When using Arch Linux, sometimes the system may break in such a way that it boots into a black screen and doesn’t even allow TTY (terminal) access using typical key combinations like Ctrl + Alt + F2. This can be a frustrating situation especially if you don’t have a bootable USB to access a live environment for troubleshooting.

Fortunately, there is a way to recover from this kind of issue using the GRUB bootloader. This article will walk you through how to bypass the graphical boot and access a working terminal by modifying boot parameters directly in GRUB.

Symptoms

System powers on, but instead of reaching the login screen, it displays a black screen that blinks or remains completely unresponsive.

  • You are unable to access TTY by pressing Ctrl + Alt + F2, F3, etc.
  • No bootable USB or live environment is available for rescue.

Cause

This usually happens due to:

  • Misconfiguration in the display manager (like GDM, LightDM, etc.)
  • Broken graphical drivers (e.g., after a package update)
  • Corrupted graphical target

When the system attempts to boot into the graphical target (graphical UI) and fails, it doesn’t automatically fall back to a safe mode or CLI interface.

Boot into Multi-User Target from GRUB

Instead of booting into the graphical interface, you can instruct your system to boot directly into the multi-user target, which gives you terminal (TTY) access.

  • Reboot your system and enter the BIOS/UEFI boot menu (usually by pressing F12, ESC, or DEL, depending on your system).
  • Select the disk where your Arch Linux system is installed.
  • When the GRUB menu appears, highlight the default boot option (don’t press Enter yet).
  • Press e to edit the selected boot entry.
  • You will see a number of lines. Look for the line that starts with linux. It will look something like: linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=xxxxxx rw loglevel=3 quiet
  • At the end of that line, add the following: systemd.unit=multi-user.target The full line might look like: linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=xxxxxx rw loglevel=3 quiet systemd.unit=multi-user.target
  • Press Ctrl + X to boot with the modified settings.

What Happens Next

Your system will boot into TTY mode (non-graphical terminal).

You will see a login prompt. Use your username and password to log in.

From here, you can troubleshoot the graphical environment or any other system issue.

Conclusion

Even without a live USB, it’s possible to recover a non-booting Arch Linux system stuck at a black screen. Using GRUB to boot into multi-user.target provides a safe and accessible environment for recovery. This technique is invaluable for system administrators and users who frequently work with minimal or broken systems.