Can't Login to CachyOS? This One Trick Bypasses the Plasma Bug

Recognize the Plasma Login Bug

The symptom is very specific: after a system update, CachyOS boots normally but stops at a black screen — the graphical login screen (SDDM) never appears, so you cannot type your password or reach the Plasma desktop. This is the known Plasma login bug the video covers. The system underneath is still alive and your files are untouched, so do not reinstall — the repair is done from a text console, on your own machine, in a few minutes.

Switch to a TTY and Log In

This is the one trick the whole fix depends on. On the black screen, press Ctrl + Alt + F3 to switch to a TTY text console (F2 to F6 work as well on most systems). A plain text login prompt appears. Type your username and press Enter, then type your password and press Enter again. Nothing shows on screen while you type the password — that is normal Linux behaviour, not a frozen keyboard. Once you see the command prompt, you are logged in and can run every fix below.

Rate the Mirrors First

Before updating, refresh CachyOS's mirror list so packages download from fast, working servers instead of a slow or stale one:

sudo cachyos-rate-mirrors

The tool tests the available mirrors and rewrites the mirrorlist with the fastest ones ranked first.

Run a Full System Update

Now update the whole system. In many cases the corrected packages are already on the mirrors, and this update alone repairs the login:

sudo pacman -Syu

Confirm the upgrade and let it finish completely — do not power off in the middle of a system update.

Reboot and Test the Login Screen

Restart the machine from the TTY:

reboot

If the graphical login screen appears, log in as usual — you are done. If the black screen is still there, the buggy package itself has to be rolled back: switch to the TTY again (Ctrl + Alt + F3) and continue with the next steps.

Install the Downgrade Tool

The permanent workaround in the video rolls the faulty package back to its previous version. For that, install the downgrade utility:

sudo pacman -S downgrade

Downgrade qt6-base to the Previous Version

The Plasma login bug traces back to the updated qt6-base package, so roll just that one package back:

sudo downgrade qt6-base

The tool lists the available older versions — pick the one from just before the update that broke your login, and confirm. The tool also offers to add qt6-base to IgnorePkg in pacman.conf so the next update does not immediately reinstall the broken version.

Reboot Into the Fixed Login

Restart once more:

reboot

This time the Plasma login screen loads normally and you can sign in to your desktop. Everything — files, apps and settings — is exactly where it was; only the faulty package version changed.