Hey everyone,
I'm having a frustrating issue with GNOME on Fedora, and I'd really appreciate some help fixing it without reinstalling my system or losing any personal data.
System and goal
* OS: Fedora Linux
* Desktop environment: GNOME
* Display protocol I want to use: Wayland
* Display manager: GDM
What happened
My system was booting normally until I attempted to install X11 session components using:
sudo dnf install gnome-session-xsession
After this, my system stopped booting into the graphical desktop. Instead, it gets stuck on a black screen with a single **non-blinking underscore cursor**. The screen becomes completely unresponsive, and I have to reboot.
I originally suspected an X11-related issue, but I want to keep using Wayland.
What I've tried
Booting into text mode by adding the following kernel parameter in GRUB:
systemd.unit=multi-user.targetThis works, and I can log into a TTY.
Checking installed packages and GNOME session files. The following components were present:
* `gdm`
* `gnome-shell`
* `gnome-session`
* GNOME and Wayland session files
Reinstalling the following packages:
sudo dnf reinstall gdm gnome-shell gnome-session xorg-x11-server-Xwayland
- Testing GNOME Shell directly from the TTY:
gnome-shell --wayland
**This successfully launched the GNOME desktop.** This makes me think that at least part of the graphics stack and GNOME installation is working.
Checking GDM's logs. The previous boot showed repeated errors along the lines of:
GdmDisplay: Session never registered, failing
GdmLocalDisplayFactory: maximum number of display failures reached. Giving up.
Checking GDM's configuration and restoring the graphical boot target. GDM is enabled, but the system still freezes at the non-blinking underscore during graphical startup.
Current situation
* I can boot into a TTY using `systemd.unit=multi-user.target`.
* GNOME Shell previously launched successfully when run manually with Wayland.
* GDM repeatedly fails to register its display session.
* Starting GDM manually causes the same black screen with a non-blinking underscore, forcing me to reboot.
* I want to restore normal automatic GNOME login using Wayland.
* I want to preserve my existing installation, files, and configuration wherever possible.
Is there a safe way to restore the normal GNOME Wayland login without reinstalling Fedora?
I'm happy to provide command output and additional system details. I'd especially appreciate a systematic troubleshooting approach rather than a full reinstall.
Thanks