My chimaera install issues #9: meld'ing as root gives errors

einpoklum · 2021-07-23 07:25:49

(This is part of a series of posts following my installation of Devuan Chimaera; for more information see the first post).

After installation, when I log in as the user created during installation, with the Cinnamon desktop environment, and perform the following:

1. Open a terminal
2. becoming root with su.
3. Make sure meld is installed: apt install meld.
3. Choose two different and not-so-small text files, say a and b.
4. Execute meld a b.

... the meld program runs, but I get:

Error creating proxy: The connection is closed (g-io-error-quark, 18)
Error creating proxy: The connection is closed (g-io-error-quark, 18)
Error creating proxy: The connection is closed (g-io-error-quark, 18)
Error creating proxy: The connection is closed (g-io-error-quark, 18)
Error creating proxy: The connection is closed (g-io-error-quark, 18)
(org.gnome.meld:29135): Gtk-CRITICAL **: 10:22:54.933: gtk_box_gadget_distribute: assertion 'size >= 0' failed in GtkScrollbar
2021-07-23 10:22:54,934 CRITICAL Gtk: 
(org.gnome.meld:29135): Gtk-CRITICAL **: 10:22:54.933: gtk_box_gadget_distribute: assertion 'size >= 0' failed in GtkScrollbar
2021-07-23 10:22:54,934 CRITICAL Gtk:

with the latter line repeated many many times.

These errors do not appear when I run meld as the non-root user.

(Next post in the series: Issue #10)

Last edited by einpoklum (2021-07-25 05:01:49)

fsmithred · 2021-07-23 11:16:56

See the release notes for devuan beowulf or debian buster to read about changes in the behavior of su and how to revert it. It's also in 'man su'.

einpoklum · 2021-07-23 11:29:21

So, changing the su behavior fixes the latter errors, but not the former. But how are those Gtk-CRITICAL errors even related to one's path?

fsmithred · 2021-07-23 11:31:51

I don't know about the gtk errors. I see them frequently when I start graphical apps from a terminal, and I have been mostly ignoring them for years.

einpoklum · 2021-07-23 12:22:43

:-(

... just tell me if you think it's a meld issue or something about the configuration of everything else; and whether you believe Debian would exhibit the same behavior. In both the first and the third case I'll reportbug about meld.

fsmithred · 2021-07-24 11:50:18

I think it's a gtk3 issue, not necessarily meld. See if changing the desktop theme makes a difference. Since it mentions the scrollbar, maybe try installing or uninstalling gtk3-nooverlayscrollbar or gtk3-nocsd.

einpoklum · 2021-07-25 05:18:51

fsmithred: There are lots of theme components and a bunch of themes. And un/installing these packages doesn't seem to make a difference. Which gtk3 package would you suggest reportbug'ing?

xinomilo · 2021-07-25 11:38:37

instead of su + command, try `sudo command` . seen no such errors with that.
as for the error, (iirc it's the same in debian, but) don't know the exact source, could be su, could be gtk, could be dbus..

edit] eg. kde has kdesu to run kde apps from cli.. don't know if gnome/cinnamon/gtk based DEs have something similar..

Last edited by xinomilo (2021-07-25 11:40:06)

fsmithred · 2021-07-25 12:04:50

It might be a mismatch between versions of meld and gtk3. That's not a surprise, because gtk3 devs are notorious for changing APIs with every minor version, repeatedly causing problems for app developers.

Searching for one of the error messages, I found this:
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/meld/-/issues/224

If meld is working, I would ignore the error messages.

BTW, I can get the same "Error creating proxy..." message running meld as root from terminal in debian with cinnamon desktop.

Try xinomilo's suggestions. There's also probably a way to do it with pkexec, but I don't know how to do that.

einpoklum · 2021-07-25 17:31:26

xinomilo wrote:

instead of su + command, try `sudo command` . seen no such errors with that.

The point is not me; I can manage (e.g. just ignore the errors). The point is trying to resolve this in the distribution, or the upstream package...

Also, personally, I run sessions as root with more than a single command, so `sudo` every time is annoying...

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#1 2021-07-23 07:25:49

My chimaera install issues #9: meld'ing as root gives errors

#2 2021-07-23 11:16:56

Re: My chimaera install issues #9: meld'ing as root gives errors

#3 2021-07-23 11:29:21

Re: My chimaera install issues #9: meld'ing as root gives errors

#4 2021-07-23 11:31:51

Re: My chimaera install issues #9: meld'ing as root gives errors

#5 2021-07-23 12:22:43

Re: My chimaera install issues #9: meld'ing as root gives errors

#6 2021-07-24 11:50:18

Re: My chimaera install issues #9: meld'ing as root gives errors

#7 2021-07-25 05:18:51

Re: My chimaera install issues #9: meld'ing as root gives errors

#8 2021-07-25 11:38:37

Re: My chimaera install issues #9: meld'ing as root gives errors

#9 2021-07-25 12:04:50

Re: My chimaera install issues #9: meld'ing as root gives errors

#10 2021-07-25 17:31:26

Re: My chimaera install issues #9: meld'ing as root gives errors

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