From 58b27acbd51da64e10ce2122104c745be1bb7ec7 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: enricobuehler <buehler@unom.io>
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2026 11:06:55 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] fix(vdisplay/session): scrub the dead desktop's
 WAYLAND_DISPLAY from the user-manager env
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settle_desktop_portal pushes the live desktop's WAYLAND_DISPLAY into the
systemd --user manager (import-environment) so a re-activated portal inherits
the right session — but the import PERSISTS after that desktop dies. Every
later user unit then inherits the stale socket, including
gamescope-session.target: gamescope sees WAYLAND_DISPLAY, runs NESTED, and
aborts with "Failed to connect to wayland socket: wayland-0" — observed live
on a Deck, where Game Mode could not start at all (autologin crash-looped)
until the var was unset by hand.

Two-layer fix, mirroring the protection launch_session already gives its
transient unit:
- observe_session_instance: when a desktop compositor instance goes away,
  unset WAYLAND_DISPLAY/DISPLAY from the manager env (a desktop bounce is
  harmless — the next portal settle re-imports).
- write_steamos_dropin: UnsetEnvironment=DISPLAY WAYLAND_DISPLAY on the
  takeover drop-in, unit-scoped belt-and-suspenders for host-initiated
  restarts.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
---
 .../src/vdisplay/linux/gamescope.rs           |  7 +++++-
 crates/pf-vdisplay/src/vdisplay/session.rs    | 24 +++++++++++++++++++
 2 files changed, 30 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/crates/pf-vdisplay/src/vdisplay/linux/gamescope.rs b/crates/pf-vdisplay/src/vdisplay/linux/gamescope.rs
index 38279404..b8a3ec19 100644
--- a/crates/pf-vdisplay/src/vdisplay/linux/gamescope.rs
+++ b/crates/pf-vdisplay/src/vdisplay/linux/gamescope.rs
@@ -630,12 +630,17 @@ fn write_steamos_dropin(shim_dir: &std::path::Path, mode: Mode) -> Result<()> {
     if let Some(parent) = path.parent() {
         std::fs::create_dir_all(parent).with_context(|| format!("mkdir {}", parent.display()))?;
     }
+    // UnsetEnvironment: the same headless-must-not-attach armor `launch_session` gives its
+    // transient unit — the manager env can carry a stale desktop DISPLAY/WAYLAND_DISPLAY (from a
+    // portal settle), and gamescope would abort trying to attach to it instead of becoming the
+    // display server. Unit-scoped belt-and-suspenders on top of the observe_session_instance scrub.
     let body = format!(
         "[Service]\n\
          Environment=PATH={shim}:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/local/bin\n\
          Environment=PF_W={w}\n\
          Environment=PF_H={h}\n\
-         Environment=PF_HZ={hz}\n",
+         Environment=PF_HZ={hz}\n\
+         UnsetEnvironment=DISPLAY WAYLAND_DISPLAY\n",
         shim = shim_dir.display(),
         w = mode.width,
         h = mode.height,
diff --git a/crates/pf-vdisplay/src/vdisplay/session.rs b/crates/pf-vdisplay/src/vdisplay/session.rs
index 1253e63c..3a27b5b4 100644
--- a/crates/pf-vdisplay/src/vdisplay/session.rs
+++ b/crates/pf-vdisplay/src/vdisplay/session.rs
@@ -57,6 +57,13 @@ pub fn observe_session_instance(active: &ActiveSession) {
                 if let Some(old) = compositor_for_kind(prev.0) {
                     registry::invalidate_backend(old.id());
                 }
+                // The dead desktop's socket vars may still sit in the systemd --user manager env
+                // ([`settle_desktop_portal`]'s import-environment) — scrub them NOW, or the next
+                // `gamescope-session.target` start inherits a stale WAYLAND_DISPLAY and gamescope
+                // runs NESTED against the dead desktop socket instead of becoming the display
+                // server ("Failed to connect to wayland socket: wayland-0" — kept a Deck's Game
+                // Mode from starting at all, observed live 2026-07-21).
+                scrub_desktop_manager_env();
             }
             let epoch = bump_session_epoch();
             tracing::info!(
@@ -70,6 +77,23 @@ pub fn observe_session_instance(active: &ActiveSession) {
     *last = Some(cur);
 }
 
+/// Counterpart to [`settle_desktop_portal`]'s `import-environment`: drop the desktop session's
+/// socket vars from the systemd `--user` manager env once that desktop instance is GONE. They
+/// persist in the manager otherwise, and every later user unit inherits them — including
+/// `gamescope-session.target`, whose gamescope then aborts trying to attach to the dead desktop
+/// socket. Best-effort; the D-Bus activation env has no unset op, but gamescope-session is
+/// systemd-started, so the manager scrub is the one that matters. (A desktop restart re-imports
+/// via the next [`settle_desktop_portal`], so scrubbing on a bounce is harmless.)
+#[cfg(target_os = "linux")]
+fn scrub_desktop_manager_env() {
+    let _ = std::process::Command::new("systemctl")
+        .args(["--user", "unset-environment", "WAYLAND_DISPLAY", "DISPLAY"])
+        .status();
+}
+
+#[cfg(not(target_os = "linux"))]
+fn scrub_desktop_manager_env() {}
+
 /// Is `kind` a **desktop** compositor (KWin / Mutter / wlroots) — one whose kept PipeWire outputs die
 /// with the compositor instance, so the session epoch tracks it? `Gaming` (gamescope) and `None` are
 /// not (gamescope spawns are independent nested sessions — see [`observe_session_instance`]).