Fedora Rawhide i3 Live: VT switching broken after fresh boot until LightDM is restarted, blocking openQA post-install reboot
Welcome
- Yes, I'm using the latest major release or the current development version. These are the only supported versions.
- Yes, I've searched similar issues and discussions on GitHub and didn't find any.
Current Behavior
Description
On Fedora Rawhide i3 Live, virtual terminal switching appears broken immediately after a fresh live boot.
The i3 graphical session starts on VT1 via LightDM/Xorg. From this initial graphical session, switching to another VT using Ctrl-Alt-Fn or chvt does not produce a usable visible console. In some cases fgconsole reports that the active VT changed, but the visible display remains stuck on the graphical session or does not show a usable terminal.
The system uses [email protected] through [email protected]. During the failed VT switching attempts, kmscon repeatedly logs errors like:
ERROR: drm_shared: Cannot set drm master for /dev/dri/card1
I also observed that /dev/dri/card1 is owned by Xorg, and Xorg is started on vt1 with -novtswitch.
If I stop LightDM with:
systemctl stop lightdm
I end up on an empty tty1. However, Ctrl-Alt-F2 works from there, I can log in on tty2, and then start LightDM again. After restarting LightDM, VT switching starts working normally from the graphical session.
So the issue seems to affect the initial graphical session after fresh boot. Restarting LightDM resets the VT/DRM state and makes console switching work.
Actual results
After fresh boot, VT switching from the i3 graphical session does not show a usable console. kmscon logs repeated errors:
drm_shared: Cannot set drm master for /dev/dri/card1
After stopping and starting LightDM again, VT switching works.
Impact
This breaks Fedora openQA installation tests for the i3 live image. In the install_default test, Anaconda completes successfully and exits back to the live desktop. The test then tries to switch to tty3-console to run reboot, but the console is not reached. As a result, the test never executes the reboot command and fails waiting for root_console or text_console_login.
Observed in: Fedora-Rawhide-20260624.n.0 Fedora-i3-Live-Rawhide-20260624.n.0.x86_64.iso
openQA job: fedora-Rawhide-i3-live-iso-x86_64-BuildFedora-Rawhide-20260624.n.0-install_default@64bit Job ID: 4897040
https://openqa.fedoraproject.org/tests/4897040#
Additional notes
This does not look like a missing tty device or a general kernel VT failure. VT switching works after LightDM is restarted, and it also works when using terminal mode without the initial graphical session. The issue appears to be a bad VT/DRM handoff state caused by the initial LightDM/Xorg/i3 session, possibly involving kmscon being unable to acquire DRM master from Xorg.
Expected Behavior
VT switching should work from the freshly booted live graphical session. Ctrl-Alt-Fn or chvt N should switch to the selected console and show a usable terminal/login prompt.
Reproduction Instructions
- Boot Fedora Rawhide i3 Live ISO.
- Let the live session start automatically into i3.
- Try to switch to another VT, for example with Ctrl-Alt-F3 or:
sudo chvt 3 - Observe that no usable visible console appears.
- Check the active VT with:
sudo fgconsole - Check the journal for kmscon errors:
journalctl -b | grep -Ei 'kmscon|drm master|card1' - Stop LightDM:
sudo systemctl stop lightdm - Switch to tty2 with Ctrl-Alt-F2 and log in.
- Start LightDM again:
sudo systemctl start lightdm - Try VT switching again.
i3 version
i3 version 4.25.1 (2026-02-06) © 2009 Michael Stapelberg and contributorsConfig file
# This file has been auto-generated by i3-config-wizard(1).
# It will not be overwritten, so edit it as you like.
#
# Should you change your keyboard layout some time, delete
# this file and re-run i3-config-wizard(1).
#
# i3 config file (v4)
#
# Please see https://i3wm.org/docs/userguide.html for a complete reference!
set $mod Mod4
# Font for window titles. Will also be used by the bar unless a different font
# is used in the bar {} block below.
font pango:monospace 8
# This font is widely installed, provides lots of unicode glyphs, right-to-left
# text rendering and scalability on retina/hidpi displays (thanks to pango).
#font pango:DejaVu Sans Mono 8
# Start XDG autostart .desktop files using dex. See also
# https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/XDG_Autostart
exec --no-startup-id dex-autostart --autostart --environment i3
# The combination of xss-lock, nm-applet and pactl is a popular choice, so
# they are included here as an example. Modify as you see fit.
# xss-lock grabs a logind suspend inhibit lock and will use i3lock to lock the
# screen before suspend. Use loginctl lock-session to lock your screen.
exec --no-startup-id xss-lock --transfer-sleep-lock -- i3lock --nofork
# NetworkManager is the most popular way to manage wireless networks on Linux,
# and nm-applet is a desktop environment-independent system tray GUI for it.
exec --no-startup-id nm-applet
# Use pactl to adjust volume in PulseAudio.
set $refresh_i3status killall -SIGUSR1 i3status
bindsym XF86AudioRaiseVolume exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-volume @DEFAULT_SINK@ +10% && $refresh_i3status
bindsym XF86AudioLowerVolume exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-volume @DEFAULT_SINK@ -10% && $refresh_i3status
bindsym XF86AudioMute exec --no-startup-id pactl set-sink-mute @DEFAULT_SINK@ toggle && $refresh_i3status
bindsym XF86AudioMicMute exec --no-startup-id pactl set-source-mute @DEFAULT_SOURCE@ toggle && $refresh_i3status
# Use Mouse+$mod to drag floating windows to their wanted position
floating_modifier $mod
# start a terminal
bindsym $mod+Return exec i3-sensible-terminal
# kill focused window
bindsym $mod+Shift+q kill
# start dmenu (a program launcher)
bindsym $mod+d exec --no-startup-id "dmenu_run -nf '#BBBBBB' -nb '#222222' -sb '#005577' -sf '#EEEEEE' -fn 'monospace-10'"
# A more modern dmenu replacement is rofi:
# bindcode $mod+40 exec "rofi -modi drun,run -show drun"
# There also is i3-dmenu-desktop which only displays applications shipping a
# .desktop file. It is a wrapper around dmenu, so you need that installed.
# bindcode $mod+40 exec --no-startup-id i3-dmenu-desktop
# change focus
bindsym $mod+j focus left
bindsym $mod+k focus down
bindsym $mod+l focus up
bindsym $mod+semicolon focus right
# alternatively, you can use the cursor keys:
bindsym $mod+Left focus left
bindsym $mod+Down focus down
bindsym $mod+Up focus up
bindsym $mod+Right focus right
# move focused window
bindsym $mod+Shift+j move left
bindsym $mod+Shift+k move down
bindsym $mod+Shift+l move up
bindsym $mod+Shift+semicolon move right
# alternatively, you can use the cursor keys:
bindsym $mod+Shift+Left move left
bindsym $mod+Shift+Down move down
bindsym $mod+Shift+Up move up
bindsym $mod+Shift+Right move right
# split in horizontal orientation
bindsym $mod+h split h
# split in vertical orientation
bindsym $mod+v split v
# enter fullscreen mode for the focused container
bindsym $mod+f fullscreen toggle
# change container layout (stacked, tabbed, toggle split)
bindsym $mod+s layout stacking
bindsym $mod+w layout tabbed
bindsym $mod+e layout toggle split
# toggle tiling / floating
bindsym $mod+Shift+space floating toggle
# change focus between tiling / floating windows
bindsym $mod+space focus mode_toggle
# focus the parent container
bindsym $mod+a focus parent
# focus the child container
#bindsym $mod+d focus child
# Define names for default workspaces for which we configure key bindings later on.
# We use variables to avoid repeating the names in multiple places.
set $ws1 "1"
set $ws2 "2"
set $ws3 "3"
set $ws4 "4"
set $ws5 "5"
set $ws6 "6"
set $ws7 "7"
set $ws8 "8"
set $ws9 "9"
set $ws10 "10"
# switch to workspace
bindsym $mod+1 workspace number $ws1
bindsym $mod+2 workspace number $ws2
bindsym $mod+3 workspace number $ws3
bindsym $mod+4 workspace number $ws4
bindsym $mod+5 workspace number $ws5
bindsym $mod+6 workspace number $ws6
bindsym $mod+7 workspace number $ws7
bindsym $mod+8 workspace number $ws8
bindsym $mod+9 workspace number $ws9
bindsym $mod+0 workspace number $ws10
# move focused container to workspace
bindsym $mod+Shift+1 move container to workspace number $ws1
bindsym $mod+Shift+2 move container to workspace number $ws2
bindsym $mod+Shift+3 move container to workspace number $ws3
bindsym $mod+Shift+4 move container to workspace number $ws4
bindsym $mod+Shift+5 move container to workspace number $ws5
bindsym $mod+Shift+6 move container to workspace number $ws6
bindsym $mod+Shift+7 move container to workspace number $ws7
bindsym $mod+Shift+8 move container to workspace number $ws8
bindsym $mod+Shift+9 move container to workspace number $ws9
bindsym $mod+Shift+0 move container to workspace number $ws10
# reload the configuration file
bindsym $mod+Shift+c reload
# restart i3 inplace (preserves your layout/session, can be used to upgrade i3)
bindsym $mod+Shift+r restart
# exit i3 (logs you out of your X session)
bindsym $mod+Shift+e exec "i3-nagbar -t warning -m 'You pressed the exit shortcut. Do you really want to exit i3? This will end your X session.' -B 'Yes, exit i3' 'i3-msg exit'"
# resize window (you can also use the mouse for that)
mode "resize" {
# These bindings trigger as soon as you enter the resize mode
# Pressing left will shrink the window’s width.
# Pressing right will grow the window’s width.
# Pressing up will shrink the window’s height.
# Pressing down will grow the window’s height.
bindsym j resize shrink width 10 px or 10 ppt
bindsym k resize grow height 10 px or 10 ppt
bindsym l resize shrink height 10 px or 10 ppt
bindsym semicolon resize grow width 10 px or 10 ppt
# same bindings, but for the arrow keys
bindsym Left resize shrink width 10 px or 10 ppt
bindsym Down resize grow height 10 px or 10 ppt
bindsym Up resize shrink height 10 px or 10 ppt
bindsym Right resize grow width 10 px or 10 ppt
# back to normal: Enter or Escape or $mod+r
bindsym Return mode "default"
bindsym Escape mode "default"
bindsym $mod+r mode "default"
}
bindsym $mod+r mode "resize"
# class border bground text indicator child_border
client.focused #83CAFA #51A2DA #FFFFFF #83CAFA #51A2DA
client.focused_inactive #8C8C8C #4C4C4C #FFFFFF #4C4C4C #8C8C8C
client.unfocused #4C4C4C #222222 #888888 #292D2E #222222
client.urgent #EC69A0 #DB3279 #FFFFFF #DB3279 #DB3279
client.placeholder #000000 #0C0C0C #FFFFFF #000000 #0C0C0C
client.background #FFFFFF
# Start i3bar to display a workspace bar (plus the system information i3status
# finds out, if available)
bar {
colors {
background #000000
statusline #FFFFFF
separator #666666
focused_workspace #83CAFA #51A2DA #FFFFFF
active_workspace #3C6EB4 #294172 #FFFFFF
inactive_workspace #8C8C8C #4C4C4C #888888
urgent_workspace #EC69A0 #DB3279 #FFFFFF
binding_mode #b691d3 #A07CBC #FFFFFF
}
status_command i3status
}
Linux distribution & Version
Fedora Rawhide
Are you using a compositor?
I am sure I don't run any compositor
Logfile
No response
Source: i3/i3