archlinux
SDDM Hard Crashes when installed with Nouveau drivers via archinstall
Which ISO version are you using?
7 2025
The installation log
N/A
describe the problem
Installing arch as I have done multiple times.RTX 4080 super.
I get the below error and install completes, and then when I boot I get an infinite black screen.
Tried installing the Nvidia drivers via Arch install to see if that would work and that led to me having a successful boot but the system was so slow laggy and went out that it was basically unusable and I was unable to do anything
My apologies for not having the full log for you, I needed to get my system functional and installed cachyos before making this issue so I neglected to grab the log lol
mkinitcpio completed successfully. zstd compressor error, which can occur if the writing process was interrupted. There is not a word about the driver here
first of all, what driver? Proprietary or open source? and please attach the log file, try to reinstall the system, maybe the problem will disappear
first of all, what driver? Proprietary or open source? and please attach the log file, try to reinstall the system, maybe the problem will disappear
Happens across nouveau and open source kernel module proprietary driver.
Haven't tried the closed source driver although I imagine results would be no different.
This is after multiple consecutive attempts I'll try again this evening but this will be my fifth or sixth time trying to install it.
Was working fine s couple weeks ago on the same system
mkinitcpio completed successfully. zstd compressor error, which can occur if the writing process was interrupted. There is not a word about the driver here
Well idk I assume they're connected because I haven't seen this error before and now I do and the system will not boot after install so I'm just connecting the dots
complete nonsense, install the proprietary driver. so you understand - open NVIDIA drivers are developed by enthusiasts, and they are not always stable, and productive as proprietary ones
complete nonsense, install the proprietary driver. so you understand - open NVIDIA drivers are developed by enthusiasts, and they are not always stable, and productive as proprietary ones
In what way is it nonsense? I would not be here raising an issue if things were working as they normally do. It isn't the open drivers. They work just fine.
Been using the same open kernel driver on my previous arch install and currently on cachyOS.
I ran archinstall the exact same way I always have before and had a system that didn't boot. So I raised an issue.
I've remade the media. Used different uses and I've tried all three different driver versions and in all three scenarios I ended up with either a system that didn't boot at all or did boot and rendered the desktop one frame a minute.
There is definitely something currently wrong. If not with archinstall then somewhere in arch itself. As I have tried this many different ways now.
Yet cachyOS installs just fine lol
I've remade the media. Used different uses and I've tried all three different driver versions and in all three scenarios I ended up with either a system that didn't boot at all or did boot and rendered the desktop one frame a minute.
I think some logs or error messages will help determine whether this is an issue with archinstall or another component.
The zstd error is likely caused by this bug: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/mkinitcpio/mkinitcpio/-/issues/285
I've remade the media. Used different uses and I've tried all three different driver versions and in all three scenarios I ended up with either a system that didn't boot at all or did boot and rendered the desktop one frame a minute.
I think some logs or error messages will help determine whether this is an issue with archinstall or another component.
The zstd error is likely caused by this bug: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/mkinitcpio/mkinitcpio/-/issues/285
Reattempting install with nouveau drivers rn. Will post log link momentsrily
After doing some.digging into journalctl it seems the issue is that sddm is having an issue and hard crashing. This explains the black screen problem.
I was able to successfully circumvent the problem by using another greeter. And funnily enough after adding the Cachy kernel and repos, and installing Nvidia drivers was able to use sddm again without issue.
honestly - I have no idea, my card is newer, but at the same time the system that is installed works perfectly
I'm inclined to think that you're probably setting something up incorrectly, please attach log files so that we can help you.
After doing some.digging into journalctl it seems the issue is that sddm is having an issue and hard crashing. This explains the black screen problem.
A similar regression was mentioned on the Arch forums: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=306739
The thread has info about getting a symbolized backtrace, which would help narrow down the root cause. Maybe you can get a full backtrace and post it to that thread?
You do understand that CachyOS is the same arch that uses its repositories and everything else. I asked you to ATTACH the log files from archinstall, but you never did it
A similar regression was mentioned on the Arch forums: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=306739
Further info here: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/packaging/packages/mesa/-/issues/32
You do understand that CachyOS is the same arch that uses its repositories and everything else. I asked you to ATTACH the log files from archinstall, but you never did it
actually cachyos has it's own repos that at times do have newer packages than what's currently in the arch repos they take priority over i have tried to get the logs. and even just did a fresh broken install on another drive there is no arch install log where specified i also copy pasted the the command to automatically upload the log from my own current working install and got an error
nevertheless, i don't really care at this point. it's quite obvious from the journalctl picture i showed and the information graciously provided by @correctmost that the issue i was facing is in fact, an SDDM problem.
from the onset of my issue you have continuously acted as if i must have done something incorrectly, which tbh at this point is becoming an insult to my intelligence, more than anything else. i have installed arch with archinstall over two dozen times with only issues on a couple occasions. and both of those times were due to things outside of my control. i use the SAME CONFIGURATION every time. and now all of sudden sddm shits itself and according to you it must be a mistake on my side
lmfao ok
idk what's going on with sddm and i don't know why it works fine now post setup with everything else i've done all i do know is what i did that worked for me to bypass the issue i was facing which was
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use GDM instead of SDDM
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keep everything else the same
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after installing cachy repos and kernel/nvidia driver i removed GDM and it's dependencies and enabled SDDM
no issues
i'm inclined to think this isn't actually an archinstall issue but perhaps you may wish to issue a temporary warning about it on this github until the sddm regression is fixed. i'll be renaming this issue to refect the root cause in case someone else has the same problem and comes looking
EDIT: Also it kind of makes sense that it started working once I got the Nvidia driver installed The regression is with mesa so when I got the Nvidia driver installed that became the active driver and bypassed the regression.
After doing some.digging into journalctl it seems the issue is that sddm is having an issue and hard crashing. This explains the black screen problem.
A similar regression was mentioned on the Arch forums: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=306739
The thread has info about getting a symbolized backtrace, which would help narrow down the root cause. Maybe you can get a full backtrace and post it to that thread?
this would also explain why the sddm crash only happens on nouveau for me also
I've remade the media. Used different uses and I've tried all three different driver versions and in all three scenarios I ended up with either a system that didn't boot at all or did boot and rendered the desktop one frame a minute.
I think some logs or error messages will help determine whether this is an issue with archinstall or another component.
The zstd error is likely caused by this bug: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/mkinitcpio/mkinitcpio/-/issues/285
Here's a screenshot of a very recent post from EndeavorOS maintainers! detailing the exact issue I've been dealing with.
There is definitely a solid issue at work here. And can confirm problem is still present as of yesterday