State of Wayland & TeamViewer

DanielStm
DanielStm Posts: 224 Staff member 🤠
edited March 2022 in Linux only

Sign In with Xorg instead of WaylandSign In with Xorg instead of WaylandTL;DR:
On Wayland, currently only outgoing remote control is supported. If you need incoming remote control, you have to sign in with classic Xorg.

[Edit]
 You can also disable Wayland for gdm, as bl4ckOut pointed out in the first comment. However, note that this only allows you to connect to the login screen. When logging in, make sure to use Xorg, as shown on the right.

Background
Some people assume that TeamViewer should just work™ on Wayland, as Qt does all the work. That is partially true. The UI does not care about being started on Xorg or Wayland. But TeamViewer is deeply integrated with the system. It needs to know what kind of session it deals with, so it can handle incoming connections properly, especially if you connect to the login screen and then start a new user session. Therefore, TeamViewer knows Xorg sessions and frambuffer terminal sessions (you can connect to these). TeamViewer 13 now also knows Wayland sessions. That was the easy part.

From a developer perspective, we would be more than happy to leave the archaic X11 technology stack behind and jump on the new and shiny Wayland train. However, that is not as simple as it may seem. By design, Wayland does not provide an interface to do remote control (screen capturing, mouse and keyboard emulation). This is to keep the Wayland core lean. The idea is that the compositor provides these interfaces, which could mean that TeamViewer would have to implement different interfaces for every desktop environment we want to support. This is unfortunate, but it's even more unsatisfying that these interfaces are not available yet. The closest to having something useful is Gnome, so it is likely that it will be the first desktop where we can support Wayland.

Summary
Yes, we want full Wayland support, just as much as you, and we will work on it. Just know that it's a bit more complicated than 'just make it happen', as it is for most of the other features.

All the best,
Daniel

Linux Developer
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Answers

  • bl4ckOut
    bl4ckOut Posts: 1

    Command line way for Ubuntu 17.10:

    sudo nano /etc/gdm3/custom.conf

    uncoment "WaylandEnable=false"

    --> reboot.

  • Gianmar
    Gianmar Posts: 4

    Any new  for the Wayland support...  i hope very soon it will be  fully supported.

  • SailingSpeedy
    SailingSpeedy Posts: 3

    Can you give a rough time frame when you expect Wayland support to be in test / released?

  • DanielStm
    DanielStm Posts: 224 Staff member 🤠

    I can't. But it will definitely not happen in the next few months.

    As Ubuntu 18.04 LTS will not default to Wayland, urgency drops quite a bit.
    The remaining main target is probably Fedora. When most features are back in TV13 we can have a look if they have an interface that allows us do remote control in a sensible way.

    Best regards,

    Daniel

    Linux Developer
  • SailingSpeedy
    SailingSpeedy Posts: 3

    Thank you for the info. So it's waiting for 18.04 and all is working again.

  • Ketterer
    Ketterer Posts: 7
    Hey I was wondering if you had heard of pipewire. It may be just the thing to work on and wait till it matures (possibly contribute code up stream) and make a future proof solution
  • SailingSpeedy
    SailingSpeedy Posts: 3

    To me this sounds like something worth watching.

  • MotoTom
    MotoTom Posts: 3

    Good info, Daniel.

    I'm running Xcfe (Xubuntu 17.10) but for some reason Teamviewer thanks I'm running Wayland. There is no /etc/gdm3 folder on my system.

    When I open Teamviewer there is a box under PASSWORD that says "Wayland detected" Incoming remote control corrections will fail. Only Xorg sessions are supported.

    Any help in resolving this is greatly appreciated.

    Best,

    Tom

  • luc1971
    luc1971 Posts: 1

    I've the same problem, I've just updated Temviewer at the last version Update: 13.1.3026 and now is impossible to connect, there is a message that show that Wayland is present, but before was working without problems.

    Kubuntu 10.17

    Please HELP !!

  • jairoraiol
    jairoraiol Posts: 2

    My system is based on Debian Linux.
    It has both installed servers, Xorg and Wayland.
    When I check which one is currently running, the result is "x11".

    $ echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE
    x11

    So I'm using Xorg.
    Even so, the TV notifies Wayland's detection, and the input connections will fail.

    I believe TV is not knowing how to deal with this situation.
    Or am I missing something?

  • duaneH
    duaneH Posts: 3

    I have the same issue with Fedora 27 (32 bit).  TV was working fine with version 12 but I have to connect to PCs running version 13.  When I updated, TV starts and I get the same message about Wayland.  The input boxes to sign in are disabled.  I set the config in the gdm folder to disable Wayland but that didn't help.  I've installed XFCE and run that but same problem.

    Also, btw, the click on the Wayland message  to open in a browser complains that the default browser isn't found, listing Chrome.  But there is no Chrome for 32 bit Fedora and I'm running Firefox which is set as my default browser.

  • DanielStm
    DanielStm Posts: 224 Staff member 🤠

    @luc1971 sign in with Xorg and the message should go away.

    @MotoTom, @duaneH: Please follow the instructions in the very first paragraph and just sign in with Xorg, as shown in the screenshot. I never suggested to edit gdm configuration.

    @duaneH: If Computer&Contacts sign-in is disabled, TeamViewer is not online (yet). That is completely unrelated to Wayland. Below the wayland message, there is an online status indicator. If it is not green, you cannot sign in. If it does not come online after some seconds, try rebooting, or restarting the daemon:

    sudo teamviewer daemon restart

    @jairoraiol it is common to have both installed. Ubuntu 17.10 has. That's why the suggestion is to just sign in with Xorg.
    I don't really know how XDG and TeamViewer disagree on the session type, but I'm tempted to say XDG is wrong. If the message shown by TeamViewer was wrong, then incoming connections would still work. The detection for the message does not disable incoming connections. On Wayland, the connection would still be established, but no picture would be shown on the other side (Windows would show a world map "initializing display parametes", Linux would just show a black screen). So, if you have that effect, it is in fact Wayland.
    Also, you can open a terminal, run xkill and then click the terminal window. If it goes away, you're on Xorg.

    Regards,
    Daniel

    Linux Developer
  • duaneH
    duaneH Posts: 3

    Thanks for the reply.Daniel.

    @MotoTom, @duaneH: Please follow the instructions in the very first paragraph and just sign in with Xorg, as shown in the screenshot. I never suggested to edit gdm configuration.

    @duaneH: If Computer&Contacts sign-in is disabled, TeamViewer is not online (yet). That is completely unrelated to Wayland. Below the wayland message, there is an online status indicator. If it is not green, you cannot sign in. If it does not come online after some seconds, try rebooting, or restarting the daemon:

    sudo teamviewer daemon restart

     


    Fedora has a login "Gnome on xorg".  When I use that I still get the Wayland message as well as when I use XFCE.  In either case, loginctl shows that I'm running an x11 sessions.  

    As to the daemon,.  I restart it and it doesn't help but the status shows:

    ///////

    systemctl status teamviewerd.service
    ● teamviewerd.service - TeamViewer remote control daemon
    Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/teamviewerd.service; enabled; vendor preset: disabled)
    Active: active (running) since Wed 2018-04-04 11:11:43 EDT; 1min 11s ago
    Process: 2453 ExecStart=/opt/teamviewer/tv_bin/teamviewerd -d (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
    Main PID: 2455 (teamviewerd)
    Tasks: 13 (limit: 4915)
    CGroup: /system.slice/teamviewerd.service
    └─2455 /opt/teamviewer/tv_bin/teamviewerd -d

    Apr 04 11:11:43 localhost.localdomain systemd[1]: Starting TeamViewer remote control daemon...
    Apr 04 11:11:43 localhost.localdomain systemd[1]: teamviewerd.service: PID file /var/run/teamviewerd.pid not readable (yet?) after start: No such file or directory
    Apr 04 11:11:43 localhost.localdomain systemd[1]: Started TeamViewer remote control daemon.

    ////

     

    Not sure what the "No such file or directory" is about.  

     

     

  • jairoraiol
    jairoraiol Posts: 2
    edited April 2021

    Thank you for responding DanielStm.

    In the terminal test the window went away, so I'm using Xorg.

    It is not possible to perform the input test because the fields "Your ID" and "Password" are empty.

    Also it was not possible to perform exit test, because when I click on the button "Connect" nothing happens, and no message appears.

    The GUI is also strange. For example, the "Connect" button is empty, and I also could not close the TV.

    The programs "teamviewerd" and "TeamViewer" are running.

    I tested the **third party content** program and worked normally on the same system, both in the input and output.

    My system is based on Debin Linux Buster 32 bit.

  • MotoTom
    MotoTom Posts: 3

    Unfortunately Xubunutu (Xfce implimentation of Ubuntu) does not offer the Xorg log on option. I'm going to try another distro that should run on this relatively low-powered netbook (Atom N270 with 2GB RAM)  

  • duane
    duane Posts: 7
    edited April 2021
    @jairoraiolwrote:

    Thank you for responding DanielStm.

    In the terminal test the window went away, so I'm using Xorg.

    It is not possible to perform the input test because the fields "Your ID" and "Password" are empty.

    Also it was not possible to perform exit test, because when I click on the button "Connect" nothing happens, and no message appears.

    The GUI is also strange. For example, the "Connect" button is empty, and I also could not close the TV.

    The programs "teamviewerd" and "TeamViewer" are running.

    I tested the **third party content** and worked normally on the same system, both in the input and output.

    My system is based on Debin Linux Buster 32 bit.

    Same GUI issues here with Fedora 27 32 bit.   TV 12 worked ok.  

  • xlow
    xlow Posts: 1

    Exactly same issue on Lubuntu. TV 13 all of the sudden stopped working altogether. TV 12 was working flawlessly.

  • duaneH
    duaneH Posts: 3
    @xlow wrote:

    Exactly same issue on Lubuntu. TV 13 all of the sudden stopped working altogether. TV 12 was working flawlessly.

    FWIW, my installation of Fedora 27 32 bit is on a virtual machine (Oracle virtual box).  For a test I made another VM with Fedora 27 64 bit.  This one worked fine.  With XFCE, it detects that there's no Wayland and there is no issue with connections.  It may be an issue with the 32 bit version.

    This is a pretty basic installation though so it may just be chance that it works.

  • MotoTom
    MotoTom Posts: 3

    Found a distro that works well for my needs, Linux Lite, a Ubuntu derivative currently based on Ubntu 16.04. It offers TeamViewer in its base repository and TV13 runs as it should. The only issue I had to deal with getting Filezilla v25 or newer to run and that was pretty easy to do by downloading from the Filezilla site and finding a few dependencies.

    I'm back to being a happy TV users,

  • Markor
    Markor Posts: 1

    Hi,

    Can you please fix your Teamviewer for Linux binaries, distributing for 32-bit .deb package (Xubuntu 18.04 here).

    Even there are some Wayland libraries present, Xubuntu is clearly using Xorg and NOT Wayland as suggested in this post.

    It behaves same as described, Teamviewer is currently broken application under (X)Ubuntu , it does not display text on the 'Connect' button and also does not recognize system is running Xorg and not Wayland, so Teamviewer does not recognize what it is running on!

    I can close window with xkill and it IS Xorg, yet Teamviewer 13 does not recognize that and I am unable to do my job using Teamviewer because of this...

  • DanielStm
    DanielStm Posts: 224 Staff member 🤠

    Hi @Markor, that problem is discussed here: Faulty Wayland detection.

    Daniel

    Linux Developer
  • neutravlad
    neutravlad Posts: 1

    FIXED!

    Hello,

    I installed Lubuntu 18.04 32bit with the default setting and everything. I installed Teamviewer for personal use (latest version as of 05/22/2018). Of course I got the dreadful message.

    I don't have /etc/gdm3... So I am not sure if I can disable Wayland - I don't know if I even have Wayland. 

    Anyway, I installed and configured Teamviewer through the terminal: How-to-install-TeamViewer-through terminal.

    Works like a charm now. The GUI Teamviewer still has the message and doesn't show the logged in profile. But somehow the non-gui process is working :)

    Best,

    Vlad

  • oldosisbest
    oldosisbest Posts: 2

    @neutravlad you just saved my time. I have Lubuntu 18.04 32-bit too and your method works! thanks so much!!!

  • flotux
    flotux Posts: 1

    Is the wayland problem with 32 Bit Linux fixed with the brand new version 13.1.8286?

  • DanielStm
    DanielStm Posts: 224 Staff member 🤠

    As discussed here, Faulty Wayland detection, it was not really related to Wayland, and yes is fixed.

    Linux Developer
  • Ketterer
    Ketterer Posts: 7

    I was wondering, with the upcoming release of tv 14 Is there any update on how wayland support is comming along.
    I think that this is one of the biggest hold overs for the future of Teamvewer on linux.

    I am curious if there is prgress being made or if a solution has been at least theorized if it isnt implemented yet.

     

  • kode54
    kode54 Posts: 17

    TV 14 has come and already progressed to a 14.1 preview, and even though PipeWire is already a thing, and at least GNOME supports its own remote desktop functionality using PipeWire, Teamviewer’s Wayland support is still dead in the water, and probably will remain that way for the indefinite future. I mean, **bleep**, if they can’t even get Xorg support right with their native client and server, how can they be expected to ever support Wayland? I try to host a TV 14 server on my desktop, and on either Linux or Windows clients, the session always freezes on the client side within a few seconds of connecting. Utter rubbish. And they constantly email me to ask me to subscribe to the paid service? Fuggedaboudit.

  • kubrick
    kubrick Posts: 2
    edited March 2022

    @kode54 wrote:

     I mean, **bleep**, if they can’t even get Xorg support right with their native client and server, how can they be expected to ever support Wayland?

    In the end, Wayland / Pipewire should be / will be a lot more straightforward, secure and less hacky than X11. It's maintaining both that **bleep**. Also, pipewire has "been around" for a bit but it hasn't really made it in any usable form to any major distribution and we'll probably have to wait for Ubuntu 20.04 for companies to consider it sable, so don't hold your breath.

    Linux is a tiny fraction of the user base, and linux excluding ubuntu LTS is a fraction of that fraction.

    I really hope that pipewire support in TV comes quickly though :-)

  • jelabarre59
    jelabarre59 Posts: 25

    To be fair to the TeamViewer folks, Wayland has been a disaster ever since it was introduced.  They have shoved it out the door with only a bare minimum of the functionality X11 has, and mumble feeble excuses that either 1: "You don't need that" or 2: "we can figure that bit out in the next 5 years (or maybe 10)".  Wayland has proven to be sorely inadequate to the task it claims to be a drop-in replacement for.

    Between Wayland, Gnome3, SystemD, etc, it would almost seem like a subversive effort to saddle Linux with all the broken-ness of MSWindows.

  • kubrick
    kubrick Posts: 2

    Oh yes, I was so much better on X11 when app can just capture the screen, no questions asked... If you think that's not fixing a real problem and not even a real step ahead of some other OSes: see this problem on mac

    It's not because that you have expectations as a user that it's not just because you got used to bad behaviour and design.

    There is no question that Wayland is far superior than X11, same debate with systemd, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_AIw9bGogo

    @jelabarre59 wrote:

    To be fair to the TeamViewer folks, Wayland has been a disaster ever since it was introduced.  They have shoved it out the door with only a bare minimum of the functionality X11 has, and mumble feeble excuses that either 1: "You don't need that" or 2: "we can figure that bit out in the next 5 years (or maybe 10)".  Wayland has proven to be sorely inadequate to the task it claims to be a drop-in replacement for.

    Between Wayland, Gnome3, SystemD, etc, it would almost seem like a subversive effort to saddle Linux with all the broken-ness of MSWindows.

     

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