System boots to black screen every now and then

Since quite a while my System boots to a blackscreen occasionally after successfully unlocking my LUKS-encrypted drives.
Opening a TTY with CTRL+Alt+Fx is not possible in those cases.
Most of the time I am able to boot normally to the usual login screen after resetting the laptop with the on/off switch. In some cases it takes 2 or more resets.
I found another thread with a similar problem, but there is no solution and no further feedback by the author.

Any thoughts/solutions on/for this issue?

1 Like

You need to run manjaro-chroot using Manjaro Live USB to check and fix your system

Well, the problem only occurs occasionally - as I already stated - and I know how to enter a system with chroot. But this alone does not fix any issues. The system is up-to-date and runs without problems when it boots normally.
Or do I get you wrong? What and how do you suggest to fix?

when the freeze happens next time provide logs from the failed boot:
journalctl -b-1 -p4 --no-pager
together with:
inxi -Fazy

2 Likes

Blackscreen is in most cases, especially when it happens sporadically, a UEFI/Linux issue.

  1. Fastboot/partial init can be the culprit. → disable this function.
  2. GPU initializes slow especially with hybrid GPUs, therefore the display-manager crashes. → Put the driver in early load.
3 Likes

That could be a reason. My laptop has a hybrid GPU. How do I put the driver in early load?

ok I expect that you are not total new.

In general it goes like this:

  1. Find the needed modules. inxi -Gazy
  2. Edit the file /etc/mkinitcpio.conf and add the driver names to the modules array. (Order matters)
  3. Run mkinitcpio -P to generate the initcpio.

Now the drivers load when the linux image is loaded to ram and not later.

2 Likes

inxi -Gazy looks like this:

inxi -Gazy
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel CoffeeLake-H GT2 [UHD Graphics 630] vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-9.5 process: Intel 14nm built: 2016-20
    ports: active: eDP-1 empty: none bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:3e9b
    class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP104M [GeForce GTX 1070 Mobile] vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: nvidia v: 515.57 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 515.xx+
    status: current (as of 2022-07) arch: Pascal code: GP10x
    process: TSMC 16nm built: 2016-21 pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16
    link-max: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:1ba1
    class-ID: 0300
  Device-3: Acer HD Webcam type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-13:11
    chip-ID: 5986:1140 class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
  Device-4: Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920 type: USB
    driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-3.4.3:12 chip-ID: 046d:082d
    class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter>
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.4 compositor: xfwm v: 4.16.1 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting,nvidia unloaded: vesa alternate: fbdev,nouveau,nv
    gpu: i915 display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 3840x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 1016x286mm (40.00x11.26")
    s-diag: 1055mm (41.55")
  Monitor-1: HDMI-1-0 pos: primary,left res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 92
    size: 531x298mm (20.91x11.73") diag: 609mm (23.97") modes: N/A
  Monitor-2: eDP-1 pos: right res: 1920x1080 hz: 120 dpi: 128
    size: 381x214mm (15x8.43") diag: 437mm (17.2") modes: N/A
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics 630 (CFL GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 22.1.4
    direct render: Yes

/etc/mkinitcpio.conf does not exist.
Do I have to create it first? Sorry, I am still a bit noobish to Linux…

:exploding_head:

Then there is something wrong…

Ok well… no. The file MUST exist.

sudo nano /etc/mkinitcpio.conf

replace MODULES=() with

MODULES=(i915 nvidia nvidia_drm nvidia_uvm nvidia_modeset)

or just add the ones there.

Then recreate the initcpio.

3 Likes

@megavolt
Sorry, I did not mean to let your mind explode. :wink:
/etc/mkinitcpio.conf was hidden and so I couldn’t find it at first glance.

I edited everything in the way you suggested and hope the issue will be fixed.

So far, thank you very much for your help! I hope this boot issue is history now.

Well I hope you re-generate the images!? Editing it has zero effect. At least on the next kernel update it will take place…

Yes, I ran mkinitcpio -P. So far, no more blackscreens.

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