GDM stuck on gray login screen with no user list after boot

Support GNOME
1

Hello!

I have a problem logging into my user account. After booting, I get a gray GDM login screen but without the user selection in the center. The clock at the top is still showing. My mouse is frozen for about a minute, then I can move it.

For a temporary fix, I have to press Ctrl+Alt+F2 and execute sudo systemctl restart gdm after every boot. Then I can login just fine.

After logging out from a GUI session, the user list is loading just fine. The problem only occurs after a fresh boot.

The problem started some months ago, presumably after an update. I tried searching the forum and on the web, but couldn’t find my exact problem. Some posts suggested it is related to the Nvidia driver or loading timings. I’m happy for any ideas.

System information 
System:    Kernel: 5.10.63-1-MANJARO x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.1.0 Desktop: GNOME 40.4 tk: GTK 3.24.30 
           wm: gnome-shell dm: GDM 40.1 Distro: Manjaro Linux base: Arch Linux 
Machine:   Type: Desktop System: Gigabyte product: X570 AORUS ELITE v: -CF serial: <filter> 
           Mobo: Gigabyte model: X570 AORUS ELITE v: x.x serial: <filter> UEFI: American Megatrends LLC. v: F34 
           date: 06/10/2021 
Memory:    RAM: total: 31.36 GiB used: 2.72 GiB (8.7%) 
           RAM Report: permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required. 
CPU:       Info: 8-Core model: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 2 rev: 0 cache: L2: 4 MiB bogomips: 115025 
           Speed: 2053 MHz min/max: 2200/3600 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz): 1: 2053 2: 2052 3: 2046 4: 3593 5: 2191 
           6: 2195 7: 2195 8: 2195 9: 2052 10: 3593 11: 2196 12: 2195 13: 2192 14: 2195 15: 2043 16: 2046 
           Flags: 3dnowprefetch abm adx aes aperfmperf apic arat avic avx avx2 bmi1 bmi2 bpext cat_l3 cdp_l3 clflush 
           clflushopt clwb clzero cmov cmp_legacy constant_tsc cpb cpuid cqm cqm_llc cqm_mbm_local cqm_mbm_total cqm_occup_llc 
           cr8_legacy cx16 cx8 de decodeassists extapic extd_apicid f16c flushbyasid fma fpu fsgsbase fxsr fxsr_opt ht 
           hw_pstate ibpb ibs irperf lahf_lm lbrv lm mba mca mce misalignsse mmx mmxext monitor movbe msr mtrr mwaitx 
           nonstop_tsc nopl npt nrip_save nx osvw overflow_recov pae pat pausefilter pclmulqdq pdpe1gb perfctr_core 
           perfctr_llc perfctr_nb pfthreshold pge pni popcnt pse pse36 rdpid rdpru rdrand rdseed rdt_a rdtscp rep_good sep sev 
           sev_es sha_ni skinit smap smca sme smep ssbd sse sse2 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 stibp succor svm svm_lock syscall 
           tce topoext tsc tsc_scale umip v_vmsave_vmload vgif vmcb_clean vme vmmcall wbnoinvd wdt xgetbv1 xsave xsavec 
           xsaveerptr xsaveopt xsaves 
Graphics:  Device-1: NVIDIA TU102 [GeForce RTX 2080 Ti Rev. A] vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: nvidia v: 470.63.01 
           bus-ID: 09:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:1e07 class-ID: 0300 
           Display: x11 server: X.org 1.20.13 compositor: gnome-shell driver: loaded: nvidia resolution: <missing: xdpyinfo> 
           OpenGL: renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti/PCIe/SSE2 v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 470.63.01 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: NVIDIA TU102 High Definition Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 09:00.1 
           chip-ID: 10de:10f7 class-ID: 0403 
           Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Starship/Matisse HD Audio vendor: Gigabyte driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
           bus-ID: 0b:00.4 chip-ID: 1022:1487 class-ID: 0403 
           Device-3: Focusrite-Novation Scarlett 4i4 USB type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio bus-ID: 7-2:2 chip-ID: 1235:8212 
           class-ID: 0103 serial: <filter> 
           Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.10.63-1-MANJARO running: yes 
           Sound Server-2: JACK v: 1.9.19 running: no 
           Sound Server-3: PulseAudio v: 15.0 running: yes 
           Sound Server-4: PipeWire v: 0.3.35 running: no 
Network:   Device-1: Intel I211 Gigabit Network vendor: Gigabyte driver: igb v: kernel port: f000 bus-ID: 05:00.0 
           chip-ID: 8086:1539 class-ID: 0200 
           IF: enp5s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter> 
           IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global broadcast: <filter> 
           IP v6: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global 
           IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link 
           WAN IP: <filter> 
Bluetooth: Message: No bluetooth data found. 
Logical:   Message: No logical block device data found. 
RAID:      Message: No RAID data found. 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 6.82 TiB used: 341.94 GiB (4.9%) 
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 970 EVO 1TB size: 931.51 GiB speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD 
           serial: <filter> rev: 2B2QEXE7 temp: 43.9 C scheme: GPT 
           ID-2: /dev/nvme1n1 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 970 EVO 500GB size: 465.76 GiB speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD 
           serial: <filter> rev: 2B2QEXE7 temp: 46.9 C scheme: GPT 
           ID-3: /dev/sda vendor: Western Digital model: WD60EZAZ-00ZGHB0 size: 5.46 TiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: HDD rpm: 5400 
           serial: <filter> rev: 0A80 scheme: GPT 
           Message: No optical or floppy data found. 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 457.16 GiB used: 341.94 GiB (74.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme1n1p2 label: N/A 
           uuid: 26a4fafb-e81d-4878-9d93-73bdffef55e6 
           ID-2: /boot/efi size: 299.4 MiB used: 284 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme1n1p1 label: N/A uuid: FA76-CDCE 
           ID-3: /mnt/hanamura size: 5.41 TiB used: 2.84 TiB (52.4%) fs: cifs dev: /dev/Share 
Swap:      Alert: No swap data was found. 
Unmounted: ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1p1 size: 529 MiB fs: ntfs label: Recovery uuid: A4DE21CADE219598 
           ID-2: /dev/nvme0n1p2 size: 99 MiB fs: vfat label: N/A uuid: 3A21-DD3C 
           ID-3: /dev/nvme0n1p3 size: 16 MiB fs: <superuser required> label: N/A uuid: N/A 
           ID-4: /dev/nvme0n1p4 size: 930.88 GiB fs: ntfs label: Windows uuid: 8A44228F44227DD7 
           ID-5: /dev/sda1 size: 5.46 TiB fs: <superuser required> label: N/A uuid: N/A 
USB:       Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900 
           Hub-2: 1-1:2 info: VIA Labs Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.1 speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 2109:2811 class-ID: 0900 
           Hub-3: 1-3:3 info: Genesys Logic Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s power: 100mA chip-ID: 05e3:0608 
           class-ID: 0900 
           Device-1: 1-3.1:5 info: Logitech G502 SE HERO Gaming Mouse type: Mouse,HID driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 2 
           rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s power: 300mA chip-ID: 046d:c08b class-ID: 0300 serial: <filter> 
           Device-2: 1-3.3:6 info: Logitech G513 Carbon Linear type: Keyboard,HID driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 2 
           rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s power: 500mA chip-ID: 046d:c33c class-ID: 0300 serial: <filter> 
           Device-3: 1-4:4 info: Integrated Express IT8297 RGB LED Controller type: Keyboard driver: hid-generic,usbhid 
           interfaces: 1 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s power: 100mA chip-ID: 048d:8297 class-ID: 0301 
           Hub-4: 2-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 4 rev: 3.1 speed: 10 Gb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900 
           Hub-5: 2-1:2 info: VIA Labs Hub ports: 4 rev: 3.0 speed: 5 Gb/s chip-ID: 2109:8110 class-ID: 0900 
           Hub-6: 3-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900 
           Hub-7: 3-6:2 info: Genesys Logic Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s power: 100mA chip-ID: 05e3:0608 
           class-ID: 0900 
           Hub-8: 4-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 4 rev: 3.1 speed: 10 Gb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900 
           Hub-9: 5-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900 
           Hub-10: 6-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 4 rev: 3.1 speed: 10 Gb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900 
           Hub-11: 7-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900 
           Device-1: 7-2:2 info: Focusrite-Novation Scarlett 4i4 USB type: Audio driver: snd-usb-audio interfaces: 6 rev: 2.0 
           speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1235:8212 class-ID: 0103 serial: <filter> 
           Hub-12: 8-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 4 rev: 3.1 speed: 10 Gb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 33.9 C mobo: 16.8 C gpu: nvidia temp: 59 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: nvidia fan: 0% 
Info:      Processes: 360 Uptime: 16m wakeups: 1 Init: systemd v: 249 Compilers: gcc: 11.1.0 alt: 10 clang: 12.0.1 
           Packages: 1426 pacman: 1416 snap: 10 Shell: Zsh v: 5.8 running-in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.3.06
2

Hi and welcome to the forum :wave:

If it started months ago, this might be a solution, but this is a guess.

A good place to check for issues (preferably before) with updates are listed in the #announcements threads. There have been a few boot issues.

What does your journal report about gdm? (see How to provide good information)

1 Like
3

I just wanted to report back and thank you for taking the time to reply.

The problem went away by itself, I’m not entirely sure what it was.

Regarding your link on the plymouth package, I can’t complete the steps as I get the error “target not found: plymouth” when trying to uninstall it.

Maybe a bad USB device might have caused the issue, I got warnings about this in system logs and when booted to Windows as well.

1 Like
4

Thanks for reporting back, my guess to solution ratio is a bit lower now :wink:

This is positive, yet unsettling, it could return.

It was a wild guess, for future issues with this the logs in the link to provide the good info will be handy.

There does not seem to be anything wrong, looking at the system info.

Welcome aboard :slight_smile:

1 Like
5

I’m marking this thread as solved based on your feedback above.

Please make sure you always mark your threads as solved if you happen to find a solution, even by yourself. You can do so by clicking on the hamburger icon (similar to the ellipsis mark). The solution option is hidden there.

Thanks ! :+1: :slightly_smiling_face:

2 Likes
6

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