Diagnostic guide

Troubleshoot LinScreen screenshot capture on Wayland

Wayland capture involves LinScreen, Qt, the generic desktop portal, a desktop-specific backend and the compositor. Record each layer before changing packages.

Applies to: LinScreen 14.0.1 beta. Commands may vary by distribution. Reviewed .

1. Confirm session and application

linscreen --version
printf 'session=%s desktop=%s\n' "$XDG_SESSION_TYPE" "$XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP"
printf 'wayland=%s display=%s\n' "$WAYLAND_DISPLAY" "$DISPLAY"

Keep this output. A Wayland session normally exposes XDG_SESSION_TYPE=wayland and a Wayland socket.

2. Inspect portal services

systemctl --user status xdg-desktop-portal.service
systemctl --user --type=service | grep xdg-desktop-portal
journalctl --user -u xdg-desktop-portal.service --since "10 minutes ago"

Look for a desktop implementation such as GNOME, KDE, GTK or wlroots. The correct choice depends on the environment.

3. Verify desktop registration

test -f /usr/share/applications/org.linscreen.LinScreen.desktop
grep -E '^(Name|Exec|Icon)=' /usr/share/applications/org.linscreen.LinScreen.desktop
gtk-launch org.linscreen.LinScreen

The AppImage does not install global registration by default. The Debian package uses /usr/bin/linscreen.

4. Isolate capture mode

linscreen full --path ~/Pictures/linscreen-full.png
linscreen screen --number 0 --path ~/Pictures/linscreen-monitor.png
linscreen gui

Record which mode fails. Include display resolution, position, scale and rotation for monitor-specific problems.

5. Use the project debug helper

cmake -S . -B build-wayland-debug \
  -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug \
  -DLINSCREEN_DEBUG_CAPTURE=ON \
  -DENABLE_IMGUR=OFF
cmake --build build-wayland-debug -j"$(nproc)"
tools/wayland-capture-debug.sh build-wayland-debug

What to include in an issue

Submit the report to the official tracker. See focused notes for GNOME and KDE Plasma.