This is an update to my previous response (copied below). I purged Kodi and pulseaudio, since it was after installing those items that my system went completely black screen.
Surprisingly, a reboot brought up a working SDDM login screen, but after logging in I'm presented with a black KDE desktop just as before. I can enter commands to reboot, so the desktop is active, but all I ever get upon logging in is a black screen. On Wed, Aug 29, 2018, at 21:22, Michael Haag wrote: > There's some really weird shit going on here. > > I'm going to start from the beginning, as best as memory serves: > > I had problems with surround sound on my HTPC, primarily due to the > limitations of S/PDIF. I decided to upgrade to a video card that > supported audio over HDMI. I wanted fanless, so my options were very > limited. I went with a NVidia GT730 card. This was several months ago. > > As it turned out, Debian stable (Stretch) did not support this card. I > think it was both a kernel issue and an nvidia-driver issue. So I > upgraded to Debian testing (Buster). > > Initially, I ran into an SDDM black screen problem, which I reported. I > was able to type in my password (don't ask why I even tried this) and my > KDE desktop would load normally. This is why I thought is was an SDDM > problem. > > After some time, Debian testing updated the nvidia-driver, and lo and > behold, I got an SDDM login and a subsequent functioning KDE desktop > session, no problem. I was happy. I think the update nvidia-driver > version was 384.??, but I'm not sure. > > All was good for awhile, but then another nvidia-driver upgrade created > the same problem as before. SDDM black screen, but I was still able to > login to a functioning KDE session. > > Another nvidia-driver update (390.77) resulted in an SDDM black screen > but I was still able to login to a KDE session with a working desktop. > However, a subsequent update to KDE resulted in an SDDM black screen > that also resulted in a black screen KDE session. What I mean by that is > that SDDM allowed me to login, but KDE then also presented a black > screen. I could enter commands to reboot the system, so the KDE session > was active but there was no display. > > My setup is this: > > HTPC connected to a Marantz AV7005 receiver via HDMI. Marantz receiver > connected to a Samsung 4k TV via HDMI. > > The Marantz receiver is limited to 1920x1080 video input. The nvidia- > driver correctly detects this. > > The first time I experienced this problem I applied a firmware update to > my Marantz receiver, but the problem persisted. > > When I connect my HTPC directly to the TV there is no display problem at > all, but there is no way to get surround sound working that way (ARC is > non-functional and S/PDIF outputs digital stereo, not surround). > > I suspected some type of resolution "handshaking" issue, so I searched > the Internet for tips on forcing resolution settings with NVidia > drivers. I came across instances where people were using xorg.conf to > override system defaults (as you suggested) so I created a file using > the NVidia utility and placed it in /etc/X11/. > > To my surprise (according to Debian xorg.conf is deprecated) it worked. > Unfortunately, the fix was temporary. I successfully logged in via SDDM > and was presented with a functioning KDE desktop session several times. > I was very happy. > > I subsequently installed Kodi and a few other applications that I use, > but discovered sound was no longer working. I checked all the multimedia > settings, pulse audio, Kodi audio settings, etc. etc. etc. and could > still not get sound working. It was working briefly, which is why I went > and installed Kodi in the first place. > > During the process of trying to resolve the sound issues, I rebooted, > only to find I now have both a black SDDM screen AND a black KDE > session. I'm right back where I started, several days and multiple > installations (Kubuntu, Ubuntu, Stretch, Buster) later, including trying > out experimental nvidia-driver. > > Fuck me. Shit works, and then it doesn't, for no apparent reason. > > > On Wed, Aug 29, 2018, at 19:27, Vojtech Bocek wrote: > > Yeah, xorg should be self-configuring now, but I think you can still use > > xorg.conf file. Doing this should have the desired effect, I think, and > > it's worth trying out (if it doesn't work, just remove xorg.conf): > > > > cp -i /etc/nvidia/nvidia-drm-outputclass.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf > > > > On Sat, 25 Aug 2018 at 09:25, Michael Haag <haa...@fastmail.net> wrote: > > > > > Yes. I should have mentioned I was sending the bug report from another > > > machine. > > > > > > Thanks for the response, but to my knowledge Xorg.conf has been > > > deprecated. I know there is no such file on either of my PCs. > > > > > > > > > On Fri, Aug 24, 2018, at 16:20, Vojtech Bocek wrote: > > > > Hello, > > > > I'm assuming the bug report in your message is from the PC where it is > > > > working, since the Xorg.0.log contains only HD monitor. > > > > Try adding contents of /etc/nvidia/nvidia-drm-outputclass.conf > > > > (installed > > > > by xserver-xorg-video-nvidia) into your Xorg.conf. > > > > For me, the issue was that libglx from xorg was loaded instead of the > > > > one > > > > by Nvidia, and this fixed it. > > > > > > > > I think the xserver-xorg-video-nvidia is supposed to be adding those > > > config > > > > lines automatically, but it is not. > > >
