Can't boot into BIOS after a black screen during a bazzite update

Hi guys, I am a first time linux user. Thought of trying out bazzite last night.

Setup:
>Msi b450m mortar
>Ryzen 5700x3d
>RTX 3060ti
>32 gb ram

Install:

Created bazzite boot usb with rufus and nvidia image+kde
Partitioned my SSD (win11 boot 250gb, 190gb for bazzite)
Followed guide to set up all the partitions for bazzite including efi etc.
Installed bazzite and booted into the desktop when completed (I realised that I forgot to disable secure boot during the install. So just before the next boot, I went into BIOS and disabled secure boot)
The grub menu was initially broken so I ran the command to restore it and it was showing up for the next boot.
Set default boot to bazzite partition in BIOS.
Registered bazzite key for secure boot and then re-enabled secure boot.
Loaded up the bazzite desktop, connected wifi. Everything is good so far. Then I went into the software center and ran update all.
Mid update the screen just went blank. I waited for 10 mins and when the screen remained blank, I tried to bring up the console with ctrl+alt+f2 but nothing came up. So I hard rebooted.
Now every time I boot up, I just see a black screen (the display is on as I can see the backlight bleed on my ips display).
Unable to enter BIOS.

Tried the following to troubleshoot/enter bios:

BIOS key (del) at bootup seems to do nothing to take me into the BIOS menu. Tried it around 10 reboots.
Display is connected from gpu dp out to display dp in. Checked my DP cable, replaced setup with an hdmi cable.
Tried to reset CMOS by shorting the jbat pins so that the boot order of the partitions is reset.
Unplugged the SSD with both win/bazzite boot partitions (in the hope that I would at least boot into the BIOS now), still black screen on gpu dp out.
With step 4, switched to motherboard dp out so that I can see bios at least. No luck.

Please suggest further.

thatonedude•7/10/25, 3:28 PM

If your comfortable with PC hardware then strip it down to just cpu, mobo, and ram to remove any variables. This next part may sound dumb but I have seen CMOS mem not behave as you would expect over the years. Take out the CMOS battery before you plug it in. After you plug it in power it on. If there is no change then power it off and unplug it again. Try to power it on unplugged then plug it back in and power it on again.

thatonedude•7/10/25, 3:32 PM

I can't make this up. I have in the past had a no boot situation that was resolved by trying to power on a system off of residual power left in the PSU without the CMOS bat installed.

booleanCheese•7/10/25, 3:40 PM

Yes, you should definitely try booting it without power and battery, I've seen that before

booleanCheese•7/10/25, 3:42 PM

And also try to get into the bios with your graphics card removed

FloppyGlassOP•7/10/25, 5:18 PM

Did a lot of experiments (cleared CMOS by jumper, removed CMOS battery, removed ram sticks one by one, removed all drives, replaced nvidia gpu with amd gpu) and after all of this it hit me that I need to test my display. So I plugged it into my office laptop and boom, nothing. It was my display all this while

Two days of unnecessary effort. Now somehow my boot drive is not being detected anymore. I wonder if I have irreparable damage by all the rebooting.

FloppyGlassOP•7/10/25, 5:19 PM

Thanks for all your responses. I guess I tried most of those only to find out the truth the hard way haha

thatonedude•7/10/25, 8:04 PM

Dang dude. Sometimes the simplest answer is the right one.

Can't boot into BIOS after a black screen during a bazzite update

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