Could not match drm and vulkan device

jb-linux · August 15, 2026, 5:57am

I was trying out a few WMs and wanted to switch back to sway, which was working fine previously, and then these messages came up after trying to login to sway, and then it kicks me back to the greeter. These 4 lines are displayed briefly after choosing sway and entering my password.

\[wlr\] \[render/vulkan/renderer.c:2540\] Could not match drm and vulkan device
\[wlr\] \[render/wlr_renderer.c:199\] Failed to create Vulkan renderer
\[wlr\] \[render/wlr_renderer.c:279\] Could not initalize renderer
\[sway/server.c:255\] Failed to create renderer

I can log in with niri or mango, but not sway.

M1 Macbook Air, Fedora 44, greetd. Anything else I could post to help let me know. Thanks in advance.

inxi output

System:
  Kernel: 7.1.6-400.asahi.fc44.aarch64+16k arch: aarch64 bits: 64
    compiler: gcc v: 16.1.1
  Desktop: niri v: N/A lm: greetd Distro: Linux Asahi Remix 44 (Forty Four)
    base: Fedora 44
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Apple product: MacBookAir10,1 v: N/A
    serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 9 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Apple model: J313 serial: <superuser required> Firmware: UEFI
    vendor: U-Boot v: 2026.04 date: 04/01/2026
Battery:
  ID-1: macsmc-battery charge: 41.5 Wh (98.9%) condition: 41.9/50 Wh (83.9%)
    health: good temp: 32.3 C volts: 12.58 min: 9 model: bq20z451
    serial: <filter> charging: status: full control: start: 100% end: 100%
    cycles: 283
CPU:
  Info: 8-core model: N/A variant-1: firestorm variant-2: icestorm bits: 64
    type: MCP arch: ARMv8 rev: 1 cache: L1: 2 MiB L2: 16 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 600 min/max: 600/2064:2988 boost: disabled cores: 1: 600
    2: 600 3: 600 4: 600 5: 600 6: 600 7: 600 8: 600 bogomips: N/A
  Features: Use -f option to see features
Graphics:
  Device-1: agx-t8103 driver: asahi v: kernel bus-ID: N/A
    chip-ID: apple:206400000
  Device-2: display-subsystem driver: apple_drm v: N/A bus-ID: N/A
    chip-ID: apple:soc
  Device-3: h7-display-pipe driver: N/A bus-ID: N/A chip-ID: apple:soc
  Display: unspecified server: X.Org v: 24.1.13 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.13
    compositor: niri driver: dri: asahi gpu: apple-dcp,apple-drm,dcp-dp-audio
    display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 2560x1600 s-dpi: 96
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 res: 2560x1600 hz: 60 dpi: 227
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 vendor: mesa v: 26.1.6 glx-v: 1.4 es-v: 3.2
    direct-render: yes renderer: Apple M1 (G13G B1) device-ID: ffffffff:ffffffff
  API: EGL Message: EGL data requires eglinfo. Check --recommends.
  Info: Tools: api: glxinfo wl: swaymsg,wlr-randr x11: xdriinfo, xdpyinfo,
    xprop, xrandr
Audio:
  Device-1: t8103-aop-audio driver: snd_soc_apple_aop bus-ID: N/A
    chip-ID: apple:audio
  Device-2: j313-macaudio driver: snd_soc_macaudio v: kernel bus-ID: N/A
    chip-ID: apple:sound
  API: ALSA v: k7.1.6-400.asahi.fc44.aarch64+16k status: kernel-api
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.6.8 status: active (process) with:
    1: pipewire-pulse status: off 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa
    type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
Network:
  Device-1: Broadcom BCM4378 802.11ax Dual Band Wireless Network Adapter
    vendor: Apple driver: brcmfmac v: kernel pcie: speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1
    bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 14e4:4425
  IF: wld0 state: up mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Broadcom BRCM4378 Bluetooth vendor: Apple driver: hci_bcm4377
    v: kernel pcie: speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: N/A bus-ID: 01:00.1
    chip-ID: 14e4:5f69
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 233.89 GiB used: 19.9 GiB (8.5%)
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Apple model: SSD AP0256Q size: 233.76 GiB
    serial: <filter> temp: 35.9 C
  ID-2: /dev/nvme0n2 vendor: Apple model: SSD AP0256Q 0ba014794024741c
    size: 3 MiB serial: <filter> temp: 35.9 C
  ID-3: /dev/nvme0n3 vendor: Apple model: SSD AP0256Q 0ba014794024741c
    size: 128 MiB serial: <filter> temp: 35.9 C
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 160.34 GiB used: 19.21 GiB (12.0%) fs: btrfs
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p6
  ID-2: /boot size: 973.4 MiB used: 569.9 MiB (58.5%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p5
  ID-3: /boot/efi size: 498.9 MiB used: 133.1 MiB (26.7%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p4
  ID-4: /home size: 160.34 GiB used: 19.21 GiB (12.0%) fs: btrfs
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p6
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 8 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -1
    file: /var/swap/swapfile
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 28.1 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Info:
  Memory: total: 8 GiB note: est. available: 7.33 GiB used: 3.31 GiB (45.2%)
  Processes: 258 Power: uptime: 16m wakeups: 0 Init: systemd v: 259
    default: graphical
  Packages: pm: rpm pkgs: N/A note: see --rpm pm: flatpak pkgs: 9 Compilers:
    clang: 22.1.8 gcc: 16.1.1 Shell: Bash v: 5.3.9 running-in: foot inxi: 3.3.41

theprogram · August 16, 2026, 6:22am

See if you can switch to a new tty with no greeter, and start sway with ‘sway’ from there.

jb-linux · August 16, 2026, 6:32am

I didn’t think of that. Unfortunately, same result, same 4 lines displayed in the tty.

anotheruser · August 16, 2026, 10:22am

probabl,y some stale bad settings left by the test runs with other window managers.
I’d always do such test with new test accounts and not the main account.
Try whether you can start sway in a new termporary account.

jb-linux · August 16, 2026, 8:39pm

I created a new test account. Same result. The mystery continues.

anotheruser · August 16, 2026, 9:01pm

Jeffrey Bruton:

Graphics:
  Device-1: agx-t8103 driver: asahi v: kernel bus-ID: N/A
    chip-ID: apple:206400000
  Device-2: display-subsystem driver: apple_drm v: N/A bus-ID: N/A
    chip-ID: apple:soc
  Device-3: h7-display-pipe driver: N/A bus-ID: N/A chip-ID: apple:soc

I have no idea what the 3rd device is.
could you pls post output of these commands:

ls -l  /dev/dri/*  

drm_info | grep -A 1 ^Node

vulkaninfo --summary

jb-linux · August 16, 2026, 9:55pm

Had to install drm_info and vulkaninfo. Here’s the results:

crw-rw----+ 1 root video  226,   1 Aug 16 13:38 /dev/dri/card1
crw-rw----+ 1 root video  226,   2 Aug 16 13:38 /dev/dri/card2
crw-rw-rw-. 1 root render 226, 128 Aug 16 14:42 /dev/dri/renderD128

/dev/dri/by-path:
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root  8 Aug 16 13:38 platform-206400000.gpu-card -> ../card1
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 13 Aug 16 13:38 platform-206400000.gpu-render -> ../renderD128
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root  8 Aug 16 13:38 platform-soc:display-subsystem-card -> ../card2
Node: /dev/dri/card2
├───Driver: apple (Apple display controller DRM driver) version 1.0.0
--
Node: /dev/dri/card1
├───Driver: asahi (Apple AGX Graphics) version 0.0.0
==========
VULKANINFO
==========

Vulkan Instance Version: 1.4.341


Instance Extensions: count = 26
-------------------------------
VK_EXT_acquire_drm_display             : extension revision 1
VK_EXT_acquire_xlib_display            : extension revision 1
VK_EXT_debug_report                    : extension revision 10
VK_EXT_debug_utils                     : extension revision 2
VK_EXT_direct_mode_display             : extension revision 1
VK_EXT_display_surface_counter         : extension revision 1
VK_EXT_headless_surface                : extension revision 1
VK_EXT_layer_settings                  : extension revision 2
VK_EXT_surface_maintenance1            : extension revision 1
VK_EXT_swapchain_colorspace            : extension revision 5
VK_KHR_device_group_creation           : extension revision 1
VK_KHR_display                         : extension revision 23
VK_KHR_external_fence_capabilities     : extension revision 1
VK_KHR_external_memory_capabilities    : extension revision 1
VK_KHR_external_semaphore_capabilities : extension revision 1
VK_KHR_get_display_properties2         : extension revision 1
VK_KHR_get_physical_device_properties2 : extension revision 2
VK_KHR_get_surface_capabilities2       : extension revision 1
VK_KHR_portability_enumeration         : extension revision 1
VK_KHR_surface                         : extension revision 25
VK_KHR_surface_maintenance1            : extension revision 1
VK_KHR_surface_protected_capabilities  : extension revision 1
VK_KHR_wayland_surface                 : extension revision 6
VK_KHR_xcb_surface                     : extension revision 6
VK_KHR_xlib_surface                    : extension revision 6
VK_LUNARG_direct_driver_loading        : extension revision 1

Instance Layers: count = 1
--------------------------
VK_LAYER_MESA_device_select Linux device selection layer 1.4.303  version 1

Devices:
========
GPU0:
	apiVersion         = 1.4.354
	driverVersion      = 26.1.6
	vendorID           = 0x10005
	deviceID           = 0x0000
	deviceType         = PHYSICAL_DEVICE_TYPE_INTEGRATED_GPU
	deviceName         = Apple M1 (G13G B1)
	driverID           = DRIVER_ID_MESA_HONEYKRISP
	driverName         = Honeykrisp
	driverInfo         = Mesa 26.1.6
	conformanceVersion = 1.4.0.0
	deviceUUID         = 95db668a-5eef-fafb-0bfa-d44184cb8c59
	driverUUID         = f0a6dc9f-d90f-6904-96c8-f58dcdb3a8b3
GPU1:
	apiVersion         = 1.4.354
	driverVersion      = 26.1.6
	vendorID           = 0x10005
	deviceID           = 0x0000
	deviceType         = PHYSICAL_DEVICE_TYPE_CPU
	deviceName         = llvmpipe (LLVM 22.1.8, 128 bits)
	driverID           = DRIVER_ID_MESA_LLVMPIPE
	driverName         = llvmpipe
	driverInfo         = Mesa 26.1.6 (LLVM 22.1.8)
	conformanceVersion = 1.3.1.1
	deviceUUID         = 6d657361-3236-2e31-2e36-000000000000
	driverUUID         = 6c6c766d-7069-7065-5555-494400000000

Seems like vulkan info hit a snag.

$ vulkaninfo --summary >> fedora-forum-3-command-outputs.txt 
WARNING: [Loader Message] Code 0 : terminator_CreateInstance: Received return code -9 from call to vkCreateInstance in ICD /usr/lib64/libvulkan_dzn.so. Skipping this driver.
WARNING: [Loader Message] Code 0 : ICD for selected physical device does not export vkGetPhysicalDeviceDisplayPlanePropertiesKHR!
WARNING: [Loader Message] Code 0 : ICD for selected physical device does not export vkGetPhysicalDeviceDisplayPropertiesKHR!

anotheruser · August 16, 2026, 10:46pm

Jeffrey Bruton:

$ vulkaninfo --summary >> fedora-forum-3-command-outputs.txt 
WARNING: [Loader Message] Code 0 : terminator_CreateInstance: Received return code -9 from call to vkCreateInstance in ICD /usr/lib64/libvulkan_dzn.so. Skipping this driver.
WARNING: [Loader Message] Code 0 : ICD for selected physical device does not export vkGetPhysicalDeviceDisplayPlanePropertiesKHR!
WARNING: [Loader Message] Code 0 : ICD for selected physical device does not export vkGetPhysicalDeviceDisplayPropertiesKHR!

I see similar warnings on x86_64, I think this is a vulkan driver for D3D12.

Does echo $WLR_RENDERER give any output?

sway -d could give some more debug info, and apparently there is also a pixman driver available?

so maybe WLR_RENDERER=pixman sway might work?

jb-linux · August 17, 2026, 12:42am

output is vulkan

There were a ton of errors. I copied the default config into ~/.config/sway, and running sway -d again launched sway within a wlr-roots window. Thinking it was possible fixed I tried logging out and in again, but same messages after the greeter. I have not set the variable to pixman sway yet. I will try that next.

jb-linux · August 17, 2026, 2:05am

I switched to a tty and ran sway -d and this is the output.

00:00:00.000 [INFO] [sway/main.c:321] Sway version 1.11
00:00:00.000 [INFO] [sway/main.c:322] wlroots version 0.19.2
00:00:00.000 [INFO] [sway/main.c:78] Linux asahi 7.1.6-400.asahi.fc44.aarch64+16k #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Wed Aug  5 22:36:47 UTC 2026 aarch64 GNU/Linux
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:94] Contents of /etc/os-release:
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:78] NAME="Fedora Linux Asahi Remix"
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:78] VERSION="44 (Forty Four)"
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:78] RELEASE_TYPE=stable
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:78] ID=fedora-asahi-remix
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:78] ID_LIKE=fedora
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:78] VERSION_ID=44
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:78] VERSION_CODENAME=""
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:78] PRETTY_NAME="Fedora Linux Asahi Remix 44 (Forty Four)"
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:78] ANSI_COLOR="0;38;2;60;110;180"
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:78] LOGO=fedora-logo-icon
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:78] CPE_NAME="cpe:/o:fedoraproject:fedora-asahi-remix:44"
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:78] DEFAULT_HOSTNAME="fedora"
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:78] HOME_URL="https://fedora-asahi-remix.org/"
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:78] DOCUMENTATION_URL="https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/fedora-asahi-remix/"
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:78] SUPPORT_URL="https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/c/neighbors/asahi/asahi-help/94"
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:78] BUG_REPORT_URL="https://bugzilla.redhat.com/"
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:78] REDHAT_BUGZILLA_PRODUCT="Fedora"
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:78] REDHAT_BUGZILLA_PRODUCT_VERSION=44
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:78] REDHAT_SUPPORT_PRODUCT="Fedora"
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:78] REDHAT_SUPPORT_PRODUCT_VERSION=44
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:94] Contents of /etc/redhat-release:
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:78] Fedora Asahi Remix release 44 (Forty Four)
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:66] LD_LIBRARY_PATH=
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:66] LD_PRELOAD=
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:66] PATH=/home/jb/.local/bin:/home/jb/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:66] SWAYSOCK=
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [sway/main.c:351] Starting sway version 1.11
00:00:00.001 [DEBUG] [sway/server.c:236] Initializing Wayland server
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [wlr] [libseat] [libseat/backend/seatd.c:64] Could not connect to socket /run/seatd.sock: No such file or directory
00:00:00.001 [INFO] [wlr] [libseat] [libseat/libseat.c:76] Backend 'seatd' failed to open seat, skipping
00:00:00.003 [INFO] [wlr] [libseat] [libseat/libseat.c:73] Seat opened with backend 'logind'
00:00:00.003 [INFO] [wlr] [backend/session/session.c:117] Successfully loaded libseat session
00:00:00.005 [DEBUG] [wlr] [backend/session/session.c:410] Ignoring '/dev/dri/card1': not a KMS device
00:00:00.007 [INFO] [wlr] [backend/backend.c:248] Found 1 GPUs
00:00:00.007 [INFO] [wlr] [backend/drm/backend.c:225] Initializing DRM backend for /dev/dri/card2 (apple)
00:00:00.007 [DEBUG] [wlr] [backend/drm/drm.c:110] Using atomic DRM interface
00:00:00.007 [INFO] [wlr] [util/env.c:9] Loading WLR_DRM_NO_MODIFIERS option: 1
00:00:00.007 [DEBUG] [wlr] [backend/drm/drm.c:127] WLR_DRM_NO_MODIFIERS set, disabling modifiers
00:00:00.007 [INFO] [wlr] [backend/drm/drm.c:310] Found 1 DRM CRTCs
00:00:00.007 [INFO] [wlr] [backend/drm/drm.c:268] Found 2 DRM planes
00:00:00.007 [INFO] [wlr] [util/env.c:25] Loading WLR_RENDERER option: vulkan
00:00:00.007 [INFO] [wlr] [render/vulkan/renderer.c:2526] The vulkan renderer is only experimental and not expected to be ready for daily use
00:00:00.007 [INFO] [wlr] [render/vulkan/renderer.c:2528] Run with VK_INSTANCE_LAYERS=VK_LAYER_KHRONOS_validation to enable the validation layer
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_KHR_device_group_creation v1
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_KHR_display v23
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_KHR_external_fence_capabilities v1
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_KHR_external_memory_capabilities v1
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_KHR_external_semaphore_capabilities v1
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_KHR_get_display_properties2 v1
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_KHR_get_physical_device_properties2 v2
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_KHR_get_surface_capabilities2 v1
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_KHR_surface v25
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_KHR_surface_maintenance1 v1
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_KHR_surface_protected_capabilities v1
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_KHR_wayland_surface v6
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_KHR_xcb_surface v6
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_KHR_xlib_surface v6
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_EXT_acquire_drm_display v1
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_EXT_acquire_xlib_display v1
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_EXT_debug_report v10
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_EXT_debug_utils v2
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_EXT_direct_mode_display v1
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_EXT_display_surface_counter v1
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_EXT_headless_surface v1
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_EXT_surface_maintenance1 v1
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_EXT_swapchain_colorspace v5
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_KHR_portability_enumeration v1
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_LUNARG_direct_driver_loading v1
00:00:00.039 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:117] Vulkan instance extension VK_EXT_layer_settings v2
00:00:00.048 [INFO] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:253] Vulkan device: 'Apple M1 (G13G B1)'
00:00:00.048 [INFO] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:254]   Device type: 'integrated'
00:00:00.048 [INFO] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:255]   Supported API version: 1.4.354
00:00:00.048 [INFO] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:256]   Driver version: 26.1.6
00:00:00.048 [INFO] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:344]   Driver name: Honeykrisp (Mesa 26.1.6)
00:00:00.048 [INFO] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:253] Vulkan device: 'llvmpipe (LLVM 22.1.8, 128 bits)'
00:00:00.048 [INFO] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:254]   Device type: 'cpu'
00:00:00.048 [INFO] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:255]   Supported API version: 1.4.354
00:00:00.048 [INFO] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:256]   Driver version: 26.1.6
00:00:00.048 [INFO] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:344]   Driver name: llvmpipe (Mesa 26.1.6 (LLVM 22.1.8))
00:00:00.048 [DEBUG] [wlr] [render/vulkan/vulkan.c:350]   Ignoring physical device "llvmpipe (LLVM 22.1.8, 128 bits)": VK_EXT_physical_device_drm not supported
00:00:00.048 [ERROR] [wlr] [render/vulkan/renderer.c:2540] Could not match drm and vulkan device
00:00:00.048 [ERROR] [wlr] [render/wlr_renderer.c:199] Failed to create a Vulkan renderer
00:00:00.048 [ERROR] [wlr] [render/wlr_renderer.c:279] Could not initialize renderer
00:00:00.048 [ERROR] [sway/server.c:255] Failed to create renderer

anotheruser · August 17, 2026, 7:01am

are you confident that your setup did run with the vulkan renderer before you started installing other window managers?

this setup is really strange – but might be normal for Asahi –
vulkaninfo reports only one real physical render device and this is confirmed by the output of ls -l /dev/dri/*
card1:

lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root  8 Aug 16 13:38 platform-206400000.gpu-card -> ../card1
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 13 Aug 16 13:38 platform-206400000.gpu-render -> ../renderD128

and there is this additional device (some kind of a gateway? ) that claims to handle drm, according to the drm_info output

/dev/dri

lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root  8 Aug 16 13:38 platform-soc:display-subsystem-card -> ../card2

Node: /dev/dri/card2
├───Driver: apple (Apple display controller DRM driver) version 1.0.0
--
Node: /dev/dri/card1
├───Driver: asahi (Apple AGX Graphics) version 0.0.0

I think sway aborts because the drm device (card2) is not the same as GPU0 reported by vulkaninfo.

This could probably work if you could somehow configure sway to select card1 as the drm device instead of card2.

jb-linux · August 17, 2026, 6:00pm

This is above my head for sure. I was running Niri and Mango just fine, and Sway was running fine before that. So, I’m not sure what happened, unfortunately. I went ahead and removed and reinstalled Fedora 44 minimal. I installed sway. It’s working. I went ahead and installed drm_info and vulkan-tools and reran all the commands you suggested in the first post for comparison. Maybe it will be helpful for someone else? I greatly appreciate the help.

ls -l  /dev/dri/*
crw-rw----+ 1 root video  226,   1 Aug 17 10:43 /dev/dri/card1
crw-rw----+ 1 root video  226,   2 Aug 17 10:43 /dev/dri/card2
crw-rw-rw-. 1 root render 226, 128 Aug 17 10:48 /dev/dri/renderD128

/dev/dri/by-path:
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root  8 Aug 17 10:40 platform-206400000.gpu-card -> ../card1
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root 13 Aug 17 10:40 platform-206400000.gpu-render -> ../renderD128
lrwxrwxrwx. 1 root root  8 Aug 17 10:40 platform-soc:display-subsystem-card -> ../card2

drm_info | grep -A 1 ^Node
Node: /dev/dri/card2
├───Driver: apple (Apple display controller DRM driver) version 1.0.0
--
Node: /dev/dri/card1
├───Driver: asahi (Apple AGX Graphics) version 0.0.0

vulkaninfo --summary
WARNING: [Loader Message] Code 0 : terminator_CreateInstance: Received return code -9 from call to vkCreateInstance in ICD /usr/lib64/libvulkan_dzn.so. Skipping this driver.
WARNING: [Loader Message] Code 0 : ICD for selected physical device does not export vkGetPhysicalDeviceDisplayPlanePropertiesKHR!
WARNING: [Loader Message] Code 0 : ICD for selected physical device does not export vkGetPhysicalDeviceDisplayPropertiesKHR!
==========
VULKANINFO
==========

Vulkan Instance Version: 1.4.341


Instance Extensions: count = 26
-------------------------------
VK_EXT_acquire_drm_display             : extension revision 1
VK_EXT_acquire_xlib_display            : extension revision 1
VK_EXT_debug_report                    : extension revision 10
VK_EXT_debug_utils                     : extension revision 2
VK_EXT_direct_mode_display             : extension revision 1
VK_EXT_display_surface_counter         : extension revision 1
VK_EXT_headless_surface                : extension revision 1
VK_EXT_layer_settings                  : extension revision 2
VK_EXT_surface_maintenance1            : extension revision 1
VK_EXT_swapchain_colorspace            : extension revision 5
VK_KHR_device_group_creation           : extension revision 1
VK_KHR_display                         : extension revision 23
VK_KHR_external_fence_capabilities     : extension revision 1
VK_KHR_external_memory_capabilities    : extension revision 1
VK_KHR_external_semaphore_capabilities : extension revision 1
VK_KHR_get_display_properties2         : extension revision 1
VK_KHR_get_physical_device_properties2 : extension revision 2
VK_KHR_get_surface_capabilities2       : extension revision 1
VK_KHR_portability_enumeration         : extension revision 1
VK_KHR_surface                         : extension revision 25
VK_KHR_surface_maintenance1            : extension revision 1
VK_KHR_surface_protected_capabilities  : extension revision 1
VK_KHR_wayland_surface                 : extension revision 6
VK_KHR_xcb_surface                     : extension revision 6
VK_KHR_xlib_surface                    : extension revision 6
VK_LUNARG_direct_driver_loading        : extension revision 1

Instance Layers: count = 1
--------------------------
VK_LAYER_MESA_device_select Linux device selection layer 1.4.303  version 1

Devices:
========
GPU0:
	apiVersion         = 1.4.354
	driverVersion      = 26.1.6
	vendorID           = 0x10005
	deviceID           = 0x0000
	deviceType         = PHYSICAL_DEVICE_TYPE_INTEGRATED_GPU
	deviceName         = Apple M1 (G13G B1)
	driverID           = DRIVER_ID_MESA_HONEYKRISP
	driverName         = Honeykrisp
	driverInfo         = Mesa 26.1.6
	conformanceVersion = 1.4.0.0
	deviceUUID         = 95db668a-5eef-fafb-0bfa-d44184cb8c59
	driverUUID         = f0a6dc9f-d90f-6904-96c8-f58dcdb3a8b3
GPU1:
	apiVersion         = 1.4.354
	driverVersion      = 26.1.6
	vendorID           = 0x10005
	deviceID           = 0x0000
	deviceType         = PHYSICAL_DEVICE_TYPE_CPU
	deviceName         = llvmpipe (LLVM 22.1.8, 128 bits)
	driverID           = DRIVER_ID_MESA_LLVMPIPE
	driverName         = llvmpipe
	driverInfo         = Mesa 26.1.6 (LLVM 22.1.8)
	conformanceVersion = 1.3.1.1
	deviceUUID         = 6d657361-3236-2e31-2e36-000000000000
	driverUUID         = 6c6c766d-7069-7065-5555-494400000000

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Could not match drm and vulkan device

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