Blank Screen after updating, nothing comes up on screen

Issues & Assistance
1

Hello everyone, I have been using garuda for the past few months without any issues. But after an update yesterday, my system stopped working properly. After rebooting, I was just met with a blank screen, with the setup assistant and nothing else. I tried opening applications like dolphin or Konsole, but nothing was really working, it all kept freezing and gave me the option to kill the process.

Unfortunately I did not use the Timeshift backups, but I had backed up my home folder via Deja Dup to a google drive so all of the data that I need is safe. I then reinstalled garuda, and after updating it with the setup assistant, after rebooting it once again stopped working. It feels to me that the new update is breaking the OS on my laptop. The setup assistant made it really easy to install all the software that I needed, but I can't use it anymore as updating it breaks the system. Any advice on what I can do? I don't know how to go on from here. Should I wait for a few months for another update? I am on another fresh installation right now and I believe that if I update it, it will break once again.

Here is the output from garuda-inxi:

System:
Kernel: 6.0.2-zen1-1-zen arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
root=UUID=81eeb381-a9b6-4cd2-9ab8-4684b931d24a rw [email protected]
quiet quiet splash rd.udev.log_priority=3 vt.global_cursor_default=0
resume=UUID=f3a620f7-8be3-42f8-baa4-93395073ef16 loglevel=3
Console: pty pts/0 wm: kwin_x11 DM: SDDM Distro: Garuda Linux
base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: HP product: HP Pavilion Laptop 15z-eh100 v: N/A
serial: <filter> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <filter>
Mobo: HP model: 88D0 v: 78.31 serial: <filter> UEFI: AMI v: F.22
date: 07/11/2022
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 13.4 Wh (40.7%) condition: 32.9/32.9 Wh (100.0%)
volts: 11.1 min: 11.3 model: HP Primary type: Li-ion serial: <filter>
status: discharging cycles: 220
CPU:
Info: model: AMD Ryzen 7 5700U with Radeon Graphics socket: FP6 bits: 64
type: MT MCP arch: Zen 2 gen: 3 level: v3 note: check built: 2020-22
process: TSMC n7 (7nm) family: 0x17 (23) model-id: 0x68 (104) stepping: 1
microcode: 0x8608103
Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 8 tpc: 2 threads: 16 smt: enabled cache:
L1: 512 KiB desc: d-8x32 KiB; i-8x32 KiB L2: 4 MiB desc: 8x512 KiB
L3: 8 MiB desc: 2x4 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 1425 high: 1800 min/max: 1400/4370 boost: enabled
base/boost: 1800/4350 scaling: driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: schedutil
volts: 1.2 V ext-clock: 100 MHz cores: 1: 1400 2: 1400 3: 1400 4: 1400
5: 1800 6: 1400 7: 1400 8: 1400 9: 1400 10: 1400 11: 1400 12: 1400
13: 1400 14: 1400 15: 1400 16: 1400 bogomips: 57492
Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
Vulnerabilities:
Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
Type: l1tf status: Not affected
Type: mds status: Not affected
Type: meltdown status: Not affected
Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
Type: retbleed mitigation: untrained return thunk; SMT enabled with STIBP
protection
Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
prctl
Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
sanitization
Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, STIBP:
always-on, RSB filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected
Type: srbds status: Not affected
Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
Device-1: AMD Lucienne vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: amdgpu v: kernel
arch: GCN-5.1 code: Vega-2 process: TSMC n7 (7nm) built: 2018-21 pcie:
gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 link-max: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s ports:
active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 04:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:164c
class-ID: 0300 temp: 45.0 C
Device-2: Luxvisions Innotech HP Wide Vision HD Camera type: USB
driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-3:3 chip-ID: 30c9:000e class-ID: 0e02
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.4 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.3
compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: amdgpu unloaded: modesetting
alternate: fbdev,vesa dri: radeonsi gpu: amdgpu display-ID: :0 screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1366x768 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 361x203mm (14.21x7.99")
s-diag: 414mm (16.31")
Monitor-1: eDP-1 mapped: eDP model: BOE Display 0x0920 built: 2020
res: 1366x768 hz: 60 dpi: 101 gamma: 1.2 size: 344x194mm (13.54x7.64")
diag: 395mm (15.5") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1366x768 min: 640x480
OpenGL: renderer: RENOIR (renoir LLVM 14.0.6 DRM 3.48 6.0.2-zen1-1-zen)
v: 4.6 Mesa 22.2.1 direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: AMD Renoir Radeon High Definition Audio vendor: Hewlett-Packard
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: 04:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:1637
class-ID: 0403
Device-2: AMD ACP/ACP3X/ACP6x Audio Coprocessor vendor: Hewlett-Packard
driver: snd_rn_pci_acp3x v: kernel
alternate: snd_pci_acp3x,snd_pci_acp5x,snd_pci_acp6x,snd_acp_pci,snd_rpl_pci_acp6x,snd_sof_amd_renoir
pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 link-max: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s
bus-ID: 04:00.5 chip-ID: 1022:15e2 class-ID: 0480
Device-3: AMD Family 17h/19h HD Audio vendor: Hewlett-Packard
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: 04:00.6 chip-ID: 1022:15e3
class-ID: 0403
Sound API: ALSA v: k6.0.2-zen1-1-zen running: yes
Sound Server-1: PulseAudio v: 16.1 running: no
Sound Server-2: PipeWire v: 0.3.59 running: yes
Network:
Device-1: Realtek RTL8852AE 802.11ax PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
vendor: Hewlett-Packard driver: rtw89_8852ae v: kernel pcie: gen: 1
speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: f000 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8852
class-ID: 0280
IF: wlo1 state: up mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Realtek Bluetooth Radio type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
bus-ID: 1-4:4 chip-ID: 0bda:2852 class-ID: e001 serial: <filter>
Report: bt-adapter ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter>
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 946.42 GiB used: 6.41 GiB (0.7%)
ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 980 1TB
size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B
speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 2B4QFXO7
temp: 37.9 C scheme: GPT
SMART: yes health: PASSED on: 8d 14h cycles: 2,803 read-units: 7,755,954
[3.97 TB] written-units: 9,274,817 [4.74 TB]
ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 type: USB vendor: SanDisk model: Cruzer Blade
size: 14.91 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: N/A
serial: <filter> rev: 1.27 scheme: MBR
SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure?
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 237.79 GiB size: 237.79 GiB (100.00%) used: 6.4 GiB
(2.7%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p7 maj-min: 259:7
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 500 MiB size: 499 MiB (99.80%) used: 608 KiB
(0.1%) fs: vfat block-size: 512 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p6 maj-min: 259:6
ID-3: /home raw-size: 237.79 GiB size: 237.79 GiB (100.00%) used: 6.4 GiB
(2.7%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p7 maj-min: 259:7
ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 237.79 GiB size: 237.79 GiB (100.00%) used: 6.4
GiB (2.7%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p7
maj-min: 259:7
ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 237.79 GiB size: 237.79 GiB (100.00%) used: 6.4
GiB (2.7%) fs: btrfs block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p7
maj-min: 259:7
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 11.02 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
dev: /dev/zram0
ID-2: swap-2 type: partition size: 5.86 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%)
priority: -2 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5 maj-min: 259:5
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 50.8 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 46.0 C
Fan Speeds (RPM): fan-1: 0 fan-2: 0
Info:
Processes: 320 Uptime: 24m wakeups: 3498 Memory: 11.02 GiB used: 3.18 GiB
(28.8%) Init: systemd v: 251 default: graphical tool: systemctl
Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1139 libs: 301
tools: octopi,paru Shell: garuda-inxi (sudo) default: Bash v: 5.1.16
running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.22
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 'community' 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 (2.6.8-1):
System install date:     2023-01-31
Last full system update: 2023-01-31
Is partially upgraded:   No
Relevant software:       NetworkManager
Windows dual boot:       Yes
Snapshots:               Snapper
Failed units:
2

You do not have Timeshift at the moment, you have Snapper:

You don't have to do anything to trigger the Snapper backups because the default configuration has a Pacman hook; every time you update or add/remove a package, the system automatically takes a snapshot for you. You can boot to the snapshots from the Grub menu.

This snapshot system is actually specifically useful for this exact situation (the system is broken by an update), because there is always a pre-update snapshot which should revert the breaking change.

Waiting is fine, but I would recommend waiting less time (maybe one week) before trying again. If the update breaks your system next time you try it, you can always just restore a snapshot! :wink:

In the meanwhile, test out some other kernels and see if you have better luck--perhaps the LTS kernel.

First bring your system fully up to date.

garuda-update

Install the kernel and headers.

sudo pacman -S linux-lts linux-lts-headers

Reboot, and select the LTS kernel from the "advanced boot options" in the Grub menu.

5 Likes
3

Hey, thanks a lot for taking the time to reply. Looking at the boot menu in grub, I cannot see any option for the snapper snapshots. Where are they located? I will try installing the LTS kernel and headers today.

4

You might not have any at the moment since you did a fresh install. After you update the system and install the LTS kernel it will automatically create a few snapshots--then, there will be a separate entry in the Grub menu you can choose (called "Garuda snapshots" or similar).

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5

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