Warning: Wayland backend not built. Backend will not run

[1coconut]

Hey there

I’ve built Qtile (git) from source before - I was trying to come back to Qtile and from a fresh VM followed install instructions. (Installing through uv/pip & Git)

It seems I’ve got the required dependencies for Qtile - I also have seatd (from EPEL repo.) service running/enabled.

And these packages:

wayland-devel wayland-protocols-devel wayland-utils xorg-x11-server-Xwayland libwayland-server libwayland-client libwayland-cursor libwayland-egl wlroots

Interesting enough, Weston runs without any issue.

However, when I try to qtile start -b wayland I get an error advising Backend not built? I’m trying to decipher whether the issue is my compositor (Qtile) or something I haven’t set up correctly in user space. Read through some Github issues that are similar but not the same and double-checked for dependencies that resolved those.

Please see below:

< pip packages

< dnf packages

If someone could at least point me in the right direction; I’m having a hard-time even finding information/instructions about how to ensure Wayland backend is “built” correctly. From referencing Arch Wiki, FreeBSD, etc. it seems like I have all the components installed for Wayland protocol to function -

Probably just a skill issue - I’m sifting through Wayland docs; but most of those are aimed for devs. writing a compositor, etc.

By my understanding Fedora/CentOS/RHEL are defaulting to Wayland, why isn’t there any docs for setting up a minimal Wayland environment (outside of Gnome/KDE)?

Any advice/input would be appreciated! Thanks

[1coconut]

Update

Installing from source is a headache still (See, I had this same issue last year )

I made it further it seems, but I’m finding that although the libraries/dependencies are installed they aren’t the release/version required (stale CentOS packages)

Between Qtile, Sway, and Wayfire I haven’t been able to get the session up and running. Each of the compositors were built -

I’m getting a DRM backend error now:

My VM is using OpenGL & Virtio w/ 3D Acceleration, BIOS firmware

Conversely, did a clean install of Fedora 43 server (same VM settings but UEFI firmware) and took the same steps flawlessly - Of course, binaries are in the repo. there so it’s a breeze getting started/setup with a minimal Wayland environment.

Sidenote: I was pleasantly surprised with the DE’s / WM options in the F43 Server installer!

I understand that CentOS stream is supposed to be a segue to RHEL and leans more to enterprise/server/headless - but there’s next-to-nothing as far as other Wayland options besides GNOME/KDE it seems.

But IceWM - yeah that’s there sigh

I’ll keep scratching my head though! Reaching out to Qtile/ Wayfire respective Discord & Reddit to see if there’s any feedback for source installations or similar user experiences.