= How to debug Wayland problems

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayland_%28display_server_protocol%29[Wayland]
is intended as a simpler replacement for
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_Window_System[X11]. Wayland changes the
design of a Linux desktop architecture considerably. Unlike X11, there
is no dedicated standalone server in Wayland. What was previously done
between the app, its toolkit, the Xserver and the window manager is now
shared between the app, its toolkit and the Wayland compositor which
manages the compositing, input, windows management, etc. The apps and
toolkits are now in charge of their own rendering and decorations
(client side decorations), so any issues usually sit between the toolkit
(e.g. GTK+) and the Wayland compositor (e.g. mutter).

You can read more about Wayland on the GNOME
https://wiki.gnome.org/Initiatives/Wayland[Wayland initiative] wiki
page. You can read more about the current state of Wayland features on
link:Wayland_features[Wayland features] page.

[id='identifying-wayland-problems']
== Identifying Wayland problems

[id='are-you-running-a-wayland-session']
=== Are you running a Wayland session?

In *GNOME*, there's a gear button at the login screen which can be used
to either log into a Wayland session (simply called _GNOME_, it's the
default option), or a legacy X11 session (called _GNOME on Xorg_). If
you have a password-less user account, you won't see the gear icon, it
is displayed only when the password prompt appears. Use the gear button
to determine type of session you're logging into. If you want to start
your session in a different way, read
https://wiki.gnome.org/Initiatives/Wayland/TryingIt[the advanced
techniques for trying Wayland].

image:gdm-pick-wayland.png[gdm-pick-wayland.png,title="gdm-pick-wayland.png",width=400]

In *KDE*, there is support for running a nested Wayland session inside
your X11 session. You'll need to install `kwin-wayland` package and then
follow up with https://community.kde.org/KWin/Wayland[this howto]. There
doesn't seem to be out-of-the-box support for running a full Wayland
session at the moment.

Other desktop environments are not currently capable of running a
Wayland session.

[id='identifying-the-session-type-in-runtime']
=== Identifying the session type in runtime



If you want to figure out which type of session you're running right
now, without logging out and in again, you can use several ways to
figure it out:

* Wayland session should have `WAYLAND_DISPLAY` variable set, X11
session should not have it:
+
....
$ echo $WAYLAND_DISPLAY
wayland-0
....
* `loginctl` can give you this information. First run `loginctl` and
find your session number (if should be an integer number, with your
username and seat assigned). Then look at the session type (`x11` or
`wayland`):
+
....
$ loginctl show-session <YOUR_NUMBER> -p Type
Type=x11
....

If you're running an X11 session, not a Wayland session, your problems
are not related to Wayland. It's a bug either in that particular
application, or X11 itself, see link:How_to_debug_Xorg_problems[How to
debug Xorg problems].

[id='does-your-application-run-on-wayland-natively-or-uses-xwayland-x11-compatibility-layer']
=== Does your application run on Wayland natively, or uses XWayland (X11
compatibility layer)?


It is important to know whether the problematic application is a native
Wayland application, or runs through XWayland, which allows legacy
applications to still run on top of Xorg server, but display in a
Wayland session.

There are several ways how to identify whether an application is using
Wayland or XWayland:

* Select the window using `xwininfo` or `xprop`. Run:
+
....
$ xwininfo
....
+
Your mouse pointer should change to a cross under X11, it doesn't seem
to change under Wayland. Now click anywhere inside the app window you
want to test. If the `xwininfo` command finishes (it should print window
properties into the terminal), the app under test is running under
XWayland. If nothing happens (the `xwininfo` command is still waiting
until you select a window), the app under test is running under Wayland
(you can close the command with `Ctrl+C`). +
You can also use `xprop` command using the same instructions.
* XWayland applications are listed in `xlsclients` output. Run:
+
....
$ xlsclients
....
+
However, this list of not always entirely reliable, some apps might be
missing.
* You can try to run the app while unsetting `DISPLAY` environment
variable:
+
....
$ DISPLAY='' command
....
+
If the application runs OK, it should be using Wayland natively.
* You can run the app with `WAYLAND_DEBUG=1` environment variable:
+
....
$ WAYLAND_DEBUG=1 command
....
+
If you see loads of output (when compared to a standard run), the app is
using Wayland natively.
* Under GNOME, you can determine this using
http://blog.bodhizazen.net/linux/how-to-determine-if-an-application-is-using-wayland-or-xwayland/[integrated
Looking Glass tool]. Hit `Alt+F2`, run:
+
....
lg
....
+
click on _Windows_ in the upper right corner of the tool and select
desired window by clicking on its name. If you see `MetaWindowWayland`
in the first line, this app is running under Wayland. If you see
`MetaWindowX11` in the first line, this app is running under X11.

If you have identified the problem to be in a XWayland application, try
to reproduce the issue in a standard X11 session. If it happens as well,
it is not related to Wayland, it's a bug either in that particular
application, or Xorg server, see link:How_to_debug_Xorg_problems[How to
debug Xorg problems]. If the problem happens only under XWayland but not
in an X11 session, it should still be reported against Xorg server (
package), because XWayland is included in it (as
`xorg-x11-server-Xwayland` subpackage).

[id='identifying-problem-component]
=== Identifying problem component

Wayland itself is a protocol and the problem is rarely in the protocol
itself. Rather, the problem is likely to be in the app or its toolkit,
or in the compositor.

The most notable Wayland-ready toolkits are:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GTK%2B[GTK+ 3] - default apps in GNOME
environment use almost exclusively this toolkit. Please note that apps
using older GTK+ 2 are not Wayland-ready.
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qt_%28software%29[QT 5] - many apps in
KDE environment use this toolkit. Please note that apps using older QT 4
are not Wayland-ready.

The most notable Wayland compositors are:

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayland_%28display_server_protocol%29#Weston[Weston]
- the reference implementation of a Wayland compositor, maintained
directly by the Wayland project
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutter_%28software%29[Mutter] -
compositor in GNOME. If you run GNOME, it is using this compositor.
* https://community.kde.org/KWin/Wayland[Kwin] - compositor in KDE. If
you run KDE, it is using this compositor.

[id='testing-under-different-compositors']
== Testing under different compositors

If you experience a problem with a Wayland app, it is very useful to
know whether the problem is present under just a single compositor (in
that case it's likely a compositor bug) or under multiple compositors
(in that case it's likely an app/toolkit bug).

Please run your session with the reference Weston compositor and try to
reproduce the issue. You can either run Weston as a nested window, or as
a full session. First, install package (you can read many useful
information in its man page):

`$ sudo dnf install weston`

Then create a config file which will specify that you want to have
XWayland support enabled in your weston sessions. Create
`~/.config/weston.ini` with this contents:

`[core]` +
`modules=xwayland.so`

Now you can start weston either as nested window or as a full session.

* To start a nested Weston window, run this from a terminal:
+
....
$ weston
....
+
A Weston window should open and you should see and a terminal icon in
its top left corner. Use that icon to launch a terminal and from that
you can run apps and other commands using Weston. Exit the compositor by
simply closing the window or killing the `weston` process.
* To start a full Weston session (not nested inside another X11 or
Wayland session), switch to a free VT (Ctrl+Alt+Fx) and run:
+
....
$ weston-launch
....
+
You can exit the session by pressing Control+Alt+Backspace shortcut.

If you can reproduce the issue with Weston, file an issue against the
app or its toolkit (gtk+, qt, etc). Otherwise file the issue against the
compositor your environment uses (mutter, kwin, etc). If the problem
occurs only with XWayland apps but not native Wayland apps, report a bug
against Xorg server.

[id='reporting-the-issue']
Reporting the issue

[id='using-up-to-date-software]
Using up-to-date software

Before reporting the bug, please make sure you use the latest available
software. You need to run on *Fedora 23 or later*, older Fedora versions
are not going to get updated with latest Wayland fixes. Make sure there
are no system updates waiting:

`$ sudo dnf update`

If there are (and the available updates look plausibly related to the
components you're seeing issues with), please update the system and
verify whether the issue is still present or has been fixed.

[id='looking-for-similar-reports']
Looking for similar reports

In order to avoid duplicate reports and also wasting your time debugging
something someone has maybe already debugged, please search through the
existing reports first. The most visible issues or concerns are listed
in
link:#Known_issues.2C_frequent_complaints.2C_fundamental_changes[Known
issues, frequent complaints, fundamental changes]. If you don't see it
there, you need to search deeper. You can find Wayland related issues
most likely in here:

* [https://bugzilla.gnome.org/buglist.cgi?bug_status=UNCONFIRMED&bug_status=NEW&bug_status=ASSIGNED&bug_status=REOPENED&bug_status=NEEDINFO&component=Backend%3A%20Wayland&component=wayland&list_id=74680&order=changeddate%20DESC%2Cbug_status%2Cpriority%2Cassigned_to%2Cbug_id&product=gtk%2B&product=mutter&query_based_on=&query_format=advanced
mutter/wayland and GTK+/wayland in GNOME Bugzilla]
* https://bugzilla.gnome.org/showdependencytree.cgi?id=757579&hide_resolved=1[Wayland-related
issues tracker across GNOME Bugzilla]
* https://bugzilla.redhat.com/showdependencytree.cgi?id=WaylandRelated&hide_resolved=1[Wayland-related
issues tracker across Red Hat Bugzilla]
(https://bugzilla.redhat.com/showdependencytree.cgi?id=KDEWaylandRelated&hide_resolved=1[KDE
tracker])
* [https://bugzilla.redhat.com/buglist.cgi?classification=Fedora&component=wayland&list_id=4118943&order=changeddate%20DESC%2Cbug_status%2Cpriority%2Cassigned_to%2Cbug_id&product=Fedora&query_based_on=&query_format=advanced&resolution=---
Wayland in Red Hat Bugzilla]
* [https://bugs.freedesktop.org/buglist.cgi?list_id=561109&order=changeddate%20DESC%2Cbug_status%2Cpriority%2Cassigned_to%2Cbug_id&product=Wayland&query_based_on=&query_format=advanced&resolution=---
Wayland in Freedesktop Bugzilla]
* Google search

[id='filing-a-bug']
Filing a bug

After you've identified against which component to (most probably)
report the issue and found no existing report of it, there are several
places where to report it:

* https://bugzilla.redhat.com/[Red Hat Bugzilla] - recommended for
issues related to wayland itself, weston compositor, non-GNOME apps, KDE
project, QT toolkit
* https://bugzilla.gnome.org/[GNOME Bugzilla] - recommended for issues
related to mutter compositor, GTK+ toolkit, applications under the GNOME
project (most of default apps in Fedora Workstation)

When reporting the issue, please make your report block our tracker, so
that we have a good overall picture of what is broken across many
different components. In your bug report, set *Blocks: WaylandRelated*
or *Blocks: KDEWaylandRelated* (you might need to toggle showing
advanced fields to see the _Blocks:_ field). That will make it block one
of these trackers, depending where you reported the bug:

* https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1277927[Wayland Tracker in
Red Hat Bugzilla]
(https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1298494[KDE tracker])
* https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=757579[Wayland Tracker in
GNOME Bugzilla]

[id='information-to-include-in-your-bug-report']
Information to include in your bug report

1.  System journal. Since there is no unique server like the X11 server,
most of the important information will come from the the Wayland
compositor and the apps. All of that should be in system journal
nowadays. You can save a full journal since last boot like this:
+
....
$ journalctl -ab > journal.log
....
+
You can also edit the file and according to the timestamps remove
everything long prior to when the issue occurred, in order to make the
log more succinct.
* If your system crashed or became unresponsive so that you had to
reboot it, you can see the journal from the previous boot using
`journalctl -a -b -1` instead.
2.  Wayland debug output. If you can reproduce the issue, please run the
problematic app like this:
+
....
$ WAYLAND_DEBUG=1 command |& tee debug.out
....
+
You should see loads of output being printed out. It will involve all
communication between the app and the compositor.
3.  Information whether the same problem occurs when you run the app
using XWayland instead of Wayland. For GTK+ 3 apps, you can force a
native Wayland app to run using XWayland like this:
+
....
$ GDK_BACKEND=x11 command
....
+
Vice versa, you can also force a XWayland app to run using Wayland (in
case it has just experimental support):
+
....
$ GDK_BACKEND=wayland command
....
+
QT 5 apps run with XWayland by default. You can force Wayland backend:
+
....
$ QT_QPA_PLATFORM=wayland-egl command
....
+
All of this applies to just GTK+ 3 and QT 5 apps.
4.  Hardware description is useful for some hardware-related bugs:
+
....
$ lspci -nn > lspci.out
....
5.  Package versions. You can collect the list and versions of all your
packages installed using:
+
....
$ rpm -qa | sort > packages.out
....
6.  The
link:Bugs_and_feature_requests#Things_Every_Bug_Should_Have[usual
information] that every bug report should have.

[id='debugging-gnome-shell']
Debugging gnome-shell

If gnome-shell gets stuck and unresponsive, it's very helpful to obtain
a backtrace from its process and attach it to the report. If this
happens, switch to a different VT if possible (`Ctrl+Alt+F3` through
`F7`), or log in using ssh. First install debug symbols:

....
$ sudo dnf debuginfo-install `rpm -q gnome-shell`
....

Then attach gdb debugger to your gnome-shell process:

....
$ gdb -p `pgrep -U $(id -un) -x gnome-shell`
...
(gdb) set logging on
(gdb) thread apply all backtrace full
... press Enter until the whole backtrace is displayed ...
(gdb) quit
....

You should have the backtrace saved in `gdb.txt` file.

[id='debugging-mutter']
Debugging mutter

You can debug mutter (used in gnome-shell) by setting its
https://developer.gnome.org/meta/stable/running-mutter.html[environment
variables]. These need to be set prior to run gnome-shell, so if you
want to log into GNOME from GDM, you need to create a wrapper script
called from a desktop file in `/usr/share/wayland-sessions`.

*FIXME: Putting the wrapper script and desktop file here would be
helpful.*

[id='known-issues-frequent-complaints-fundamental-changes']
Known issues, frequent complaints, fundamental changes

Here we will list high-profile issues which are known to be broken, not
yet implemented, or intentionally behaving differently from regular X11
apps. Also please look at link:Wayland_features[Wayland features] which
lists all current missing or in-progress features and their details.

To see all known issues, look at Bugzilla reports as mentioned in
link:#Looking_for_similar_reports[Looking for similar reports].

[id='graphical-applications-cant-be-run-as-root-from-terminal']
Graphical applications can't be run as root from terminal

It is not possible to start graphical apps under the root account from
terminal when using `su` or `sudo`. Apps which use polkit to request
administrator permissions for just certain operations and only when
needed are not affected (they are not started as root right away). The
discussion is ongoing about the best approach to take, see
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1274451[bug 1274451] and
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/devel%40lists.fedoraproject.org/thread/A6VXI4WAGSIIWGOTAVNDBVS4VFYXITHA/#2YU2RBYCXQSCGHGP772W5LRXUMTSINHA["On
running gui applications as root" thread in fedora-devel mailing list].

[id='many-well-known-x11-utilities-dont-work']
Many well-known X11 utilities don't work

Power users are familiar with a large range of X11-related utilities,
like `xkill`, `xrandr`, `xdotool`, `xsel`. These tools won't work under
Wayland session, or will only work with XWayland applications but not
Wayland applications. Some tools might have a replacement which allows
to perform similar tasks.

*FIXME: add some Wayland-ready replacements for popular X11 tools*

[id='games-and-other-apps-cant-change-monitor-resolution']
Games and other apps can't change monitor resolution

It is no longer possible for an app to change monitor resolution.
Usually this was done by games to increase performance. Wayland-based
games will use a different approach - scaling its output. But for X11
games (running through XWayland) this solution is not available. This
results in a number of different types of behavior, based on how the
game is written - the game might be fixed in the desktop resolution, or
rendered as a small centered image with black bars around it, or crash
on startup, or something different. See
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1289714[bug 1289714].

For some games, a possible workaround is to manually set custom monitor
resolution before running the game, if you really need it. It will not
help always, though.

[id='screen-capture-is-not-available-with-usual-apps']
Screen capture is not available with usual apps

One of the features of Wayland is its security design, which helps to
guard the user against malicious apps. Apps can no longer see everything
on the screen and spy on you. But that also means you cannot run a
common application (like or ) and use it to make a screenshot or a
screencast of your desktop - it will see only its own window, but
nothing else (or it might crash right away). System (trusted) apps need
to be used to perform these actions.

In GNOME, you can use Screenshot tool (available in overview or as
`Printscreen` hotkey or as `gnome-screenshot` command) to capture a
screenshot of the full desktop or a particular window. You can press
`Ctrl+Alt+Shift+R` keyboard shortcut to start video recording of the
whole desktop (stop it by pressing the same shortcut again, there's an
indicator in the upper right corner, or it stops automatically after 30
seconds by default) and find the screencast in `~/Videos`. For
screencast, you can also use
https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/690/easyscreencast/[EasyScreenCast]
gnome-shell extension.

[id='mouse-pointer-is-laggingstuttering-under-load']
Mouse pointer is lagging/stuttering under load

If your computer is under load, your mouse pointer movement might stop
being fluent, but start lagging (get stuck in a place for a short time,
then jump to a different place instantly). This is probably more
noticeable on slow systems/systems with fewer CPU cores. See
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=745032[bug 745032].

[id='keyboard-events-are-sometimes-quickly-repeated']
Keyboard events are sometimes quickly repeated

There is a rare issue when you press a key to type a letter and you'll
see multiple copies of the letter typed in. See
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=757942[bug 757942] and
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=777693[bug 777693].

[id='not-all-keys-can-be-sent-to-a-remote-desktop-or-a-virtual-machine']
Not all keys can be sent to a remote desktop or a virtual machine

Some applications forward all input, including system-specific
keys/shortcuts like or , to a remote system. This is mostly remote
desktop viewers like _vncviewer_ or virtual machine managers like
_virt-manager_ or _boxes_. Under Wayland, some of these shortcuts can't
be intercepted, and therefore are used in the host system, not the
remote/guest system. See
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1285770[bug 1285770].

Category:Debugging[W] Category:How_to[Category:How to] Category:Wayland
'''

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