GDM Crashing after update to Gnome 50

agreenbeb · April 11, 2026, 3:18pm

So I’ve upgraded Gnome from 49.2 to Gnome 50 recently. A fact of which I’ve been made aware of after rebooting my laptop and being greeted by a frozen blank screen instead of the login screen. (I haven’t paid too much attention while running eos-update so this was a bit of a suprise.) I couldn’t even pull up a tty.

So after a few hours of troubleshooting and installing sddm, I can use my laptop again. The Gnome session works just fine, but I just can’t use gdm.

I’ve checked /etc/gdm and replaced the preexisting config with the custom.conf.pacnew version with no effect.

After enabling debug logs, I get this in my logs:

Click here for log

Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: Enabling debugging
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: connecting to address: unix:path=/run/gdm/dbus/dbus-eDThRRVE
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmDBusServer: new connection 0x7f1e80001f30
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSession: Handling new connection from worker
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSession: Authenticating new connection
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSession: worker connection is 0x7f1e80001f30
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSession: Emitting conversation-started signal
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSession: Beginning initialization
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSession: Conversation started
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: attempting to change state to SETUP_COMPLETE
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: initializing PAM; service=gdm-launch-environment username=gdm-greeter-2 seat=seat0
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘XDG_SESSION_EXTRA_DEVICE_ACCESS=render:accel’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘XDG_SEAT=seat0’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘XDG_SESSION_CLASS=greeter’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: state SETUP_COMPLETE
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: attempting to change state to AUTHENTICATED
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: authenticating user gdm-greeter-2
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: state AUTHENTICATED
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: attempting to change state to AUTHORIZED
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: determining if authenticated user (password required:0) is authorized to session
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: state AUTHORIZED
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: attempting to change state to ACCREDITED
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘LOGNAME=gdm-greeter-2’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘USER=gdm-greeter-2’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘USERNAME=gdm-greeter-2’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘HOME=/run/gdm/home/gdm-greeter-2’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘PWD=/run/gdm/home/gdm-greeter-2’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘SHELL=/usr/bin/nologin’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘PATH=/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/bin’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: state ACCREDITED
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSession: type wayland, program? yes, seat seat0
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: session display mode set to new-vt
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘XDG_SESSION_TYPE=wayland’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: attempting to change state to ACCOUNT_DETAILS_SAVED
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: saving account details for user gdm-greeter-2
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: attempting to change state to SESSION_OPENED
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘XDG_VTNR=1’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: state SESSION_OPENED
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSession: Emitting ‘session-opened’ signal
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmDisplay: Greeter session opened
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmDisplay: session id: 18
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSession: Stopping all conversations except for gdm-launch-environment
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSession: getting session command for file ‘gnome-greeter.desktop’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSession: ‘gnome-greeter.desktop’ registers self
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSession: getting desktop names for file ‘gnome-greeter.desktop’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘LC_NAME=de_DE.UTF-8’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘LC_PAPER=de_DE.UTF-8’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘DESKTOP_SESSION=gnome-greeter’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘LC_MEASUREMENT=de_DE.UTF-8’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘LC_MONETARY=de_DE.UTF-8’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘LC_TELEPHONE=de_DE.UTF-8’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘XDG_SESSION_DESKTOP=gnome-greeter’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘LC_NUMERIC=de_DE.UTF-8’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘LC_IDENTIFICATION=de_DE.UTF-8’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP=GNOME-Greeter:GNOME’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘LC_ADDRESS=de_DE.UTF-8’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘LANG=de_DE.UTF-8’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘GDM_LANG=de_DE.UTF-8’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘LC_TIME=de_DE.UTF-8’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: Set PAM environment variable: ‘GDMSESSION=gnome-greeter’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: start program: /usr/lib/gdm-wayland-session “gnome-session”
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: attempting to change state to SESSION_STARTED
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: opening session for program ‘/usr/lib/gdm-wayland-session’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: jumping to VT 1
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: first setting graphics mode to prevent flicker
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: VT mode did not need to be fixed
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: session opened creating reply…
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: state SESSION_STARTED
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSession worker: watching pid 5723
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSession: Emitting ‘session-started’ signal with pid ‘5723’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmDisplay: Greeter started
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: child (pid:5723) done (status:70)
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: uninitializing PAM
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: state NONE
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSession: Emitting ‘session-exited’ signal with exit code ‘70’
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSession: stopping conversation gdm-launch-environment
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorkerJob: Stopping job pid:5702
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmCommon: sending signal 15 to process 5702
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmDisplay: Greeter exited: 70
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmDisplay: initiating display self-destruct
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmDisplay: Session never registered, failing
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSession: Disposing session
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSession: Closing session
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSession: Stopping all conversations
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorker: could not ping daemon: Verbindung ist geschlossen
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm-launch-environment][5702]: Gdm: Worker finished
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmLocalDisplayFactory: display status changed: 5
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmLocalDisplayFactory: maximum number of display failures reached. Giving up.
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmDisplayStore: Unreffing display: 0x557064020540
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmDisplay: Disposing display
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmCommon: sending signal 15 to process -5723
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: Child process -5723 was already dead.
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSession: Closing session
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSession: Stopping all conversations
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorkerJob: Stopping job pid:5702
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmCommon: sending signal 15 to process 5702
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorkerJob: Waiting on process 5702
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmCommon: process (pid:5702) done (status:0)
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSessionWorkerJob: SessionWorkerJob died
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSession: Disposing session
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSession: Closing session
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmSession: Stopping all conversations
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmDynUserStore: Deallocating user ‘gdm-greeter-2’ (uid: 60583)
Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmDisplay: Finalizing display: /org/gnome/DisplayManager/Displays/93941202552128
Apr 11 16:19:45 MiniBebinator systemd[1]: Stopping GNOME Display Manager…
Apr 11 16:19:45 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GDM finished, cleaning up…
Apr 11 16:19:45 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmManager: GDM stopping
Apr 11 16:19:45 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmDisplayStore: Clearing display store
Apr 11 16:19:45 MiniBebinator systemd[1]: gdm.service: Deactivated successfully.
Apr 11 16:19:45 MiniBebinator systemd[1]: Stopped GNOME Display Manager.

I’m not sure what to make of this let alone how to fix this. Can someone help me with that?

eznix · April 11, 2026, 3:34pm

There is a a testing release of gdm in the Arch repos now, hopefully it will get pushed today and fix your problem?

MichelN · April 11, 2026, 8:15pm

Or install the testing version already to check if it fixes anything?

agreenbeb · April 13, 2026, 7:23am

I‘ve installed the „50.0-2“ version. It still chrashes the same way.

mbod · April 13, 2026, 7:50am

The greeter is crashing:

Apr 11 16:19:30 MiniBebinator gdm[5508]: Gdm: GdmDisplay: Greeter exited: 70

Is your system uptodate?

What does “pacman -Qkk gnome-session” say?

What does that mean? The default custom.conf should be empty. What was in your custom.conf before you replaced it with custom.conf.pacnew ?

agreenbeb · April 13, 2026, 8:37pm

As I understood it, the “pacnew“ version is created, when there is a new default version of the configuration file. It was pretty much empty. I’ve just enabled debugging.

Current custom.conf

#GDM configuration storage

[daemon]

[security]

[debug]
#Uncomment the line below to turn on debugging
Enable=trueThis text will be hidden

Old custom.conf

# GDM configuration storage

[daemon]
AutomaticLoginEnable=False
# Uncomment the line below to force the login screen to use Xorg
#WaylandEnable=true

[security]

[xdmcp]

[chooser]

[debug]
# Uncomment the line below to turn on debugging
#Enable=true

Running pacman -Qkk gnome-session reports 410 files total and 0 changed.