Switching from Wayland to X11
Why Switch to X11?
Wayland is the default display server on most modern Linux distributions. However, certain applications -- particularly screen capture, remote desktop, and low-latency video tools -- may require X11 (Xorg) for full functionality. If you experience issues with screen sharing or video capture in VDO, switching to X11 is often the fix.
Check Your Current Display Server
Open a terminal and run:
echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE
This will return either wayland or x11.
RHEL 8 / 9 (AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, CentOS Stream)
GNOME (Default Desktop)
Option A: Switch at Login (Per-Session)
- Log out to the GDM login screen.
- Select your user.
- Click the gear icon (bottom-right of the password field).
- Choose GNOME on Xorg (RHEL 8) or Standard (X11 display server) (RHEL 9).
- Enter your password and log in.
This only affects the current session. Next time you log in, you can choose again.
Option B: Force X11 System-Wide
Edit the GDM configuration:
sudo vi /etc/gdm/custom.conf
Under the [daemon] section, add or uncomment:
[daemon]
WaylandEnable=false
DefaultSession=gnome-xorg.desktop
Then restart the display manager: