I’ve been having an issue for almost 2 months now with my Acer laptop running Linux Mint 22.2. The screen will blank out at random for a second or two, then usually return. On rare occasions, when it blanks out it then reboots. I thought it was a failing graphics unit, so I was set to retire it, and purchased a used Toshiba on eBay of around the same vintage with a minor difference. The Acer uses an AMD Radeon R2 graphics unit integrated with the quad core CPU, whereas the Toshiba uses an integrated AMD Radeon R3. When the Toshiba arrived, I installed a fresh 1TB SSD and installed a fresh copy of Mint 22.2. A day or two after the OS install, the Toshiba began displaying the same random screen blank behavior as the Acer. So I now suspect either a driver issue or a kernel issue rather than a hardware issue. Has anyone else encountered this sort of problem with AMD Radeon graphics, and if so, did you find a resolution?
You should try a different kernel in your Mint22.2. Preferably a later kernel.
That will get you a different version of the firmware as well.
There might also be a kernel boot parameter that can be changed.
eg) I did once use intel_iommu=off to solve a problem… not a card problem.
Which kernel parameter is anyone’s guess
You could also another linux on a live usb drive.
I run two systems with Radeon graphics…
I’ve run a few distros on them all - never seen your symptoms…
Main system is a Ryzen Desktop machine with Radeon GPU (RX6600 with 8 GB DDR5)… Run Fedora on there, Pop!_OS 22.04 - currently running Ubuntu 24.04 - no issues…
I have a Thinkpad E495 with Ryzen 5 and on-board APU/GPU (i.e. my GPU is on the CPU DIE) called “Vega8” graphics (same as on the SteamDeck) - run Pop!_OS 22 and Ubuntu 24.04 on there - never seen your symptoms - sorry…
I’m a bit unsure / confused what you mean by “Radeon R2” and “Radeon R3”…
I much prefer AMD and using the OSS drivers to the messing around one has to do to get NVidia GPU working… And I’m a gamer too (I only game on Linux however!).
What I mean by “Radeon R2” and “Radeon R3” is exactly the designation AMD gives the hardware. They are not separate GPUs, but integrated into their respective CPUs as one single unit which serves as both CPU and GPU. I also prefer AMD, and used their processors exclusively back when I ran my own computer company and custom built desktop systems for my clients in Montana.
You may find this helpful with kernel parameters
Thanks- I’ll take a look at this in the morning. It’s bedtime here in Adelaide. 
Oh, you are in .au. I am in NSW near Nowra.
Yes I’ve been in ‘Straya almost 9 years, after marrying an Aussie girl I met on Facebook. Been a citizen since Australia Day 2022. We live in Eudunda, a rural town about a hundred km north of Adelaide. We spent a few days in NSW this past October at Albury.
You can have a relaxed healthy life in a regional area. We have been in Nowra 26 years… retired here to a small farm. We get swamped with holidaymakers in the Summer.
Closest I ever got to SA was Broken Hill. I worked there years ago.
Wow, I had the same problem but without the reboot. I have a Dell OptiPlex 7040 and I also have
Linux Mint 22.2. In my log for 10/23 I wrote “Blank screen 3 times today” and on 10/31 I noted LM was at Kernel 6.14.0-34. My LM is now at Kernel 6.14.0-37. Again, the blank screen would only last a couple seconds and at first I thought my monitor was going bad.
When did the blank screen stop? No idea, but I am very glad it stop. I don’t know what cause the problem or what solved it.
Good Luck,
Howard
Two users of Mint 22.2 with same problem.
That pins it down to a Mint issue.
Problem started with my Acer ES1-523-41EW around the end of October also. For the past couple of days I’ve been running Q4OS with Trinity desktop, and it seems to be quite stable. Current kernel on this install is 6.12.57+deb13-amd64. I pulled the Mint 22.2 SSD out of the Acer and installed in an old Toshiba Pro Satellite L-300, and it seems to be stable in that old workhorse. Current kernel for that one is 6.8.0-88-generic. I might put it back in the Acer and boot up to see what kernel it might use there.
OK - just looked it up…
20+ years ago I bought a brand new Dell laptop (my first) with Windows XP and it had a Radeon GPU - don’t remember what model exactly… So I see the R2 and the R3 are designations for mobile Radeon GPUs…
My desktop has a Radeon - but the model number looks nothing like that it’s “RX6600 or TX6600” and my ThinkPad has an AMD CPU and GPU/APU : “Vega8” (i.e. the GPU is on the same die as the CPU).
I’ve never seen any blanking or odd behaviour on the Thinkpad…
Here’s the output of “inxi -G” on my Thinkpad running Ubuntu 24.04 :
╭─x@fenrixii ~
╰─➤ inxi -G
Graphics:
Device-1: AMD Picasso/Raven 2 [Radeon Vega Series / Radeon Mobile Series]
driver: amdgpu v: kernel
Device-2: Bison Integrated Camera driver: uvcvideo type: USB
Display: server: X.Org v: 21.1.11 with: Xwayland v: 23.2.6 driver:
dri: swrast gpu: amdgpu resolution: 1: 2560x1440 2: 2560x1440~60Hz
API: EGL v: 1.5 drivers: kms_swrast,radeonsi,swrast
platforms: gbm,wayland,x11,surfaceless,device
API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: mesa v: 25.0.7-0ubuntu0.24.04.2
renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 20.1.2 256 bits)
You could be onto something there… But it could also be related to whatever Ubuntu version Mint 22.2 is based on (assuming it’s not LMDE).
I’m over in Perth WA - have ridden motorcycles (Harleys) through South Oz many times getting to Victoria or Tasmania… Some beautiful countryside and unspoiled country towns North of Adelaide (I’ve always tried to avoid riding through Adelaide itself) - I especially enjoyed riding from Burra to Port Augusta via the southern Flinders ranges via Peterborough… I’m not “rural” - Perth CBD is only 15-20 mins away by road, or 30 mins by train (have to get a bus to the train station) - but I’m in the Swan Valley - and there’s vacant bushland leading down to the Swan River across the road from my house - so it does feel “semi-rural”…
Burra is just a little north and west of us here in Eudunda. We live in what’s called the Clare Valley, a little north of the Barossa wine region.
That correct for my desktop.
I’m on the east coast of the US. About 9 pm (2100) here so what it is like 09:00 there?
I’ll tinker with the Q4OS for a few days, and if it remains as stable as it is now I will probably leave it that way. One thing I like about Q4OS is that hibernation is built in and works right out of the box. Not so with Mint…I wish it did.
Coming up on 12:30 PM in South Australia.
I just booted the newly purchased Toshiba Mint 22.2 laptop and checked its current kernel version - 6.14.0-37-generic, and it has the same black screen issue as the Acer on Mint 22. I guess that’s the same version you currently have Howard, only mine is still flashing black at random. I will move that one to Q4OS also, if the Acer continues stable without the black screen over the next few days.
Apparently a kernel issue with an update that occurred around the end of October. I’m hopefully optimistic, but will have to monitor the newly acquired Toshiba with the AMD Radeon R3 graphics processor. I changed the kernel in that laptop from version 6.14.0-37 back to 6.14.0-24, which was released prior to the end of October when the trouble began. I’ve had it running for at least a couple of hours since the change, and no blackouts yet. If it continues this way for a day or two, I will leave it with the older kernel and declare the issue resolved. Thanks for all your input and help on the issue.
Try changing the monitor refresh rate from 60 to the highest 59.4 I think. It is a rizen refresh rate timing issue. I found the suggestion on copilot.
Right click on the screen and select Display. You can also get there in settings.
It worked for me.