[SOLVED] Screen blanks even after restarting display-manager

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Kellerkalt · Post by **Kellerkalt** » Sun Dec 28, 2025 5:17 pm

I performed a world upgrade today. I was using kernel version 6.17.10 & everything was working great. I upgraded to 6.18.2 today and now the screen/monitor is going blank and then staying blank even if I try restarting display-manager.

I have an AMD Ryzen 9 9900X CPU with Granite Ridge Radeon Graphics and run sddm with autologin to a KDE Plasma desktop.

This is what I see in my logs when I try to stop and then restart the display-manager.

Dec 27 22:21:38 ryzen sudo: kellerkalt : TTY=pts/4 ; PWD=/home/kellerkalt ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/sbin/rc-service xdm start
Dec 27 22:21:38 ryzen sudo: pam_unix(sudo:session): session opened for user root(uid=0) by kellerkalt(uid=1000)
[22:21:38.558] (II) DAEMON: Initializing...
[22:21:38.561] (II) DAEMON: Starting...
[22:21:38.561] (II) DAEMON: Logind interface found
[22:21:38.561] (II) DAEMON: Adding new display...
[22:21:38.561] (II) DAEMON: Loaded empty theme configuration
[22:21:38.561] (II) DAEMON: Xauthority path: "/run/sddm/xauth_zgWyYg"
[22:21:38.561] (II) DAEMON: Using VT 8
[22:21:38.561] (II) DAEMON: Reading from "/usr/local/share/wayland-sessions/plasma.desktop"
[22:21:38.561] (II) DAEMON: Reading from "/usr/share/wayland-sessions/plasma.desktop"
[22:21:38.562] (II) DAEMON: Session "/usr/share/wayland-sessions/plasma.desktop" selected, command: "/usr/libexec/plasma-dbus-run-
session-if-needed /usr/bin/startplasma-wayland" for VT 8
[22:21:38.566] (II) HELPER: [PAM] Starting...
[22:21:38.566] (II) HELPER: [PAM] Authenticating...
Dec 27 22:21:38 ryzen sddm-helper: gkr-pam: no password is available for user
[22:21:38.566] (II) HELPER: [PAM] returning.
[22:21:38.567] (II) DAEMON: Authentication for user "kellerkalt" successful
Dec 27 22:21:38 ryzen sddm-helper: pam_unix(sddm-autologin:session): session opened for user kellerkalt(uid=1000) by kellerkalt(uid=0)
[22:21:38.567] (II) HELPER: [PAM] Preparing to converse...
[22:21:38.567] (II) HELPER: [PAM] Conversation with 1 messages
[22:21:38.567] (WW) DAEMON: Authentication information: SDDM::Auth::INFO_UNKNOWN "Last login: Sat Dec 27 22:19:42 CST 2025"
[22:21:38.567] (II) HELPER: [PAM] Preparing to converse...
[22:21:38.567] (II) HELPER: [PAM] Conversation with 1 messages
[22:21:38.567] (WW) DAEMON: Authentication information: SDDM::Auth::INFO_UNKNOWN "Y

I reverted back to my previous version of the kernel (6.17.10) and the problem doesn't exist. Is this a known issue with kernel 6.18.x ? I upgraded my 6.17.10 kernel config file using "make oldconfig" and I don't recall seeing any new options about video drivers or rendering.

New at Gentoo · Post by **pietinger** » Sun Dec 28, 2025 10:29 pm

Do you have any errors in "dmesg"? Maybe search with

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# dmesg | grep firmware

(I ask because it could be that you use built-in firmware + the new amdgpu driver needs now other firmware versions; this is only a shoot in the dark, but your syslog should tell us more)

Post by Hu » Sun Dec 28, 2025 10:33 pm

Building on pietinger's idea, if you see nothing obvious from the command he gave, then please capture the entire dmesg from both a good kernel and a bad one, and put both a pastebin for someone to review. Also, upload to a pastebin the full kernel configuration for at least the bad kernel, and preferably both kernels. Finally, post inline the output of emerge --pretend --verbose sys-kernel/linux-firmware.

Kellerkalt · Post by **Kellerkalt** » Tue Dec 30, 2025 11:00 pm

Thanks pietinger and Hu. The issue is reproducible, but I feel I should describe it in more detail just to clarify. I have an AVR with my Gentoo server attached to HDMI 2 and an AppleTV box on HDMI 3. When I start the Gentoo server, the AVR is already switched to HDMI 2, so I can watch the startup process. It boots into Wayland fine, but if I switch to the AppleTV on HDMI 3 and then back to the Gentoo box on HDMI 2 it only shows a black screen (this only happens in kernel 6.18.2 and not in 6.17.10 or any previous version). 6.18.2 is my first use of any 6.18.x kernel version. I typically upgrade my kernel every two or three weeks when I perform my world upgrade process.

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ryzen ~ # uname -a ; dmesg | grep firmware
Linux ryzen 6.17.10-gentoo #2 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Wed Dec  3 22:10:07 CST 2025 x86_64 AMD Ryzen 9 9900X 12-Core Processor AuthenticAMD GNU/Linux
[    4.415126] Loading firmware: amdgpu/psp_13_0_5_toc.bin
[    4.416197] Loading firmware: amdgpu/psp_13_0_5_ta.bin
[    4.416944] Loading firmware: amdgpu/dcn_3_1_5_dmcub.bin
[    4.417492] Loading firmware: amdgpu/gc_10_3_6_pfp.bin
[    4.417978] Loading firmware: amdgpu/gc_10_3_6_me.bin
[    4.418346] Loading firmware: amdgpu/gc_10_3_6_ce.bin
[    4.418701] Loading firmware: amdgpu/gc_10_3_6_rlc.bin
[    4.419157] Loading firmware: amdgpu/gc_10_3_6_mec.bin
[    4.419603] Loading firmware: amdgpu/gc_10_3_6_mec2.bin
[    4.420053] Loading firmware: amdgpu/sdma_5_2_6.bin
[    4.420167] Loading firmware: amdgpu/vcn_3_1_2.bin
[    4.422817] amdgpu 0000:70:00.0: amdgpu: [drm] Loading DMUB firmware via PSP: version=0x05002800
[    4.423099] amdgpu 0000:70:00.0: amdgpu: Found VCN firmware Version ENC: 1.33 DEC: 4 VEP: 0 Revision: 6
[    5.529332] Loading firmware: mediatek/mt7925/BT_RAM_CODE_MT7925_1_1_hdr.bin
[    8.029539] Loading firmware: rtl_nic/rtl8125b-2.fw
ryzen ~ #

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ryzen ~ # uname -a ; dmesg | grep firmware
Linux ryzen 6.18.2-gentoo #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Sat Dec 27 16:39:39 CST 2025 x86_64 AMD Ryzen 9 9900X 12-Core Processor AuthenticAMD GNU/Linux
[    4.493174] Loading firmware: amdgpu/psp_13_0_5_toc.bin
[    4.496402] Loading firmware: amdgpu/psp_13_0_5_ta.bin
[    4.497218] Loading firmware: amdgpu/dcn_3_1_5_dmcub.bin
[    4.497771] Loading firmware: amdgpu/gc_10_3_6_pfp.bin
[    4.498267] Loading firmware: amdgpu/gc_10_3_6_me.bin
[    4.498631] Loading firmware: amdgpu/gc_10_3_6_ce.bin
[    4.498987] Loading firmware: amdgpu/gc_10_3_6_rlc.bin
[    4.499447] Loading firmware: amdgpu/gc_10_3_6_mec.bin
[    4.499868] Loading firmware: amdgpu/gc_10_3_6_mec2.bin
[    4.500316] Loading firmware: amdgpu/sdma_5_2_6.bin
[    4.500432] Loading firmware: amdgpu/vcn_3_1_2.bin
[    4.502140] amdgpu 0000:70:00.0: amdgpu: [drm] Loading DMUB firmware via PSP: version=0x05002800
[    4.502345] amdgpu 0000:70:00.0: amdgpu: [VCN instance 0] Found VCN firmware Version ENC: 1.33 DEC: 4 VEP: 0 Revision: 6
[    7.624618] Loading firmware: rtl_nic/rtl8125b-2.fw
[   10.733368] Loading firmware: mediatek/mt7925/BT_RAM_CODE_MT7925_1_1_hdr.bin
ryzen ~ #

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ryzen ~ # emerge --pretend --verbose sys-kernel/linux-firmware

These are the packages that would be merged, in order:

Calculating dependencies                   ... done!
Dependency resolution took 1.34 s (backtrack: 0/20).

[ebuild   R    ] sys-kernel/linux-firmware-20250808::gentoo  USE="bindist initramfs redistributable -compress-xz -compress-zstd -deduplicate -dist-kernel -savedconfig (-unknown-license)" 0 KiB

Total: 1 package (1 reinstall), Size of downloads: 0 KiB
ryzen ~ #

Here are my full kernel configs and dmesg for both 6.17.10 & 6.18.2:

dmesg for 6.17.10 --> https://pastebin.com/jFh73kVh
kernel config for 6.17.10 --> https://pastebin.com/C3ekejMm

dmesg for 6.18.2 --> https://pastebin.com/Tm1vj0b1
kernel config for 6.18.2 --> https://pastebin.com/SRqLmg5A

New at Gentoo · Post by **pietinger** » Wed Dec 31, 2025 12:04 am

Please try again with 6.18.2-r1

(If the problem remains I will look into the configs; but at the moment I dont have time)

Kellerkalt · Post by **Kellerkalt** » Wed Dec 31, 2025 12:49 am

pietinger wrote:Please try again with 6.18.2-r1

(If the problem remains I will look into the configs; but at the moment I dont have time)

No worries and no rush. I'll just stay at 6.17.10 and try whichever version of 6.18.x is out in a few weeks then report back.

New at Gentoo · Post by **pietinger** » Thu Jan 01, 2026 4:47 pm

Kellerkalt wrote:No worries and no rush. [...]

Thank you!

I have looked at the system log and the configuration of 6.18 and cannot find any errors, problems, or missing/incorrect configuration. That is why I really believe that it is a kernel regression. Perhaps the patch in -r1 (which will then certainly also be in 6.18.3) will help.

Kellerkalt · Post by **Kellerkalt** » Thu Jan 22, 2026 12:54 am

I did another world update yesterday and installed sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-6.18.5 using my previous config file with "make oldconfig" and the issue is still present with 6.18.5.

The screen goes black/blank without a signal when it's not the HDMI source selected on my DVR or when I turn the monitor (Sony TV) off. Restarting the display-manager service didn't fix the blank screen, it just shows a flashing cursor in the upper left hand corner of the monitor/TV.

I've switched back to kernel 6.17.10-gentoo again as this version of the kernel doesn't have the issue. I'm guessing it's something that was new with any of the 6.18.x versions?

New at Gentoo · Post by **pietinger** » Thu Jan 22, 2026 10:15 am

Kellerkalt wrote:[...] I'm guessing it's something that was new with any of the 6.18.x versions?

Yes, this could be ... it could be also simply AMDGPU ... AMD changes in almost every MINOR version something ... since many, many kernel versions. Do you know that AMD kernel graphics driver accounting for roughly 15% of the Linux kernel source tree? ( https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-6.1 ... river-Size ) (yes, I am not a fan of amdgpu

)

Maybe try to use the unstable linux-firmware (currently from 20260110 instead stable 20250808) and check if there are newer versions of the amdgpu firmware files.

Kellerkalt · Post by **Kellerkalt** » Fri Jan 23, 2026 1:31 am

Egad, sometimes feels like there's just no winning with Linux and video cards. I stepped away from nVidia only to encounter this. The AMD kernel graphics driver accounting for roughly 15% of the Linux kernel source tree seems like an absurdity of inefficiency...

Max Steel · Post by **Max Steel** » Fri Jan 23, 2026 2:54 am

Kellerkalt wrote:Egad, sometimes feels like there's just no winning with Linux and video cards. I stepped away from nVidia only to encounter this. The AMD kernel graphics driver accounting for roughly 15% of the Linux kernel source tree seems like an absurdity of inefficiency...

I think we shouldn't hate so hard against AMD. Nvidia, for all we know, could be just as long in source-code. Just we do not see it because they put is as a blackbox with some ABIs which communicates through their Glue-Code with the kernel.

Kellerkalt · Post by **Kellerkalt** » Tue Feb 24, 2026 9:24 pm

I'm pleased to announce that this issue has been solved for me with the installation of kernel 6.19.3 (sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-6.19.3) and rebuilding it with 'make oldconfig". 6.19.3 is my first version of the 6.19.x kernel after experiencing the problem with every version of 6.18.x I tried (6.18.2, 6.18.5 & 6.18.9).

New at Gentoo · Post by **pietinger** » Wed Feb 25, 2026 1:13 pm

Kellerkalt wrote:I'm pleased to announce that this issue has been solved for me with the installation of kernel 6.19.3 [...]

I'm glad to hear that ... and thank you for your report.

Yes, if you only replaced the kernel (with the same installation; same AMDGPU firmware), then there is probably something wrong with 6.18. At least until now ... 6.18 is an LTS kernel ... so maybe you could try testing future versions such as 6.18.14?

BTW: The latest "high score" from AMD ...

...
https://www.phoronix.com/news/AMD-Six-M ... -Linux-7.0

Kellerkalt · Post by **Kellerkalt** » Wed Mar 04, 2026 2:44 am

Not to beat a dead horse here, but I just wanted to add an update to this post. While the original issue of a non-recoverable black/black screen has been resolved, I'm getting intermittent 1-2 second screen blanks while watching videos/recordings in Kodi using kernel 6.19.3. I reverted back to 6.17.10 once again and it solved this issue as well. Hopefully I'll eventually land on a newer version of the kernel that doesn't present either of these or any other black or blank screen glitches.

Kellerkalt · Post by **Kellerkalt** » Tue Mar 10, 2026 3:35 am

I'm happy to say that ALL of the issues are gone now with sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-6.19.6

New at Gentoo · Post by **pietinger** » Tue Mar 10, 2026 11:27 am

Kellerkalt wrote:I'm happy to say that ALL of the issues are gone now with sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-6.19.6

(If you have some time maybe try also a new 6.18 ... e.g. 6.18.16)

Kellerkalt · Post by **Kellerkalt** » Thu Mar 12, 2026 3:40 am

I installed sys-kernel/gentoo-sources-6.18.16 and configured it using "make oldconfig" with my config-6.18.9-gentoo file. Surprisingly everything is working perfectly perfectly. No issues with Wayland completely blanking/blacking out and no intermittent black screen issues while playing video files. 6.18.16 seems solid.

New at Gentoo · Post by **pietinger** » Thu Mar 12, 2026 12:21 pm

Thank you for doing this test!

(I was interested because 6.18 is the stable Gentoo kernel and LTS.)