Public bug reported:
Description:
On Ubuntu 25.10 (Wayland, GDM3), the login screen intermittently fails to
render the graphical UI.
The background appears as a uniform grey surface, with no user selector and no
password field visible.
However, the login session is actually active: typing the password blindly and
pressing Enter successfully logs into the desktop.
This issue occurs only occasionally (not on every boot), and no errors
appear in 'journalctl -b -u gdm' or in GNOME Shell logs.
System details:
Ubuntu 25.10
GDM3 (Wayland enabled)
GNOME Shell 47
Mutter 47
Kernel: 6.17.0-14
GPU: AMD (amdgpu driver)
Framebuffer: amdgpudrmfb (not using simpledrmfb)
Symptoms:
On boot, GDM starts normally (service active).
The screen shows a grey background instead of the login UI.
No visible user list or password box.
Keyboard input is accepted: entering the password logs in correctly.
No crashes or errors in logs.
Issue does not occur on every boot.
Relevant logs:
'journalctl -b | grep -Ei "mutter|compositor|egl|gbm|kms' shows this line when
the issue occurs:
'gsd-xsettings: Failed to get current UI scaling factor:
GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner:
Name "org.gnome.Mutter.X11" does not exist'
What I have verified:
Not using simpledrmfb → not the simpledrm→amdgpu bug.
Theme files in /usr/share/gnome-shell/theme are present and valid.
No GNOME Shell or Mutter crashes in logs.
The desktop session on Wayland works perfectly; only GDM is affected.
Expected behavior:
GDM should consistently render the login UI on Wayland.
Actual behavior:
GDM sometimes fails to render the UI, showing only a grey screen, but still
accepts password input.
Steps to reproduce:
Boot the system normally.
Occasionally, the login screen appears grey with no UI.
Type password blindly → login succeeds.
Additional notes:
This seems related to Mutter/GDM Wayland initialization on AMD GPUs.
Happy to provide more logs or test patches if needed.
** Affects: ubuntu
Importance: Undecided
Status: New
** Tags: amdgpu gdm3 mutter ubuntu-25.10 wayland
** Attachment added: "journal.txt"
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2144400/+attachment/5952053/+files/journal.txt
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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/2144400
Title:
GDM on Wayland intermittently shows grey screen with no UI, but
password field works (Ubuntu 25.10, AMD GPU)
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