Hi again, I tried to catch the error again and while doing so I realized you guys are of course correct: sddm usually starts on tty 2. I don't know why I got it into my head that it would start on tty 8. Anyway, when I finally got it to reproduce (took a few restarts) I didn't get a blinking cursor on tty 2, the monitor just goes to sleep (kind of like it does when it has no signal). Switching to tty 1 showed me the init log and let me log on so I could run the commands suggested earlier in this thread:
> $ ps aux | grep sddm > root 2253 0.0 0.0 142408 14248 ? Ssl 06:26 0:00 /usr/bin/sddm > root 2300 0.2 0.2 1653332 89588 ? Ssl 06:26 0:00 /usr/bin/X > -nolisten tcp -background none -seat seat0 vt2 -auth /run/sddm/xauth_UanezA > -noreset -displayfd 16 > root 2358 0.0 0.0 61872 14024 ? S 06:26 0:00 > /usr/libexec/sddm-helper --socket > /tmp/sddm-auth-49123ec6-075d-4982-860d-ea1de56059ca --id 2 --start > /usr/bin/sddm-greeter --socket /tmp/sddm-:0-emmSdV --user sddm --greeter > sddm 2359 0.0 0.4 1557540 135804 ? Sl 06:26 0:00 > /usr/bin/sddm-greeter --socket /tmp/sddm-:0-emmSdV > sddm 2365 0.0 0.0 4320 1892 ? S 06:26 0:00 dbus-launch > --autolaunch d3bb17ba0dc5f70ad177e3f764fe168e --binary-syntax --close-stderr > sddm 2366 0.0 0.0 4620 224 ? Ss 06:26 0:00 > /usr/bin/dbus-daemon --syslog-only --fork --print-pid 5 --print-address 7 > --session > $ rc-service sddm status > * rc-service: service `sddm' does not exist This is what the command yields for a successful startup as well though. Should 'sddm' perhaps be 'display-manager' in the command above? Anyway: > rc-status > Runlevel: default > sysklogd [ started > ] > dhcpcd [ started > ] > dbus [ started > ] > netmount [ started > ] > chronyd [ started > ] > cupsd [ started > ] > switcheroo-control [ started > ] > display-manager [ started > ] > numlock [ started > ] > local [ started > ] > Dynamic Runlevel: hotplugged > Dynamic Runlevel: needed/wanted > display-manager-setup [ started > ] > avahi-daemon [ started > ] > Dynamic Runlevel: manual This is also what it looks like for a successful startup. And finally from /var/log/sddm.log: > [06:26:03.740] (II) DAEMON: Initializing... > [06:26:03.743] (II) DAEMON: Starting... > [06:26:03.743] (II) DAEMON: Logind interface found > [06:26:03.743] (II) DAEMON: Adding new display... > [06:26:03.744] (II) DAEMON: Loaded empty theme configuration > [06:26:03.744] (II) DAEMON: Xauthority path: "/run/sddm/xauth_UanezA" > [06:26:03.744] (II) DAEMON: Using VT 2 > [06:26:03.744] (II) DAEMON: Display server starting... > [06:26:03.744] (II) DAEMON: Writing cookie to "/run/sddm/xauth_UanezA" > [06:26:03.744] (II) DAEMON: Running: /usr/bin/X -nolisten tcp -background > none -seat seat0 vt2 -auth /run/sddm/xauth_UanezA -noreset -displayfd 16 > [06:26:04.993] (II) DAEMON: Setting default cursor > [06:26:05.010] (II) DAEMON: Running display setup script > "/usr/share/sddm/scripts/Xsetup" > [06:26:05.012] (II) DAEMON: Display server started. > [06:26:05.012] (II) DAEMON: Socket server starting... > [06:26:05.012] (II) DAEMON: Socket server started. > [06:26:05.012] (II) DAEMON: Loaded empty theme configuration > [06:26:05.012] (II) DAEMON: Greeter starting... > [06:26:05.022] (II) HELPER: [PAM] Starting... > [06:26:05.022] (II) HELPER: [PAM] Authenticating... > [06:26:05.022] (II) HELPER: [PAM] returning. > [06:26:05.142] (II) HELPER: Writing cookie to "/tmp/xauth_hBdSRs" > [06:26:05.142] (II) HELPER: Starting X11 session: "" "/usr/bin/sddm-greeter > --socket /tmp/sddm-:0-emmSdV" > [06:26:05.152] (II) DAEMON: Greeter session started successfully > [06:26:05.208] (II) DAEMON: Message received from greeter: Connect Regards, Markus On Thu, Apr 4, 2024, at 01:02, Michael wrote: > On Wednesday, 3 April 2024 19:29:11 BST Markus Gustafsson wrote: >> Hi, >> >> I'm having a problem I'm not quite sure how to tackle: every other startup >> or so results in a black screen. Usually nothing gets printed (no bios >> splash, not GRUB menu, no OpenRC prints), and the monitor goes to low power >> mode after a while (I haven't quite confirmed if this is actually the case, >> or if everything happens before my monitor have actually stated, but I'd >> expect the GRUB menu would hang long enough for it to do so). > > You can increase the GRUB timeout to a longer interval, but if this an > intermittent phenomenon it is probably related to hardware. Check your cable > and replace it if possible, or use an alternative port (DP/HDMI/DVI). > > >> However, it does wake up if I switch to another TTY (e.g. ctrl+alt+F4) and >> lets me log on, so it has obviously booted up. If I switch back to TTY 8 >> from there it just shows a blinking cursor (i.e. not SDDM, which is what >> I'd expect). If I reboot from the TTY that lets me log on, the boot process >> is usually normal and leaves me at the SDDM login. > > As others have mentioned sddm now starts in the first available tty, normaly > on VT2. However, some users/PCs appear to have problems with more recent > sddm > versions, whereby the sddm-greeter fails to start, or fails to login into a > desktop: > > https://bugs.gentoo.org/913862 > >> Any tips on how to debug this would be much appreciated. > > Check the output on /var/log/ssdm when this problem manifests. > > Attachments: > * signature.asc
