Numerous Linux Mint users have reported seeing a dark or blank screen upon startup. This issue can be challenging to resolve, especially for Linux users with less technical skills. This problem appears to be connected to the Nvidia video drivers. Fortunately, there are several relatively straightforward ways for resolving this particular visual problem, as seen in this article guide.
Fixing the Linux Mint booting to black screen issue
Below are some of the tips you can employ to repair the Linux Mint booting to black screen issue
Restart the computer
The first issue with a dark or blank screen is that you usually cannot access any Linux Mint menus or launch a terminal. Therefore, hold down the power button for 10 seconds to switch off the computer.
Obtain GRUB menu access
Then, after restarting the machine, continually hit the F1 key to open the GRUB menu. Select “Advanced settings” from the GRUB menu by pressing the down arrow key.
Advanced Grub issues
Choose the appropriate recovery mode from the list.
Linux Mint recovery issues
Restore broken packages
Repair Damages packages
Press Enter after scrolling to “dpkg Repair damaged packages.” Continue after reading the warning notice that displays next.
Accept prompt yes
Continue scrolling up to “Resume regular boot” and press Enter.
Use Nomodeset to edit the GRUB menu.
If fixing corrupted packages does not resolve your black or blank screen problem, restart your system and use F1 to reach the GRUB menu. The nomodeset argument asks the kernel to delay loading the video driver until X begins loading it. Press “e” to modify the menu when it displays. Scroll to the point that begins with “Linux” and then to the line’s conclusion. Type “nomodeset” immediately after “silent” and “splash” (without quotes). To restart, use CTRL-X or F10.
Nomodeset
Alternatively, you might utilize a modeset tailored to your computer’s graphics hardware. For instance:
nvidia.modeset=0 nouveau.modeset=0 radeon.modeset=0
Drivers for graphics devices should be reinstalled
As with the previous step, navigate to the GRUB recovery menu and scroll down to “root Drop to root shell prompt.”
The procedure for uninstalling and reinstalling your graphics drivers varies according to your computer, graphics card, and installed graphics drivers.
As with the previous step, navigate to the GRUB recovery menu and scroll down to “root Drop to root shell prompt.” Take extra caution while using this prompt. Any command you write here will be executed as root and may cause modifications to your operating system that render it useless.
Then, using the command “ubuntu-drivers devices,” determine the video card you have and the installed drivers.
driver devices
For instance, if you have an ATI Radeon graphics card, you can attempt the following:
aptitude purge xserver-xorg-video-radeon aptitude install xserver-xorg-video-radeon
If you have an Nvidia graphics card, you can attempt the following:
aptitude purge ~nnvidia or apt-get purge nvidia* aptitude install nvidia-340
First, change the driver’s name to be installed if necessary depending on the “ubuntu-drivers devices” output.
If you’re using a standard terminal, make sure to prefix each of these instructions with “sudo.”
Conclusion
This article shows a quick fix to the Linux Mint booting to black screen issue. If you are a victim of this error, please try out the methods provided herein, and in case of any challenges, please let us know via the comments section below. Thanks for reading.
