Graphics on tty2 AND tty7

Amlypygid · July 24, 2018, 8:41am

Good day, folks.
I have, on both my laptop and my desktop, the same problem. On tty2 there are the graphical processes:

wilsontux@linux-idrr:~> ps -e | grep tty2
 1921 tty2     00:00:00 gdm-x-session
 1923 tty2     00:00:06 X
 1932 tty2     00:00:00 i3

On tty7 there are the graphical processes:

wilsontux@linux-idrr:~> ps -e | grep tty7
 1481 tty7     00:00:00 gdm-wayland-ses
 1485 tty7     00:00:00 gnome-session-b
 1519 tty7     00:00:08 gnome-shell
 1662 tty7     00:00:00 Xwayland
 1760 tty7     00:00:00 ibus-daemon
 1763 tty7     00:00:00 ibus-dconf
 1766 tty7     00:00:00 ibus-x11
 1783 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-wacom
 1786 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-xsettings
 1787 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-a11y-keyboa
 1788 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-a11y-settin
 1789 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-clipboard
 1793 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-color
 1794 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-datetime
 1795 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-housekeepin
 1798 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-keyboard
 1800 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-media-keys
 1801 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-mouse
 1804 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-power
 1807 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-print-notif
 1808 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-rfkill
 1809 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-screensaver
 1812 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-sharing
 1817 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-smartcard
 1819 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-sound
 1838 tty7     00:00:00 ibus-engine-sim

On tty2, of course, is my i3wm session. When I switch to tty7, I am faced with a standard GNOME login screen, with my user shown as logged in but locked. I would like to fix this so that once I log in and start i3wm, it is the only graphical environment running. The extra gnome login and wayland session eat memory and in the case of my laptop battery. Any help is appreciated!
Thanks,
Henry Wilson

anika200 · July 24, 2018, 2:21pm

This is the standard behavior as far as I know, there are two things you can do. Use a different login manager (ie, not GDM) or write a script/service that kills the second GDM session after your login. The latter is how it was handled @ Manjaro Gnome.
I do see your concerns but in the end it only saves you about 350mb memory.

tsu2 · July 24, 2018, 4:59pm

I’m guessing that you are seeing what you describe because you booted to Ghome, then switched to IceWM.
That would launch your Gnome Desktop.

I’d instead recommend that you disable auto-login if you haven’t already, boot and then from the screen where you enter your username/password, select IceWM.

I’d guess that should produce the desired result.

TSU

anika200 · July 24, 2018, 5:09pm

I am not trying to hyjack this thread, just my two cents. I do not auto login or run any other wm.

lee@linux-6y72:~> ps -e | grep tty2
 3363 tty2     00:00:00 gdm-wayland-ses
 3366 tty2     00:00:00 gnome-session-b
 3401 tty2     00:11:48 gnome-shell
 3407 tty2     00:00:39 Xwayland
 3442 tty2     00:00:00 ibus-daemon
 3446 tty2     00:00:00 ibus-dconf
 3448 tty2     00:00:00 ibus-x11
 3464 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-mouse
 3466 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-power
 3467 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-print-notif
 3469 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-rfkill
 3471 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-screensaver
 3472 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-smartcard
 3477 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-wacom
 3481 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-xsettings
 3484 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-sound
 3485 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-sharing
 3491 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-a11y-keyboa
 3494 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-a11y-settin
 3497 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-clipboard
 3501 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-color
 3502 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-datetime
 3503 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-housekeepin
 3504 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-keyboard
 3507 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-media-keys
 3527 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-printer
 3551 tty2     00:00:00 ibus-engine-sim
 3592 tty2     00:00:00 evolution-alarm
 3595 tty2     00:00:00 deja-dup-monito
 3596 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-disk-utilit
 3602 tty2     00:00:01 tracker-extract
 3606 tty2     00:00:00 tracker-miner-a
 3614 tty2     00:00:01 tracker-miner-f
 3623 tty2     00:00:01 gnome-software
 4100 tty2     00:07:37 firefox
 4164 tty2     00:00:00 pxgsettings
 4184 tty2     00:00:25 Web Content
 4327 tty2     00:00:00 chrome-gnome-sh
 4445 tty2     00:04:51 Web Content
17580 tty2     00:00:04 Web Content
24273 tty2     00:00:00 xdg-su
24277 tty2     00:00:00 gnomesu
24281 tty2     00:00:00 gnomesu-pam-bac
24301 tty2     00:00:00 yast2
24775 tty2     00:00:11 y2start
24783 tty2     00:00:00 dbus-launch
31344 tty2     00:00:00 btrfs-defrag-pl <defunct>
31346 tty2     00:00:00 snapper.py <defunct>


lee@linux-6y72:~> ps -e | grep tty7
 1840 tty7     00:00:00 gdm-wayland-ses
 1846 tty7     00:00:00 gnome-session-b
 1856 tty7     00:00:04 gnome-shell
 1912 tty7     00:00:00 Xwayland
 2015 tty7     00:00:00 ibus-daemon
 2018 tty7     00:00:00 ibus-dconf
 2021 tty7     00:00:00 ibus-x11
 2037 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-wacom
 2040 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-xsettings
 2042 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-a11y-keyboa
 2043 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-a11y-settin
 2045 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-clipboard
 2047 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-color
 2049 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-datetime
 2050 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-housekeepin
 2051 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-keyboard
 2052 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-media-keys
 2056 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-mouse
 2058 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-power
 2062 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-print-notif
 2063 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-rfkill
 2064 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-screensaver
 2068 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-sharing
 2072 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-smartcard
 2074 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-sound
 2087 tty7     00:00:00 ibus-engine-sim
lee@linux-6y72:~>

As we can see we have one real user session and another session for GDM.

anika200 · July 24, 2018, 5:27pm

Just for reference, here is my sessions on normal non-auto login with GDM and starting Gnome as Desktop.

lee@linux-6y72:~> ps -e | grep tty2
 3363 tty2     00:00:00 gdm-wayland-ses
 3366 tty2     00:00:00 gnome-session-b
 3401 tty2     00:11:48 gnome-shell
 3407 tty2     00:00:39 Xwayland
 3442 tty2     00:00:00 ibus-daemon
 3446 tty2     00:00:00 ibus-dconf
 3448 tty2     00:00:00 ibus-x11
 3464 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-mouse
 3466 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-power
 3467 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-print-notif
 3469 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-rfkill
 3471 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-screensaver
 3472 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-smartcard
 3477 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-wacom
 3481 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-xsettings
 3484 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-sound
 3485 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-sharing
 3491 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-a11y-keyboa
 3494 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-a11y-settin
 3497 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-clipboard
 3501 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-color
 3502 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-datetime
 3503 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-housekeepin
 3504 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-keyboard
 3507 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-media-keys
 3527 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-printer
 3551 tty2     00:00:00 ibus-engine-sim
 3592 tty2     00:00:00 evolution-alarm
 3595 tty2     00:00:00 deja-dup-monito
 3596 tty2     00:00:00 gsd-disk-utilit
 3602 tty2     00:00:01 tracker-extract
 3606 tty2     00:00:00 tracker-miner-a
 3614 tty2     00:00:01 tracker-miner-f
 3623 tty2     00:00:01 gnome-software
 4100 tty2     00:07:37 firefox
 4164 tty2     00:00:00 pxgsettings
 4184 tty2     00:00:25 Web Content
 4327 tty2     00:00:00 chrome-gnome-sh
 4445 tty2     00:04:51 Web Content
17580 tty2     00:00:04 Web Content
24273 tty2     00:00:00 xdg-su
24277 tty2     00:00:00 gnomesu
24281 tty2     00:00:00 gnomesu-pam-bac
24301 tty2     00:00:00 yast2
24775 tty2     00:00:11 y2start
24783 tty2     00:00:00 dbus-launch
31344 tty2     00:00:00 btrfs-defrag-pl <defunct>
31346 tty2     00:00:00 snapper.py <defunct>


lee@linux-6y72:~> ps -e | grep tty7
 1840 tty7     00:00:00 gdm-wayland-ses
 1846 tty7     00:00:00 gnome-session-b
 1856 tty7     00:00:04 gnome-shell
 1912 tty7     00:00:00 Xwayland
 2015 tty7     00:00:00 ibus-daemon
 2018 tty7     00:00:00 ibus-dconf
 2021 tty7     00:00:00 ibus-x11
 2037 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-wacom
 2040 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-xsettings
 2042 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-a11y-keyboa
 2043 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-a11y-settin
 2045 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-clipboard
 2047 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-color
 2049 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-datetime
 2050 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-housekeepin
 2051 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-keyboard
 2052 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-media-keys
 2056 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-mouse
 2058 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-power
 2062 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-print-notif
 2063 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-rfkill
 2064 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-screensaver
 2068 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-sharing
 2072 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-smartcard
 2074 tty7     00:00:00 gsd-sound
 2087 tty7     00:00:00 ibus-engine-sim
lee@linux-6y72:~>

Amlypygid · July 24, 2018, 7:25pm

@tsu2, I have not actually booted to GNOME. I do not auto-login; I simply get to the gnome greeter, where I click the little gear and select i3 as my window manager. Only then do I log in. In short, I do as you suggest already.
@anika200, I just tried killing it. I was forced out of my window manager to tty1, and when I hit ctrl+alt+f2 to switch back to i3, my computer froze up and displayed an unresponsive snapshot of tty1. I had to hard reboot.
To be clear, there is not a full gnome session on tty7. There is only the greeter with the standard login options. No windows, no workspaces.
If this is standard behavior as @anika200 says, I am a bit confused as to what benefit this provides me or anyone else.

Thank you both for the suggestions. I’m still looking for a solution.

Amlypygid · July 24, 2018, 8:18pm

Okay, I understand now why this is done. The Gnome greeter can seemingly open more than one graphics session so that more than one user can have graphics at once. I just switched to tty7 and logged into root on gnome, and it made a gnome desktop session on tty3 which I could freely switch to. I now see the use.