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.
Sep 15 18:16:20 holly systemd-logind[1604]: Removed session c2. Sep 15 18:16:20 holly systemd-logind[1604]: Session c2 logged out. Waiting for processes to exit. 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) 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 Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gdm3[1698]: Gdm: Child process -1836 was already dead. Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gdm3[1698]: Gdm: GdmDisplay: Session never registered, failing Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gdm3[1698]: Gdm: Child process -1836 was already dead. Sep 15 18:16:20 holly systemd[1]: session-c2.scope: Deactivated successfully. Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gdm3[1698]: Gdm: GdmDisplay: Session never registered, failing Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gdm-launch-environment][1814]: pam_unix(gdm-launch-environment:session): session closed for user gdm-greeter-2 Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gnome-session[1845]: Failed to start unit [email protected]: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Name "org.freedesktop.systemd1" does not exist Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gnome-session[1845]: Starting GNOME session target: [email protected] 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 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 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 Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gnome-session[1845]: unable to create directory '/run/user/60581/dconf': Permission denied. dconf will not work properly. Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gnome-session[1845]: unable to create directory '/run/user/60581/dconf': Permission denied. dconf will not work properly. Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gnome-session[1845]: unable to create directory '/run/user/60581/dconf': Permission denied. dconf will not work properly. Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gnome-session[1845]: unable to create directory '/run/user/60581/dconf': Permission denied. dconf will not work properly. Sep 15 18:16:20 holly gnome-session[1845]: unable to create directory '/run/user/60581/dconf': Permission denied. dconf will not work properly. 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 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") 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 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 Sep 15 18:16:20 holly systemd[1]: Starting power-profiles-daemon.service - Power Profiles daemon... Sep 15 18:16:20 holly systemd[1]: Reached target multi-user.target - Multi-User System. Sep 15 18:16:20 holly systemd[1]: Finished plymouth-quit-wait.service - Hold until boot process finishes up. Sep 15 18:16:20 holly systemd[1]: Started session-c2.scope - Session c2 of User gdm-greeter-2. Sep 15 18:16:20 holly systemd[1]: Failed to start [email protected] - User Manager for UID 60581. Sep 15 18:16:20 holly systemd[1]: [email protected]: Failed with result 'exit-code'. Sep 15 18:16:20 holly systemd[1]: [email protected]: Main process exited, code=exited, status=217/USER Sep 15 18:16:20 holly (systemd)[1833]: [email protected]: Failed at step USER spawning /usr/lib/systemd/systemd: Invalid argument Sep 15 18:16:20 holly (systemd)[1833]: [email protected]: Failed to determine credentials for user '60581': Unknown user Sep 15 18:16:20 holly systemd[1]: Starting [email protected] - User Manager for UID 60581... Sep 15 18:16:20 holly systemd[1]: Finished [email protected] - User Runtime Directory /run/user/60581. Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd-logind[1604]: New session 'c2' of user 'gdm-greeter-2' with class 'greeter' and type 'wayland'. Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd[1]: Starting [email protected] - User Runtime Directory /run/user/60581... Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd[1]: Created slice user-60581.slice - User Slice of UID 60581. 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) 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 Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gdm3[1698]: Gdm: Child process -1793 was already dead. Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gdm3[1698]: Gdm: GdmDisplay: Session never registered, failing Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gdm3[1698]: Gdm: Child process -1793 was already dead. Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd-logind[1604]: Removed session c1. Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd-logind[1604]: Session c1 logged out. Waiting for processes to exit. Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd[1]: session-c1.scope: Deactivated successfully. Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gdm3[1698]: Gdm: GdmDisplay: Session never registered, failing Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gdm-launch-environment][1710]: pam_unix(gdm-launch-environment:session): session closed for user gdm-greeter Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gnome-session[1800]: Failed to start unit [email protected]: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Name "org.freedesktop.systemd1" does not exist Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gnome-session[1800]: Starting GNOME session target: [email protected] 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 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 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 Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gnome-session[1800]: unable to create directory '/run/user/60578/dconf': Permission denied. dconf will not work properly. Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gnome-session[1800]: unable to create directory '/run/user/60578/dconf': Permission denied. dconf will not work properly. Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gnome-session[1800]: unable to create directory '/run/user/60578/dconf': Permission denied. dconf will not work properly. Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gnome-session[1800]: unable to create directory '/run/user/60578/dconf': Permission denied. dconf will not work properly. Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gnome-session[1800]: unable to create directory '/run/user/60578/dconf': Permission denied. dconf will not work properly. Sep 15 18:16:19 holly gnome-session[1800]: unable to create directory '/run/user/60578/dconf': Permission denied. dconf will not work properly. 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 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") 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 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 Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd[1]: Started session-c1.scope - Session c1 of User gdm-greeter. Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd[1]: Failed to start [email protected] - User Manager for UID 60578. Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd[1]: [email protected]: Failed with result 'exit-code'. Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd[1]: [email protected]: Main process exited, code=exited, status=217/USER Sep 15 18:16:19 holly (systemd)[1792]: [email protected]: Failed at step USER spawning /usr/lib/systemd/systemd: Invalid argument Sep 15 18:16:19 holly (systemd)[1792]: [email protected]: Failed to determine credentials for user '60578': Unknown user Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd[1]: Starting [email protected] - User Manager for UID 60578... Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd[1]: Finished [email protected] - User Runtime Directory /run/user/60578. Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd-logind[1604]: New session 'c1' of user 'gdm-greeter' with class 'greeter' and type 'wayland'. Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd[1]: Starting [email protected] - User Runtime Directory /run/user/60578... Sep 15 18:16:19 holly systemd[1]: Created slice user-60578.slice - User Slice of UID 60578. 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) 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 On Tue, Sep 15, 2026 at 4:00 PM Jindřich Makovička <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi, > > 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) > > Can you share the output of `ls -lR /etc/systemd/user` ? > > Regards, > -- > Jindřich Makovička > -- Jindřich Makovička
