X Server not starting

acutm · 2025-05-23 08:18:55

Hi All.
Today I just found out that after my last poweroff from yesterday, my X server will not start any more. It's annoying bc I could only disable gdm by chrooting from Debian to at least see what was going on.
I found an old thread with a similar issue that recommends downgrading GTK3, but it did not work on my case. Here is a piece of my Journalctl just when GDM tries to load:

may 23 17:22:43 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 1 threads of 1 processes of 1 users.
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux gnome-session[915]: gnome-session-binary[915]: WARNING: Application 'org.gnome.Shell.desktop' failed to register before timeout
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux gnome-session-binary[915]: WARNING: Application 'org.gnome.Shell.desktop' failed to register before timeout
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux gnome-session-binary[915]: Unrecoverable failure in required component org.gnome.Shell.desktop
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux /usr/lib/gdm-wayland-session[914]: dbus-daemon[914]: [session uid=120 pid=914 pidfd=5] Activating service name='ca.desrt.dconf' requested by ':1.2' (uid=120 pid=915 comm="/usr/lib/gnome-session-binary --autostart /usr/sha")
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux /usr/lib/gdm-wayland-session[914]: dbus-daemon[914]: [session uid=120 pid=914 pidfd=5] Successfully activated service 'ca.desrt.dconf'
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux gnome-session-f[2487]: No se puede abrir el visor: 
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Keyboard.desktop[2502]: No se puede abrir el visor:
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux gsd-housekeepin[2538]: Unable to register client: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name org.gnome.SessionManager was not provided by any .service files
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux systemd[1]: Starting Hostname Service...
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux /usr/lib/gdm-wayland-session[914]: dbus-daemon[914]: [session uid=120 pid=914 pidfd=5] Activating service name='org.freedesktop.systemd1' requested by ':1.11' (uid=120 pid=2538 comm="/usr/lib/gsd-housekeeping")
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux /usr/lib/gdm-wayland-session[914]: dbus-daemon[914]: [session uid=120 pid=914 pidfd=5] Activated service 'org.freedesktop.systemd1' failed: Process org.freedesktop.systemd1 exited with status 1
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux /usr/lib/gdm-wayland-session[914]: dbus-daemon[914]: [session uid=120 pid=914 pidfd=5] Activating service name='org.freedesktop.systemd1' requested by ':1.5' (uid=120 pid=2490 comm="/usr/lib/gsd-sharing")
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Color.desktop[2498]: No se puede abrir el visor:
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Wacom.desktop[2495]: No se puede abrir el visor:
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux /usr/lib/gdm-wayland-session[914]: dbus-daemon[914]: [session uid=120 pid=914 pidfd=5] Activated service 'org.freedesktop.systemd1' failed: Process org.freedesktop.systemd1 exited with status 1
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux gsd-sharing[2490]: Failed to handle service change: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.Spawn.ChildExited: Process org.freedesktop.systemd1 exited with status 1
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux gsd-sharing[2490]: Failed to handle service change: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.Spawn.ChildExited: Process org.freedesktop.systemd1 exited with status 1
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux gsd-sharing[2490]: Unable to register client: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NoReply: Message recipient disconnected from message bus without replying
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux gsd-print-notif[2506]: Unable to register client: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NoReply: Message recipient disconnected from message bus without replying
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux gsd-screensaver[2523]: Unable to register client: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NoReply: Message recipient disconnected from message bus without replying
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux gsd-smartcard[2515]: Unable to register client: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NoReply: Message recipient disconnected from message bus without replying
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux gsd-datetime[2517]: Unable to register client: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name org.gnome.SessionManager was not provided by any .service files
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux gsd-sound[2528]: Failed to connect to the session manager: Error al enviar las credenciales: Error al enviar el mensaje: Tubería rota
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux gsd-sound[2528]: g_dbus_proxy_call_internal: assertion 'G_IS_DBUS_PROXY (proxy)' failed
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux gsd-sharing[2490]: Failed to handle service change: La conexión está cerrada
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux gsd-sharing[2490]: Failed to handle service change: La conexión está cerrada
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux gdm[830]: Gdm: GdmDisplay: Session never registered, failing
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux systemd-logind[737]: Session 1 logged out. Waiting for processes to exit.
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux systemd[1]: session-1.scope: Deactivated successfully.
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux systemd[1]: session-1.scope: Consumed 310ms CPU time, 130.1M memory peak.
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux systemd-logind[737]: Removed session 1.
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux polkitd[757]: Error converting subject to JS object: Process 2490 terminated
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux systemd[1]: Started Hostname Service.
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:44 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:45 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:45 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:45 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:45 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:45 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:45 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:46 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:46 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:46 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:46 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:46 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:47 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:47 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:47 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:47 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:47 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:47 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:48 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:48 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:48 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:48 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:48 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:48 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:49 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:49 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:49 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:49 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:49 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:49 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:49 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:50 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:50 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:50 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:50 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:50 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:50 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:51 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:51 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:51 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:51 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:51 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:51 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:51 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:51 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:52 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:52 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:52 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:52 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:53 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:53 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:53 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:53 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:53 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:53 agustin-linux rtkit-daemon[767]: Supervising 0 threads of 0 processes of 0 users.
may 23 17:22:54 agustin-linux systemd-logind[737]: New session 3 of user gdm.
may 23 17:22:54 agustin-linux systemd[1]: Started Session 3 of User gdm.
may 23 17:22:54 agustin-linux /usr/lib/gdm-x-session[2739]: Unable to run X server
may 23 17:22:54 agustin-linux gdm[830]: Gdm: GdmDisplay: Session never registered, failing
may 23 17:22:54 agustin-linux systemd[1]: session-3.scope: Deactivated successfully.
may 23 17:22:54 agustin-linux systemd-logind[737]: Session 3 logged out. Waiting for processes to exit.
may 23 17:22:54 agustin-linux gdm[830]: Gdm: Child process -2739 was already dead.
may 23 17:22:54 agustin-linux gdm[830]: Gdm: GdmDisplay: Session never registered, failing
may 23 17:22:54 agustin-linux gdm[830]: Gdm: Child process -2739 was already dead.
may 23 17:22:54 agustin-linux systemd-logind[737]: Removed session 3.
may 23 17:22:54 agustin-linux systemd-logind[737]: New session 4 of user gdm.
may 23 17:22:54 agustin-linux systemd[1]: Started Session 4 of User gdm.
may 23 17:22:54 agustin-linux /usr/lib/gdm-x-session[2751]: Unable to run X server
may 23 17:22:54 agustin-linux gdm[830]: Gdm: GdmDisplay: Session never registered, failing
may 23 17:22:54 agustin-linux systemd-logind[737]: Session 4 logged out. Waiting for processes to exit.
may 23 17:22:54 agustin-linux gdm[830]: Gdm: Child process -2751 was already dead.
may 23 17:22:54 agustin-linux gdm[830]: Gdm: GdmDisplay: Session never registered, failing
may 23 17:22:54 agustin-linux gdm[830]: Gdm: Child process -2751 was already dead.
may 23 17:22:54 agustin-linux systemd[1]: session-4.scope: Deactivated successfully.
may 23 17:22:54 agustin-linux systemd-logind[737]: Removed session 4.

Did something else changed recenly? Maybe pacman updated some package that it's crashing. Last time I used my PC I did nothing but updating and use chrome for a while, but did not install any program.

I also tried installing Lightdm just as a trial, but same thing. It just freezes and I can do nothing but turning it off.

Last edited by acutm (2025-05-23 08:23:34)

xerxes_ · 2025-05-23 09:24:58

What graphics card and driver do you use? Post output of command: 'lspci -k|grep -A 3 -i vga'.

It might be related to recent mesa update 25.0.5 -> 25.1.1.

seth · 2025-05-23 14:00:12

Specifically https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=305727

acutm · 2025-05-26 09:03:43

here is my lspci -k

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Meteor Lake-P [Intel Arc Graphics] (rev 08)
	Subsystem: Lenovo Device 3e48
	Kernel driver in use: i915
	Kernel modules: i915, xe
--
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation AD107M [GeForce RTX 4050 Max-Q / Mobile] (rev a1)
	Subsystem: Lenovo Device 3e48
	Kernel driver in use: nouveau
	Kernel modules: nouveau

I downgraded mesa and indeed that was the issue. I'm not sure wether it is a problem of the version that will get rectified or something I should do?

Seth, I'm checking the topic you included, thanks. But the solution is still the same, downgrading packages.
Should this be reported as a bug?

For the record, I downgraded mesa-1:25.1.1-1-x86_64 => mesa-1:25.0.5-1-x86_64

Last edited by acutm (2025-05-26 09:05:31)

word-sys · 2025-05-26 10:08:30

yea we should report that its a problem as mesa update so it gets fixed in time

seth · 2025-05-26 10:11:14

You may also consider switching to nvidia(-open) as it seems nouveau specific and will likely get much better performance out of the GPU.

Edit: https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/ … ote_272975

Last edited by seth (2025-05-26 10:17:12)

Arch Linux

#1 2025-05-23 08:18:55

X Server not starting

#2 2025-05-23 09:24:58

Re: X Server not starting

#3 2025-05-23 14:00:12

Re: X Server not starting

#4 2025-05-26 09:03:43

Re: X Server not starting

#5 2025-05-26 10:08:30

Re: X Server not starting

#6 2025-05-26 10:11:14

Re: X Server not starting

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