Stuck on blinking cursor after latest update

[Kemlo1]

Did latest update, now boot is stuck on cursor and I am unable to access anything via command prompts, ctrl+alt+F3 briefly brings up login option and then almost immediately reverts to blinking cursor, unable to even generate error log.

All boot devices showing in bios

[alkazar]

What GPU do you have?

[Kemlo1]

Rx 7900xt with Ryzen 5800x3d

[alkazar]

Did you switch sessions, to steam-plus, for example?

[Kemlo1]

No, no changes made since last update

[jackofclub5]

Exact same thing with my i5-2500k/RX 550 rig and was about to install it on my Ryzen 3600/RX 6500 XT rig but I think I'll hold off for now. I haven't changed the session either. Not even sure how one does that to be honest. I assume it's a terminal command?

EDIT: I'm able to get to the desktop with Ctrl+Alt+F3 and then chimera-session desktop

gamescope log

EDIT 2: Issue #1348 looks related in my case but that still doesn't explain the similar behaviour OP is experiencing on RDNA 3

[nightshade00013]

Similar issue with the one I setup for my stepson. Simple flashing cursor and nothing else. System is Ryzen 1600, RX480, 16GB RAM 1TB nvme.

He has not made any changes to the system but I was told that something popped up to update and then this is what he had. Going to take a deeper look tomorrow but it's looking like it's hanging at a flashing prompt before pretty much anything loads in the boot process. The only keyboard input that works is ctrl alt del.

[alkazar]

It seems 400 series and 500 series AMD GPUs no longer work with gamescope. The only workaround is to downgrade to the previous ChimeraOS release.

You can do so by running the following command in a terminal:
sudo frzr-deploy chimeraos/chimeraos:45-1

The issue with the 7900xt GPU is unrelated.

[Kemlo1]

Ctrl alt F3 lasts for a second, how do I force terminal to downgrade? (Likely a stupid question I know)

[NeroReflex]

Ctrl alt F3 lasts for a second, how do I force terminal to downgrade? (Likely a stupid question I know)

Each time it returns to blinking cursor just ctrl+alt+f3 again and slowly wall your way to systemctl stop lightdm to do work.

[godtoall82]

Same issue. I’m running a 5700x with a 6600xt. Anytime I use the commands above to troubleshoot, I get an error saying the system is read-only

[NeroReflex]

Same issue. I’m running a 5700x with a 6600xt. Anytime I use the commands above to troubleshoot, I get an error saying the system is read-only

can you send a photo please?

[godtoall82]

Same issue. I’m running a 5700x with a 6600xt. Anytime I use the commands above to troubleshoot, I get an error saying the system is read-only

can you send a photo please?

[Biont]

I also did some investigation about the read-only situation over here:
#984 (comment)

[nightshade00013]

It seems 400 series and 500 series AMD GPUs no longer work with gamescope. The only workaround is to downgrade to the previous ChimeraOS release.

You can do so by running the following command in a terminal: sudo frzr-deploy chimeraos/chimeraos:45-1

Ok, just posting for others info. I was able to ctrl-alt-f3 and get a prompt then booted into desktop. Started steam which worked ok but after starting a game the shaders didn't want to complete though was able to skip and the game played ok. A 7600xt is on order so not going to downgrade the os.

Side note, when the screensaver came up it borked again on resume. So with a Polaris based card as a temporary workaround it can be ran but it's probably going to have issues so not al long term solution.

[NeroReflex]

It seems 400 series and 500 series AMD GPUs no longer work with gamescope. The only workaround is to downgrade to the previous ChimeraOS release.
You can do so by running the following command in a terminal: sudo frzr-deploy chimeraos/chimeraos:45-1

Ok, just posting for others info. I was able to ctrl-alt-f3 and get a prompt then booted into desktop. Started steam which worked ok but after starting a game the shaders didn't want to complete though was able to skip and the game played ok. A 7600xt is on order so not going to downgrade the os.

Side note, when the screensaver came up it borked again on resume. So with a Polaris based card as a temporary workaround it can be ran but it's probably going to have issues so not al long term solution.

Investigation is ongoing. 46-1 is scheduled to fix the issue with polaris

[jackofclub5]

You can do so by running the following command in a terminal: sudo frzr-deploy chimeraos/chimeraos:45-1

The downgrade went well. Much obliged. I will open a separate issue if I see similar behaviour with my newer rig.

[Kemlo1]

This is the only error msg I can get, cannot seem to keep terminal up long enough to type sudo command

Edit: ok finally managed to stop the flashing icon (realised the what you meant command wise) below is what happens when I try to downgrade

[Biont]

I tried remounting and then downgrading:

sudo mount -n -o remount,rw / 
sudo frzr-deploy chimeraos/chimeraos:45-1

Maybe this is the stupidest idea ever, but it makes the downgrade finish without printing an error. After a reboot, I still get the same issue: blinking cursor, reado-only FS

[NeroReflex]

I tried remounting and then downgrading:

sudo mount -n -o remount,rw / 
sudo frzr-deploy chimeraos/chimeraos:45-1

Maybe this is the stupidest idea ever, but it makes the downgrade finish without printing an error. After a reboot, I still get the same issue: blinking cursor, reado-only FS

That is a super smart idea and the solution too for who gets stuck in that error

[Kemlo1]

I tried remounting and then downgrading:

sudo mount -n -o remount,rw / 
sudo frzr-deploy chimeraos/chimeraos:45-1

Maybe this is the stupidest idea ever, but it makes the downgrade finish without printing an error. After a reboot, I still get the same issue: blinking cursor, reado-only FS

Can confirm while this gets rid of the error, doesn't allow me to get away from the blinking cursor and re-running command results in:

Edit: tried on tty2, now get this after reboot -only lasts once as back to blinking after a 2nd reboot

[Biont]

I am seeing some errors from fsck:

I already ran fsck from a live USB on all partitions. Unfortunately the issue persists and I see the same fsck errors after reboot (forgot the -b param to journalctl. Errors are gone).

I'm getting anxious now

---

What I really don't understand is that neither dmesg nor journalctl actually output anything that sounds *so catastrophic that bailing into ro is the only option. It's as if this was just the default state and a fact of life.
I'd expect a huge error about a faulty kernel module or something similar. But nothing. I'm really grasping at straws

[Kemlo1]

Ran journal, a few recurring errors, really hope reimaging isn't my only option at this point

[Biont]

@NeroReflex #919 sounds eerily similar to what we are experiencing here. Do you see any reason why this might have popped up again? And does this perhaps ring a bell for you that leads to a workaround/fix?

---

Also @NeroReflex : Does the frzr deploy take care of rebuilding the initramfs as well? The process is quite speedy and this normally takes a while. At the same time, I am profoundly unfamiliar with frzr and have limited experience with btrfs snapshot magic on /. But if this is a problem (new and introduced by 46) that happens so early during boot that the actual linux system does not even see any actual error, then we not only need a revert to a 45-1 system, but also to a 45-1 initramfs, right?

Is there a way to chroot into that 45-1 snapshot and mkinitcpio -P in there? Or am I completely on the wrong track?

[NeroReflex]

@NeroReflex #919 sounds eerily similar to what we are experiencing here. Do you see any reason why this might have popped up again? And does this perhaps ring a bell for you that leads to a workaround/fix?

Also @NeroReflex : Does the frzr deploy take care of rebuilding the initramfs as well? The process is quite speedy and this normally takes a while. At the same time, I am profoundly unfamiliar with frzr and have limited experience with btrfs snapshot magic on /. But if this is a problem (new and introduced by 46) that happens so early during boot that the actual linux system does not even see any actual error, then we not only need a revert to a 45-1 system, but also to a 45-1 initramfs, right?

Is there a way to chroot into that 45-1 snapshot and mkinitcpio -P in there? Or am I completely on the wrong track?

Yes that issue seems exactly what is going on there, and honestly I suspected that when I saw that first photo.

The issue never disappeared tbh, that is just how kernel works now. We might need to think about this more and conduct more tasting as we don't know if unstable is affected after the frzr change.

frzr deploy is only available on the future v47 and the initramfs rebuild does not takes place because it's not needed anymore. Are you using unstable?

[Kemlo1]

I'm on stable, is there a way for me to downgrade or will I need to reimage this?

[Biont]

No I never used an unstable version of chimeraos. I'm just oscillating between steam beta and stable.

About frzr, I am probably getting something mixed up. I was referring to the sudo frzr-deploy chimeraos/chimeraos:45-1 command that was suggested and that both me and @Kemlo1 have tried.

What are you referring to that is only available in a future version? Likely we are talking about different things.

[NeroReflex]

No I never used an unstable version of chimeraos. I'm just oscillating between steam beta and stable.

About frzr, I am probably getting something mixed up. I was referring to the sudo frzr-deploy chimeraos/chimeraos:45-1 command that was suggested and that both me and @Kemlo1 have tried.

What are you referring to that is only available in a future version? Likely we are talking about different things.

Ok, good. Yes I was talking about a future version.

No I don't think initramfs rebuilding not taking place is normal. But at the same time I am very confused by the state you end up being....

Is your objective understand what's going on or having a working system? Because I think I can only help with the first.

[Kemlo1]

No I never used an unstable version of chimeraos. I'm just oscillating between steam beta and stable.

About frzr, I am probably getting something mixed up. I was referring to the sudo frzr-deploy chimeraos/chimeraos:45-1 command that was suggested and that both me and @Kemlo1 have tried.

What are you referring to that is only available in a future version? Likely we are talking about different things.

I had thought it occurred quite quickly and even left it for a while after inputting the command, if it's not fully implemented yet that would make sense

@NeroReflex Ideally both would be good, because if re-imaging is the only way to get a working system then hopefully we can avoid it in the future :)

[godtoall82]

So I was able to remedy the issue by using the following commands at the F3 terminal:

systemctl stop lightdm
sudo mount -n -o remount,rw /
sudo frzr-deploy chimeraos/chimeraos:45-1
chimera-session steam-plus

Once in game mode, I checked for updates and installed the 45-1 update that appeared.

[alkazar]

Once in game mode, I checked for updates and installed the 45-1 update that appeared.

Just FYI, that was probably a Steam client update, the sudo frzr-deploy chimeraos/chimeraos:45-1 command already installs 45-1.

[godtoall82]

Once in game mode, I checked for updates and installed the 45-1 update that appeared.

Just FYI, that was probably a Steam client update, the sudo frzr-deploy chimeraos/chimeraos:45-1 command already installs 45-1.

I ran the commands without “chimera-session steam-plus” and rebooted. Ended up with the blank screen cursor issue again. Once I added the Steam-plus command and booted into game mode, it showed 46 was the current version. I had to click the “check for updates” button and apply the 45-1 update that popped up.

[Kemlo1]

Once in game mode, I checked for updates and installed the 45-1 update that appeared.

Just FYI, that was probably a Steam client update, the sudo frzr-deploy chimeraos/chimeraos:45-1 command already installs 45-1.

I ran the commands without “chimera-session steam-plus” and rebooted. Ended up with the blank screen cursor issue again. Once I added the Steam-plus command and booted into game mode, it showed 46 was the current version. I had to click the “check for updates” button and apply the 45-1 update that popped up.

Has this resolved your issue?

[godtoall82]

Once in game mode, I checked for updates and installed the 45-1 update that appeared.

Just FYI, that was probably a Steam client update, the sudo frzr-deploy chimeraos/chimeraos:45-1 command already installs 45-1.

I ran the commands without “chimera-session steam-plus” and rebooted. Ended up with the blank screen cursor issue again. Once I added the Steam-plus command and booted into game mode, it showed 46 was the current version. I had to click the “check for updates” button and apply the 45-1 update that popped up.

Has this resolved your issue?

Yes. No more blinking cursor during boot.

[alkazar]

Once in game mode, I checked for updates and installed the 45-1 update that appeared.

Just FYI, that was probably a Steam client update, the sudo frzr-deploy chimeraos/chimeraos:45-1 command already installs 45-1.

I ran the commands without “chimera-session steam-plus” and rebooted. Ended up with the blank screen cursor issue again. Once I added the Steam-plus command and booted into game mode, it showed 46 was the current version. I had to click the “check for updates” button and apply the 45-1 update that popped up.

Perhaps the update from the command line failed.
But then that means 46 worked for you with the steam-plus session when the steam session did not? They are essentially the same.

I suspect it is not an issue exclusive to 46, but some unknown timing issue with the session.

[Biont]

@godtoall82 Hooray, this worked! Thank you for finding the missing puzzle pieces. This was quite a ride and I want to thank everyone in this thread!

[Kemlo1]

Well I am into game mode now, however unable to run an update as I now get this message?

Swapped over to beta from stable and still getting it, reboot gets me back into blinking cursor so feeling a tad cursed here

[NeroReflex]

Well I am into game mode now, however unable to run an update as I now get this message?

Swapped over to beta from stable and still getting it, reboot gets me back into blinking cursor so feeling a tad cursed here

Can you do it from the terminal in gnome please?

[Kemlo1]

Well I am into game mode now, however unable to run an update as I now get this message?

Swapped over to beta from stable and still getting it, reboot gets me back into blinking cursor so feeling a tad cursed here

Can you do it from the terminal in gnome please?

A very stupid question but what's the command I should use?

Edit: success! Thank you one and all, for anyone else searching for this solution and run into same issue as me, disabled WiFi, renable it, and toggle offline mode a couple of times and then update.

Issue may not occur if wired