[DESKTOP] Black screen on Boot, intermittently

[Gazzer]

Hi


Hope you can help me.
I am a newbie to KDE and Linux, I have chosen Kubuntu 21.04 as my O/S


After many weeks of slowly adding Software and attaching Hardware and almost have everything setup.
My PC has decided to intermittently boot to a Black Screen, this happens about 7 times out of 10.
Sometimes it Boots to a normal desktop and everything works.


Most times its a Black screen and almost nothing works ?
The terminal works and I can run Firefox & spectacle works.
If i type dolphin it only opens the dolphin title bar not the full application.


I am sure you will need more Info, but as a newbie, I will need instructions ?


While this is frustrating to be so close to my completed install of Kubuntu, perhaps this is a good time to learn how to fix problems.
My previous job was Electronics fault finding, so I have a logical mind.


My PC is set to auto login.


Thanks
Gaz




Operating System: Kubuntu 21.04
KDE Plasma Version: 5.21.4
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.80.0
Qt Version: 5.15.2
Kernel Version: 5.11.0-18-generic
OS Type: 64-bit
Graphics Platform: X11
Processors: 4 ? Intel? Pentium? Silver J5040 CPU @ 2.00GHz
Memory: 7.4 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: Mesa Intel? UHD Graphics 605

[GreyGeek]

Capture the output of "sudo lshw" and post it in a code box.(The hash icon on the icon menu bar)

[Gazzer]

Thanks, here is the output of that command ...

mini-itx-j5040              
    description: Desktop Computer
    product: To Be Filled By O.E.M. (To Be Filled By O.E.M.)
    vendor: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
    version: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
    serial: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
    width: 64 bits
    capabilities: smbios-3.2.0 dmi-3.2.0 smp vsyscall32
    configuration: boot=normal chassis=desktop family=To Be Filled By O.E.M. sku=To Be Filled By O.E.M. uuid=A8A1595F-D706-0000-0000-000000000000
  *-core
       description: Motherboard
       product: J5040-ITX
       vendor: ASRock
       physical id: 0
       serial: M80-DA028200514
     *-firmware
          description: BIOS
          vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
          physical id: 0
          version: P1.60
          date: 01/17/2020
          size: 64KiB
          capacity: 16MiB
          capabilities: pci upgrade shadowing cdboot bootselect socketedrom edd int13floppy1200 int13floppy720 int13floppy2880 int5printscreen int9keyboard int14serial int17printer acpi usb biosbootspecification uefi
     *-memory
          description: System Memory
          physical id: b
          slot: System board or motherboard
          size: 8GiB
        *-bank:0
             description: SODIMM DDR4 Synchronous 2400 MHz (0.4 ns)
             product: 99U5624-013.A00G
             vendor: Kingston
             physical id: 0
             serial: 00204335
             slot: A1_DIMM0
             size: 8GiB
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 2400MHz (0.4ns)
        *-bank:1
             description: Synchronous [empty]
             product: Array1_PartNumber1
             vendor: B1_Manufacturer0
             physical id: 1
             serial: B1_SerNum0
             slot: B1_DIMM0
     *-cache:0
          description: L1 cache
          physical id: 16
          slot: CPU Internal L1
          size: 224KiB
          capacity: 224KiB
          capabilities: synchronous internal write-back
          configuration: level=1
     *-cache:1
          description: L2 cache
          physical id: 17
          slot: CPU Internal L2
          size: 4MiB
          capacity: 4MiB
          capabilities: synchronous internal write-back unified
          configuration: level=2
     *-cpu
          description: CPU
          product: Intel(R) Pentium(R) Silver J5040 CPU @ 2.00GHz
          vendor: Intel Corp.
          physical id: 18
          bus info: cpu@0
          version: Intel(R) Pentium(R) Silver J5040 CPU @ 2.00GHz
          slot: CPUSocket
          size: 2953MHz
          capacity: 3200MHz
          width: 64 bits
          clock: 100MHz
          capabilities: lm fpu fpu_exception wp vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe syscall nx pdpe1gb rdtscp x86-64 constant_tsc art arch_perfmon pebs bts rep_good nopl xtopology nonstop_tsc cpuid aperfmperf tsc_known_freq pni pclmulqdq dtes64 monitor ds_cpl vmx est tm2 ssse3 sdbg cx16 xtpr pdcm sse4_1 sse4_2 x2apic movbe popcnt tsc_deadline_timer aes xsave rdrand lahf_lm 3dnowprefetch cpuid_fault cat_l2 cdp_l2 ssbd ibrs ibpb stibp ibrs_enhanced tpr_shadow vnmi flexpriority ept vpid ept_ad fsgsbase tsc_adjust smep erms mpx rdt_a rdseed smap clflushopt intel_pt sha_ni xsaveopt xsavec xgetbv1 xsaves dtherm ida arat pln pts umip rdpid md_clear arch_capabilities cpufreq
          configuration: cores=4 enabledcores=4 threads=4
     *-pci
          description: Host bridge
          product: Gemini Lake Host Bridge
          vendor: Intel Corporation
          physical id: 100
          bus info: pci@0000:00:00.0
          version: 06
          width: 32 bits
          clock: 33MHz
        *-generic
             description: Signal processing controller
             product: Celeron/Pentium Silver Processor Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework Processor Participant
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 0.1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:00.1
             version: 06
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=proc_thermal latency=0
             resources: irq:24 memory:80000000-80007fff
        *-display
             description: VGA compatible controller
             product: GeminiLake [UHD Graphics 605]
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
             version: 06
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pciexpress msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
             configuration: driver=i915 latency=0
             resources: irq:130 memory:a0000000-a0ffffff memory:90000000-9fffffff ioport:f000(size=64) memory:c0000-dffff
        *-multimedia
             description: Audio device
             product: Celeron/Pentium Silver Processor High Definition Audio
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: e
             bus info: pci@0000:00:0e.0
             version: 06
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm msi pciexpress bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=snd_hda_intel latency=0
             resources: irq:132 memory:a1310000-a1313fff memory:a1000000-a10fffff
        *-communication
             description: Communication controller
             product: Celeron/Pentium Silver Processor Trusted Execution Engine Interface
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: f
             bus info: pci@0000:00:0f.0
             version: 06
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm msi bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=mei_me latency=0
             resources: irq:131 memory:a1319000-a1319fff
        *-sata
             description: SATA controller
             product: Celeron/Pentium Silver Processor SATA Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 12
             bus info: pci@0000:00:12.0
             version: 06
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 66MHz
             capabilities: sata msi pm ahci_1.0 bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=ahci latency=0
             resources: irq:126 memory:a1314000-a1315fff memory:a1318000-a13180ff ioport:f090(size=8) ioport:f080(size=4) ioport:f060(size=32) memory:a1317000-a13177ff
        *-pci:0
             description: PCI bridge
             product: Gemini Lake PCI Express Root Port
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 13
             bus info: pci@0000:00:13.0
             version: f6
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=pcieport
             resources: irq:122
        *-pci:1
             description: PCI bridge
             product: Gemini Lake PCI Express Root Port
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 13.1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:13.1
             version: f6
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=pcieport
             resources: irq:123
        *-pci:2
             description: PCI bridge
             product: Gemini Lake PCI Express Root Port
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 13.2
             bus info: pci@0000:00:13.2
             version: f6
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=pcieport
             resources: irq:124 ioport:e000(size=4096) memory:a1200000-a12fffff
           *-network
                description: Ethernet interface
                product: RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
                vendor: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd.
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:03:00.0
                logical name: eno1
                version: 15
                serial: a8:a1:59:5f:d7:06
                size: 100Mbit/s
                capacity: 1Gbit/s
                width: 64 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: pm msi pciexpress msix bus_master cap_list ethernet physical tp mii 10bt 10bt-fd 100bt 100bt-fd 1000bt-fd autonegotiation
                configuration: autonegotiation=on broadcast=yes driver=r8169 driverversion=5.11.0-18-generic duplex=full firmware=rtl8168h-2_0.0.2 02/26/15 ip=192.168.1.67 latency=0 link=yes multicast=yes port=twisted pair speed=100Mbit/s
                resources: irq:20 ioport:e000(size=256) memory:a1204000-a1204fff memory:a1200000-a1203fff
        *-pci:3
             description: PCI bridge
             product: Gemini Lake PCI Express Root Port
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 13.3
             bus info: pci@0000:00:13.3
             version: f6
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pci pciexpress msi pm normal_decode bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=pcieport
             resources: irq:125 ioport:d000(size=4096) memory:a1100000-a11fffff
           *-sata
                description: SATA controller
                product: ASM1062 Serial ATA Controller
                vendor: ASMedia Technology Inc.
                physical id: 0
                bus info: pci@0000:04:00.0
                version: 02
                width: 32 bits
                clock: 33MHz
                capabilities: sata msi pm pciexpress ahci_1.0 bus_master cap_list
                configuration: driver=ahci latency=0
                resources: irq:128 ioport:d050(size=8) ioport:d040(size=4) ioport:d030(size=8) ioport:d020(size=4) ioport:d000(size=32) memory:a1100000-a11001ff
        *-usb
             description: USB controller
             product: Celeron/Pentium Silver Processor USB 3.0 xHCI Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 15
             bus info: pci@0000:00:15.0
             version: 06
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: pm msi xhci bus_master cap_list
             configuration: driver=xhci_hcd latency=0
             resources: irq:127 memory:a1300000-a130ffff
           *-usbhost:0
                product: xHCI Host Controller
                vendor: Linux 5.11.0-18-generic xhci-hcd
                physical id: 0
                bus info: usb@1
                logical name: usb1
                version: 5.11
                capabilities: usb-2.00
                configuration: driver=hub slots=9 speed=480Mbit/s
              *-usb
                   description: USB hub
                   product: USB2.0 Hub
                   vendor: Genesys Logic, Inc.
                   physical id: 3
                   bus info: usb@1:3
                   version: 77.64
                   capabilities: usb-2.00
                   configuration: driver=hub maxpower=100mA slots=4 speed=480Mbit/s
                 *-usb:0
                      description: USB hub
                      product: USB2.0 Hub
                      vendor: Genesys Logic, Inc.
                      physical id: 1
                      bus info: usb@1:3.1
                      version: 77.64
                      capabilities: usb-2.00
                      configuration: driver=hub maxpower=100mA slots=4 speed=480Mbit/s
                    *-usb
                         description: Mouse
                         product: Logitech USB Optical Mouse
                         vendor: Logitech
                         physical id: 3
                         bus info: usb@1:3.1.3
                         version: 43.00
                         capabilities: usb-2.00
                         configuration: driver=usbhid maxpower=100mA speed=2Mbit/s
                 *-usb:1
                      description: Keyboard
                      product: USB Keyboard
                      physical id: 4
                      bus info: usb@1:3.4
                      version: 2.90
                      capabilities: usb-1.10
                      configuration: driver=usbhid maxpower=100mA speed=2Mbit/s
           *-usbhost:1
                product: xHCI Host Controller
                vendor: Linux 5.11.0-18-generic xhci-hcd
                physical id: 1
                bus info: usb@2
                logical name: usb2
                version: 5.11
                capabilities: usb-3.00
                configuration: driver=hub slots=7 speed=5000Mbit/s
        *-isa
             description: ISA bridge
             product: Celeron/Pentium Silver Processor LPC Controller
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1f
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.0
             version: 06
             width: 32 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             capabilities: isa bus_master
             configuration: latency=0
        *-serial
             description: SMBus
             product: Celeron/Pentium Silver Processor Gaussian Mixture Model
             vendor: Intel Corporation
             physical id: 1f.1
             bus info: pci@0000:00:1f.1
             version: 06
             width: 64 bits
             clock: 33MHz
             configuration: driver=i801_smbus latency=0
             resources: irq:20 memory:a1316000-a13160ff ioport:f040(size=32)
     *-pnp00:00
          product: PnP device PNP0c02
          physical id: 1
          capabilities: pnp
          configuration: driver=system
     *-pnp00:01
          product: PnP device PNP0501
          physical id: 2
          capabilities: pnp
          configuration: driver=serial
     *-pnp00:02
          product: PnP device PNP0c02
          physical id: 3
          capabilities: pnp
          configuration: driver=system
     *-pnp00:03
          product: PnP device PNP0c02
          physical id: 4
          capabilities: pnp
          configuration: driver=system
     *-pnp00:04
          product: PnP device PNP0b00
          physical id: 5
          capabilities: pnp
          configuration: driver=rtc_cmos
     *-scsi:0
          physical id: 6
          logical name: scsi0
          capabilities: emulated
        *-disk
             description: ATA Disk
             product: CT120BX500SSD1
             physical id: 0.0.0
             bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0
             logical name: /dev/sda
             version: R013
             serial: 2018E3FA87A5
             size: 111GiB (120GB)
             capabilities: gpt-1.00 partitioned partitioned:gpt
             configuration: ansiversion=5 guid=5508e12a-c949-4656-a716-e57d3440d8d4 logicalsectorsize=512 sectorsize=512
           *-volume:0
                description: Windows NTFS volume
                vendor: Windows
                physical id: 1
                bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,1
                logical name: /dev/sda1
                version: 3.1
                serial: 88e7-6dd3
                size: 448MiB
                capacity: 449MiB
                capabilities: boot precious ntfs initialized
                configuration: clustersize=4096 created=2021-05-19 21:45:29 filesystem=ntfs label=Recovery name=Basic data partition state=clean
           *-volume:1
                description: Windows FAT volume
                vendor: MSDOS5.0
                physical id: 2
                bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,2
                logical name: /dev/sda2
                logical name: /boot/efi
                version: FAT32
                serial: 7ae8-3325
                size: 92MiB
                capacity: 98MiB
                capabilities: boot fat initialized
                configuration: FATs=2 filesystem=fat mount.fstype=vfat mount.options=rw,relatime,fmask=0077,dmask=0077,codepage=437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro name=EFI system partition state=mounted
           *-volume:2
                description: reserved partition
                vendor: Windows
                physical id: 3
                bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,3
                logical name: /dev/sda3
                serial: ac46a6f4-ad46-4929-a5e1-5bf9cf257898
                capacity: 15MiB
                capabilities: nofs
                configuration: name=Microsoft reserved partition
           *-volume:3
                description: Windows NTFS volume
                vendor: Windows
                physical id: 4
                bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,4
                logical name: /dev/sda4
                logical name: /media/gb/Windows 10 Home
                version: 3.1
                serial: 8efa5356-b904-f74c-84e6-3b1631ea7ebb
                size: 40GiB
                capacity: 40GiB
                capabilities: ntfs initialized
                configuration: clustersize=4096 created=2021-05-19 21:45:36 filesystem=ntfs label=Windows 10 Home mount.fstype=fuseblk mount.options=rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=0,group_id=0,default_permissions,allow_other,blksize=4096 name=Basic data partition state=mounted
           *-volume:4
                description: EXT4 volume
                vendor: Linux
                physical id: 5
                bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,5
                logical name: /dev/sda5
                logical name: /
                version: 1.0
                serial: 23affd00-616e-4c62-ab3d-7c81f26d3be9
                size: 29GiB
                capabilities: journaled extended_attributes large_files huge_files dir_nlink recover 64bit extents ext4 ext2 initialized
                configuration: created=2021-05-31 15:43:32 filesystem=ext4 label=Kubuntu_System lastmountpoint=/ modified=2021-07-20 06:45:13 mount.fstype=ext4 mount.options=rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro mounted=2021-07-20 06:45:14 state=mounted
           *-volume:5
                description: EXT4 volume
                vendor: Linux
                physical id: 6
                bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,6
                logical name: /dev/sda6
                logical name: /home
                version: 1.0
                serial: a3235df3-bfb5-42c3-93fe-f99b0d184d4a
                size: 15GiB
                capabilities: journaled extended_attributes large_files huge_files dir_nlink recover 64bit extents ext4 ext2 initialized
                configuration: created=2021-05-31 15:43:36 filesystem=ext4 label=Kubuntu_Home lastmountpoint=/home modified=2021-07-20 06:45:20 mount.fstype=ext4 mount.options=rw,relatime mounted=2021-07-20 06:45:20 state=mounted
           *-volume:6
                description: EXT4 volume
                vendor: Linux
                physical id: 7
                bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,7
                logical name: /dev/sda7
                logical name: /media/gb/OTHER   ( ext4 )
                version: 1.0
                serial: d97fe911-e661-4e37-9ceb-11a1f7c71516
                size: 20GiB
                capabilities: journaled extended_attributes large_files huge_files dir_nlink recover extents ext4 ext2 initialized
                configuration: created=2021-06-01 10:15:39 filesystem=ext4 label=OTHER   ( ext4 ) lastmountpoint=/media/gb/OTHER   ( ext4 ) modified=2021-07-20 06:45:29 mount.fstype=ext4 mount.options=rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime mounted=2021-07-20 06:45:29 name=EXT4 folder -  SSD state=mounted
           *-volume:7
                description: Windows NTFS volume
                physical id: 8
                bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0,8
                logical name: /dev/sda8
                logical name: /media/gb/OTHER   ( ntfs )
                version: 3.1
                serial: 03a5-3f39
                size: 5160MiB
                capacity: 5176MiB
                capabilities: ntfs initialized
                configuration: clustersize=4096 created=2021-06-21 11:09:54 filesystem=ntfs label=OTHER   ( ntfs ) mount.fstype=fuseblk mount.options=rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=0,group_id=0,default_permissions,allow_other,blksize=4096 state=mounted
     *-scsi:1
          physical id: 7
          logical name: scsi2
          capabilities: emulated
        *-disk
             description: ATA Disk
             product: CT500MX500SSD1
             physical id: 0.0.0
             bus info: scsi@2:0.0.0
             logical name: /dev/sdb
             version: 032
             serial: 21102D6EA016
             size: 465GiB (500GB)
             capabilities: gpt-1.00 partitioned partitioned:gpt
             configuration: ansiversion=5 guid=aa709bd7-3e97-b542-9aab-41d3130b62c5 logicalsectorsize=512 sectorsize=4096
           *-volume:0
                description: EXT4 volume
                vendor: Linux
                physical id: 1
                bus info: scsi@2:0.0.0,1
                logical name: /dev/sdb1
                logical name: /media/gb/DATA
                version: 1.0
                serial: 1675019a-b84c-4602-bcf7-cd5e888e4ff3
                size: 244GiB
                capabilities: nomount journaled extended_attributes large_files huge_files dir_nlink recover 64bit extents ext4 ext2 initialized
                configuration: created=2021-07-05 15:53:26 filesystem=ext4 label=DATA lastmountpoint=/media/gb/DATA modified=2021-07-20 06:45:29 mount.fstype=ext4 mount.options=rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime mounted=2021-07-20 06:45:29 state=mounted
           *-volume:1
                description: EXT4 volume
                vendor: Linux
                physical id: 2
                bus info: scsi@2:0.0.0,2
                logical name: /dev/sdb2
                logical name: /media/gb/VARIOUS
                version: 1.0
                serial: f4cbfc39-8697-412d-bc19-b1498670af20
                size: 48GiB
                capabilities: readonly nomount journaled extended_attributes large_files huge_files dir_nlink recover 64bit extents ext4 ext2 initialized
                configuration: created=2021-07-05 15:53:36 filesystem=ext4 label=VARIOUS lastmountpoint=/media/gb/VARIOUS modified=2021-07-20 06:45:29 mount.fstype=ext4 mount.options=rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime mounted=2021-07-20 06:45:29 state=mounted
           *-volume:2
                description: EXT4 volume
                vendor: Linux
                physical id: 3
                bus info: scsi@2:0.0.0,3
                logical name: /dev/sdb3
                logical name: /media/gb/SYSTEMS
                version: 1.0
                serial: 1a6251fd-04ea-4331-aaf6-c8a2c40f735a
                size: 172GiB
                capabilities: nomount journaled extended_attributes large_files huge_files dir_nlink recover 64bit extents ext4 ext2 initialized
                configuration: created=2021-07-05 15:53:41 filesystem=ext4 label=SYSTEMS lastmountpoint=/media/gb/SYSTEMS modified=2021-07-20 06:45:29 mount.fstype=ext4 mount.options=rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime mounted=2021-07-20 06:45:29 state=mounted

gb@Mini-ITX-J5040:~$

[GreyGeek]

Nothing looks unusual in your hardware or drivers.

First, see if your system clock is syncronized. Run "timedatectl" and see if it says
"System clock synchronized: yes "
IF it says ":no" then run "systemsettings5" in that terminal and choose "Regional Settings". From that choose "Date & Time" and set (or reset) your timezone, date and time.
Then reboot and see how that goes.

If it didn't fix things then perhaps your theme is being temperamental in some way. Run "systemsettings5" again in the working terminal you mentioned. Change your Global Theme and Plasma Style to "Breeze" and reboot.