[BRLTTY] BRLTTY blocked on console while Orca is running on Wayland
Samuel Thibault
samuel.thibault at ens-lyon.org
Sat Jan 3 17:12:02 UTC 2026
Hello,
Thanks for the follow-up, I'll follow-up on the orca list.
Samuel
Elias Oltmanns, le sam. 03 janv. 2026 15:22:02 +0100, a ecrit:
> Hi Samuel,
>
> having started a discussion of this problem on the Orca mailing list, I
> double checked your previous answers on this thread and realised that I
> had not done my home work properly. Here are a few more answers to your
> helpful questions. Also, I will add the information about the call chain
> and systemd to the thread on the Orca list, so we can proceed with the
> discussion there.
>
> On 2025-12-26 at 16:01:01 (+0100), Samuel Thibault <samuel.thibault at ens-lyon.org> wrote:
> > Hello,
> > Elias Oltmanns, le sam. 20 déc. 2025 19:50:05 +0100, a ecrit:
> >> On 2025-12-20 at 01:00:18 (+0100), Samuel Thibault <samuel.thibault at ens-lyon.org> wrote:
> >> > Hello,
> >> > Elias Oltmanns, le ven. 19 déc. 2025 18:51:31 +0100, a ecrit:
> >> >> On 2025-12-19 at 14:44:27 (+0100), Samuel Thibault <samuel.thibault at ens-lyon.org> wrote:
> >> >> > Hello,
> >> >> > Elias Oltmanns, le ven. 19 déc. 2025 14:32:14 +0100, a ecrit:
> >> >> >> - Braille device responds to Orca now (as expected).
> >> >> >> - Switch to tty2 in text mode.
> >> >> >> - The braille device still shows Orcas output
> >> >> >
> >> >> > It looks like orca doesn't manage to properly claim only the VT of the
> >> >> > wayland session.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > When running inside a terminal, do you have these environment variables
> >> >> > set:
> >> >> >
> >> >> > XDG_VTNR
> >> >> >
> >> >> When I launch „terminal“ from within my GNOME session, XDG_VTNR is not
> >> >> set anymore,
> >> >
> >> > Ok, so that's why.
> >> >
> >> > Is your system using systemd? Normally it's set in the VT sessions.
> >>
> >> Yes, systemd rules them all. Still, XDG_VTNR is not set when I start
> >> terminal under Wayland.
> >> By the way, after login on the text console on tty2, XDG_VTNR is set.
> [...]
> > How is your wayland session started? Are you using e.g. lightdm, gdm,
> > something else to log in graphically, or just startx?
>
> No display manager, and sadly no startx either since GNOME has dropped
> support for X (on Arch at least). So, I simply run:
>
> $ gnome-session
>
> on tty1. For this to work I have the following config file in place:
>
> $ cat /etc/systemd/system/getty at tty1.service.d/wayland.conf
> [Service]
> Environment=XDG_SESSION_TYPE=wayland
>
> [...]
> >> >> > Please also post the content of
> >> >> >
> >> >> > /proc/1234/environ
> [...]
> >> command for testing:
> >>
> >> tr '\0' '\n' < /proc/`pidof orca`/environ
> >>
> >> Strangely enough, this results in a lot of empty lines and nothing else.
> [...]
> >> Then I tried the following:
> >> $ tr '\0' '\n' < /proc/`pidof gnome-session-init-worker`/environ | grep XDG_VTNR
> >> XDG_VTNR=1
> >
> > So somehow gnome does get the variable...
> >
> >> $ tr '\0' '\n' < /proc/`pidof gnome-shell`/environ | grep XDG_VTNR
> >
> > ... but doesn't pass it along?
> >
> > It'd be useful to see your 'ps xf' with orca to check how processes are
> > getting started, and thus see where the variable is getting dropped.
>
> With pgrep I can filter for all process whose environment contains the
> Variable XDG_VTNR:
>
> $ pgrep -af --env XDG_VTNR
> 1203 -bash
> 1310 -bash
> 1341 tmux attach
> 1493 /usr/lib/gnome-session-init-worker gnome
>
> But you made me wonder what processes are started as children of what
> parents. So, please find attached the shortened output of:
>
> $ ps -eF
>
> Please note that gnome-session-init-worker is listed with the parent PID
> 1203 (bash on tty1), so it does make sense that it inherits XDG_VTNR=1.
> A lot of the other processes, though, including gnome-session-service,
> at-spi related stuff, orca and speech-dispatcher are listed with parent
> PID 1124 (/usr/lib/systemd/systemd --user). That is why they do not have
> XDG_VTNR set.
>
> So, my question at this point is whether something can be changed in the
> way orca is launched, either making it a child of
> gnome-session-init-worker or injecting XDG_VTNR with the correct value
> in some other way.
>
> >
> >> So, gnome-shell does not have XDG_VTNR in its environment either.
> >
> > Does that file for gnome-shell contain something else than empty lines?
>
> Yes, that file makes perfect sense as a listing of environment variables
> including various XDG_ ones, but not XDG_VTNR.
>
> Best,
>
> Elias
> UID PID PPID C SZ RSS PSR STIME TTY TIME CMD
> root 1 0 0 5825 14296 1 13:19 ? 00:00:01 /usr/lib/systemd/systemd --switched-root --system --deserialize=52
> [...]
> brltty 1051 1 0 164031 16800 0 13:19 ? 00:00:00 brltty -E -n
> [...]
> root 1123 1 0 2837 7276 9 13:19 ? 00:00:00 login -- eo
> eo 1124 1 0 5580 12848 10 13:19 ? 00:00:00 /usr/lib/systemd/systemd --user
> eo 1126 1124 0 5788 4236 5 13:19 ? 00:00:00 (sd-pam)
> eo 1150 1124 0 3178 8084 6 13:19 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/tmux new-session -s auto -d
> eo 1151 1150 0 2779 7432 14 13:19 pts/0 00:00:00 -bash
> eo 1153 1124 0 2091 3928 8 13:19 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/dbus-broker-launch --scope user
> eo 1156 1153 0 1635 4640 2 13:19 ? 00:00:00 dbus-broker --log 10 --controller 9 --machine-id <xxxx> --max-bytes 100000000000000 --max-fds 25000000000000 --max-matches 5000000000
> eo 1177 1124 0 39395 4956 4 13:19 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/gpg-agent --supervised
> eo 1203 1123 0 2729 7284 10 13:19 tty1 00:00:00 -bash
> root 1257 1 0 2837 7268 8 13:19 ? 00:00:00 login -- eo
> eo 1310 1257 0 2729 9304 4 13:19 tty2 00:00:00 -bash
> eo 1341 1310 0 3040 8436 15 13:19 tty2 00:00:00 tmux attach
> [...]
> eo 1404 1150 0 2779 9404 4 13:29 pts/1 00:00:00 -bash
> [...]
> eo 1493 1203 0 40958 5832 10 13:30 tty1 00:00:00 /usr/lib/gnome-session-init-worker gnome
> eo 1513 1124 0 95197 7308 14 13:30 ? 00:00:00 /usr/lib/at-spi-bus-launcher
> eo 1514 1124 0 22252 8980 9 13:30 ? 00:00:00 /usr/lib/gnome-session-ctl --monitor
> [...]
> eo 1520 1124 0 126154 17804 0 13:30 ? 00:00:00 /usr/lib/gnome-session-service --session=gnome
> eo 1532 1124 1 2837746 193612 9 13:30 ? 00:00:05 /usr/bin/gnome-shell
> [...]
> eo 1601 1513 0 2058 3728 13 13:30 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/dbus-broker-launch --config-file=/usr/share/defaults/at-spi2/accessibility.conf --scope user
> eo 1602 1601 0 1274 3304 11 13:30 ? 00:00:00 dbus-broker --log 10 --controller 9 --machine-id <xxx> --max-bytes 100000000000000 --max-fds 6400000 --max-matches 5000000000
> [...]
> eo 1604 1124 0 42092 6940 10 13:30 ? 00:00:00 /usr/lib/at-spi2-registryd --use-gnome-session
> [...]
> eo 1920 1124 0 180287 86268 12 13:30 ? 00:00:02 orca
> [...]
> eo 2679 1124 0 133110 18220 8 13:31 ? 00:00:02 /usr/bin/speech-dispatcher -s -t 0
> eo 2680 2679 0 6981 12324 4 13:31 ? 00:00:00 /usr/lib/speech-dispatcher/speech-dispatcher-modules/sd_espeak-ng /etc/speech-dispatcher/modules/espeak-ng.conf
> eo 2686 2679 0 6973 12172 2 13:31 ? 00:00:00 /usr/lib/speech-dispatcher/speech-dispatcher-modules/sd_espeak-ng /etc/speech-dispatcher/modules/
> [...]
> eo 2899 2679 0 40726 5496 0 13:31 ? 00:00:00 /usr/lib/speech-dispatcher/speech-dispatcher-modules/sd_dummy /etc/speech-dispatcher/modules/
> eo 2907 1532 0 141682 40976 2 13:31 ? 00:00:00 /usr/bin/Xwayland :0 -rootless -noreset -accessx -core -auth /run/user/1000/.mutter-Xwaylandauth.WMGTI3 -listenfd 4 -listenfd 5 -displayfd 6 -initfd 7 -byteswappedclients -enable-ei-portal
> [...]
> eo 3880 1124 2 355728 92896 15 13:31 ? 00:00:05 /usr/bin/kgx --gapplication-service
> eo 3940 3880 0 2765 9424 6 13:31 pts/2 00:00:00 /usr/bin/bash
> [...]
> eo 4300 1404 99 3043 8312 4 13:35 pts/1 00:00:00 ps -eF
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--
Samuel
> Allez, soyez sympa ... traduisez-lui "linux"
Linux, c'est comme le miel : c'est vachement bon mais ça attire les
mouches. En plus, ça colle aux doigts et on a du mal à s'en défaire.
-+- TP in: Guide du linuxien pervers - "Barrez vous les mouches !"
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