Black screen problem

[fixit7]

About 1 out of 3 times I boot, it gets to a solid black screen and just sits there.

I then have to hit the reset button.

I do not know how to diagnose what is the problem.

Thanks.

[BrokenCanoe]

Can you clarify a little more information about your system?

1. Are you using proprietary graphics drivers or open source?
2. If you switch to another tty, do you have a login prompt?
3. Since when has this started happening?

If you have a look at journalctl and filter events, you should have a better idea of what’s happening ;

journalctl -b0 SYSLOG_PID=1

[fixit7]

journalctl -b0 SYSLOG_PID=1

-- Logs begin at Tue 2017-04-11 13:18:13 CDT, end at Tue 2017-04-11 17:48:45 CDT
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: systemd 229 running in system mode. (+PAM +AUDIT +
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Detected architecture x86-64.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Set hostname to <7>.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Reached target Encrypted Volumes.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Listening on Syslog Socket.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Listening on udev Control Socket.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Set up automount Arbitrary Executable File Formats
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Listening on /dev/initctl Compatibility Named Pipe
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Listening on Journal Audit Socket.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Created slice User and Session Slice.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Created slice System Slice.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Created slice system-systemd\x2dfsck.slice.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Reached target Remote File Systems (Pre).
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Reached target Remote File Systems.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Listening on fsck to fsckd communication Socket.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Listening on Journal Socket.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Starting Load Kernel Modules...
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Mounting POSIX Message Queue File System...
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Starting Create list of required static device nod
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Mounting Debug File System...
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Starting Set console keymap...
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Started Read required files in advance.
lines 1-23...skipping...
-- Logs begin at Tue 2017-04-11 13:18:13 CDT, end at Tue 2017-04-11 17:48:45 CDT. --
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: systemd 229 running in system mode. (+PAM +AUDIT +SELINUX +IMA +APPARMOR +SMACK +SYSVINIT +UTMP +LIBCRYPTSETUP +GCRYPT +GNUTLS +ACL +XZ -LZ4 +SECCOMP +BLKID +ELFUTILS +KMOD -IDN)
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Detected architecture x86-64.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Set hostname to <7>.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Reached target Encrypted Volumes.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Listening on Syslog Socket.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Listening on udev Control Socket.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Set up automount Arbitrary Executable File Formats File System Automount Point.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Listening on /dev/initctl Compatibility Named Pipe.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Listening on Journal Audit Socket.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Created slice User and Session Slice.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Created slice System Slice.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Created slice system-systemd\x2dfsck.slice.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Reached target Remote File Systems (Pre).
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Reached target Remote File Systems.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Listening on fsck to fsckd communication Socket.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Listening on Journal Socket.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Starting Load Kernel Modules...
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Mounting POSIX Message Queue File System...
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Starting Create list of required static device nodes for the current kernel...
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Mounting Debug File System...
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Starting Set console keymap...
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Started Read required files in advance.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Mounting Huge Pages File System...
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Started Braille Device Support.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Starting Uncomplicated firewall...
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Starting Nameserver information manager...
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Started Forward Password Requests to Wall Directory Watch.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Listening on udev Kernel Socket.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Reached target User and Group Name Lookups.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Listening on Journal Socket (/dev/log).
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Starting Journal Service...
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Reached target Slices.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Started Create list of required static device nodes for the current kernel.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Starting Create Static Device Nodes in /dev...
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Mounted POSIX Message Queue File System.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Mounted Debug File System.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Mounted Huge Pages File System.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Started Nameserver information manager.
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Reached target Network (Pre).
Apr 11 13:18:13 7 systemd[1]: Started Set console keymap.
Apr 11 13:18:14 7 systemd[1]: Started Journal Service.

I do not know how to answer Questions 2 ?

I am using whatever drivers that Ubuntu-Mate installed.

Problem started about a month ago.

[BrokenCanoe]

Okay, nothing I can see there that’s obvious, the next time you get the black screen issue, run journalctl without any parameters and see if there are any specific errors or warnings (you can also review journalctl and scroll through historical entries if you have time), - other than that, a full system update may be worth ensuring. Are you using more than one monitor?

Re ttys, if you press ctrl+alt+F1 to F7, you will be swapped to another terminal. F7 is usually your GUI. When you get the black screen, try ctrl+alt+F1 to see if you get a login prompt. You can switch back to F7 using that command.

[fixit7]

I am using just one monitor.

On bootup today, I got

Recovering journal
Give root pw for maintenance
Press Ctrl D

And it went to my desktop at that point.

How do I do a full system update ?

[BrokenCanoe]

I’d strongly recommend you take a look at the Tutorials and Guides section to help get more understanding of how things work and what to do. Don’t worry, you’re doing great! - it’s a journey we all have to take, and it never ends Just part of being in control of your own OS.

https://ubuntu-mate.community/c/tips-tricks-and-tutorials/tutorials-and-guides

For now, I’d recommend running sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade in a terminal.

(Would be interested to hear if anyone else has had any experience of this, - or other options).

[fixit7]

I followed your link but found no guide or tutorial.

[BrokenCanoe]

The guides are all on that page in a list, I would start with ;

Ubuntu beginners guide, complete how to install and run first update

WARNING 1: BACKUP ALL YOUR DATA BEFORE YOU START TO INSTALL IN CASE THINGS GO WRONG!. SAVE ALL YOUR IMPORTANT FILES AND FOLDERS TO EITHER AN EXTERNAL USB DRIVE AND/OR TO A 2ND HARD DRIVE ON YOUR PC. DO NOT SAVE ANYTHING ON THE SAME DRIVE YOU INTEND TO USE FOR LINUX UNLESS YOU UNDERSTAND/KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!. ONCE YOU START PARTITIONING AND YOU COMMIT TO FORMATTING YOUR PARTITIONS, THERE IS NO GOING BACK!. WARNING 2: IF YOU HAVE A RECOVERY PARTITION AND HAVE NOT CREATED ANY RECOVERY DISKS…

[fixit7]

Is it a full re-install ?

Would I lose all my settings and customizations ?

[BrokenCanoe]

You don’t need to reinstall, that is just an example, I would suggest reading how to run the first update.

If you need more support, it might be worth looking for a local Linux Users Group in your area, - they could no doubt gain from your years of experience and you in turn could garner more knowledge first-hand. Try searching Google for “yourcityname LUG”

[BrokenCanoe]

I’d also recommend taking a look at this thread at the main Ubuntu forums in relation to your black screen issue ; https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1743535