[SOLVED] Niri freezes tty on launch attempt

[DumJRaimond]

Just like the title says, whenever i try to launch niri, either via greetd or manually, the tty becomes stuck on "loaded config from /home/user/.config/niri/config.kdl" (The config hasn't been changed aside from replacing alacritty with foot

However, it can be launched within Weston, and it gives 2 results depending on what command i use:

1 (niri, dbus-run-session niri) - Niri launches as a window, with a huge input delay

2 (niri --session, dbus-run-session niri --session) - Niri doesn't launch, giving the following message:

Code: Select all

2026-03-18T21:33:06.669874Z  WARN niri: running as a session but WAYLAND_DISPLAY
 is set, removing it
2026-03-18T21:33:06.669919Z  INFO niri: starting version 25.11 (b35bcae)
2026-03-18T21:33:06.698406Z DEBUG niri_config: loaded config from "/home/user/.
config/niri/config.kdl"

thread 'main' (4705) panicked at src/main.rs:181:6:
called `Result::unwrap()` on an `Err` value: error initializing the TTY backend

Caused by:
    0: Error creating a session. This might mean that you're trying to run niri 
on a TTY that is already busy, for example if you're running this inside tmux th
at had been originally started on a different TTY
    1: Failed to open session: Function not implemented (os error 38)

I'm quite new to Gentoo, so any help would be very appreciated

[flexibeast]

At least in part, it looks like you're trying to start Niri (a compositor) on top of another compositor (Weston) - i'm not sure of the extent to which this 'should' work, but the output you provided suggests Niri might not be happy with running on a VT (Virtual Terminal) that's already running another compositor. Can you confirm you've also tried starting Niri via the Linux console, i.e. the pure-text VT one gets on system startup when not using a display manager like greetd, by running `dbus-run-session niri --session`?

[DumJRaimond]

At least in part, it looks like you're trying to start Niri (a compositor) on top of another compositor (Weston) - i'm not sure of the extent to which this 'should' work, but the output you provided suggests Niri might not be happy with running on a VT (Virtual Terminal) that's already running another compositor. Can you confirm you've also tried starting Niri via the Linux console, i.e. the pure-text VT one gets on system startup when not using a display manager like greetd, by running `dbus-run-session niri --session`?

I tried to run it in the linux console many times before, but it freezes at "loaded config from /home/user/.config/niri/config.kdl", i can't do anything with it unless i switch to another tty.

[flexibeast]

Hmm, okay, odd. i just installed and ran it (via `dbus-run-session niri --session`) from a new VT while my Wayfire session was running, and it started fine.

Something else i'd like to check: Are you using Kmscon?

[DumJRaimond]

Nope, not using Kmscon, however it seems like it was an issue with my drivers? i added radeonsi to VIDEO_CARDS in my make.conf, and now niri launches just fine, so i'd say that the issue is now solved

[flexibeast]

Ah! Glad you solved it - i'll add a note to the "Niri" page on the wiki. Could you please edit the title of this discussion to add '[SOLVED]' at the start?