FS#70726 - linux 5.12.1 black screen on boot Dell XPS 15 9570

Attached to Project: Arch Linux
Opened by Albert Astals Cid (tsdgeos) - Wednesday, 05 May 2021, 22:37 GMT
Last edited by Jan Alexander Steffens (heftig) - Friday, 21 May 2021, 18:14 GMT
Task Type Bug Report
Category Kernel
Status Closed
Assigned To Jan Alexander Steffens (heftig)
Architecture All
Severity Low
Priority Normal
Reported Version
Due in Version Undecided
Due Date Undecided
Percent Complete 100%
Votes 17
Private No

Details

The system is "working" because i can ssh in

I get to see the part of the boot process happen, but at the end i get a black screen.

With "rescue" kernel parameter same thing, with "emergency" it stops booting earlier and i end up correctly on the recovery shell

Using linux-lts works fine.

Probably an upstream issue, but if you know which logs would make sense and where to report the issue I would be grateful for the assistance :)
This task depends upon

Closed by  Jan Alexander Steffens (heftig)
Friday, 21 May 2021, 18:14 GMT
Reason for closing:  Fixed
Additional comments about closing:  linux 5.12.3.arch2-1
Comment by Nicola Mori (snack) - Friday, 07 May 2021, 07:01 GMT
Same machine, same issue here. Intel VGA, tried both with xf86-video-intel and modesetting but no success. The issue seems relative just to the main panel, since my HDMI external monitor works as expected. No problem with linux 5.11.x and with current LTS.
Comment by David Garcia Perez (davidgp) - Friday, 07 May 2021, 08:49 GMT
Same problem here, the same machine and same issue.

If you don't have an external monitor or it does not show output to it and no SSH enabled like me. To fix it, if you use grub to boot, pulse key `e` (https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Kernel_parameters#GRUB ) and add 'nomodeset' as kernel param (I have also removed the 'quiet' param to see the kernel output, I have never set the 'splash' param). Press Control+X and boot. That should avoid loading the Intel module and use standard VGA output.

After that I have downgraded to the Kernel 5.11.16: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/downgrading_packages .
Comment by Damian Nowak (Nowaker) - Friday, 07 May 2021, 10:44 GMT
I can confirm the same on my desktop setup. I have two graphics cards in a dual-monitor setup: Radeon HD 7870 and IGPU in Intel 10900K.

- When both monitors are connected, Linux 5.12 will hang the moment it starts Cinnamon.
- When a single monitor is connected to IGPU, Linux 5.12 will work normally when Cinnamon starts. Afterwards, when you hot-plug a monitor to Radeon, Linux 5.12 will hang immediately.

Definition of "hang" = display frozen. CTRL+ALT+F1 doesn't work. Doesn't respond to power off button (graceful shutdown). I didn't test SSH.
Comment by Dennis Foster (dennisfoster) - Friday, 07 May 2021, 15:13 GMT
I've reported a kernel bug upstream (https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=212957).
Not sure if it's the same issue, but on my desktop with two discrete GPUs I'm also getting a black screen on boot.

journalctl is reporting 'kernel: BUG: kernel NULL pointer dereference, address: 0000000000000000' just before the system becomes unresponsive.
I've attached more detailed system log.
Comment by Nicola Mori (snack) - Friday, 07 May 2021, 15:15 GMT
@dennisfoster Thanks for the info. However I think it might not be the same bug: my system remains responsive, and the external monitor even works fine. It's just the laptop panel that is black.
Comment by Nick Tindall (nicktee) - Friday, 07 May 2021, 23:16 GMT
Same issue, Dell Precision 5540
Comment by Andres (andreser) - Saturday, 08 May 2021, 02:03 GMT
After upgrading to kernel 5.12 my X1C3 hangs when I launch sway, but if I don't try to start anything graphical the Linux virtual terminals just flicker at ~1s intervals as in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYqPcWjyfrY (not by me). Sometimes the flicker is followed by a fraction of a second where everything on the screen is shifted to the right (loss of frame sync?) Downgraded to 5.11.6-arch1-1 for now. I may try building with https://www.spinics.net/lists/stable/msg458088.html reverted tomorrow.
Comment by SATO Tatsuya (tattsan) - Saturday, 08 May 2021, 06:52 GMT
(Please ignore this message.)
Comment by Andres (andreser) - Sunday, 09 May 2021, 17:33 GMT
Update: reverting the patch I linked to does not seem to fix the issue.
Comment by Emanuele Panigati (ilpanich) - Monday, 10 May 2021, 12:28 GMT
Hi, same problem here on Dell XPS 15 9570.
Laptop black screen at startup, external HDMI monitors working correctly (even the one connected with an adapter to the USB-C port).
Kernels up to 5.11.16 work fine.
There was a similar issue in the past (kernel release 5.0 https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/61964) and it is due to https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=109959; maybe it is a regression.

Hopes this can help to solve this issue quickly.
Comment by Denys Rybalka (drybalka) - Monday, 10 May 2021, 17:54 GMT
I believe the same issue is also discussed on https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/drm/intel/-/issues/3440 and https://bugzilla.opensuse.org/show_bug.cgi?id=1185601

It seems even its root has already been found:
"
Albert Astals Cid
I have the same hardware and have bisected the offending commit to https://github.com/torvalds/linux/commit/2bbd6dba84d44219387df051a1c799b7bac46099
"

Moreover, even the test kernel that solves the issue has already been built. I am just not sure whether a custom kernel is any better than an old kernel.
Hopefully, someone smart will come along and explain how to solve this for ordinary Arch users.
Comment by loqs (loqs) - Tuesday, 11 May 2021, 00:32 GMT
@drybalka see larger attached diff to apply the fix. First attempt cherry-picked the cause which was a noop.
Built package with fix [1] applied:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-tgtDthaGu_8UJSZnsAWobBEBurJ0JOe/view?usp=sharing linux-5.12.2.arch1-1.2-x86_64.pkg.tar.zst

[1] https://cgit.freedesktop.org/drm-tip/patch/?id=acca7762eb71bc05a8f28d29320d193150051f79
Comment by SATO Tatsuya (tattsan) - Tuesday, 11 May 2021, 02:44 GMT
Reverting the commit 2bbd6dba84d44219387df051a1c799b7bac46099 fixes the issue for ThinkPad X1Carbon gen 3.
Comment by Albert Astals Cid (tsdgeos) - Tuesday, 11 May 2021, 08:35 GMT
I can confirm that https://cgit.freedesktop.org/drm-tip/patch/?id=acca7762eb71bc05a8f28d29320d193150051f79 on top of 5.12 fixes this issue for me
Comment by Mark Conway Wirt (mcw) - Tuesday, 11 May 2021, 21:35 GMT
Same machine (2019), same issue. Downgrading to 5.11 works around the issue.

BTW, the reddit thread that I found that led me to this ticket:

https://www.reddit.com/r/archlinux/comments/n6tgbu/latest_linux_512_made_my_screen_go_blank/

claims that adding a "nomodeset" to the grub boot parameters will fix the issue. Folks that don't want to downgrade may want to try that.
Comment by Andrei Pavel (andreip) - Thursday, 13 May 2021, 09:33 GMT
Happened to me on a Dell XPS 15 7590. Downgrading to 5.11 made it work again.
Comment by Nicola Mori (snack) - Thursday, 13 May 2021, 15:49 GMT
It seems that the issue has already been fixed:

https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/drm/intel/-/issues/3440

so the next releases should be ok (maybe already 5.12.3 but I didn't try yet).

Comment by Greg (ggd) - Thursday, 13 May 2021, 15:54 GMT
Same problem with my Dell XPS 15 7590 with linux 5.12.3.arch1-1. Booting with LTS kernel (5.10.36-1) works well.
Comment by Nicola Bay (drakkar1969) - Friday, 21 May 2021, 09:05 GMT
Still having the same issue on HP Probook 450 G7.

Tried kernel versions 5.12.3.arch2-1 and 5.12.4.arch1-2 with no success.

Working if I downgrade to 5.11.16.arch1-1
Comment by Jan Alexander Steffens (heftig) - Friday, 21 May 2021, 10:30 GMT
@tsdgeos is this issue still fixed for you? Then drakkar1969 is experiencing a different bug.
Comment by Nicola Bay (drakkar1969) - Friday, 21 May 2021, 12:18 GMT
It does appear to be the same issue. Kernel up to 5.11.16 works fine, problem started with first upgrade to 5.12. External monitor on HDMI works.
If I add nomodeset to kernel parameters, I still get a black screen, but can switch to tty.
Comment by Johan Sandelin (j0s) - Friday, 21 May 2021, 12:20 GMT
It is fixed for me, on a Dell XPS 15 9570.
Comment by Albert Astals Cid (tsdgeos) - Friday, 21 May 2021, 17:33 GMT
Yes, fixed in 5.12.5 (well and before too i think, but with 5.12.5 it works for sure)
Comment by Nicola Mori (snack) - Friday, 21 May 2021, 17:59 GMT
It works also here with 5.12.5 on XPS 9570. I'd say the drakkar1969 issue might be a different one.

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