No display after boot, following recent updates

[wtwt]

Since installing some regular software updates a couple of weeks ago, my PC now shows a blank screen after booting. The GRUB menu displays, but as soon as the OS begins to boot, the display goes entirely blank.

The PC is running mint 19.1. The screen is a TV, connected by HDMI. I tried using an older kernel, and still got the blank screen. I created a live USB with 19.2, and the display works.

Would anybody know what has caused this and how to fix it? Thanks.

[deepakdeshp]

Please try with all the older kernels by choosing advance option in Grub.

[carum carvi]

wtwt, welcome to the LinuxMint forum,

Upgrading to LM19.2 would be my advice, since you experienced that your display does work with a live LM19.2 usb. Below is a helpful link how to upgrade:
https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=3792

Downgrading to an older kernel, which deepakdesp already suggested, would be another good possibility, since you did have a working display before you installed updates. How to choose another kernel: viewtopic.php?t=261417

[wtwt]

Thank you for the suggestions. I already tried older kernels: 4.15.0-20, 4.13.0-32, and 4.8.0-53 all yield exactly the same blank screen after the grub menu. Sure, I could install 19.2 and see if that fixes it but I would far rather understand what has caused this problem, and fix it, and be able to fix it again should it recur. Does anybody have a suggestion on how to track down the cause?

[carum carvi]

I have experienced myself recently that the LinuxMint logo has disappeared after upgrading to kernel 58. I have a dark screen (with a red dotted line) during boot now, while before I could see the LinuxMint logo. But after boot my LinuxMint19 OS still works fine. Does your OS still work correctly after boot or does your computer completely freeze after boot and nothing is visible anymore? Cant see the desktop anymore? Sorry, that I ask, but perhaps I have misunderstood your problem before...

Have you got Timeshift enabled? You could try falling back to the snapshot before the display troubles started.
Upgrading to 19.2 isnt complicated. It can be done from within the Update manager. If LM19.2 worked on your live usb it would be the easiest solution to your problems.If you dont want to upgrade, you might wanna give some more information about your system, so other forummembers can be of better help.

Code: Select all

inxi -Fxz

[wtwt]

The computer does not freeze but there is no display. The monitor is completely blank. This means that I cannot access timeshift, nor easily upgrade to 19.2. The computer itself has booted successfully - I can SSH into it. But there is no display, not with the latest kernel nor with several older ones.

This is the output from inxi -Fxz, when booted into one of the older kernels:

Code: Select all

System:    Host: villarrica Kernel: 4.8.0-53-generic x86_64
           bits: 64 gcc: 5.4.0
           Desktop: MATE 1.20.1 (Gtk 3.22.30-1ubuntu4)
           Distro: Linux Mint 19 Tara
Machine:   Device: desktop System: HP product: 260-a111na serial: N/A
           Mobo: HP model: 81B3 v: 00 serial: N/A
           UEFI: AMI v: F.21 date: 05/31/2017
CPU:       Quad core AMD E2-7110 APU with AMD Radeon R2 Graphics (-MCP-) 
           arch: Puma rev.1 cache: 2048 KB
           
           flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm) bmips: 14367
           clock speeds: max: 1800 MHz 1: 1200 MHz 2: 1500 MHz 3: 1650 MHz
           4: 1000 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Mullins [Radeon R3 Graphics]
           bus-ID: 00:01.0
           Display Server: X.Org 1.18.4
           drivers: ati,radeon (unloaded: modesetting,fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1600x900@60.00hz
           OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 8.0, 128 bits)
           version: 3.3 Mesa 19.0.8 Direct Render: Yes
Audio:     Card-1 Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] FCH Azalia Controller
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:14.2
           Card-2 Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Kabini HDMI/DP Audio
           driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:01.1
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.8.0-53-generic
Network:   Card-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCIE Gigabit Ethernet Controller
           driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: e000 bus-ID: 01:00.0
           IF: enp1s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Realtek RTL8723BE PCIe Wireless Network Adapter
           driver: rtl8723be port: d000 bus-ID: 02:00.0
           IF: wlp2s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 3000.6GB (25.6% used)
           ID-1: USB /dev/sda model: 024_HN size: 1000.2GB
           ID-2: USB /dev/sdb model: JPVX size: 1000.2GB
           ID-3: /dev/sdc model: WDC_WD10EZEX size: 1000.2GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 913G used: 712G (83%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdc2
           ID-2: swap-1 size: 3.68GB used: 0.00GB (0%)
           fs: swap dev: /dev/sdc3
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 30.0C mobo: N/A gpu: 51.0
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 146 Uptime: 13:01 Memory: 420.0/3374.3MB
           Init: systemd Gcc sys: 7.4.0
           Client: Shell (bash 4.4.201) inxi: 2.3.56 

[carum carvi]

Your tv display worked correctly when you used a Live Usb LM19.2 in a test, so we can rule out any possible hardware defects of your tv display or of your HDMI cable. So it must be OS related. And more specifically update related, since your problems started right after some regular software updates, some weeks ago.

I would like to ask other forummembers to chime in and help with other suggestions, because I dont know how to solve this problem. I will keep following this thread and hope you will succeed in solving it.

[wtwt]

Just to update this, months later, I never could get the display working again. As there was seemingly no solution, I gave up on Linux Mint and installed a different OS, which works. I used Mint for several years and thought it was very good, but obviously the sudden and apparently irreversible loss of display capabilities rather kills its utility.