tldr: I upgraded from 24.11.711815.1807c2b91223 (Linux 6.6.67) to 24.11.713099.67e9c8808988 (Linux 6.6.71) and my pc only properly finishes booting sometimes.
Ever since doing sudo nixos-rebuild switch --upgrade I’ve had this issue where, after selecting the new generation and the computer showing a bunch of fast text, I end up with a black screen with nothing on it.
Restarting and trying to boot the same generation multiple times would rarely result in the computer reaching the kde login screen.
Since I could consistently boot in an older generation, I assumed there was something wrong in my configuration.nix, so I started stripping it more and more to see if the pc would finally boot properly. I ended up with basically a “stock” config, only leaving the packages under environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [ and it still didn’t work
I humbly ask for your help in fixing this issue.
In case they are needed, here are my system details from the newest working generation:
Operating System: NixOS 24.11
KDE Plasma Version: 6.2.4
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.8.0
Qt Version: 6.8.0
Kernel Version: 6.6.67 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 16 × AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 8-Core Processor
Memory: 30,5 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
Manufacturer: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd.
Product Name: MS-7E12
System Version: 1.0
Can you boot the system to failure (black screen) with the new generation once, then reboot and go into the old generation that works, and then get the previous boot’s logs with:
I forgot to mention that I waited a bit to make this post to see if a newer update would fix the issue so the Os version I’m currently trying to boot is 24.11.713321.6a3ae7a5a12f (Linux 6.6.72).
Secure boot is enabled in the bios. It worked fine so far so it never occurred to me that there are extra steps to make that work… I’m just now reading about Lanzaboote
I can go in tty. To reboot after I got stuck on the black screen I brought it up with ctrl + alt + f2, logged in and sudo reboot now
# Edit this configuration file to define what should be installed on
# your system. Help is available in the configuration.nix(5) man page
# and in the NixOS manual (accessible by running ‘nixos-help’).
{ config, pkgs, lib, ... }:
#Enable software center
let
nix-software-center = import (pkgs.fetchFromGitHub {
owner = "snowfallorg";
repo = "nix-software-center";
rev = "0.1.2";
sha256 = "xiqF1mP8wFubdsAQ1BmfjzCgOD3YZf7EGWl9i69FTls=";
}) {};
hid-tmff2 = config.boot.kernelPackages.callPackage ./modules/hid-tmff2.nix {};
in
{
boot.blacklistedKernelModules = [ "hid-thrustmaster" ];
boot.extraModulePackages = [ hid-tmff2 ];
boot.kernelModules = [ "hid-tmff2" ];
# Use boot.kernelModules = [ hid-tmff2 ]; to enable the module. Then, the user can load it using:
# $ sudo modprobe hid-tmff2
# OR use "" to autoload the module at startup
imports =
[ # Include the results of the hardware scan.
./hardware-configuration.nix
];
# Bootloader.
boot.loader.systemd-boot.enable = true;
boot.loader.efi.canTouchEfiVariables = true;
networking.hostName = "nixos"; # Define your hostname.
# networking.wireless.enable = true; # Enables wireless support via wpa_supplicant.
# Configure network proxy if necessary
# networking.proxy.default = "http://user:password@proxy:port/";
# networking.proxy.noProxy = "127.0.0.1,localhost,internal.domain";
# Enable networking
networking.networkmanager.enable = true;
# Set your time zone.
time.timeZone = "Europe/Rome";
# Select internationalisation properties.
i18n.defaultLocale = "en_US.UTF-8";
i18n.extraLocaleSettings = {
LC_ADDRESS = "it_IT.UTF-8";
LC_IDENTIFICATION = "it_IT.UTF-8";
LC_MEASUREMENT = "it_IT.UTF-8";
LC_MONETARY = "it_IT.UTF-8";
LC_NAME = "it_IT.UTF-8";
LC_NUMERIC = "it_IT.UTF-8";
LC_PAPER = "it_IT.UTF-8";
LC_TELEPHONE = "it_IT.UTF-8";
LC_TIME = "it_IT.UTF-8";
};
# Enable the X11 windowing system.
# You can disable this if you're only using the Wayland session.
services.xserver.enable = true;
services.xserver.videoDrivers = [ "amdgpu" ];
services.xserver.displayManager.sddm.enable = true;
services.xserver.desktopManager.plasma6.enable = true;
#Test
services.xrdp.enable = true;
services.xrdp.defaultWindowManager = "startplasma-x11";
services.xrdp.openFirewall = true;
#Enable flatpack
services.flatpak.enable = true;
systemd.services.flatpak-repo = {
wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
path = [ pkgs.flatpak ];
script = ''
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo
'';
};
# Enable the KDE Plasma Desktop Environment.
services.displayManager.sddm.enable = true;
services.desktopManager.plasma6.enable = true;
# Configure keymap in X11
services.xserver.xkb = {
layout = "it";
variant = "";
};
# Configure console keymap
console.keyMap = "it2";
# Enable CUPS to print documents.
services.printing.enable = true;
# use the example session manager (no others are packaged yet so this is ena
# Enable touchpad support (enabled default in most desktopManager).
# services.xserver.libinput.enable = true;
# Define a user account. Don't forget to set a password with ‘passwd’.
users.users.dinnerbug = {
isNormalUser = true;
description = "My actual name and surname which I'd like to keep private";
extraGroups = [ "networkmanager" "wheel" "scanner" "lp" ];
packages = with pkgs; [
kdePackages.kate
# thunderbird
];
};
# Remove sound.enable or set it to false if you had it set previously, as sound.enable is only meant for ALSA-based configurations
# rtkit is optional but recommended
security.rtkit.enable = true;
services.pipewire = {
enable = true;
alsa.enable = true;
alsa.support32Bit = true;
pulse.enable = true;
# If you want to use JACK applications, uncomment this
#jack.enable = true;
};
#Enable kdeconnect
programs.kdeconnect.enable = true;
# Install firefox.
programs.firefox.enable = true;
#Install steam
programs.steam.enable = true;
programs.steam.gamescopeSession.enable = true;
#Enable gamemode
programs.gamemode.enable = true;
#Install alvr
programs.alvr = {
enable = true;
package = pkgs.alvr;
openFirewall = true;
};
#Enable openrgb
services.hardware.openrgb.enable = true;
#Tailscale
services.tailscale.enable = true;
# create a oneshot job to authenticate to Tailscale
systemd.services.tailscale-autoconnect = {
description = "Automatic connection to Tailscale";
# make sure tailscale is running before trying to connect to tailscale
after = [ "network-pre.target" "tailscale.service" ];
wants = [ "network-pre.target" "tailscale.service" ];
wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
# set this service as a oneshot job
serviceConfig.Type = "oneshot";
# have the job run this shell script
script = with pkgs; ''
# wait for tailscaled to settle
sleep 2
# check if we are already authenticated to tailscale
status="$(${tailscale}/bin/tailscale status -json | ${jq}/bin/jq -r .BackendState)"
if [ $status = "Running" ]; then # if so, then do nothing
exit 0
fi
# otherwise authenticate with tailscale
${tailscale}/bin/tailscale up -authkey tskey-auth-"my key which I'd like to keep private"
'';
};
# Enable the user service
systemd.user.services.openrgb-profile.enable = true;
#Enable opengl
hardware.graphics = {
enable = true;
#driSupport = true;
#driSupport32Bit = true;
# Add extra OpenGL packages
extraPackages = with pkgs; [
rocmPackages.clr.icd
];
};
#Mullvad
services.mullvad-vpn.enable = true;
services.mullvad-vpn.package = pkgs.mullvad-vpn;
services.resolved.enable = true;
#Scanner
hardware.sane.enable = true; # enables support for SANE scanners
hardware.sane.extraBackends = [ pkgs.epsonscan2 ];
# Allow unfree packages
nixpkgs.config.allowUnfree = true;
# List packages installed in system profile. To search, run:
# $ nix search wget
environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
# vim # Do not forget to add an editor to edit configuration.nix! The Nano editor is also installed by default.
# wget
nix-software-center
btop
mangohud
goverlay
openrgb
wget
spotify
vlc
sidequest
furmark
lm_sensors
libsForQt5.kalk
bottles
lutris
ryujinx
zoom-us
gimp
wine
heroic
git
pkgs.vesktop
pipewire
prismlauncher
(pkgs.python3.withPackages (python-pkgs: with python-pkgs; [
spyder
jupyter
]))
rclone
yt-dlg
yt-dlp
audacity
pkgs.tailscale
joystickwake
google-chrome
ventoy
zapzap
inkscape-with-extensions
gpu-screen-recorder
gpu-screen-recorder-gtk
i2c-tools
stress-ng
unigine-heaven
monero-gui
xmrig-mo
clinfo
bottom
nsz
davinci-resolve
baobab
fastfetch
xsane
libinsane
epsonscan2
normcap
kdePackages.kcolorchooser
eyedropper
scrcpy
android-tools
lact
protonup-qt
linuxHeaders
oversteer
hid-tmff2
ente-auth
shadps4
];
# Some programs need SUID wrappers, can be configured further or are
# started in user sessions.
# programs.mtr.enable = true;
# programs.gnupg.agent = {
# enable = true;
# enableSSHSupport = true;
# };
# List services that you want to enable:
# Enable the OpenSSH daemon.
# services.openssh.enable = true;
# Open ports in the firewall.
networking.firewall = {
enable = true;
allowedTCPPorts = [ ports I'd rather keep private ];
allowedTCPPortRanges = [ { ports I'd rather keep private; } ];
allowedUDPPorts = [ ports I'd rather keep private ];
allowedUDPPortRanges = [
{ ports I'd rather keep private; }
{ ports I'd rather keep private; }
{ ports I'd rather keep private; }
];
};
# Or disable the firewall altogether.
# networking.firewall.enable = false;
# This value determines the NixOS release from which the default
# settings for stateful data, like file locations and database versions
# on your system were taken. It‘s perfectly fine and recommended to leave
# this value at the release version of the first install of this system.
# Before changing this value read the documentation for this option
# (e.g. man configuration.nix or on https://nixos.org/nixos/options.html).
system.stateVersion = "24.05"; # Did you read the comment?
systemd.services.loginrgb = {
after = [ "suspend.target" ];
wantedBy = [ "suspend.target" ];
serviceConfig = {
Type = "oneshot";
ExecStart = "/run/current-system/sw/bin/bash /home/dinnerbug/scripts/loginrgb.sh";
};
};
hardware.bluetooth.enable = true; # enables support for Bluetooth
hardware.bluetooth.powerOnBoot = false; # powers up the default Bluetooth controller on boot
#LACT
systemd.services.lact = {
description = "AMDGPU Control Daemon";
after = ["multi-user.target"];
wantedBy = ["multi-user.target"];
serviceConfig = {
ExecStart = "${pkgs.lact}/bin/lact daemon";
};
enable = true;
};
systemd.services.NetworkManager-wait-online.enable = false;
}
The only time I remember disabling secure boot was when I was first installing NixOS. After I finished the install, I re-enabled it. I have since updated a couple times and nothing went wrong despite secure boot being on.
I don’t quite understand how secure boot affects installs, updates etc…
can you try starting kde from the tty with kstart plasma-desktop or if this won’t work with startx.
The thing with secure boot is that it some times causes problems especially while booting. But if you can get in the tty it seams like thats a problem with the displaymanager.
[dinnerbug@nixos: 1$ kstart plasma-desktop
qt.qpa.xcb: could not connect to display
qt.qpa.plugin: From 6.5.0, xch-cursore or libxcb-cursor is needed to load the Qt xcb platform plugin.
qt.qpa.plugin: Could not load the Qt platform plugin "xcb" in "" even though it was found.
This application failed to start because no Qt platform plugin could be initialized. Reinstalling the application nay fix this problem.
Available platform plugins are: minimal, minimalegl, xcb, eglfs, linuxfb, offscreen, ukkhrdisplay, unc, wayland, wayland-egl.
Aborted (core dumped)
[dinnerbug@nixos: 1$ startx
The program 'startx' is not in your PATH. You can make it available in an ephemeral shell by typing: nix-shell -p xorg.xinit
Just in case I tried running startx in the ephemeral shell, which led to this screen.
Can you post the output of following commands after you booted into the blackscreen: journalctl -fu display-manager.service journalctl --boot -1
Then could you try to restart sddm sudo systemctl restart sddm.service
[dinnerbug@nixos:˜]$ journalctl -fu display-manager.service
gen 19 19:49:44 nixos sddm[1266]: Socket server starting...
gen 19 19:49:44 nixos sddm[1266]: Socket server started.
gen 19 19:49:44 nixos sddn[1266]: Loading theme configuration from "/run/current-system/sw share/sddn/themes/breeze/theme.conf"
gen 19 19:49:44 nixos sddn[1266]: Greeter starting...
gen 19 19:49:44 nixos sddn-helper[1373]: Detected locale "C" with character encoding "AMSI_X3.4-1968", which is not UTF-8. Qt depends on a UTF-8 locale, and has switched to "C.UTF-8" instead. If this causes problems, reconfigure your locale. See the locale(1) manual for more information.
gen 19 19:49:44 nixos sddn-helper[1373]: [PAM] Starting...
gen 19 19:49:44 nixos sddn-helper [1373]: [PAM] Authenticating...
gen 19 19:49:44 nixos sådn-helper[1373]: [PAM] returning.
gen 19 19:49:44 nixos sddm[1266]: Greeter session started successfully
gen 19 19:49:45 nixos sddn[1266]: Message received from greeter: Connect
Output of journalctl --boot -1 :
Results of trying sudo systemctl restart sddm.service :
[dinnerbug@nixos:˜]$ systemctl restart sddn.service
==== AUTHENTICATING FOR org.freedesktop.systendi.manage-units =====
Authentication is required to restart 'sddm.service'
Authenticating as: Name Surname (dinnerbug)
Password:
==== AUTHENTICATION COMPLETE ====
Failed to restart sddm.service: Unit sddn.service not found.
I added services.displayManager.sddm.wayland.enable = true; and it didn’t solve the issue.
Silly me . I tried punching it in again, this time making sure it was typed correctly, and it gave me the same message, only this time it said sddm and not sddn
services.displayManager.ly.enable = true; worked on 4 reboot attempts. I selected plasma (wayland) and logged in consistently every time.
This would mean that the other login screen is “borked” in some way? I assume by now you have a suspicion on what the problem might be and I’d be curious to know what you think.
yeah so definitely a problem with your displaymanager. I think it is a wayland/x problem.
If the cat ~/.local/share/sddm/wayland-session.log doesn’t return anything it means that sddm is running on x. Maybe post the content of the files in ~/.local/share/sddm/.
Also i noticed that you have defined display manager and kde plasma two times in your config.
So try removing this part and see if it works.
~/.local/share/sddm/ has 2 log files in it: wayland-session.log and xorg-session.log. Both are empty.
As for the double declaration, when troubleshooting my config I made a copy and started removing and changing stuff, including that. When nothing seemed to work I just restored the old config. It was redundant though so thank you regardless for pointing it out.
1 monitor, display port on my gpu. Third port from the left.
Just in case, I tested a reboot with the cable on the first port, but the new “barebones” login screen appears instead of the usual kde login screen, despite having commented services.displayManager.ly.enable = true; and uncommented services.displayManager.sddm.enable = true;
ok try setting dislplaymanager ly.enabel to false and do a rebuild.
When it works take a look in the logging directory for sddm again and post the logs if they are not empty.
Also try setting sddm wayland to false by following:
. I tried punching it in again, this time making sure it was typed correctly, and it gave me the same message, only this time it said sddm and not sddn