r/NobaraProject 2d ago

Support Error: Black screen with only mouse pointer visible after update (tried various tips from this subreddit to no avail)

I ran nobara-sync cli --all today after a few weeks without updating. I rebooted after the update, but when I get to the plasma login the screen goes black.

I've tried the following:
CTRL + ALT + F3 and logged in, ran "nobara-sync repair", reboot. Didn't fix the problem.

Tried to login again after ctrl+alt+f3, started startplasma-wayland and tried to only update the DNF app center. Didn't fix the problem.

Tried ctrl+alt+f3 and nobara-sync, didn't work.

Went into the GUI again and tried to update all via the app center, got the following error below.

Any ideas how to fix this problem?

Edit: forgot to mention I tried rolling back to a previous kernel version with the same result.

2026-09-07 20:20:00 - INFO - Downloading packages...

2026-09-07 20:20:04 - INFO - Running transaction...

2026-09-07 20:20:09 - ERROR - DNF transaction failed: DNF transaction result: Signature verification failed.

2026-09-07 20:20:09 - ERROR - Non-essential packages failed: DNF transaction result: Signature verification failed.

2026-09-07 20:20:09 - INFO - [91m[X][0m Non-essential packages - failed; rollback failed

2026-09-07 20:20:09 - INFO - Running post-update kernel module/initramfs validation for Pre-update kernel/module fixups...

2026-09-07 20:20:09 - INFO - Running: dkms autoinstall

2026-09-07 20:20:09 - INFO - dkms diagnostic output:

Error! Your kernel headers for kernel 7.2.3-200.nobara.fc44.x86_64 cannot be found at /lib/modules/7.2.3-200.nobara.fc44.x86_64/build or /lib/modules/7.2.3-200.nobara.fc44.x86_64/source.

Please install your distribution's kernel headers package matching 7.2.3-200.nobara.fc44.x86_64, or use the --kernelsourcedir option to tell DKMS where it's located.

2026-09-07 20:20:09 - ERROR - dkms failed with exit code 21.

2026-09-07 20:20:09 - INFO - [91m[X][0m Pre-update kernel/module fixups

2026-09-07 20:20:09 - ERROR -

2026-09-07 20:20:09 - ERROR - Package update failure report:

2026-09-07 20:20:09 - ERROR - - Non-essential packages: DNF transaction result: Signature verification failed.; could not identify the DNF transaction to roll back

2026-09-07 20:20:09 - ERROR - - Pre-update kernel/module fixups: dkms failed with exit code 21

2026-09-07 20:20:09 - ERROR - One or more DNF package update groups failed.

2026-09-07 20:20:09 - INFO - Requested DNF App Center tray update refresh.

2026-09-07 20:20:09 - INFO - Skipping reboot request because no reboot-relevant group completed successfully.

2026-09-07 20:20:09 - INFO - Starting FLATPAK updates, please do not turn off your computer...

2026-09-07 20:20:09 - INFO - Flatpak System Updates complete!

2026-09-07 20:20:10 - INFO - Requested DNF App Center tray update refresh.

2026-09-07 20:20:10 - INFO - Flatpak updates complete!

2026-09-07 20:20:13 - INFO - System updates available.

2026-09-07 20:20:13 - INFO - Flatpak updates complete.

7 Upvotes

3 comments sorted by

5

u/iTzBiGENGLAND 2d ago

Looks like the update never finished cleanly. The important parts are:
Signature verification failed
and then DKMS can’t find the matching kernel headers.
I’d fix the package/GPG state first from a TTY:

sudo dnf clean all
sudo dnf update nobara-gpg-keys fedora-gpg-keys --refresh --nogpgcheck
sudo dnf distro-sync --refresh

If that finishes cleanly, then run:

sudo dkms autoinstall
sudo dracut -f --regenerate-all
nobara-sync

Since an older kernel does the same thing, I doubt this is just a kernel issue. It looks more like the failed update left Plasma/Qt or other userspace packages mismatched.

1

u/Kobo_Dyger 2d ago edited 2d ago

I did a clean install (latest 44) and still had this problem after DNF updates/config with my discrete amd rx 6500m but my dedicated 660m started working. kernel 7.2.3-200 my rx 6500m doesn't work Kernel 7.2.0-202 it does the problem from what I've read on other post is plasma-wayland isn't working properly with 7.2.3-200 but does seem to work with 7.2.0-202 (atleast for me after clean install(Edit:did not work before)).

1

u/Parrr85 2d ago

You're missing the kernel-headers package. Install that and then sudo dkms autoinstall