Ghostty crashes on WSL2 with OpenGL context failure

[kilos-sa]

Issue Description

Issue Details
Title: Ghostty crashes on WSL2 with segmentation fault during OpenGL rendering
Description:
Ghostty builds successfully and initializes properly, but crashes with a segmentation fault immediately after creating a window and starting the shell. The crash occurs during the first OpenGL render frame.
Environment:

• OS: Arch Linux WSL2 (WSL2_GUI_APPS_ENABLED=1)
• Kernel: 6.6.87.2-microsoft-standard-WSL2
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (Driver 595.71, CUDA 13.2)
• Mesa: 26.0.2-1
• libglvnd: 1.7.0-3
• Ghostty: 1.3.2-main+44f403bfe
• WSLg: 1.0.71
  Reproduction:

1. Run ghostty in Arch Linux WSL2
2. Ghostty initializes, loads OpenGL 4.5, shell starts
3. Process crashes with segfault
   Workarounds Attempted:

• GDK_BACKEND=x11 - no effect
• EGL_PLATFORM=glx - no effect
• LIBGL_ALWAYS_SOFTWARE=1 - no effect
• Removing mesa/libglvnd - breaks EGL entirely
  Key Observations:
• Weston logs show ghostty successfully connects and creates windows (WindowId assigned)
• EGL fails to create DRI screen: "DRI3 error: Could not get DRI3 device"
• OpenGL 4.5 loads successfully but rendering causes crash
• Other terminals (alacritty, kitty) reportedly work in same environment

Expected Behavior

Expected behavior: Ghostty should display a working terminal window with:

• A visible terminal interface with your shell (zsh)
• Ability to type commands
• Proper rendering of text, fonts, colors
• Responsive cursor and UI

Actual Behavior

Ghostty builds successfully and creates windows in WSLg, but crashes with a segmentation fault during OpenGL rendering. The crash occurs immediately after the window is created and the shell starts.

Reproduction Steps

Environment

• OS: Arch Linux on WSL2 (WSL2_GUI_APPS_ENABLED=1)
• Kernel: 6.6.87.2-microsoft-standard-WSL2
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (Driver 595.71, CUDA 13.2)
• Mesa: 26.0.2-1
• libglvnd: 1.7.0-3
• Ghostty: 1.3.2-main (commit 44f403b)
• WSLg: 1.0.71

Steps to Reproduce

1. Run ghostty in Arch Linux WSL2 environment
2. Ghostty initializes, loads OpenGL 4.5
3. Shell starts successfully
4. Crash occurs during rendering (segmentation fault)

Expected Behavior

Ghostty should display a working terminal window

Actual Behavior

info(opengl): loaded OpenGL 4.5
info(io_exec): started subcommand path=/bin/sh pid=XXXXX
[process crashes with segfault]

Workaround

Running with GDK_BACKEND=x11 and EGL_PLATFORM=glx does not prevent the crash.

Analysis

• Weston log shows ghostty windows ARE being created successfully (WindowId assigned)
• The crash occurs after window creation, during the first render frame
• glxinfo reports direct rendering with llvmpipe
• EGL initialization succeeds but DRI screen creation fails with:

  libEGL warning: DRI3 error: Could not get DRI3 device
  MESA: error: ZINK: failed to choose pdev
  

Additional Context

• Other GTK apps (gedit, nautilus) may work in WSLg
• Other terminals (alacritty, kitty) reportedly work in this environment
• The crash is consistent and reproducible

Suggested Tags

platform-linux, graphics-opengl, crash, wsl2

Ghostty Logs

Ghostty Logs

info: ghostty version=1.3.2-main+44f403bfe
info: ghostty build optimize=ReleaseFast
info: runtime=.gtk
info: font_backend=.fontconfig_freetype
info: dependency harfbuzz=11.0.0
info: dependency fontconfig=21402
info: renderer=renderer.generic.Renderer(renderer.OpenGL)
info: libxev default backend=io_uring
info(os_locale): setlocale after unset lang result=C
warning(os_locale): setlocale failed with LANG and system default. Falling back to en_US.UTF-8
warning(os_locale): setlocale failed even with the fallback, uncertain results
info(gtk): GTK version build=4.20.3 runtime=4.20.3
info(gtk): libadwaita version build=1.8.4 runtime=1.8.4
warning: error reading optional config file, not loading err=error.FileIsEmpty path=/root/.config/ghostty/config.ghostty
info(config): default shell src=passwd value=/usr/sbin/zsh
info(config): default working directory src=passwd value=/root
warning(gtk_ghostty_application): setting GDK_DEBUG=
warning(gtk_ghostty_application): setting GDK_DISABLE=gles-api,vulkan
libEGL warning: DRI3 error: Could not get DRI3 device
libEGL warning: Ensure your X server supports DRI3 to get accelerated rendering
info(opengl): loaded OpenGL 4.5
info(io_exec): found Ghostty resources dir: /usr/share/ghostty
info(io_exec): shell integration automatically injected shell=.zsh
warning(gtk_ghostty_application): unimplemented action=.cell_size
info(io_exec): started subcommand path=/bin/sh pid=58462
[process then crashes with segfault]

### Ghostty Version

```text
Ghostty 1.3.2-main+44f403bfe
Version: 1.3.2-main+44f403bfe
Channel: tip
Zig: 0.15.2
Build: ReleaseFast
Runtime: .gtk
Renderer: renderer.OpenGL
GTK: 4.20.3
libadwaita: 1.8.4

OS Version Information

arch linux

(Linux only) Display Server

X11

(Linux only) Desktop Environment/Window Manager

wsl2/wslg

Minimal Ghostty Configuration

➜  ghostty git:(main) ✗ cat  ~/.config/ghostty/config.ghostty
# Config generated by Ghostty Config

theme = Rose Pine Moon
background = 000000
background-opacity = 0.85
background-blur = false
confirm-close-surface=false

shell-integration-features = no-cursor,no-sudo,no-title
gtk-titlebar = false

# what is a prefix?
# keybind = ctrl+d=scroll_page_fractional:0.5
# keybind = ctrl+u=scroll_page_fractional:-0.5

# Disable Ctrl+Enter fullscreen keybind
keybind = ctrl+enter=unbind

Additional Relevant Configuration

No response

I acknowledge that:

• I have reviewed the FAQ and confirm that my issue is NOT among them.
• I have searched the Ghostty repository (both open and closed Discussions and Issues) and confirm this is not a duplicate of an existing issue or discussion.
• I have checked the "Preview" tab on all text fields to ensure that everything looks right, and have wrapped all configuration and code in code blocks with a group of three backticks (```) on separate lines.

[mitchellh]

Not a supported platform, good luck!