Monitor goes blank (losing video signal) during Arch iso boot

Issue:

  • systemd boots starts, and fails almost immediately with the error message above (see a video of the sequence ) (ignore the i2c client error, I've always had this on this computer and it never posed any issue)
  • the monitor goes blank (loses video signal)
  • the computer doesn't see to reboot

Steps to reproduce:

  • on a USB key with ArchISO 2024.10 written in dd mode using Rufus (any iso from 2024.02.01 has the problem)
  • GRUB appears, I choose the first open (install, without audio)
  • systemd boots starts, and fails almost immediately with the error message above (see a video of the sequence ), and the screen goes blank
  • I can reproduce this with ArchISO 2024.08, but not on 2024.01 (see below)
  • I don't have logs since the system reboots automatically

Attempts at solving the problem:

  • using Arch iso 2024.01 works (doesn't show the error message, and boots normally). I haven't bisected the problem further, so "something" happened between January and August
  • nixOS iso (https://channels.nixos.org/nixos-24.05/latest-nixos-minimal-x86_64-linux.iso , I used version nixos-minimal-24.05.5667.a3f9ad65a0bf-x86_64-linux ) : this one shows the same error message, but somehow Nix seems to wait / retry, so it boot past the error message
  • I have Arch installed on this PC, and an up to date Arch boots fine without showing this error message
  • I tried all the usual (different USB stick, different port, unplug USB hub, bios reset, bios update)

System info:

  • Dual boot Win11 / Arch (before you close saying "oh it's because of the dual boot, I've had that dual boot for years, and I also don't see why it would play a role in a USB key boot straight from UEFI)
  • Motherboard : Asus X670e Extreme (this has USB4 via Intel JHL8540)
  • CPU : AMD 7950X
  • GPU : nVidia RTX 4090

Let me know if you have any questions

Edited by Julien Chappuis