An erratic Xfce4 Black Screen (WIP)

Published: 6 hours ago (January 16, 2026 at 04:33 AM EST)

4 min read

Source: Dev.to

Cover image for “An erratic Xfce4 Black Screen (WIP)”

Ingo Steinke – web developer

The Issue

When I log into an Xfce4 session the screen stays black. I can see a movable mouse pointer, but there are no panels, menus, or any interactive elements. The Xfce components (xfwm4, compositor, etc.) are still running – I can verify this by switching to a virtual console and either starting another X session or, occasionally, by using a workaround that restores a functional desktop.

Distribution: Linux Mint 22 (Xfce4)
Similar reports: Arch Linux, other Mint versions, and various forum threads.

Background & References

I have already consulted several forum threads and resources:

XFCE forum:
Linux Mint forum:
Perplexity AI answer (original conversation):
DEV.to post by @an3223 (solution via deleting displays.xml):
Arch Wiki – Xfce Black Screens:
NVIDIA DevTalk thread:

Diagnostics & Observations

# System information (run as normal user)
lsb_release -a
uname -a
inxi
sudo lshw -C display
echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE
xfwm4 --version

Log files examined: ~/.xsession-errors, /var/log/Xorg.0.log (after a failed attempt).
The logs do not show obvious errors, underruns, or anything directly related to the black‑screen symptom.

Workarounds & Failed Fixes

Attempt	Description	Result
Remove Intel driver	`sudo apt purge xserver-xorg-video-intel` (the package is obsolete)	Did not resolve the issue
Reboot	A simple reboot sometimes “solved” the problem, but later it stopped working	Inconsistent
Switch to console	`Ctrl+Alt+F1` → log in → try various commands	Temporary relief
Remove Blackbox screensaver	`sudo apt remove blackbox`	No effect
Update system	`sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade`	No effect
Kill & restart Xfce	`ps -aux	grep xfce`;` kill -9 `;` startxfce4`
Switch back to graphical session	`Ctrl+Alt+F7`	Sometimes works, but not reliably

Note: The black‑screen session that generated the logfiles later turned into a functional session after switching back with Ctrl+Alt+F7. However, most attempts still end in a black screen. Occasionally a fresh reboot yields a clean start.

Untested Fixes

BIOS update – Suggested by Tuxedo (the hardware manufacturer) and a Linux Mint forum user.
NVIDIA driver tweaks – Refer to the Arch Wiki and NVIDIA DevTalk links above.
Delete displays.xml – As described in @an3223’s solution: rm ~/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/displays.xml (followed by a logout/login).

What I’m Looking For

Any suggestions that I haven’t already tried, especially those that don’t involve a full BIOS flash or a complete driver reinstall.
Potential root causes (e.g., compositor conflicts, display manager issues, power‑management quirks).
Proven workarounds that can be scripted or added to a startup routine to avoid manual console switching.

TL;DR

Xfce4 on Linux Mint 22 sometimes boots to a black screen with only a mouse cursor.
Logs show no clear errors.
Common fixes (driver removal, reboot, console tricks) are unreliable.
Deleting ~/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/displays.xml helped some users, but I haven’t tried it yet.
BIOS update is suggested but untested.

If you’ve encountered a similar problem or have a concrete fix that isn’t listed above, please share!

Concerns

I fear that I might risk getting even more problems, as I still hope this is just a software/configuration issue.
The hardware manufacturer suggested switching from their custom kernel to a default Linux kernel, but I’m worried I might lose working hardware support (especially for my laptop touchscreen).
I could try enabling the experimental Intel Xe driver for my specific chip ID.

Alternative Approaches

Common troubleshooting suggestions cover session restarts, log checks, and kernel/BIOS notes similar to the forum thread, which remains unsolved with no replies beyond requesting logs.

Diagnostics

Check xfce4-session logs

# Look for session‑restore errors
cat ~/.cache/sessions/xfce4-session-*:0

LightDM and systemd journals
```
journalctl -b -u lightdm
journalctl -b --user -u xfce4-session.service
```
Use these commands to spot display‑manager‑specific failures.

More Untried Fixing Suggestions

Action	Command	Purpose
Reset displays.xml	`mv ~/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/displays.xml ~/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/displays.xml.bak && sudo systemctl restart lightdm`	Targets possible multi‑monitor configuration corruption.
Clear session cache	`mkdir -p ~/.cache/sessions_backup && mv ~/.cache/sessions/* ~/.cache/sessions_backup/ && startxfce4`	Prevents broken session reloads.
Test a minimal session	`sudo adduser tempuser` (log in as the new user) or `mv ~/.config/autostart/*.desktop ~/.config/autostart_disabled/`	Isolates user‑config issues from system‑wide problems.
Manually start components (from a black‑screen TTY)	`bash\nexport DISPLAY=:0\nxfce4-panel &\nxfdesktop &\n`	Verifies whether the panel or desktop is hanging.
Disable compositor	`xfconf-query -c xfwm4 -p /general/use_compositing -s false`	Rules out xfwm4 rendering stalls on Intel Xe.
Prevent automatic session saving	Open Settings → Session and Startup → General and uncheck “Automatically save session on logout”.	Avoids recurring cache corruption.

Conclusion

To be determined (tbd).