Fixing the long term "black screen on login" issue on Linux Mint xx.x Cinnamon

[jannelansman]

Cinnamon Black Screen Issue: Causes and Solutions

The Problem

This is a recurring issue that affects Linux Mint Cinnamon users across different versions and hardware configurations.

What happens:

1. You install a problematic desklet or applet
2. It causes Cinnamon to crash repeatedly (3 times in quick succession)
3. Cinnamon's failsafe automatically switches to cinnamon2d mode
4. On certain hardware, cinnamon2d mode doesn't work properly
5. You're left with a black screen showing only a movable mouse cursor after login

Temporary Workaround

After removing the problematic desklet/applet files, you'll need to manually restart Cinnamon after every login:

1. Press Ctrl+Alt+F2 (or another function key) to switch to a TTY terminal
2. Log in with your credentials
3. Run: DISPLAY=:0 cinnamon --replace &
4. Press Ctrl+Alt+F7 (or F8) to return to the GUI

Note: Simply removing the desklet/applet isn't enough because Cinnamon's configuration has been permanently altered.

Permanent Fix

You need to both remove the problematic files AND revert the configuration changes.

Affected configuration files:

• ~/.dmrc
• /var/lib/AccountsService/users/[username]

What to change:
In both files, find and modify:

XSession=cinnamon2d

Change it back to:

XSession=cinnamon

Suggested System-Level Improvement

Instead of switching to cinnamon2d mode as the primary failsafe, Cinnamon should automatically deactivate recently installed or modified desklets/applets when repeated crashes occur.