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 38.0 C pch: 42.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 2100
Info:
  Processes: 264 Uptime: 10m wakeups: 7472 Init: systemd v: 250
  tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 11.2.0 clang: 13.0.1 Packages: apt: 0
  pacman: 1287 lib: 331 flatpak: 0 Shell: Bash v: 5.1.16
  running-in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.3.15

Output of journalctl --catalog --priority=3 --boot=-1 (the last boot was unsuccessful):

22 19:10:42 ?? kernel: cgroup2: Unknown parameter 'memory_recursiveprot'

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I edited the post.

you are running an old kernel, install a newer one like 5.10 or 5.15 lts
go to system settings/ manjaro settings/ kernel and install from there, then reboot

I switched to linux 5.15lts. Same thing happened today.

just to be sure check with this command which kernel are you running:
uname -a

5.15.32-1-MANJARO #1 SMP PREEMPT Mon Mar 28 09:16:36 UTC 2022 x86_64 GNU/Linux

The thing is I just realized that the system doesn’t boot. So journactl does not record anything from the unsuccessful boots. Does this mean that it’s a grub/uefi problem? How can I troubleshoot it? I come from Ubuntu and I remember similar issues. I think that I added a grub option which solved the issue but I don’t remember it.

you can check the logs for the previous boot with:
journalctl --boot=-1
so where did you search for the solution on ubuntu… try searching for it again… was it something related to nvidia?

Yeah this command shows about the previous boot. I had the pc open for a while, then shut down, powered on again and it didn’t boot. I rebooted (power button) and it eventually booted but journalctl showed the last successful boot as shown by the timestamps. So systemd doesn’t even start on successful boots.

I don’t really remember what the problem was back then. It may be irrelevant.

maybe the command was: nomodeset ? could be worth trying

journalctl will only log events beginning with the kernel running. It has nothing in it from GRUB.

But it may give a hint with warnings or error-messages even when booting successfully.

And i would suggest to test, wehter it happens in GRUB or in UEFI/BIOS. Therfore you have to enable grub menue to be visible on every boot. then you may see at what point it is stuck.
(Your Bios seems up to date)

I erased quiet and splash and so it should output all systemd messages. Grub menu always appears. Sometimes a black screen shows up and sometimes it shows the messages and boots. Very strange behavior.

Does it stop before grub shows, or after ?

After. Grub is always visible.

Do any messages appear after Grub starts, and before it is stuck ?

Then you will have good chances to find a kernel-parameter that will solve the problem.

Does the keyboard work when it is stuck ?
  • Numlock-LED ?
  • Caps-lock-LED ?
  • CTRL-ALT-F2 ?
  • CTRL-ALT-DEL ?

None of these keyboard combinations works. The screen is black, not even a blinking cursor shows up.

The output of journalctl --catalog --priority=3 --boot=0 | sed "s/$HOSTNAME/HOST/gI" | sed "s/$USER/USER/gI" is:

Απρ 23 20:04:27 HOST kernel: DMAR: [Firmware Bug]: No firmware reserved region can cover this RMRR [0x0000000078800000-0x000000007affffff], contact BIOS vendor for fixes
Απρ 23 20:04:27 HOST kernel: x86/cpu: SGX disabled by BIOS.
Απρ 23 20:04:28 HOST kernel: tpm_crb MSFT0101:00: [Firmware Bug]: ACPI region does not cover the entire command/response buffer. [mem 0xfed40000-0xfed4087f flags 0x200] vs fed40080 f80
Απρ 23 20:04:28 HOST kernel: tpm_crb MSFT0101:00: [Firmware Bug]: ACPI region does not cover the entire command/response buffer. [mem 0xfed40000-0xfed4087f flags 0x200] vs fed40080 f80
Απρ 23 20:04:28 HOST kernel: 
Απρ 23 20:04:35 HOST systemd[653]: Failed to start Application launched by gnome-session-binary.
░░ Subject: A start job for unit UNIT has failed
░░ Defined-By: systemd
░░ Support: https://forum.manjaro.org/c/support
░░ 
░░ A start job for unit UNIT has finished with a failure.
░░ 
░░ The job identifier is 449 and the job result is failed.

Of course this was a successful boot. I have searched every problem but I didn’t manage to find any solution to them.

If that’s any useful, booting from a manjaro live usb has similar problems: the system doesn’t boot sometimes.

searching for error messages leads often to solutions :wink:

https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/422454/acpi-region-does-not-cover-the-entire-command-response-buffer

I would suggest to have a look at your BIOS/UEFI settings

(maybe load defaults) This did help me with a nasty boot-problem.

I restored to the defaults. Same thing happens.