GDM fails to start GNOME X11 sessions after recent updates (looping black screen

n4ai9i522 · 2025/11/01, 09:48:51

Hi,

After recent updates on Siduction, GDM no longer starts a standard GNOME session.

Observed behavior:

Kernel boots normally from GRUB (6.17.6 or 6.17.7), logs scroll, no visible errors.

After that, screen shows a blinking cursor or goes completely black in a loop.

Ctrl-Alt-F3 shows only a blinking cursor.

Ctrl-Alt-Del triggers a full reboot, replaying the boot logs.

gdm logs show:
gdm: gdmsession: no session desktop files installed, aborting
failed to start unit gnome-session-x11@gnome.target: unit not found

/usr/share/xsessions/ is empty; only Wayland sessions are present.

Workarounds observed:

Using the e trick at GRUB to edit the kernel parameters allows booting into a text session.

Reinstalling gdm3 and other GNOME packages did not restore /usr/share/xsessions/.

Creating a manual .desktop file for GNOME in /usr/share/xsessions/ did not prevent the black screen loop.

n4ai9i522 · 2025/11/01, 09:54:42

I just tried restarting gdm after installing gnome-session-flashback and renaming the manually created gnome.desktop file, same issue

n4ai9i522 · 2025/11/01, 10:02:25

btw by grub trick I mean:
- press `e` when kernel line is selected
- add `systemd.unit=multi-user.target` at the end of the line starting with `linux`
- press Ctrl-X

n4ai9i522 · 2025/11/01, 11:09:18

Ok surprise surprise, I was desperate and installed plasma-desktop, trying to start it on a fresh `plasmatest` user, same exact issue using lightdm to start plasma, either x11 or wayland, with sddm it crashed back to login manager if I tried wayland, with plasma x11 is started into a desktop with an intro popup, after closing which the system is now completely unrsponsive, empy background with white plasma logo, no reaction to mouse movements or click or windows key, Ctrl-Alt-Del shows the reboot menu, canceling out od which I am back into completely dark backgroun, no plasma logo anymore. Ctrl-Alt-Del still works but nothing does anything on that menu.

I don't recall any errors in the last dist-upgrade, as always I have shut down "cleanly" which on my system means it gets frozen as "powering down" and then I need to keep the power button pressed to actually shut the laptop down.

dibl · 2025/11/01, 12:52:15

Two thoughts --

- Possibly "old hardware/new kernel" issue -- does your laptop boot correctly with an older live CD or USB stick? Both Gnome and KDE/Plasma?

- Possibly "GPU driver not keeping up with kernel development" issue. If you can boot a live session, can you run

Code Select

inxi -G so we can see the graphics hardware?

n4ai9i522 · 2025/11/01, 13:22:11

thanks for the reply, this is `inxi -G` from an ssh shell
```
Graphics:
Device-1: NVIDIA GP104BM [GeForce GTX 1080 Mobile] driver: nvidia v: 580.95.05
Display: unspecified server: X.org v: 1.21.1.20 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.8 driver: X:
loaded: nvidia unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,nouveau,vesa gpu: nvidia tty: 90x31
API: EGL v: 1.5 drivers: kms_swrast,nvidia,swrast platforms: gbm,surfaceless,device
API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: mesa v: 25.2.6-1
note: console (EGL sourced) renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 19.1.7 256 bits), NVIDIA GeForce
GTX 1080/PCIe/SSE2
API: Vulkan v: 1.4.328 drivers: nvidia surfaces: N/A
Info: Tools: api: eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo gpu: nvidia-smi x11: xdriinfo,
xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
```

I can boot and have shell access, can see sddm and lightdm UI, everything else is messed up, I will try starting the siduction live usb momentarily

n4ai9i522 · 2025/11/01, 13:27:29

As expected, XFCE displays fine from the USB live media (I didn't get the plasma version as I use the default DE only to install gnome and then remove it)

n4ai9i522 · 2025/11/01, 13:36:16

....and I could restore my user with xfce, at least temporarily, thank you for suggesting to use the live cd! if you didn't do that I wouldn't have seen xfce on the live and wouldn't have thought of using it as a failsafe

n4ai9i522 · 2025/11/01, 13:58:50

Posting now from the previously dead DE laptop, the good one, using XFCE.
Surely enough, when I also rebooted the other laptop, an i5 elitebook without special hardware, except an unrecognized fingerprint sensor, but with plain intel HD graphics, I couldn't start gnome as well, and I could restart with Ctr-Alt-Del, and boot into shell by adding `systemd.unit=multi-user.target` in grub conf

This is the raw list of packages in the last dist-upgrade:

```
Install: linux-image-6.17.6-1-siduction-amd64:amd64 (6.17-6, automatic), libgeos3.14.1:amd64 (3.14.1-1, automatic), libgjs0:amd64 (1.86.0-2, automatic), libmutter-17-0:amd64 (49.1.1-2, automatic), libmozjs-140-0:amd64 (140.4.0-1, automatic), gir1.2-girepository-3.0:amd64 (2.86.1-1, automatic), libgirepository-2.0-0:amd64 (2.86.1-1, automatic), gir1.2-mutter-17:amd64 (49.1.1-2, automatic), linux-headers-6.17.6-1-siduction-amd64:amd64 (6.17-6, automatic), libglycin-2-0:amd64 (2.0.4+ds-2, automatic), libpassim1:amd64 (0.1.10-3, automatic)
Upgrade: libvulkan1:amd64 (1.4.321.0-1, 1.4.328.1-1), libmagickcore-7.q16-10:amd64 (8:7.1.2.7+dfsg1-1, 8:7.1.2.8+dfsg1-1), libqt6help6:amd64 (6.9.2-2, 6.9.2-3), libimage-magick-perl:amd64 (8:7.1.2.7+dfsg1-1, 8:7.1.2.8+dfsg1-1), libqrtr-glib0:amd64 (1.2.2-1+b2, 1.2.2-2), qt6-wayland:amd64 (6.9.2-2, 6.9.2-3), libmbim-utils:amd64 (1.32.0-1, 1.32.0-2), libglx-mesa0:amd64 (25.2.5-1, 25.2.6-1), imagemagick-7-common:amd64 (8:7.1.2.7+dfsg1-1, 8:7.1.2.8+dfsg1-1), libqmi-proxy:amd64 (1.36.0-1, 1.36.0-2), libelf-dev:amd64 (0.193-3, 0.194-1), mutter-common-bin:amd64 (48.5-1, 49.1.1-2), libqt6wlshellintegration6:amd64 (6.9.2-2, 6.9.2-3), linux-headers-siduction-amd64:amd64 (6.17-5, 6.17-6), gjs:amd64 (1.82.3-2, 1.86.0-2), xserver-xorg-video-amdgpu:amd64 (23.0.0-1, 25.0.0-1), libfluidsynth3:amd64 (2.4.8+dfsg-1, 2.5.1+dfsg-1), libdecor-0-0:amd64 (0.2.3-3, 0.2.4-1), libflac14:amd64 (1.5.0+ds-4, 1.5.0+ds-5), xserver-xorg-core:amd64 (2:21.1.18-2, 2:21.1.20-1), libmbim-glib4:amd64 (1.32.0-1, 1.32.0-2), busybox:amd64 (1:1.37.0-6+b3, 1:1.37.0-7), nmap-common:amd64 (7.95+dfsg-3, 7.98+dfsg-1), libaom3:amd64 (3.13.1-1, 3.13.1-2), solaar:amd64 (1.1.14-6, 1.1.16-1), libgbm1:amd64 (25.2.5-1, 25.2.6-1), imagemagick:amd64 (8:7.1.2.7+dfsg1-1, 8:7.1.2.8+dfsg1-1), libgdm1:amd64 (48.0-3, 49.1-6), libfwupd3:amd64 (2.0.16-3, 2.0.16-4), libsdl3-0:amd64 (3.2.24+ds-1, 3.2.26+ds-1), gnome-session-bin:amd64 (48.0-2, 49.1-3), libgme0:amd64 (0.6.3-7+b2, 0.6.4-1), libqt6statemachine6:amd64 (6.9.2-2, 6.9.2-3), mesa-libgallium:amd64 (25.2.5-1, 25.2.6-1), evolution-plugins:amd64 (3.56.2-5, 3.56.2-7), libllvm19:amd64 (1:19.1.7-8, 1:19.1.7-10), gnome-remote-desktop:amd64 (48.2-1, 49.1-2), libevolution:amd64 (3.56.2-5, 3.56.2-7), mutter-common:amd64 (48.5-1, 49.1.1-2), libmpv2:amd64 (0.40.0-3+b3, 0.40.0-5), gnome-shell:amd64 (48.5-3, 49.1-2), libmagickwand-7.q16-10:amd64 (8:7.1.2.7+dfsg1-1, 8:7.1.2.8+dfsg1-1), python3-scipy:amd64 (1.16.2-4, 1.16.3-1), mesa-va-drivers:amd64 (25.2.5-1, 25.2.6-1), libgl1-mesa-dri:amd64 (25.2.5-1, 25.2.6-1), gnome-settings-daemon-common:amd64 (48.1-2, 49.1-2), libcurl3t64-gnutls:amd64 (8.17.0~rc2-1, 8.17.0~rc3-1), linux-image-siduction-amd64:amd64 (6.17-5, 6.17-6), xserver-xorg-legacy:amd64 (2:21.1.18-2, 2:21.1.20-1), python3-numpy-dev:amd64 (1:2.3.3+ds-3, 1:2.3.4+ds-2), gdm3:amd64 (48.0-3, 49.1-6), gnome-themes-extra-data:amd64 (3.28-4, 3.28-5), libxkbcommon0:amd64 (1.7.0-2.1, 1.12.3-1), libmagickcore-7.q16-10-extra:amd64 (8:7.1.2.7+dfsg1-1, 8:7.1.2.8+dfsg1-1), libpcsclite1:amd64 (2.4.0-1, 2.4.0-2), gnome-settings-daemon:amd64 (48.1-2, 49.1-2), glycin-loaders:amd64 (2.0.4+ds-1, 2.0.4+ds-2), xserver-common:amd64 (2:21.1.18-2, 2:21.1.20-1), libimage-magick-q16-perl:amd64 (8:7.1.2.7+dfsg1-1, 8:7.1.2.8+dfsg1-1), python3-numpy:amd64 (1:2.3.3+ds-3, 1:2.3.4+ds-2), evolution-plugin-pstimport:amd64 (3.56.2-5, 3.56.2-7), libdecor-0-plugin-1-gtk:amd64 (0.2.3-3, 0.2.4-1), libmbim-proxy:amd64 (1.32.0-1, 1.32.0-2), mesa-vulkan-drivers:amd64 (25.2.5-1, 25.2.6-1), libqmi-utils:amd64 (1.36.0-1, 1.36.0-2), libgom-1.0-0t64:amd64 (0.5.4-1, 0.5.5-1), pcscd:amd64 (2.4.0-1, 2.4.0-2), evolution-plugin-bogofilter:amd64 (3.56.2-5, 3.56.2-7), libcurl4t64:amd64 (8.17.0~rc2-1, 8.17.0~rc3-1), libunbound8:amd64 (1.24.1-1, 1.24.1-2), gnome-shell-common:amd64 (48.5-3, 49.1-2), gnome-control-center-data:amd64 (1:49.1-1, 1:49.1-2), evolution:amd64 (3.56.2-5, 3.56.2-7), gir1.2-gdm-1.0:amd64 (48.0-3, 49.1-6), imagemagick-7.q16:amd64 (8:7.1.2.7+dfsg1-1, 8:7.1.2.8+dfsg1-1), libqmi-glib5:amd64 (1.36.0-1, 1.36.0-2), libxkbregistry0:amd64 (1.7.0-2.1, 1.12.3-1), libqt6waylandcompositor6:amd64 (6.9.2-2, 6.9.2-3), libdw1t64:amd64 (0.193-3, 0.194-1), sound-theme-freedesktop:amd64 (0.8-6, 0.8-7), libqt6waylandclient6:amd64 (6.9.2-2, 6.9.2-3), xserver-xephyr:amd64 (2:21.1.18-2, 2:21.1.20-1), gnome-session:amd64 (48.0-2, 49.1-3), gnome-control-center:amd64 (1:49.1-1, 1:49.1-2), nmap:amd64 (7.95+dfsg-3, 7.98+dfsg-1), gnome-characters:amd64 (49.1-1, 49.1-2), curl:amd64 (8.17.0~rc2-1, 8.17.0~rc3-1), libegl-mesa0:amd64 (25.2.5-1, 25.2.6-1), iio-sensor-proxy:amd64 (3.7-3, 3.8-1), command-not-found:amd64 (23.04.0-2, 23.04.0-3), gstreamer1.0-libav:amd64 (1.26.7-1, 1.26.7-2), libxkbcommon-x11-0:amd64 (1.7.0-2.1, 1.12.3-1), xdg-dbus-proxy:amd64 (0.1.6-1, 0.1.6-2), mesa-vdpau-drivers:amd64 (25.2.5-1, 25.2.6-1), libelf1t64:amd64 (0.193-3, 0.194-1), python3-anyio:amd64 (4.11.0-2, 4.11.0-3), libnss-mdns:amd64 (0.15.1-4+b1, 0.15.1-5), libgeos-c1t64:amd64 (3.14.0-1, 3.14.1-1), evolution-common:amd64 (3.56.2-5, 3.56.2-7), fwupd:amd64 (2.0.16-3, 2.0.16-4), libxv1:amd64 (2:1.0.11-1.1+b3, 2:1.0.13-1), gnome-session-common:amd64 (48.0-2, 49.1-3)
Remove: libgjs0g:amd64 (1.82.3-2), libmutter-16-0:amd64 (48.5-1), gnome-session-xsession:amd64 (48.0-2), gir1.2-mutter-16:amd64 (48.5-1)
```

I guess the issue lies in the gdm updates and somewhere else.
Since on that other laptop the btrfs snapshots work (on this better laptop, with an older installation, snapshots stopped being updated on december 2024, btw if there is a way to restore that funcionality I'd appreciate), I restored the pre-update snapshot, both with the newest kernel and the kernel running at the moment the update was done, and it did not work anyway, logs clearly showed an error with starting gdm, so I wonder if snapshots are useful in general.
I will be installing xfce there as well as a workaround.

dibl · 2025/11/01, 17:33:53

I believe most of the members of this forum are KDE/Plasma or Xfce users -- we don't see much Gnome interest or issues. I have KDE/Plasma desktops on four different hardware platforms, all fully updated and running trouble-free with the latest kernel.

Having two different Nvidia GPUs working here with Wayland, I don't think there's a reason to suspect your GPU. But your inxi output says "unspecified" driver -- is that because of the issue you are trying to resolve? It doesn't look like a graphics driver is running at the moment.

n4ai9i522 · 2025/11/01, 17:47:56

Yes, I admit I am a gnome person :-) Plasma doesn't work still though, neither wayland did ever for me in general, which I always thought was normal for nvidia cards.
I do have nvidia 580.95.05 drivers installed and updated through apt, if I hadn't my display would be stuck at 100% brightness with nouveau no matter what.

n4ai9i522 · 2025/11/01, 17:50:39

BTW this is my output now under XFCE

```
Graphics:
Device-1: NVIDIA GP104BM [GeForce GTX 1080 Mobile] driver: nvidia
v: 580.95.05
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.20 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.8 driver: X:
loaded: nvidia unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,nouveau,vesa gpu: nvidia
resolution: 1: 1920x1080~120Hz 2: N/A 3: N/A
API: EGL v: 1.5 drivers: kms_swrast,nvidia,swrast
platforms: gbm,x11,surfaceless,device
API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: nvidia mesa v: 580.95.05
renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080/PCIe/SSE2
API: Vulkan v: 1.4.328 drivers: nvidia surfaces: N/A
Info: Tools: api: eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo de: xfce4-display-settings
gpu: nvidia-smi x11: xdriinfo, xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
```

which is weird because it says Xwayland there but I started it with normal (not wayland) XFCE from lightdm, as it would crash back to lightdm if I selected wayland.

dibl · 2025/11/01, 18:20:22

It's not directly helpful, but here is what you see on a running KDE/Plasma desktop with Nvidia graphics and Wayland:

Code Select

Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GP106 [GeForce GTX 1060 6GB] driver: nvidia v: 580.95.05
  Display: unspecified server: X.org v: 1.21.1.20 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.8 driver: X:
    loaded: nvidia unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,nouveau,vesa gpu: nvidia,nvidia-nvswitch tty: 173x52
    resolution: 1: 1920x1200 2: 1920x1080
  API: EGL v: 1.5 drivers: nvidia,swrast platforms: gbm,wayland,surfaceless,device
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: mesa v: 25.2.6-1 note: console (EGL sourced)
    renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB/PCIe/SSE2, llvmpipe (LLVM 19.1.7 256 bits)
  API: Vulkan v: 1.4.328 drivers: nvidia,llvmpipe surfaces: N/A
  Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor
    gpu: nvidia-settings,nvidia-smi wl: wayland-info x11: xdriinfo, xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr

Heh --- I see that mine also says "unspecified" server. I never noticed that previously!

So, it's pretty close to your hardware.

n4ai9i522 · 2025/11/01, 18:24:46

I don't know if I feel like installing plasma-desktop once more and see if that helps anything, considering earlier today it wouldn't work just as well, but I've seen a couple qt6 updates from apt so maybe the situation is better there now.

dibl · 2025/11/01, 18:32:52

Try installing sddm, kwin-wayland, plasma-workspace and plasma-desktop.