Screen randomly goes black

HI
I did a full update this morning but I noticed that the screen would go black for about 2 seconds randomly quite far apart.
I did a fresh reboot thinking the upgrade might need the restart but I still get it randomly - like every half an hour to 45 minutes, the screen will just go black for about 2 secds and then its fine again. It seems to happen when I change tabs, watch youtube, start a video.
I cannot find a pattern or software that would make it glitch.
Im hoping I dont need a new screen but its random and I cant duplicate it.
Any ideas and assistance - Big Thank you

System:
Kernel: 6.0.8-zen1-1-zen arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
root=UUID=94e39142-b8ba-45c9-b498-a59621ffd67d rw rootflags=subvol=@
quiet quiet splash rd.udev.log_priority=3 vt.global_cursor_default=0
loglevel=3
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.26.3 tk: Qt v: 5.15.7 info: latte-dock
wm: kwin_x11 vt: 1 dm: SDDM Distro: Garuda Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Desktop Mobo: N/A model: N/A serial: <superuser required>
UEFI: American Megatrends v: 5.12 date: 11/10/2018
CPU:
Info: model: Intel Core i5-8350U bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Coffee Lake
gen: core 8 level: v3 note: check built: 2017 process: Intel 14nm family: 6
model-id: 0x8E (142) stepping: 0xA (10) microcode: 0xF0
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: 707 high: 760 min/max: 400/3600 scaling:
driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave cores: 1: 700 2: 700 3: 700 4: 760
5: 700 6: 700 7: 700 8: 700 bogomips: 30399
Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Vulnerabilities:
Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT
vulnerable
Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
Type: mmio_stale_data mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
Type: retbleed mitigation: IBRS
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: IBRS, IBPB: conditional, RSB filling,
PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected
Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
Type: tsx_async_abort mitigation: TSX disabled
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics 620 driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-9.5
process: Intel 14nm built: 2016-20 ports: active: HDMI-A-1 empty: DP-1
bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:5917 class-ID: 0300
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.4 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.5
compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: modesetting
alternate: fbdev,intel,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 display-ID: :0 screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.00x11.22")
s-diag: 582mm (22.93")
Monitor-1: HDMI-A-1 mapped: HDMI-1 model: Samsung C32F391 serial: <filter>
built: 2019 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 70 gamma: 1.2
size: 698x393mm (27.48x15.47") diag: 801mm (31.5") ratio: 16:9 modes:
max: 1920x1080 min: 640x480
API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 22.2.3 renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics 620 (KBL
GT2) direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: Intel Sunrise Point-LP HD Audio driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
alternate: snd_soc_skl,snd_soc_avs bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:9d71
class-ID: 0403
Sound API: ALSA v: k6.0.8-zen1-1-zen running: yes
Sound Server-1: PulseAudio v: 16.1 running: no
Sound Server-2: PipeWire v: 0.3.60 running: yes
Network:
Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: e000
bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
IF: enp1s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Device-2: Qualcomm Atheros AR9462 Wireless Network Adapter vendor: Lite-On
driver: ath9k v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1
bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 168c:0034 class-ID: 0280
IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Toshiba Atheros AR3012 Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
bus-ID: 1-9:4 chip-ID: 0930:021c class-ID: e001
Report: bt-adapter ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter>
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 2.96 TiB used: 1.59 TiB (53.6%)
SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Indilinx model: IND-S3MP 256G
size: 238.47 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: B1T2 scheme: GPT
ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 type: USB vendor: Seagate model: Backup+ SL
size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: N/A
serial: <filter> rev: 0143 scheme: MBR
ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 type: USB vendor: Western Digital
model: WD Elements 10B8 size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B
logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: <filter> rev: 1012 scheme: MBR
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 188.95 GiB size: 188.95 GiB (100.00%)
used: 76.65 GiB (40.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 512 MiB size: 511 MiB (99.80%)
used: 7.3 MiB (1.4%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
ID-3: /home raw-size: 188.95 GiB size: 188.95 GiB (100.00%)
used: 76.65 GiB (40.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3
ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 188.95 GiB size: 188.95 GiB (100.00%)
used: 76.65 GiB (40.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3
ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 188.95 GiB size: 188.95 GiB (100.00%)
used: 76.65 GiB (40.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 7.55 GiB used: 320 MiB (4.1%) priority: 100
dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 46.0 C pch: 41.5 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
Processes: 257 Uptime: 9h 53m wakeups: 2 Memory: 7.55 GiB
used: 4.46 GiB (59.0%) Init: systemd v: 252 default: graphical
tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1446
libs: 385 tools: gnome-software,octopi,pamac,paru Shell: fish v: 3.5.1
default: Bash v: 5.1.16 running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.23
Garuda (2.6.9-1):
System install date:     2022-10-13
Last full system update: 2022-11-15
Is partially upgraded:   No
Relevant software:       NetworkManager
Windows dual boot:       No/Undetected
Snapshots:               Snapper
Failed units:            systemd-vconsole-setup.service

You can find out if it's a hardware problem by booting to a Garuda or Ubuntu live disk environment. Use the live environment for a few hours and if the issue is still present this indicates you could likely have a hardware problem.

You could also try rolling your system back using a snapshot, if the problem goes away you can be pretty sure it was some package update that has caused this issue.

Good luck finding a resolution.

3 Likes

I suggest you take a look at Journalctl when this happens

2 Likes

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