Black screen after log in -- need to reset something

Ask Fedora
1

Hi,

I must have customized something that is not agreeing with the latest upgrade. If I boot with the new kernel, after I successfully log in, I am met with a black screen.

I must Ctrl-Alt-F3, log in, and then run the plasmashell restart command. Then TTY2 is back to normal. This happens when I wake it up from sleep, too.

BUT it doesn’t happen for the new user I created just to test for this problem, and it doesn’t happen if I boot to the previous kernel.

I’d rather not nuke all of my settings, but I am willing if I have to. From what I’ve read, there are a few strategies people have tried, but I’m still hoping for something minimal.

In case it matters, the kernel with the problem (though, again, it must just be in my personal settings) is: kernel-7.2.5-200.fc44.x86_64

The previous one that works normally is: kernel-7.1.13-200.fc44.x86_64

Any thoughts or advice?

Thank you,

Froglick

2

What is your GPU?

If nvidia did the drivers build and install after you upgrade the kernel?
Try sudo akmods --rebuild --force to fix it.

3

Hi Barry,

Thank you for suggesting this. My GPU is Intel Integrated, a Lenovo Yoga 9i.

But I am sure this is related to something in my user settings. Or else the same problem would show up in the test user I created.

Sincerely,
Froglick

4

You can create a new user and login as the new user to check that the default settings work. Does that fix the black screen?

5

Things work as expected for the new user. So it’s definitely and weirdly (to me) something with my user settings. But I understand that some things change with each upgrade and that some user settings are no longer part of the code (been using Linux for 20 years). I have tweaked things, but I’m not sure what I tweaked and why it would matter between kernel upgrades. But it’s definitely not a problem for the test user I created.

6

Do you see anything in the journal that might explain plasmashell failing to start?

Indeed! It is quite unusual to have an issue that is dependent on user-level setup, but also on kernel version.

7

Maybe it’s ~/.config/kwinrc - you could move that file out of the way.

8

He said in the OP that a test user works properly.
He also did not say anything about nvidia.

9

Thanks, Everyone.

I’m still poking around. It is for sure user-related, and I looked up how I can hone in on it by backing up all config files and then copying things from the test user, etc.

I tried deleting the kwinrc file, but I may have to try it again when not logged in. I have run the journal commands, but I think I need to run them in the working user as well to check for differences. I just don’t have a lot of time right now to keep fiddling around. I’ll be back on this Thursday. In the meantime, I’m just booting to the previous kernel.

Thanks again!

10

Another one worth trying is ~/.config/kwinoutputconfig.json.

11

I had the same issues as OP and I am fairly confident the issue is HDR.

I reset ~/.config/kwinrc and ~/.config/kwinoutputconfig.json and everything worked again.

I diff’d the new and old files and saw highDynamicRange was true in my original settings, and false in the re-generated settings.

I went to my settings and tried to re-enable HDR and the screen went black until the keep display configuration? timer reached 0 (the screen was black for the duration of the timer.)

Any time I try to enable HDR, the screen stays black until HDR gets disabled.

Does disabling HDR in kwinoutputconfig.json work for you?

Edit: Seems related https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=525650

12

Thanks for the tip. I am having that same issue. For now, I’m keeping HDR off.

My original problem has morphed. Perhaps this was because of my fiddling with things, and/or perhaps it’s because there have been some updates that I applied.

The problem now is that when I login from a fresh start, it goes black. I can TTY2 and then go back to TTY1 and everything works (even resuming). That’s a different behavior than previously – both the black screen before login and the resume working as expected.

I’ll keep fiddling around.

13

The solution seems to be found! I read this post:

and its instructions to:

‘There IS a way, it was in the SDDM part of the system settings, a button to “Apply Plasma Settings” and that has fixed the problem I was having.’

Indeed, clicking that Apply Plasma Settings seems to have resolved my issue(s).

Thank you all!