<div dir="ltr">Journald log from the last failure (masking the emacs daemon systemd unit for gdm did not help unfortunately). Got a login screen after three reboots.<br><br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly systemd-logind[1604]: Removed session c2.<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly systemd-logind[1604]: Session c2 logged out. Waiting for processes to exit.<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gdm-launch-environment][1856]: pam_unix(gdm-launch-environment:session): session opened for user gdm-greeter(uid=60579) by (uid=0)<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gdm-launch-environment][1856]: pam_winbind(gdm-launch-environment:account): valid_user: wbcGetpwnam gave WBC_ERR_DOMAIN_NOT_FOUND<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gdm3[1698]: Gdm: Child process -1836 was already dead.<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gdm3[1698]: Gdm: GdmDisplay: Session never registered, failing<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gdm3[1698]: Gdm: Child process -1836 was already dead.<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly systemd[1]: session-c2.scope: Deactivated successfully.<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gdm3[1698]: Gdm: GdmDisplay: Session never registered, failing<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gdm-launch-environment][1814]: pam_unix(gdm-launch-environment:session): session closed for user gdm-greeter-2<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gnome-session[1845]: Failed to start unit gnome-session@gnome.target: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Name "org.freedesktop.systemd1" does not exist<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gnome-session[1845]: Starting GNOME session target: gnome-session@gnome.target<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gnome-session[1845]: Failed to reset failed state of units: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Name "org.freedesktop.systemd1" does not exist<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gnome-session[1845]: Failed to check if a graphical session is running: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Name "org.freedesktop.systemd1" does not exist<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gnome-session[1845]: Failed to upload environment to systemd: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Name "org.freedesktop.systemd1" does not exist<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gnome-session[1845]: unable to create directory '/run/user/60581/dconf': Permission denied. dconf will not work properly.<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gnome-session[1845]: unable to create directory '/run/user/60581/dconf': Permission denied. dconf will not work properly.<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gnome-session[1845]: unable to create directory '/run/user/60581/dconf': Permission denied. dconf will not work properly.<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gnome-session[1845]: unable to create directory '/run/user/60581/dconf': Permission denied. dconf will not work properly.<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gnome-session[1845]: unable to create directory '/run/user/60581/dconf': Permission denied. dconf will not work properly.<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly /usr/libexec/gdm-wayland-session[1840]: dbus-daemon[1840]: [session uid=60580 pid=1840 pidfd=5] Activated service 'org.freedesktop.systemd1' failed: Process org.freedesktop.systemd1 exited with status 1<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly /usr/libexec/gdm-wayland-session[1840]: dbus-daemon[1840]: [session uid=60580 pid=1840 pidfd=5] Activating service name='org.freedesktop.systemd1' requested by ':1.0' (uid=60580 pid=1836 comm="/usr/libexec/gdm-wayland-session gnome-session" label="unconfined")<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly /usr/libexec/gdm-wayland-session[1840]: dbus-daemon[1840]: [session uid=60580 pid=1840 pidfd=5] Cannot set up inotify for '/run/gdm3/home/gdm-greeter-2/.local/share/dbus-1/services': Permission denied<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly /usr/libexec/gdm-wayland-session[1840]: dbus[1840]: Unable to set up transient service directory: XDG_RUNTIME_DIR "/run/user/60581" is owned by uid 60581, not our uid 60580<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly systemd[1]: Starting power-profiles-daemon.service - Power Profiles daemon...<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly systemd[1]: Reached target multi-user.target - Multi-User System.<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly systemd[1]: Finished plymouth-quit-wait.service - Hold until boot process finishes up.<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly systemd[1]: Started session-c2.scope - Session c2 of User gdm-greeter-2.<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly systemd[1]: Failed to start user@60581.service - User Manager for UID 60581.<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly systemd[1]: user@60581.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly systemd[1]: user@60581.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=217/USER<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly (systemd)[1833]: user@60581.service: Failed at step USER spawning /usr/lib/systemd/systemd: Invalid argument<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly (systemd)[1833]: user@60581.service: Failed to determine credentials for user '60581': Unknown user<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly systemd[1]: Starting user@60581.service - User Manager for UID 60581...<br>Sep 15 18:16:20 holly systemd[1]: Finished user-runtime-dir@60581.service - User Runtime Directory /run/user/60581.<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd-logind[1604]: New session 'c2' of user 'gdm-greeter-2' with class 'greeter' and type 'wayland'.<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd[1]: Starting user-runtime-dir@60581.service - User Runtime Directory /run/user/60581...<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd[1]: Created slice user-60581.slice - User Slice of UID 60581.<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gdm-launch-environment][1814]: pam_unix(gdm-launch-environment:session): session opened for user gdm-greeter-2(uid=60580) by (uid=0)<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gdm-launch-environment][1814]: pam_winbind(gdm-launch-environment:account): valid_user: wbcGetpwnam gave WBC_ERR_DOMAIN_NOT_FOUND<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gdm3[1698]: Gdm: Child process -1793 was already dead.<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gdm3[1698]: Gdm: GdmDisplay: Session never registered, failing<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gdm3[1698]: Gdm: Child process -1793 was already dead.<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd-logind[1604]: Removed session c1.<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd-logind[1604]: Session c1 logged out. Waiting for processes to exit.<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd[1]: session-c1.scope: Deactivated successfully.<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gdm3[1698]: Gdm: GdmDisplay: Session never registered, failing<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gdm-launch-environment][1710]: pam_unix(gdm-launch-environment:session): session closed for user gdm-greeter<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gnome-session[1800]: Failed to start unit gnome-session@gnome.target: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Name "org.freedesktop.systemd1" does not exist<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gnome-session[1800]: Starting GNOME session target: gnome-session@gnome.target<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gnome-session[1800]: Failed to reset failed state of units: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Name "org.freedesktop.systemd1" does not exist<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gnome-session[1800]: Failed to check if a graphical session is running: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Name "org.freedesktop.systemd1" does not exist<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gnome-session[1800]: Failed to upload environment to systemd: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Name "org.freedesktop.systemd1" does not exist<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gnome-session[1800]: unable to create directory '/run/user/60578/dconf': Permission denied. dconf will not work properly.<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gnome-session[1800]: unable to create directory '/run/user/60578/dconf': Permission denied. dconf will not work properly.<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gnome-session[1800]: unable to create directory '/run/user/60578/dconf': Permission denied. dconf will not work properly.<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gnome-session[1800]: unable to create directory '/run/user/60578/dconf': Permission denied. dconf will not work properly.<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gnome-session[1800]: unable to create directory '/run/user/60578/dconf': Permission denied. dconf will not work properly.<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gnome-session[1800]: unable to create directory '/run/user/60578/dconf': Permission denied. dconf will not work properly.<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly /usr/libexec/gdm-wayland-session[1796]: dbus-daemon[1796]: [session uid=60579 pid=1796 pidfd=5] Activated service 'org.freedesktop.systemd1' failed: Process org.freedesktop.systemd1 exited with status 1<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly /usr/libexec/gdm-wayland-session[1796]: dbus-daemon[1796]: [session uid=60579 pid=1796 pidfd=5] Activating service name='org.freedesktop.systemd1' requested by ':1.0' (uid=60579 pid=1793 comm="/usr/libexec/gdm-wayland-session gnome-session" label="unconfined")<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly /usr/libexec/gdm-wayland-session[1796]: dbus-daemon[1796]: [session uid=60579 pid=1796 pidfd=5] Cannot set up inotify for '/run/gdm3/home/gdm-greeter/.local/share/dbus-1/services': Permission denied<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly /usr/libexec/gdm-wayland-session[1796]: dbus[1796]: Unable to set up transient service directory: XDG_RUNTIME_DIR "/run/user/60578" is owned by uid 60578, not our uid 60579<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd[1]: Started session-c1.scope - Session c1 of User gdm-greeter.<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd[1]: Failed to start user@60578.service - User Manager for UID 60578.<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd[1]: user@60578.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd[1]: user@60578.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=217/USER<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly (systemd)[1792]: user@60578.service: Failed at step USER spawning /usr/lib/systemd/systemd: Invalid argument<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly (systemd)[1792]: user@60578.service: Failed to determine credentials for user '60578': Unknown user<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd[1]: Starting user@60578.service - User Manager for UID 60578...<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd[1]: Finished user-runtime-dir@60578.service - User Runtime Directory /run/user/60578.<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd-logind[1604]: New session 'c1' of user 'gdm-greeter' with class 'greeter' and type 'wayland'.<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd[1]: Starting user-runtime-dir@60578.service - User Runtime Directory /run/user/60578...<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd[1]: Created slice user-60578.slice - User Slice of UID 60578.<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gdm-launch-environment][1710]: pam_unix(gdm-launch-environment:session): session opened for user gdm-greeter(uid=60579) by (uid=0)<br>Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gdm-launch-environment][1710]: pam_winbind(gdm-launch-environment:account): valid_user: wbcGetpwnam gave WBC_ERR_DOMAIN_NOT_FOUND<br></div><br><div class="gmail_quote gmail_quote_container"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Sep 15, 2026 at 4:00 PM Jindřich Makovička <<a href="mailto:makovick@gmail.com">makovick@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div>Hi,</div><div><br></div><div>I am encountering this bug too, and I am starting to suspect systemd user services (eg. gdm3 runs Emacs in the background when installed and there is apparently no way to tell systemd to avoid running these services under the system users like gdm3)<br><br>Can you share the output of `ls -lR /etc/systemd/user` ?</div><div><br></div><div>Regards,</div><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature">Jindřich Makovička</div></div>
</blockquote></div><div><br clear="all"></div><div><br></div><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature">Jindřich Makovička</div>