HP Victus 16 - Blank screen with amdgpu, "enabling link 0 failed: 15"

thekaizer · 2026-03-19 02:31:31

System:
- HP Victus Gaming Laptop 16-s1xxx
- CPU/iGPU: AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS w/ Radeon 780M (DCN 3.1.4, Phoenix/Hawk Point)
- dGPU: Nvidia RTX 4070 (hybrid Optimus configuration)
- BIOS: F.17 (2025-11-18)
- Kernel: tested on linux-lts (6.18.18), linux (6.19), and linux-mainline (7.0-rc4) — all affected
- Nvidia drivers installed
- Base Arch Linux install, no desktop, just TTY on boot

Note: I have also tested Fedora Workstation, Linux Mint, and Endeavour OS, and all have failed in the same way.

Problem:
On every boot without nomodeset in the kernel parameters, I get a blank screen with the backlight on but no image. The system boots correctly and is fully usable via blind TTY, but the physical display never shows any output. With nomodeset, then the physical display shows the TTY, but arch is not using any gpu.

Kernel error:
Every boot produces this error at display link training time, appearing multiple times:

`amdgpu 0000:05:00.0: [drm] enabling link 0 failed: 15`

The panel advertises PSR support which appears to be involved:

`amdgpu 0000:05:00.0: amdgpu: [drm] eDP-1: PSR support 1, DC PSR ver 0, sink PSR ver 3 DPCD caps 0x7b su_y_granularity 4`

What I have confirmed:
- DPMS off/on correctly toggles the backlight, confirming partial display link function
- Backlight brightness is at max (62451/62451)
- The system is fully operational — just no image on the physical panel
- All three tested kernels (6.18.18-lts, 6.19, 7.0-rc4) are affected
- This is a hybrid Optimus system — the eDP panel may be wired through the RTX 4070 rather than directly to the Radeon 780M

Kernel parameters tried (tested across all three kernels, none fixed it):
- amdgpu.dc=0 — removes link error but display still doesn't work
- amdgpu.dc=1 amdgpu.runpm=0 — link error persists
- amdgpu.dc=1 amdgpu.runpm=0 amdgpu.sg_display=0 — link error persists
- amdgpu.dc=1 amdgpu.runpm=0 amdgpu.dcdebugmask=0x10 — link error persists
- amdgpu.dc=1 amdgpu.runpm=0 amdgpu.dcdebugmask=0x200 — link error persists
- amdgpu.psr=0 — not a valid parameter, ignored
- nvidia_drm.modeset=1 nvidia_drm.fbdev=1 — no effect

Question:
Is there a known fix or workaround for enabling link 0 failed: 15 on a hybrid Nvidia+AMD Optimus laptop? The eDP panel may be wired through the RTX 4070 rather than the Radeon 780M — is there a way to confirm this and route display output correctly? Has anyone got a similar HP Victus or Ryzen 7 8845HS + RTX 4070 hybrid configuration working under Arch Linux?

Last edited by thekaizer (2026-03-19 22:46:30)

thekaizer · 2026-03-19 16:22:06

Here is a boot report containing the error as mentioned above: https://0x0.st/PewI.txt

Lone_Wolf · 2026-03-20 11:40:57

Mar 09 11:07:22 ares kernel: pci 0000:01:00.0: optimus capabilities: enabled, status dynamic power, hda bios codec supported
Mar 09 11:07:22 ares kernel: VGA switcheroo: detected Optimus DSM method \_SB_.PCI0.GPP0.PEGP handle
Mar 09 11:07:22 ares kernel: nouveau: detected PR support, will not use DSM
Mar 09 11:07:22 ares kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: enabling device (0000 -> 0003)
Mar 09 11:07:22 ares kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: NVIDIA AD106 (196000a1)
Mar 09 11:07:22 ares kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: gsp: RM version: 570.144

No sign of nvidia drivers in that log.

Please post the full output of lspci -k (preferably from boot without nomodeset).

Moderator Note
moving to Kernel and Hardware

thekaizer · 2026-03-20 14:26:11

Here is the lspci log: https://0x0.st/P9d0.txt

seth · 2026-03-20 16:04:05

You're using nouveau, but also

Mar 09 11:07:22 ares kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: [drm] Cannot find any crtc or sizes
Mar 09 11:07:22 ares kernel: nouveau 0000:01:00.0: [drm] Cannot find any crtc or sizes

no output is attached to the GPU.

Throwing some wild guesses at the wall.
Remove the kms hook, explicitly add amdgpu (but not nouveau) to the modules array in your mkinitcpio.conf (don't forget to regenerate the initramfs) and add "initcall_blacklist=simpledrm_platform_driver_init" to the https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Kernel_parameters

thekaizer · 2026-03-20 16:40:30

I made each of those changes, but still got a blank screen.

Here’s the lspci -k log file: https://0x0.st/P9d0.txt
Also here’s a full boot report: https://0x0.st/P9nF.txt

seth · 2026-03-20 20:23:47

The system boots correctly and is fully usable via blind TTY

Have you ever tried to just run "startx" from here (forcing a mode switch/framebuffer change)?
Can you boot w/ "video=1024x768"?

thekaizer · 2026-03-20 20:36:51

I tried both of those just now and neither made the screen work. Still just backlight and nothing showing.

For startx, nothing changed and I also got no output when running it normally and as sudo. I piped the output to a text file and got nothing.

Here is the boot log for when I used startx: https://0x0.st/P97-.txt
Here is the boot log for the boot with video=1024x768: https://0x0.st/P97o.txt

seth · 2026-03-20 21:25:42

I piped the output to a text file and got nothing.

startx |& tee startx.out

Can you disable either the APU or the GPU in the UEFI settings?
(Disabling the APU would then indeed re-wire the eDP to the nvidia GPU)

thekaizer · 2026-03-20 23:31:13

For startx, it outputted that the command doesn’t exist, so I assume I need to install smth for that?

I disabled my dGPU so only amd gpu (UMA in my uefi) and still got a blank screen: https://0x0.st/P9Ft.txt

I also did a boot where I disabled the UMA (I assume this is my APU) and this time did not get a blank screen, so arch successfully connected to my nvidia card: https://0x0.st/P9Fx.txt

I understand that I could technically just use my dGPU but I wanna use the integrated graphics because it’s a laptop and I want to have a least a reasonable battery life.

thekaizer · 2026-03-21 00:22:36

I installed X11 and tried to run it for both only UMA and then only dGPU. With UMA, I think that it worked to open, but I still got a blank screen, I did see it briefly go completely dark and then blank again. For the only dGPU boot, startx failed. I can’t upload the file to 0x0.st tho cause they’ve blocked my IP, guess I’ve uploaded too many files. Is there another way to do that?

seth · 2026-03-21 08:42:03

Both url's are "Removed"
See the 1st link below for alternatives.

Are there BIOS updates available for the device?
https://grml.org/
Does https://mirror.23m.com/grml/grml-full-2025.08-amd64.iso still work? (6.12 kernel)

thekaizer · 2026-03-21 15:18:14

For boot with only dGPU enabled: https://termbin.com/xyny
For boot with only UMA enabled: https://termbin.com/jkko
Startx out for dGPU: https://termbin.com/jqpt

My bios is on the lastest version F.17 and grml booted with the exact same problem, where I get a blank screen with backlight no image.

Last edited by thekaizer (2026-03-21 17:33:59)

seth · 2026-03-21 20:27:25

https://termbin.com/xyny has

Mar 20 18:25:10 ares kernel: amdgpu 0000:05:00.0: [drm] Cannot find any crtc or sizes

There still is

1002  Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD/ATI]
1900  HawkPoint1

just the output isn't wired there and it is *not*

Mar 20 18:22:26 ares kernel: pci 0000:05:00.0: vgaarb: setting as boot VGA device

What happens if you actually install the nvidia driver (or https://aur.archlinux.org/packages?O=0&K=580xx )?

waiting for X server to shut down (II) Server terminated successfully (0). Closing log file.

If startx "doesn't work" that's because you lack https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x86_64/xterm/ (which is the session keeping process in the default xinitrc)

thekaizer · 2026-03-22 01:32:05

Okay, I was able to install all nvidia drivers and get them working properly. I even installed hyprland and have got it all setup and working as well. But, all of this has been through bios settings of dGPU only. What is strange is that the system still connects to and sees the UMA even though I have turned it off in settings.

Another strange thing, is that during the boot with only dGPU activated in bios, my nvidia gpu is listed as GPU0 and my amd gpu is listed as GPU1, even though the amd gpu is the integrated one.

Side note: I did get startx working, I just have wanted to install hyprland so I went with that instead.

So now, the only weird thing is that when I put bios back to hybrid or to just UMA, then I get the blank screen again.

seth · 2026-03-22 08:00:34

So now, the only weird thing is that when I put bios back to hybrid or to just UMA, then I get the blank screen again.

1. No.

What is strange is that the system still connects to and sees the UMA even though I have turned it off in settings.

I suspect all of this is a problem w/ the firmware connecting the output, but

My bios is on the lastest version F.17

so you'd have to bug HP about that (unless you're able and willing to downgrade the FW to see whether this is actually a regression)
2. Successfully running startx (we'll prefer that for now because X takes over the framebuffer) doesn't change anything about that?

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/torva … /fbcon.rst
Add "fbcon=map:0123" to the https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Kernel_parameters and try to ctrl+alt+F1/2/3/4 through the VTs (briefly wait on each) - does any of them get you visible output in the hybrid mode?

Arch Linux

#1 2026-03-19 02:31:31

HP Victus 16 - Blank screen with amdgpu, "enabling link 0 failed: 15"

#2 2026-03-19 16:22:06

Re: HP Victus 16 - Blank screen with amdgpu, "enabling link 0 failed: 15"

#3 2026-03-20 11:40:57

Re: HP Victus 16 - Blank screen with amdgpu, "enabling link 0 failed: 15"

#4 2026-03-20 14:26:11

Re: HP Victus 16 - Blank screen with amdgpu, "enabling link 0 failed: 15"

#5 2026-03-20 16:04:05

Re: HP Victus 16 - Blank screen with amdgpu, "enabling link 0 failed: 15"

#6 2026-03-20 16:40:30

Re: HP Victus 16 - Blank screen with amdgpu, "enabling link 0 failed: 15"

#7 2026-03-20 20:23:47

Re: HP Victus 16 - Blank screen with amdgpu, "enabling link 0 failed: 15"

#8 2026-03-20 20:36:51

Re: HP Victus 16 - Blank screen with amdgpu, "enabling link 0 failed: 15"

#9 2026-03-20 21:25:42

Re: HP Victus 16 - Blank screen with amdgpu, "enabling link 0 failed: 15"

#10 2026-03-20 23:31:13

Re: HP Victus 16 - Blank screen with amdgpu, "enabling link 0 failed: 15"

#11 2026-03-21 00:22:36

Re: HP Victus 16 - Blank screen with amdgpu, "enabling link 0 failed: 15"

#12 2026-03-21 08:42:03

Re: HP Victus 16 - Blank screen with amdgpu, "enabling link 0 failed: 15"

#13 2026-03-21 15:18:14

Re: HP Victus 16 - Blank screen with amdgpu, "enabling link 0 failed: 15"

#14 2026-03-21 20:27:25

Re: HP Victus 16 - Blank screen with amdgpu, "enabling link 0 failed: 15"

#15 2026-03-22 01:32:05

Re: HP Victus 16 - Blank screen with amdgpu, "enabling link 0 failed: 15"

#16 2026-03-22 08:00:34

Re: HP Victus 16 - Blank screen with amdgpu, "enabling link 0 failed: 15"

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