Plasma6x11 build 4292; Always boots to blinking cursor after GUI log-in

Support
1

Hello,

Requirements:

I have Searched the forum for my issue and found nothing related or helpful
I have checked the Resources category (Resources Index)
I have reviewed the Wiki for relevant information
I have read the the Release Notes and Errata

OpenMandriva Lx version:

OpenMandrivaLx.rolling-snapshot.20251109.4292-plasma6x11.znver1.iso

os-release.txt (496 Bytes)

The same behaviour also happens on
OpenMandrivaLx.rolling-slim-plasma6x11.znver1
(build 4310)

Desktop environment (KDE, LXQT…):

KDE Plasma6; X11

Hardware

Mobo: MSI MAG X870E Tomahaw WiFi
CPU: Ryzen 9950X3D
GPU: Radeon 9070 XT

Description of the issue (screenshots if relevant):

On every boot after installation, after logging in at the GUI / Splash Screen, if nothing is touched after hitting enter on log-in, the system boots to tty1 with a blinking cursor. More happens after this, below is an approximate (+/- 2sec) timeline of the behaviour.

Timeline
Point A - 00:00.0 -Hit enter on log-in. Screen switches to a blinking cursor on tty1
Point B - 00:30.0 -Screen switches to DE on tty2
Point C - 01:30.0 -Black Screen, no cursor, no inputs work
Point D - 02:00.0 -GUI Log-in screen
Point E - 02:05.0 -Blinking Cursor, no inputs work. Ctrl+Alt+Fn either does nothing, or all terminals are the blinking cursor.

(I took a video of this cycle from my laptop but I can’t upload it.)

Other events I have noted when interfering in the above sequence.

  • If I manually switch to the DE on tty2 within the 30 sec between A and B, the system seems to run normally and stably (for at least 20 min).
  • Between B and C; If I manually switch to tty3, then back to tty2, then at point C it drops to tty3, with a terminal log-in prompt, instead of the black screen.
    The rest of the timeline remains the same after this if left untouched.
    If I try logging in at this terminal more odd terminal swapping happens that I didn’t manage to note down properly, (I think the DE might have been on tty3 at one point).
  • If I start using the system normally after point B, it will still drop out to the black screen at point C.
  • If I log in within the 5 sec between D and E, it will drop to another GUI Log-in screen instead of going to the unresponsive blinking cursor at point E.
    This seems to actually be resetting the cycle back to point A.
  • There was more odd behaviour other than this, but I didn’t manage to note it all down.

Below is the process I followed to reproduce this on this latest installation and gather data/log files, with those files included at the relevant points.

  • loaded live environment from USB written with dd as described here

  • Installed using
    $ pkexec calamares -d 2>&1 | tee /home/live/calamares-installation-log.txt
    Installation was done with default “Erase disk” settings

    calamares-installation-log.txt (118.8 KB)

  • copied that file to a USB and removed it

  • Rebooted

  • Logged in @ GUI/splash screen (and took video)

  • Hard restart button at end of cycle when system had frozen.

  • Logged in and switched to tty2 manually

  • Opened Konsole

  • sudo journalctl > journal.txt

    journal.txt (814.1 KB)

  • cat /etc/os-release > os-release.txt
    (posted above)

  • inxi -Fz > inxi.txt

    inxi.txt (3.0 KB)

  • dmesg > dmesg.txt

    dmesg.txt (144.1 KB)

  • Copied files to USB

  • Shutdown

Relevant informations (hardware involved, software version, logs or output…):

Version and Installation media details
This installation was done using a “dd” written ISO, but the same behaviour happens when using ventoy or balena etcher.
The same behaviours happen on Plasma Slim (build 4310)

BIOS/UEFI settings (Not sure if these are relevant, but just in case)
{Secure Boot}, {TPM}, and {CSM mode} are all OFF
{Legacy USB Support}, and {XHCI Hand-off} are both ON
{Initiate Graphics} is set to PEG; {UMA} is set to Auto; {Hybrid Graphics} is Enabled
I have also had the same behaviour with No GPU installed at all (IGP only)
and also with GPU installed, but {Hybrid Graphics} disabled.
{EXPO} is enabled, but I’ve had the same results with it disabled also.
All other bios settings are defaults (other than the “download driver automatically” I turned that #$%^ off too)

I am posting this from my laptop so the above process would not involve doing anything to the system other than that mentioned. I did this thinking it would minimise variables and log/file sizes to make troubleshooting easier/quicker.

If you want me to post from the effected machine to gather more info, or to use matrix, I will install ProtonPass and do so (and figure out how to use matrix lol).

This installation was done as a temporary/test installation. If you think I will need to join matrix and just follow instructions to resolve this then I will do a proper install, with an actual user and pc name, and password first.

I hope there isn’t too much useless stuff in this post, and that what is included is clear. Please let me know if I do need to clarify anything, or if more info is needed

Thank you for your time.

2

Disable this and report your findings.

3

You have to disable hybrid graphics. I cannot use hybrid with KDE. I have a hybrid amd/Nvidia gfx laptop and kde does not play well with it.

4

Hey guys, thanks for replying.

But I have just turned it off and tested again, just to double check, and got the same results again.

I think I will just leave it off now though, based on @pastorczo13 ‘s reply.

5

Please try 4319:

6

Hi @zeroability
4319 is the x86_64 version. Is that going to work on my ryzen?

EDIT:
Wait, I should just do it and see huh :-/

7

Yes. znver1 is an optimized x86_64 kernel for Zen Core (Ryzen, Epyc, TR).

8

ok, dd writing now.

Already checked both the md5 and sha256 sums on the ISO.

9

I just did the install using

but the USB drive I’m trying to transfer the log to apparently has file system errors. It is working fine on my laptop.

I’ll just finish and restart now and not worry about the log (since you didn’t actually ask for it anyway) but thought this might be worth noting.

10

And install done, restarted.

Same behaviour after log in as described above.
I only counted mentally, rather than using the “stopwatch” on my laptop, but it seems to be the same timing.

EDIT:
And switching to tty2 manually seems to remain stable also.

I think I might try the x86_64 versions of PlasmaSlim and Plasma Wayland also, now that I know they can be installed on zen5 too.
I might just use ventoy though, save a little bit of time.

11

It seems like there might still be an issue with the graphics card being used, or some BIOS setting. Did you update the firmware on the system board?

12

BIOS is updated to the latest available here

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MAG-X870E-TOMAHAWK-WIFI/support

I just checked again to make sure there have been no new ones released since I updated it.

I have done installs without the GPU installed at all, with both {RomePlasma6 build 4292} and {PlasmaSlim build 4310} with the same results.

I was just looking at abf to grab the x86_64 version of plasma slim and plasma wayland.
I noticed that {ROME Plasma6 ryzen, build 4292} is no longer there and seems to have been replaced by {build 4316} so I will try that one also.

If you want, I will spend a while testing all of the ROME Plasma variants, x86_64 and zenver, and make a table of which build numbers do this. Then you can get back to me whenever you want. (It just occurred to me thanksgiving is sometime around now so most of you guys are probably doing family stuff. I don’t want to steal your holidays from you)

13

It was yesterday, but thank you for the thoughtfulness.

We might be getting to a point where the issues might be due to configuration since all other possibilities have mostly been ruled out. Try to load some defaults related to GPU’s in your BIOS along with setting any memory or CPU values to any Auto settings (i.e. not overclocked). If that isn’t helping, maybe try the Advanced options in the boot menu for the install. Try the failsafe option and see if there is an xsession that appears normally. It’s starting to sound like sddm, but I would like to make sure.

14

I have previously done installs with all default settings other than
{Secure Boot} Disabled;
{Security Device Support} Disabled;
and {MSI Driver Utility Installer} Disabled
with the same results.
But I am restoring defaults and turning those off again now to double check. I will try booting the current install with those setting, then do another install with them to see if it makes any difference.
EDIT: I just noticed the security setting {Disable Block SID} is defaulted to “Enable” and I had previously just switched all the security settings to “Disabled” (should have read it properly :eyeroll:). I don’t really know what this is, the info says “Override to allow SID authentication in TCG Storage Device” so maybe this will make a difference.
EDITED EDIT: Although, PlasmaWayland zenver worked normally with those settings, so…

I haven’t tried any of the other boot menu options yet (tbh, I didn’t really know what they were so did’t want to #$%^ with them)
I will try that after re-testing the BIOS settings.

15

OK, tried booting with the BIOS settings above; same behaviour
Reinstalled (x86_64 version) with the above; same behaviour.

I’m in the Advanced Options of the boot menu now and all I have here are

  • OpenMandriva Lx, with Linux 6.17.7-desktop-1omv2590
  • Same as above (console mode)
  • Same as above (fast but insecure mode)
  • Same as above (recovery mode)

There’s no failsafe option listed. I would assume it is the (recovery mode) I want but want to check first.

16

I would try console mode first, then recovery. Console should at least get you to a TUI login prompt.

17

I just tried them all from the bottom up (was 1/2 way though this when your reply popped up)

  • Recovery Mode
    Got stuck on “loading initial ramdisk” with a static cursor underneath it and no inputs working. I had to hard reset.
  • Fast but insecure mode
    Same behaviour with tty1
    I switched to tty2 manually after about 20sec and restarted from the GUI and it took ages to finish rebooting, stuck on the splash screen. I was actually about to hard reset because I thought it had hung, but then the reboot happened.
  • Console mode
    Loaded to TUI Log in on tty1. it actually came up with a second log-in prompt, 1 under the other. I logged in and rebooted from here
  • Top option
    Same behaviour with loading to tty1 blinky cursor
18

Did you want me to go through and test/retest all the new ROME builds? I’m happy to if you think it might help you guys out.

I have already previously tried plasma (4292); plasma slim (4320); and plasma wayland (4306) versions and 4306 wayland was the only one that did not do this.

Crud, I should probably have mentioned that in the first post here hey!?

19

It sounds like systemd might be broken. We have seen this happen before with people updating from an older ROME iso. At this point I would say, if you want to keep testing then keep going older. Early this month or late last month.

20

ugh, Something else I should have mentioned also sorry
I have also tried
ROME Plasma6 zenver build 4271
and
ROME Plasma6 zenver build 4011
I know 4011 worked properly (it then went wonky when I dsync ed)
And I am pretty sure 4271 worked properly also

I will try 4271 again now to double check.

EDIT:
I’m just going to test this with Ventoy this time, since they are already on there and it seems to have made no difference