Screen does not turn on after being locked

Desktop
1

Perfect. Let’s solve this as a computer science expert with a focus on Linux: systematic analysis, based on logs, system behavior, graphic architecture and possible bugs in the environment.

:jigsaw: Problem summary

You are using:

  • Dell Vostro 3510 notebook
  • Intel Tiger Lake (Iris Xe) GPU
  • Linux Mint with GNOME and Wayland
  • And the behavior is:

After locking the session (e.g. Super + L or timeout), the screen does not turn back on correctly when trying to unlock it.

:white_check_mark: Deep Dive

This issue is not uncommon on recent Intel hardware, running with:

  • Kernel 6.x
  • Mesa >= 24.x
  • Wayland
  • GNOME Shell (especially 45+)

And usually involves a conflict between:

  • The Wayland compositor
  • The i915 driver
  • Power management (display suspend → dpms or drm_kms_helper)

:brain: Technical hypotheses

  1. Wayland/gnome-shell bug when resuming the display via DPMS
  2. Problem with drm_kms_helper not restoring the framebuffer state
  3. i915 driver crashing in runtime suspend
  4. GNOME compositor error when trying to resume a locked GPU session inactive

:white_check_mark: Layered solutions (from least invasive to most technical)

:wrench: 1. Disable screen sleep (but keep the lock)

In the terminal:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.session idle-delay 0

This stops GNOME from automatically turning off the screen. To be safe:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.screensaver lock-enabled true

:warning: This only prevents the bug. We’ll still fix the cause.

:test_tube: 2. Force driver to keep Intel GPU power on

Edit (or create) this file:

sudo nano /etc/modprobe.d/i915.conf

Add:

options i915 enable_psr=0 enable_fbc=0

This disables Panel Self Refresh (PSR) and Frame Buffer Compression, which usually cause black screen on unlock.

Then, regenerate initramfs:

sudo update-initramfs -u

And reboot.

:framed_picture: 3. Create an xrandr script to manually turn the screen back on

Create this script in ~/relibera-tela.sh:

#!/bin/bash
xrandr --output eDP-1 --auto

Give it permission:

chmod +x ~/relibera-tela.sh

And you can run it with a keyboard shortcut when the screen doesn’t turn on.

:brick: 4. Switch to X11 (Xorg)

The bug is more frequent in Wayland. To test if the problem disappears:

  1. Log out
  2. On the login screen (LightDM or GDM), click on the gear icon
  3. Select GNOME over Xorg
  4. Log in

If the problem disappears, we have confirmation: bug in the Wayland compositor or DRM+Wayland+GNOME stack.

:fire: 5. Kernel boot parameter: force the driver to not suspend screen

Edit GRUB:

sudo nano /etc/default/grub

Find this line:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"

And add:

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash i915.enable_psr=0 drm.debug=0xe log_buf_len=4M"

Save and update GRUB:

sudo update-grub

Reboot.

:brain: Want a definitive solution?

Yes. But the definitive solution will come with a kernel or GNOME Shell patch, and/or a fix for the Intel/Mesa drivers. In the meantime, the steps above are effective and proven solutions in the field.

:white_check_mark: I recommend following this order:

  1. Test in Xorg (starting point)
  2. Disable PSR/FBC in the driver
  3. Disable automatic screen shutdown
  4. Emergency shortcut with xrandr
  5. Update kernel and Mesa (if you are comfortable with it)

If you want, I can help you:

  • Automate screen reactivation via script
  • Create a global shortcut in GNOME
  • Or set up a small systemd service that “watches” the GPU and reacts

Want to follow along?