🟡 Medium   ⏱ 5–30 min  Last verified: 19 May 2026

📖 ~1 min read

Table of contents
  1. Symptom & Impact
  2. Environment & Reproduction
  3. Root Cause Analysis
  4. Quick Triage
  5. Step-by-Step Diagnosis
  6. Solution – Primary Fix
  7. Solution – Alternative Approaches
  8. Verification & Acceptance Criteria
  9. Rollback Plan
  10. Prevention & Hardening
  11. Related Errors & Cross-Refs
  12. References & Further Reading

Symptom & Impact

After entering credentials, session returns to login screen. Desktop cannot be accessed, blocking local administration.

Environment & Reproduction

Ubuntu 22.04 desktop with GDM3 and GNOME. Common after disk-full events, driver changes, or broken home directory permissions.

Root Cause Analysis

Corrupt user session cache, wrong ownership of home files, or display stack mismatch prevents user session startup.

Quick Triage

Switch to TTY with Ctrl+Alt+F3, log in, and check disk space, permissions, and recent package changes.

Step-by-Step Diagnosis

Inspect ~/.xsession-errors, journalctl -u gdm -b, and verify home ownership using ls -ld /home/. Check GPU logs for display failures.

Illustrative mockup for ubuntu-22-04-lts — ubuntu2204-common-problem-07-login-loop-01.webp
GNOME login loop returns to GDM after password entry. — Illustrative mockup — Progressive Robot

Solution – Primary Fix

Restore ownership with sudo chown -R : /home/, remove bad session cache files, and reinstall gdm3 if required.

Still having issues? Our IT Solutions & Services team can diagnose and resolve this for you. Get in touch for a free consultation.

Illustrative mockup for ubuntu-22-04-lts — ubuntu2204-common-problem-07-login-loop-02.webp
Fix ownership and session files to restore desktop login. — Illustrative mockup — Progressive Robot

Solution – Alternative Approaches

Temporarily switch display manager or create a clean test user to isolate profile-specific issues.

Verification & Acceptance Criteria

User can log in successfully to GNOME, session remains stable, and no recurring GDM errors appear in logs.

Rollback Plan

Revert display manager package changes and restore user config files from backup if new issues appear.

Prevention & Hardening

Maintain free disk space thresholds, avoid abrupt shutdowns, and track desktop package updates through staged rollouts.

Failed to start session, gdm-password errors, Permission denied writing user session files.

Related tutorial: View the step-by-step tutorial for Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.

View all Ubuntu 22.04 LTS tutorials on the Tutorials Hub →

Browse all common problems & solutions on the Tutorials Hub.

References & Further Reading

Ubuntu desktop troubleshooting docs, GDM administration guide, GNOME session logs reference.

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