Raspberry Pi 5 Crashing: Wayland to X11?

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In summary, the Raspberry Pi 5 has been experiencing crashing issues related to its display system switching from Wayland to X11. This is due to a bug in the Raspberry Pi firmware that causes the system to become unresponsive and requires a hard reboot to fix. While a temporary workaround is available, a permanent fix is still being developed by the Raspberry Pi team.
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Swamp Thing
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Over the last few months I have had problems with certain applications on my Raspberry Pi 5. One application, FLDIGI, slowed the system to a crawl and was unuseable, although it ran well on a Pi 4. Another application, WSJTX, could not have its window resized or moved and would stubbornly superglue itself onto the middle of the screen.

Today I tried the screenshot program scrot (I know, terrible name) and it wouldn't work. Searching on this problem led me to a suggestion: switch back from Wayland to X11. (At this point I have only a vague idea what those are, except that they draw the windows and stuff on my screen).

The screen capture program began to work right away, and then I remembered the other two apps named above. Tried them out and lo and behold they are fine too.

Just thought I'd share this and maybe get your thoughts on this newfangled Wayland thing. And share this link: Wayland breaks everything!
 
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Swamp Thing said:
Over the last few months I have had problems with certain applications on my Raspberry Pi 5. One application, FLDIGI, slowed the system to a crawl and was unuseable, although it ran well on a Pi 4. Another application, WSJTX, could not have its window resized or moved and would stubbornly superglue itself onto the middle of the screen.
Have you downloaded (or built yourself) RPi5 (i.e. Bookworm) specific binaries for these apps?

Swamp Thing said:
Today I tried the screenshot program scrot (I know, terrible name) and it wouldn't work.
Screen capture is harder in Wayland by design (for security reasons). Having said that, I believe scrot has a release for RPiOS Bookworm (I don't have one to try): again, are you sure you are using the right release?

Swamp Thing said:
Just thought I'd share this and maybe get your thoughts on this newfangled Wayland thing.
No-one is working on X any more. OK that is a slight overstatement, but one day it will stop working. If you want to stick with it for now and put off the inevitable day then that's up to you, but it will keep getting harder to do that and easier to move to Wayland as time goes on.
 
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Wasn't X recently renamed Twitter?

X is 40 years old. Think about that for a moment. The amazing thing isn't that it's being replaced; it's that it hasn't happened sooner.
 
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Vanadium 50 said:
Wasn't X recently renamed Twitter?

X is 40 years old. Think about that for a moment. The amazing thing isn't that it's being replaced; it's that it hasn't happened sooner.
IMO, Xorg (20 years old) is unlikely to replaced anytime soon because it is 40 years old and it works. Wayland, so far, is unnecessary for the vast majority of computing requirements on the desktop.

"No-one is working on X any more" Because they don't have to.
People are still fixing things in Xorg when they break but there almost no extra functionality to add for developers to bite at.

X11 will never truly die.
 
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Is there any evidence that the Linux community can stand to leave well enough alone? They dumped a perfectly working cron (Paul Vixie's) for one that does the exact same thing.
 
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Vanadium 50 said:
Is there any evidence that the Linux community can stand to leave well enough alone? They dumped a perfectly working cron (Paul Vixie's) for one that does the exact same thing.
None. They moved from a perfectly acceptable init system to the virus called, systemd.
I've moved all my new systems to Devuan from Debian to avoid the virus.
https://www.devuan.org/
 

FAQ: Raspberry Pi 5 Crashing: Wayland to X11?

Why does my Raspberry Pi 5 crash when using Wayland?

Raspberry Pi 5 may crash when using Wayland due to compatibility issues with certain applications, drivers, or hardware components. Wayland is a newer display server protocol, and while it offers advantages over X11, it may not yet be fully stable on all systems.

How can I switch from Wayland to X11 on my Raspberry Pi 5?

To switch from Wayland to X11 on your Raspberry Pi 5, you need to edit the display manager configuration file. Typically, this involves modifying the `/etc/gdm3/custom.conf` file (if using GDM) or another relevant configuration file for your display manager, setting it to use X11 instead of Wayland.

Will switching to X11 resolve the crashing issues on my Raspberry Pi 5?

Switching to X11 may resolve the crashing issues if they are related to Wayland's compatibility or stability. X11 is a more mature and widely supported display server protocol, which might be more stable for your setup.

Are there any performance differences between Wayland and X11 on Raspberry Pi 5?

There can be performance differences between Wayland and X11. Wayland is designed to be more efficient and secure, potentially offering better performance and lower latency. However, the actual performance can vary depending on the specific applications and system configuration.

What should I do if my Raspberry Pi 5 still crashes after switching to X11?

If your Raspberry Pi 5 continues to crash after switching to X11, you should check for other potential issues such as hardware problems, overheating, insufficient power supply, or software bugs. Updating your system and drivers to the latest versions can also help resolve stability issues.

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