Hey guys,
Today I wanted to login as usual and after inserting my password I got a black screen for a brief second and then saw the login mask again.
I figured it must be something related to the GUI and therefore xserver or i3wm.
So first thing I checked was logging in via tty, which worked fine.
Then I checked out dmesg log, pacman log, Xorg log and i3wm log.
The pacman log was fine. I only tried to remove deno from my system, which failed, since it was not installed via package manager. I deleted my local folder instead ( ~/.deno)
I wasn’t able to get the i3wm log yet. I tried switching to i3wm debug in the login screen and logging in, but when trying to open the log as suggested by i3wm, I wasn’t able to:
DISPLAY=:0 i3-dump-log
Authorization required, but no authorization protocol specified
Authorization required, but no authorization protocol specified
i3-dump-log: ERROR: Cannot connect to X11.
FYI: The DISPLAY environment variable is set to ":0".
Because of the auth statement I tried it with sudo as well with the same outcome. The above message leads to Xorg.
Xorg log grepped for errors gave me:
less .local/share/xorg/Xorg.2.log | grep "EE"
[ 1561.826] Current Operating System: Linux endwan-pc 6.14.4-arch1-2 #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Tue, 29 Apr 2025 09:23:13 +0000 x86_64
(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
[ 1562.081] (EE) Failed to load module "fbdev" (module does not exist, 0)
[ 1562.081] (EE) Failed to load module "vesa" (module does not exist, 0)
[ 1562.084] (EE) open /dev/dri/card0: No such file or directory
[ 1562.206] (II) Initializing extension MIT-SCREEN-SAVER
[ 1562.306] (EE) xf86OpenSerial: Cannot open device /dev/input/mouse0
[ 1562.306] (EE) libinput: Logitech G403 HERO Gaming Mouse: Failed to create a device for /dev/input/mouse0
[ 1562.306] (EE) PreInit returned 2 for "Logitech G403 HERO Gaming Mouse"
[ 1562.317] (EE) libinput: CHERRY CHERRY Keyboard: Failed to create a device for /dev/input/event6
[ 1562.317] (EE) PreInit returned 2 for "CHERRY CHERRY Keyboard"
[ 1562.321] (EE) xf86OpenSerial: Cannot open device /dev/input/mouse1
[ 1562.321] (EE) libinput: CHERRY CHERRY Keyboard Mouse: Failed to create a device for /dev/input/mouse1
[ 1562.321] (EE) PreInit returned 2 for "CHERRY CHERRY Keyboard Mouse"
[ 1562.374] (EE) libinput: MSI MYSTIC LIGHT : Failed to create a device for /dev/input/event8
[ 1562.374] (EE) PreInit returned 2 for "MSI MYSTIC LIGHT "
[ 1562.376] (EE) libinput: HDA ATI HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=3: Failed to create a device for /dev/input/event10
[ 1562.376] (EE) PreInit returned 2 for "HDA ATI HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=3"
[ 1562.377] (EE) libinput: HDA ATI HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=7: Failed to create a device for /dev/input/event11
[ 1562.377] (EE) PreInit returned 2 for "HDA ATI HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=7"
[ 1562.379] (EE) libinput: HDA ATI HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=8: Failed to create a device for /dev/input/event12
[ 1562.379] (EE) PreInit returned 2 for "HDA ATI HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=8"
[ 1562.380] (EE) libinput: HDA ATI HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=9: Failed to create a device for /dev/input/event13
[ 1562.380] (EE) PreInit returned 2 for "HDA ATI HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=9"
[ 1562.382] (EE) libinput: HDA ATI HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=10: Failed to create a device for /dev/input/event14
[ 1562.382] (EE) PreInit returned 2 for "HDA ATI HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=10"
[ 1562.383] (EE) libinput: HDA ATI HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=11: Failed to create a device for /dev/input/event15
[ 1562.383] (EE) PreInit returned 2 for "HDA ATI HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm=11"
[ 1562.385] (EE) libinput: HD-Audio Generic Rear Mic: Failed to create a device for /dev/input/event16
[ 1562.385] (EE) PreInit returned 2 for "HD-Audio Generic Rear Mic"
[ 1562.386] (EE) libinput: HD-Audio Generic Front Mic: Failed to create a device for /dev/input/event17
[ 1562.386] (EE) PreInit returned 2 for "HD-Audio Generic Front Mic"
[ 1562.387] (EE) libinput: HD-Audio Generic Line: Failed to create a device for /dev/input/event18
[ 1562.387] (EE) PreInit returned 2 for "HD-Audio Generic Line"
[ 1562.389] (EE) libinput: HD-Audio Generic Line Out Front: Failed to create a device for /dev/input/event19
[ 1562.389] (EE) PreInit returned 2 for "HD-Audio Generic Line Out Front"
[ 1562.390] (EE) libinput: HD-Audio Generic Line Out Surround: Failed to create a device for /dev/input/event20
[ 1562.390] (EE) PreInit returned 2 for "HD-Audio Generic Line Out Surround"
[ 1562.391] (EE) libinput: HD-Audio Generic Line Out CLFE: Failed to create a device for /dev/input/event21
[ 1562.391] (EE) PreInit returned 2 for "HD-Audio Generic Line Out CLFE"
[ 1562.392] (EE) libinput: HD-Audio Generic Line Out Side: Failed to create a device for /dev/input/event22
[ 1562.392] (EE) PreInit returned 2 for "HD-Audio Generic Line Out Side"
[ 1562.394] (EE) libinput: HD-Audio Generic Front Headphone: Failed to create a device for /dev/input/event23
[ 1562.394] (EE) PreInit returned 2 for "HD-Audio Generic Front Headphone"
[ 1562.395] (EE) libinput: PC Speaker: Failed to create a device for /dev/input/event9
[ 1562.395] (EE) PreInit returned 2 for "PC Speaker"
Which seems to be an issue with drivers or the hardware?
dmesg had 2 errors, but I am not sure if they are related:
sudo dmesg | grep "err"
[ 0.624687] ACPI: Using IOAPIC for interrupt routing
[ 0.650772] ACPI: PCI: Interrupt link LNKA configured for IRQ 0
[ 0.650834] ACPI: PCI: Interrupt link LNKB configured for IRQ 0
[ 0.650892] ACPI: PCI: Interrupt link LNKC configured for IRQ 0
[ 0.650958] ACPI: PCI: Interrupt link LNKD configured for IRQ 0
[ 0.651017] ACPI: PCI: Interrupt link LNKE configured for IRQ 0
[ 0.651066] ACPI: PCI: Interrupt link LNKF configured for IRQ 0
[ 0.651116] ACPI: PCI: Interrupt link LNKG configured for IRQ 0
[ 0.651165] ACPI: PCI: Interrupt link LNKH configured for IRQ 0
[ 0.682367] AMD-Vi: Interrupt remapping enabled
[ 0.935797] fbcon: Deferring console take-over
[ 2.183543] sd 3:0:0:0: [sda] Preferred minimum I/O size 4096 bytes
[ 20.468423] platform regulatory.0: Direct firmware load for regulatory.db failed with error -2
[ 20.495218] bluetooth hci0: Direct firmware load for rtl_bt/rtl8723b_config.bin failed with error -2
So what I did next was to restart xserver in a tty, to see if it would start.
startx on it’s own would not work, but startx /usr/bin/i3 worked without issue, which is why I can write this forum post comfortably via my pc right now. But I don’t want to stay in this unstable state and find the underlying issue.
Could someone help me with this?
My assumption is:
- hardware and driver are fine, otherwise startx with i3wm wouldn’t work flawlessly
- for the same reason the i3wm config seems to be fine (startx with i3wm binary loaded my i3wm setup). therefore there might be a misconfiguration in xserver?
last full system update via eos-update --aur was on 2025-04-30T20:21:03+0200
I did a system update via tty today as well to see if this would fix it, but nothing changed.
Any hint what to check out next is appreciated.
Edit: Oh and I also tried hyprland as WM in the login screen with the same result. (I wanted to setup hyprland at some point but never got to it fully). So unsure if this info helps or not
Edit2: Oh, I totally forgot to check the journal ^^". Here is the login process:
Mai 02 21:47:22 endwan-pc bluetoothd[1382]: Endpoint unregistered: sender=:1.783 path=/MediaEndpoint/A2DPSource/ldac
Mai 02 21:47:22 endwan-pc bluetoothd[1382]: Endpoint unregistered: sender=:1.783 path=/MediaEndpoint/A2DPSink/aptx_hd
Mai 02 21:47:22 endwan-pc bluetoothd[1382]: Endpoint unregistered: sender=:1.783 path=/MediaEndpoint/A2DPSource/aptx_hd
Mai 02 21:47:22 endwan-pc bluetoothd[1382]: Endpoint unregistered: sender=:1.783 path=/MediaEndpoint/A2DPSink/aptx
Mai 02 21:47:22 endwan-pc bluetoothd[1382]: Endpoint unregistered: sender=:1.783 path=/MediaEndpoint/A2DPSource/aptx
Mai 02 21:47:22 endwan-pc bluetoothd[1382]: Endpoint unregistered: sender=:1.783 path=/MediaEndpoint/A2DPSink/aac
Mai 02 21:47:22 endwan-pc bluetoothd[1382]: Endpoint unregistered: sender=:1.783 path=/MediaEndpoint/A2DPSource/aac
Mai 02 21:47:22 endwan-pc bluetoothd[1382]: Endpoint unregistered: sender=:1.783 path=/MediaEndpoint/A2DPSink/opus_g
Mai 02 21:47:22 endwan-pc bluetoothd[1382]: Endpoint unregistered: sender=:1.783 path=/MediaEndpoint/A2DPSource/opus_g
Mai 02 21:47:22 endwan-pc bluetoothd[1382]: Endpoint unregistered: sender=:1.783 path=/MediaEndpoint/A2DPSink/sbc
Mai 02 21:47:22 endwan-pc bluetoothd[1382]: Endpoint unregistered: sender=:1.783 path=/MediaEndpoint/A2DPSource/sbc
Mai 02 21:47:22 endwan-pc bluetoothd[1382]: Endpoint unregistered: sender=:1.783 path=/MediaEndpoint/A2DPSource/aptx_ll_1
Mai 02 21:47:22 endwan-pc bluetoothd[1382]: Endpoint unregistered: sender=:1.783 path=/MediaEndpoint/A2DPSource/aptx_ll_0
Mai 02 21:47:22 endwan-pc bluetoothd[1382]: Endpoint unregistered: sender=:1.783 path=/MediaEndpoint/A2DPSource/aptx_ll_duplex_1
Mai 02 21:47:22 endwan-pc bluetoothd[1382]: Endpoint unregistered: sender=:1.783 path=/MediaEndpoint/A2DPSource/aptx_ll_duplex_0
Mai 02 21:47:22 endwan-pc bluetoothd[1382]: Endpoint unregistered: sender=:1.783 path=/MediaEndpoint/A2DPSource/faststream
Mai 02 21:47:22 endwan-pc bluetoothd[1382]: Endpoint unregistered: sender=:1.783 path=/MediaEndpoint/A2DPSource/faststream_duplex
Mai 02 21:47:22 endwan-pc bluetoothd[1382]: Endpoint unregistered: sender=:1.783 path=/MediaEndpoint/A2DPSink/opus_05
Mai 02 21:47:22 endwan-pc bluetoothd[1382]: Endpoint unregistered: sender=:1.783 path=/MediaEndpoint/A2DPSource/opus_05
Mai 02 21:47:22 endwan-pc bluetoothd[1382]: Endpoint unregistered: sender=:1.783 path=/MediaEndpoint/A2DPSink/opus_05_duplex
Mai 02 21:47:22 endwan-pc bluetoothd[1382]: Endpoint unregistered: sender=:1.783 path=/MediaEndpoint/A2DPSource/opus_05_duplex
Mai 02 21:47:31 endwan-pc lightdm[40055]: gkr-pam: unable to locate daemon control file
Mai 02 21:47:31 endwan-pc lightdm[40055]: gkr-pam: stashed password to try later in open session
Mai 02 21:47:31 endwan-pc systemd[1]: Stopping Session c3 of User lightdm...
Mai 02 21:47:31 endwan-pc lightdm[40021]: pam_unix(lightdm-greeter:session): session closed for user lightdm
Mai 02 21:47:31 endwan-pc systemd[1]: session-c3.scope: Deactivated successfully.
Mai 02 21:47:31 endwan-pc systemd[1]: Stopped Session c3 of User lightdm.
Mai 02 21:47:31 endwan-pc systemd[1]: session-c3.scope: Consumed 890ms CPU time, 91.1M memory peak.
Mai 02 21:47:31 endwan-pc systemd-logind[1386]: Removed session c3.
Mai 02 21:47:31 endwan-pc lightdm[40055]: pam_unix(lightdm:session): session opened for user endwan(uid=1000) by endwan(uid=0)
Mai 02 21:47:31 endwan-pc systemd-logind[1386]: New session 6 of user endwan.
Mai 02 21:47:31 endwan-pc systemd[1]: Started Session 6 of User endwan.
Mai 02 21:47:31 endwan-pc lightdm[40055]: gkr-pam: unlocked login keyring
Mai 02 21:47:31 endwan-pc lightdm[40055]: pam_unix(lightdm:session): session closed for user endwan
Mai 02 21:47:31 endwan-pc systemd-logind[1386]: Session 6 logged out. Waiting for processes to exit.
Mai 02 21:47:31 endwan-pc systemd[1]: session-6.scope: Deactivated successfully.
Mai 02 21:47:31 endwan-pc systemd-logind[1386]: Removed session 6.
Mai 02 21:47:31 endwan-pc kernel: usb 1-9: reset high-speed USB device number 6 using xhci_hcd
Mai 02 21:47:32 endwan-pc wireplumber[2295]: spa.alsa: Error opening low-level control device 'hw:3': No such file or directory
Mai 02 21:47:32 endwan-pc wireplumber[2295]: spa.alsa: can't open control for card hw:3: No such file or directory
Mai 02 21:47:32 endwan-pc wireplumber[2295]: spa.alsa: Card can't get card_name from card_index 0
Mai 02 21:47:32 endwan-pc wireplumber[2295]: spa.alsa: Error opening low-level control device 'hw:0': No such file or directory
Mai 02 21:47:32 endwan-pc wireplumber[2295]: spa.alsa: can't open control for card hw:0: No such file or directory
Mai 02 21:47:32 endwan-pc wireplumber[2295]: spa.alsa: Card can't get card_name from card_index 2
Mai 02 21:47:32 endwan-pc wireplumber[2295]: spa.alsa: Error opening low-level control device 'hw:2': No such file or directory
Mai 02 21:47:32 endwan-pc wireplumber[2295]: spa.alsa: can't open control for card hw:2: No such file or directory
Mai 02 21:47:32 endwan-pc wireplumber[2295]: spa.alsa: Card can't get card_name from card_index 1
Mai 02 21:47:32 endwan-pc wireplumber[2295]: spa.alsa: Error opening low-level control device 'hw:1': No such file or directory
Mai 02 21:47:32 endwan-pc wireplumber[2295]: spa.alsa: can't open control for card hw:1: No such file or directory
Mai 02 21:47:32 endwan-pc wireplumber[2295]: spa.v4l2: Cannot open '/dev/video0': 13, Permission denied
Mai 02 21:47:32 endwan-pc wireplumber[2295]: spa.v4l2: Cannot open '/dev/video1': 13, Permission denied
Mai 02 21:47:33 endwan-pc lightdm[43393]: pam_unix(lightdm-greeter:session): session opened for user lightdm(uid=969) by (uid=0)
Mai 02 21:47:33 endwan-pc systemd-logind[1386]: New session c4 of user lightdm.
Mai 02 21:47:33 endwan-pc systemd[1]: Started Session c4 of User lightdm.
Mai 02 21:47:33 endwan-pc slick-greeter-check-hidpi[43401]: Window scale: 1
Mai 02 21:47:33 endwan-pc slick-greeter-set-keyboard-layout[43410]: Current keyboard configuration: rules: evdev
model: pc105
layout: de
Mai 02 21:47:33 endwan-pc slick-greeter-set-keyboard-layout[43410]: Applying keyboard configuration: ['setxkbmap', '-model', 'pc105', '-layout', 'de', '-variant', '', '-option', '', '-v']
Mai 02 21:47:33 endwan-pc slick-greeter-set-keyboard-layout[43410]: Result: Warning! Multiple definitions of keyboard model
Using command line, ignoring X server
Warning! Multiple definitions of keyboard layout
Using command line, ignoring X server
Trying to build keymap using the following components:
keycodes: evdev+aliases(qwertz)
types: complete
compat: complete
symbols: pc+de+inet(evdev)
geometry: pc(pc105)
Mai 02 21:47:33 endwan-pc slick-greeter-set-keyboard-layout[43410]: New keyboard configuration: rules: evdev
model: pc105
layout: de
Mai 02 21:47:33 endwan-pc slick-greeter-enable-tap-to-click[43415]: Found xinput pointer: id=2
Mai 02 21:47:33 endwan-pc slick-greeter-enable-tap-to-click[43415]: Found xinput pointer: id=4
Mai 02 21:47:33 endwan-pc slick-greeter-enable-tap-to-click[43415]: Found xinput pointer: id=8
Mai 02 21:47:33 endwan-pc slick-greeter-enable-tap-to-click[43415]: Found xinput pointer: id=9
Mai 02 21:47:33 endwan-pc slick-greeter-enable-tap-to-click[43415]: Found xinput pointer: id=11
Mai 02 21:47:33 endwan-pc slick-greeter-enable-tap-to-click[43415]: Found xinput pointer: id=12