Hello,
I’m encountering a specific and consistent issue with Ubuntu Desktop virtual machines on Incus 6.17 where the graphical interface loads but then completely freezes after a short time.
My Setup:
- Host: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and 25.10
- Incus: 6.17 (from Zabbly)
The Specific Problem:
I launch the VMs from the official images like this:
incus launch images:ubuntu/noble/desktop noble-vm --vm
The VM starts correctly. I can see the boot process in the console, and the GNOME desktop environment does load. I can see the desktop. However, after a few milliseconds, the entire GUI freezes. The mouse and keyboard become unresponsive, and the screen is stuck.
Key Details & Comparison:
- The console (
incus console <vm>) remains perfectly responsive. - This happens with all recent Ubuntu Desktop images I’ve tried:
ubuntu/jammy/desktop(22.04)ubuntu/noble/desktop(24.04)ubuntu/plucky/desktop(25.04 daily)
- For comparison, an openSUSE KDE VM (
images:opensuse/15.5/desktop-kde) works flawlessly with no freezing, which rules out a general SPICE/VirtIO problem with my host.
This suggests a specific incompatibility between the Ubuntu Desktop images and the Incus VM configuration.
My Question:
Has anyone else experienced this exact behavior—where the Ubuntu Desktop GUI loads but then hard-freezes—while the VM itself is still running? Were you able to find a solution, such as a specific driver, profile setting, or kernel parameter that resolves the stability issue?
Any help or pointers would be greatly appreciated!