Black screen with bootable USB, cant reach login screen

Issues & Assistance Garuda Installer Images
1

Hello guys, im trying to test Garuda on a bootable usb but im not even able to reach the login screen because after reaching grub and selecting open/proprietary drivers it tries to boot, takes quite some time and then just a plain black screen except on the top where some sort of border shows up where i can see the cursor if i tried to move it there. Tried looking into the forum and multiple suggestions (including this one) but same issue, initially booted with rufus, then ventoy which on the first try corrupted the iso but on the second time it was fine, but exact same issue. During that screen im able to switch to tty and this is the iso im trying to boot garuda-mokka-linux-zen-251103, checksum was alright.

This same issue with the nvidia drivers also happened before on Fedora kde (thats the reason why i gave up on fedora), and I now im just testing garudas live environment and havent installed, but pretty much because im not even able to do so and the exact same problem happened on live fedora kde where the only way I installed was by using nomodeset on grub, will probably try doing that if there isnt any other option but i would like to know if there is even a way to fix these problems before installing a system im not gonna be able to run properly like fedora (reinstalled twice and same issue there, same with Bazzite). Tried live Manjaro kde, and magically it worked well, thats why im so confused and wanted to ask for help because i liked garuda i wanna stick to it.

Also, secure boot was off all the time and here are my specs:
R7 5700X
RTX 3060
MSI motherboard

Edit by @nepti:

System:
  Kernel: 6.17.6-zen1-1-zen arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 15.2.1 clocksource: tsc
    avail: hpet,acpi_pm parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-x86_64 lang=en_US keytable=us tz=UTC
    misobasedir=garuda root=miso:LABEL=GARUDA_MOKKA_BROADWING quiet systemd.show_status=1
    checksum=y driver=nonfree nouveau.modeset=0 i915.modeset=1 radeon.modeset=1 rdinit=/vtoy/vtoy
  Console: tty 3 DM: SDDM Distro: Garuda base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: Micro-Star model: B450-A PRO (MS-7B86) v: 2.0 serial: <superuser required>
    uuid: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends LLC. v: A.I1 date: 05/17/2023
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Ryzen 7 5700X bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 3+ gen: 3 level: v3 note: check
    built: 2022 process: TSMC n6 (7nm) family: 0x19 (25) model-id: 0x21 (33) stepping: 2
    microcode: 0xA201211
  Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 1 cores: 8 threads: 16 tpc: 2 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 512 KiB desc: d-8x32 KiB; i-8x32 KiB L2: 4 MiB desc: 8x512 KiB L3: 32 MiB desc: 1x32 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 3626 min/max: 562/4666 boost: enabled scaling: driver: amd-pstate-epp
    governor: powersave cores: 1: 3626 2: 3626 3: 3626 4: 3626 5: 3626 6: 3626 7: 3626 8: 3626
    9: 3626 10: 3626 11: 3626 12: 3626 13: 3626 14: 3626 15: 3626 16: 3626 bogomips: 108801
  Flags-basic: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
  Vulnerabilities: <filter>
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GA106 [GeForce RTX 3060 Lite Hash Rate] vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: nvidia
    v: 580.95.05 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 550-580.xx+ status: current (as of
    2025-08; EOL~2026-12-xx) arch: Ampere code: GAxxx process: TSMC n7 (7nm) built: 2020-2023
    pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 link-max: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s ports: active: HDMI-A-1
    empty: DP-1,DP-2,DP-3 bus-ID: 26:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:2504 class-ID: 0300
  Display: unspecified server: X.org v: 1.21.1.20 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.9
    compositor: kwin_wayland driver: gpu: nv_platform,nvidia,nvidia-nvswitch tty: 240x67
  Monitor-1: HDMI-A-1 model: AOC 27G2G4 serial: <filter> built: 2021 res: 1920x1080 dpi: 82
    gamma: 1.2 size: 598x336mm (23.54x13.23") diag: 686mm (27") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080
    min: 640x480
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: nvidia platforms: device: 0 drv: nvidia device: 2 drv: swrast
    surfaceless: drv: nvidia wayland: drv: swrast inactive: gbm,x11,device-1
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: mesa v: 25.2.6-arch1.1 note: console (EGL sourced)
    renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 21.1.4 256 bits), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060/PCIe/SSE2
  API: Vulkan v: 1.4.328 layers: 7 device: 0 type: discrete-gpu name: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
    driver: nvidia v: 580.95.05 device-ID: 10de:2504 surfaces: N/A device: 1 type: cpu name: llvmpipe
    (LLVM 21.1.4 256 bits) driver: mesa llvmpipe v: 25.2.6-arch1.1 (LLVM 21.1.4)
    device-ID: 10005:0000 surfaces: N/A
  Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor
    gpu: nvidia-smi wl: wayland-info x11: xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
Audio:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GA106 High Definition Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 link-max: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s bus-ID: 26:00.1
    chip-ID: 10de:228e class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Starship/Matisse HD Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 28:00.4
    chip-ID: 1022:1487 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.17.6-zen1-1-zen status: kernel-api tools: N/A
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.4.9 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
    2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: f000 bus-ID: 22:00.0
    chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp34s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  Info: services: NetworkManager,systemd-timesyncd
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 2.74 TiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Western Digital model: WD Blue SA510 2.5 1000GB
    size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: SSD
    serial: <filter> fw-rev: 8100 scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Western Digital model: WD10EZEX-08M2NA0 size: 931.51 GiB
    block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter>
    fw-rev: 1A01 scheme: GPT
  ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: Western Digital model: WD10EVDS-63U8B1 size: 931.51 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s tech: N/A serial: <filter>
    fw-rev: 0A01 scheme: MBR
  ID-4: /dev/sdd maj-min: 8:48 vendor: Kingston model: DataTraveler 2.0 size: 14.42 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: USB rev: 2.0 spd: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0
    tech: N/A serial: <filter> fw-rev: 1.00 scheme: MBR
  SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure?
Partition:
  Message: No partition data found.
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
  ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 31.26 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100 comp: zstd
    avail: lzo-rle,lzo,lz4,lz4hc,deflate,842 dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 46.8 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Info:
  Memory: total: 32 GiB available: 31.26 GiB used: 4.49 GiB (14.4%)
  Processes: 340 Power: uptime: 5m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep avail: s2idle
    wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot, suspend, test_resume image: 12.47 GiB
    services: org_kde_powerdevil, power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 258
    default: graphical tool: systemctl
  Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1251 libs: 311 tools: octopi,paru Compilers: gcc: 15.2.1
    Shell: Bash v: 5.3.3 running-in: tty 3 inxi: 3.3.39
warning: database file for 'garuda' does not exist (use '-Sy' to download)
warning: database file for 'core' does not exist (use '-Sy' to download)
warning: database file for 'extra' does not exist (use '-Sy' to download)
warning: database file for 'multilib' does not exist (use '-Sy' to download)
warning: database file for 'chaotic-aur' does not exist (use '-Sy' to download)
Garuda (2.11.1-1):
  System install date:     2025-11-11
  Garuda release:          251103
  Last full system update: 2025-11-11 ↻
  Is partially upgraded:   No
warning: database file for 'garuda' does not exist (use '-Sy' to download)
warning: database file for 'core' does not exist (use '-Sy' to download)
warning: database file for 'extra' does not exist (use '-Sy' to download)
warning: database file for 'multilib' does not exist (use '-Sy' to download)
warning: database file for 'chaotic-aur' does not exist (use '-Sy' to download)
  Relevant software:       snapper NetworkManager dracut nvidia-utils nvidia-open-dkms garuda-hardware-profile-nvidia garuda-hardware-profile-standard
  Windows dual boot:       <superuser required>
  Failed units:            
--- System Health Check Report ---
22/25 checks run in 0.67 seconds ⌛
Powered by garuda-health 🦅

--- HIGH ---
 - Snapper snapshots directory is missing (fix available)

--- INFO ---
 - A reboot is pending (update applied since last reboot)

Run garuda-health --fix to apply fixes.
2

If you’re able to switch to a functioning tty, I would suggest you run garuda-inxi and try to save the output so you can post the output to your machine’s specs. Alternatively, you can run garuda-diag which will include your garuda-inxi output among other diagnostic logs, and automatically upload it and provide you with a URL, from which you can extract the inxi output and post to this thread. This will allow others more well versed in these things to help you.

5 Likes
3

Thanks for the suggestion, here is the link to the entire output Garuda's PrivateBin

4

I’ll caution you that you should edit your first post and include the garuda-inxi output directly there, so as to avoid admonishment by moderators for not following the post rules. Make sure to have three ~ before the post and three ~ after the post to format the entire block as “code”.

3 Likes
5

Also took the opportunity to boot garuda-gnome-linux-zen-251103 which worked perfectly, no black screen as with KDE, so as i had previously expected, the issue is pretty much plasma related as I also noticed with fedora and bazzite, still I find it weird because there were no problems with Live Manjaro kde. Of course there are multiple other options, not just kde, but its my favorite DE and would like to hopefully continue using it :frowning:

6

Does your motherboard have a setting similar to legacy mode? I’m not sure what it would be called for your motherboard in the bios, but on this gigabyte board I have that I hate it is called “CSM support” without it enabled I cannot boot. You might have to dig around to find it. It’s not always in plain sight.

2 Likes
7

yeah i do have it, but its set to UEFI if im not mistaken, in any case im not currently using it, do you suggest enabling that one setting?

8

I suggest at least testing it once at the very least if nothing changes, you just set it back to what it was before. If it’s of course, under legacy boot, I mean.

2 Likes
9

So apparently it doesnt change anything, same black screen after setting it to CSM. Put it back to UEFI because im currently using windows btw

10

Also important is a bios update.
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B450-A-PRO/support
Think on the right settings after.

3 Likes
11

Hey guys, thanks for your help. End up giving a try to Endeavor OS which similarly to Manjaro, was able to boot and hence install. It installed without any issues and once rebooted, was able to reach the login screen (couldnt do this on Fedora/Bazzite/Garuda), but when I logged in, black screen appeared as with Garuda so rebooted again and during the login screen I switched from Wayland to X11 which apparently fixed the problem and allowed me to continue using the OS without any issues. Ive been using it for some time and was able to install, update and reboot multiple times without any issues.

So for anybody with the same issue: Try switching to X11 somehow, didnt try it on garuda, but thats the only thing what worked for me.

12

Thanks for your input. :slightly_smiling_face:

Since you obviously no longer need help and are no longer using Garuda Linux, I’m closing this thread.

Good luck on your journey. :waving_hand:

4 Likes