No SDDM = black screen

I’ve tried all of them and got a black screen every time. When using amdgpu option I got a black screen also when booting with 4.9.0 kernel.

Hi Jaro,
Ok, that has at least excluded a number of possibilities and has determined that your graphics card uses the amdgpu driver.
The next step is to boot into multi-user mode and try starting the graphics server by hand so we can get some logs. To do this you need to add ‘systemd.unit=multi-user.target’ to the grub boot line. This should boot you up to a non-graphical interface then you can try starting the Xserver. startled should do the trick.
Switching to a virtual terminal should allow you to investigate the logs.
Best,
Colin

1 Like

I’ve added that line to GRUB and then ran startx but the system froze after these lines:

(==) Using config directory: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d"
(==) Using system config directory “/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d”

Then I couldn’t even switch to another virtual terminal. The same happened on both 4.9 and 4.10 kernels.
Strangely, now when I’m trying to boot normally with kernel 4.9 (editing GRUB at startup to remove systemd.unit=multi-user.target option) I’m also getting a black screen :frowning:

Bizarre! This result is very strange. It implies that a file is being created or a configuration permanently changed at boot.
can you try again and instead of typing startx try startlxqt and see if you can bring up the lxqt interface.
If that starts up then the problem may be in the 3d graphics driver.
you might want to attach the output of lsmod to the bug report.
if lxqt doesn’t work then we need to look at the xorg setup.
colin

Typing startlxqt results in the following:

Openbox-Message: Failed to open the display from the DISPLAY environment variable.
QXcbConnection: Could not connect to display
Aborted (core dump)

The same behaviour on 4.9.0 and 4.10.12.
I’ve attached lsmod output to the bug, you can also see it here: Module Size Used by nls_iso8859_1 16384 1 nls_cp43 - Pastebin.com

Ok Jaro,
I think I know what’s causing this. I suspect you set up with auto login.
Please paste the contents of /etc/sddm.conf as this is the likely cause.
Colin

Hi Colin,
You’re right that I have autologin set up. This is my /etc/sddm.conf: [Autologin] Relogin=false Session=plasma User=jarek [General] HaltCommand - Pastebin.com
Regards,
Jaro

Hi Jaro,
Try removing or commenting out these two lines…
RememberLastSession=true
RememberLastUser=true

This may sort the problem out though it does look as if the initial problem we had with sddm.conf on Lx3 has been sorted out.
Colin

I’ve removed the two lines, rebooted, tried to boot kernel 4.9 normally, got a black screen. So I booted into multi-user mode again, typed startkde and got this error:
$DISPLAY is not set or cannot connect to the X server.
Next I checked the Xorg.log which was empty. Then I typed startx and got the same error as before.

Try if any chance with:

startx /usr/bin/startkde

in virtual console when you get the black screen.

PS>
It’s assumed that you boot normally, can switch to vc and login as your user.
BTW what ISO have you installed (where did you download it? - link?)

When I get the black screen I cannot switch to a virtual console. And I can no longer boot normally as now even on kernel 4.9 which was booting fine before I get the black screen. I downloaded the ISO from ftp://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/os/Linux/distr/openmandriva/release_current/OpenMandriva_Lx_3/OpenMandrivaLx.3.01-PLASMA.x86_64.iso

I have the feeling that this could explain (or maybe not, but the suspect is there :slight_smile: )
Is it boring for you to try with another ISO from 3.02 series?

I’m downloading build 993 and will install it.

1 Like

Thanks a lot. It’s important for us at least to exclude the issue, so we may focus to solve the real one if it persists.

Hint: If you are not going to install on SSD please choose manual partitioning and select ext4 file system instead of f2fs.

I tried to install build 993 but every time I chose the installation option from GRUB it crashed and I got dracut emergency shell. So then I downloaded build 990 and tried to launch the live mode. After I chose location, language and keyboard layout I got the default OpenMandriva wallpaper and nothing happened. So I rebooted and selected installation this time. I installed with f2fs as I have an SSD drive. After the installation I rebooted, got “error: sparse file not allowed” but then get the login screen. I entered my password and got the default OpenMandriva wallpaper and nothing happened. So I reinstalled with ext4 this time and now I don’t even get to the login screen as it stops at:
[OK] Reached target Switch Root. Starting Switch Root...
I’m going to reinstall OMV Lx 3.01 as it was working fine and I don’t really have time to download, install and test all the 3.02 builds.

Sorry for that :unamused:

Of course. It’s not your job, it’s ours :wink:
Thank you anyway for your report(s). Hope we will be able to help you in some way.

PS>
You might update calamares when you are in live mode before install. And after, run installation from live (either the icon/launcher or #calamares in root console)

Interesting: I have two partitions: / and /home. When I (re)install I only format / to preserve my settings. So now I reinstalled OMV Lx 3.01 and booted it with kernel 4.9.0 which was working fine and still got the black screen. That could suggest that whatever setting is causing this is stored in /home partition.

Still no virtual console?

There is. I copied Xorg logs and pasted them here: [ 10.817] (--) Log file renamed from "/var/log/Xorg.pid-4178.log" to "/var/lo - Pastebin.com
Then I typed startx /usr/bin/startkde and it worked! :slight_smile: Now, how can I make it start automatically?