freia desktop-live test iso

fsmithred · 2026-11-02 19:46:38

greenjeans, as I understand it, that mess in the .desktop file only runs the first time you boot. After that, the correct background is set. Of course, that only counts if you install it. With the live iso, every time you boot it is the first boot.

Ron · 2026-11-02 19:59:51

FTR, every time I've booted, including the time with Xfce before I added Mate, I get a blue Devuan wallpaper.

greenjeans · 2026-11-02 23:43:14

Posting from live-session now, a few things I noticed:

1. the Mate .desktop for the polkit is still in /etc/xdg/autostart, so it still tries to start it up. need to chunk that now that you're using xfce-polkit, yes?

2. The file chooser dialog when opened was too long for my 1366x768 laptop screen, the bottom extended down past the screen so the cancel and open buttons are hidden from view, I grabbed a drag-handle and re-sized it and after that it respected my setting. Maybe set it's initial size a little smaller?

3. Potential issue with ~/.xsession-errors. Previously the file re-cycled itself each session, deleting old backup and making a new backup and new current. In this system instead of re-cycling it just appends the current session to the file, so nothing ever gets deleted. This could make for a very large file for a user that re-boots everyday and sometimes several times in a day. It's especially bad with the current theme as it generates around 270 lines of gtk theme parsing errors on every new session (just deprecation warnings, everything works okay). So i'm up to about 2000 lines in that file with 5 logins. Maybe need to go back to re-cycling? Or even just delete the current one when you shut down maybe?

Yeah the boot into live-session worked fine with the wallpaper, just slow to load that first time. And it did run just the first login, after that no more and I even trashed those two autostart files after a couple of logouts and and it didn't need them anymore, wallpaper showed up every time.

Seems like some issue with the live-session, something either missing or shouldn't be there, maybe in the config file and needing to be re-genned with a new detection which seems like that's what the special autostart does one time. Solved my issue a while back pretty much the same way. I'd just leave it, it's doing a good job. Seems like a good way to make a first-run script too, offering to set some things up for the user might be nice.

EDIT: It's also giving me an error on boot-up about colord, and errors in the session log when I try to use the "Color Profiles" menu entry:

(xfce4-color-settings:25106): xfce4-color-settings-WARNING **: 00:05:17.017: failed to connect to colord: Error calling StartServiceByName for org.freedesktop.ColorManager: Failed to setup environment correctly

Last edited by greenjeans (Yesterday 00:11:58)

Altoid · Yesterday 01:52:19

Hello:

greenjeans wrote:

... instead of re-cycling it just appends the current session ...
... nothing ever gets deleted. This could make for a very large file ...

Indeed ...
I have seen huge GB sized [.xsession-errors] files.

But recycling the file means that you will not have access to the error log from the last session.
I see log files as the bread and butter of a Linux installation.

To me, the best solution is the one posted here. ### not that I'd have a clue as to what the file says, but someone else might ...

TL;DR: add a task to your crontab to periodically check the size of [.xsession-errors file].
If it grows past an arbitrary size, you truncate it to an also arbitrary amount of lines.
You set the size and the amount of lines.

eg: size=5GB lines=10000

*/15      *     *       *       *       [ $(du -k .xsession-errors | awk '{ print $1 }') -gt 5000000 ] && tail -10000 /home/$(whoami)/.xsession-errors > /home/$(whoami)/.xsession-errors

Best,

A.

Last edited by Altoid (Yesterday 01:57:11)

fsmithred · Yesterday 11:30:30

Cycling through init 1 does result in gparted not starting. I think it's related to the elogind problem described here - https://dev1galaxy.org/viewtopic.php?id=8273 Same thing happens after switching to xfce-polkit.
Relevant auth.log is pasted below.

mate-polkit: It gets installed automatically. I removed it in the build but should have purged it instead. I'll probably revert to using mate-polkit and let that get changed in whichever task-* package is pulling it in.
(Edit: damn, it's xfce4 that pulls in mate-polkit, and that's not one of our forked packages.)

greenjeans, which file-chooser are you talking about? Where am I going to set its size?

Here is /var/log/auth.log from freia desktop-live with mate-polkit after cycling through init 1 then starting gparted.

2026-11-03T10:13:58.418179+00:00 localhost elogind[2057]: New seat seat0.
2026-11-03T10:13:58.437089+00:00 localhost elogind[2057]: Watching system buttons on /dev/input/event3 (Power Button)
2026-11-03T10:13:58.437120+00:00 localhost elogind[2057]: Watching system buttons on /dev/input/event1 (Lid Switch)
2026-11-03T10:13:58.437147+00:00 localhost elogind[2057]: Watching system buttons on /dev/input/event2 (Sleep Button)
2026-11-03T10:13:58.437173+00:00 localhost elogind[2057]: Watching system buttons on /dev/input/event0 (AT Translated Set 2 keyboard)
2026-11-03T10:13:58.437198+00:00 localhost elogind[2057]: Watching system buttons on /dev/input/event10 (ThinkPad Extra Buttons)
2026-11-03T10:13:58.437226+00:00 localhost elogind[2057]: Watching system buttons on /dev/input/event17 (ACPI Virtual Keyboard Device)
2026-11-03T10:14:11.434094+00:00 localhost slim: pam_unix(slim:session): session opened for user devuan(uid=1000) by devuan(uid=0)
2026-11-03T10:14:11.434131+00:00 localhost slim: gkr-pam: unable to locate daemon control file
2026-11-03T10:14:11.540531+00:00 localhost slim: gkr-pam: gnome-keyring-daemon started properly
2026-11-03T10:14:11.557212+00:00 localhost elogind[2057]: New session 1 of user devuan.
2026-11-03T10:14:11.562484+00:00 localhost slim: gkr-pam: couldn't unlock the login keyring.
2026-11-03T10:14:17.496317+00:00 localhost pkexec: PAM (polkit-1) /usr/lib/pam.d is not supported on this system; see /usr/share/doc/libpam0g/Debian-PAM-MiniPolicy.gz
2026-11-03T10:14:17.510825+00:00 localhost pkexec: pam_unix(polkit-1:session): session opened for user root(uid=0) by devuan(uid=1000)
2026-11-03T10:14:17.512281+00:00 localhost pkexec[2851]: devuan: Executing command [USER=root] [TTY=unknown] [CWD=/home/devuan] [COMMAND=/usr/sbin/xfpm-power-backlight-helper --set-brightness-switch 0]
2026-11-03T10:15:41.966908+00:00 localhost su: The gnome keyring socket is not owned with the same credentials as the user login: /home/devuan/.cache/keyring-Y0ZVX3/control
2026-11-03T10:15:41.966917+00:00 localhost su: gkr-pam: couldn't unlock the login keyring.
2026-11-03T10:15:41.968758+00:00 localhost su[3419]: (to root) devuan on pts/0
2026-11-03T10:15:41.969364+00:00 localhost su[3419]: pam_unix(su-l:session): session opened for user root(uid=0) by devuan(uid=1000)
2026-11-03T10:15:41.969412+00:00 localhost su[3419]: The gnome keyring socket is not owned with the same credentials as the user login: /home/devuan/.cache/keyring-Y0ZVX3/control
2026-11-03T10:15:41.969420+00:00 localhost su[3419]: gkr-pam: couldn't unlock the login keyring.
2026-11-03T10:15:56.961252+00:00 localhost elogind[3895]: New seat seat0.
2026-11-03T10:15:56.975024+00:00 localhost elogind[3895]: Watching system buttons on /dev/input/event3 (Power Button)
2026-11-03T10:15:56.975157+00:00 localhost elogind[3895]: Watching system buttons on /dev/input/event1 (Lid Switch)
2026-11-03T10:15:56.975230+00:00 localhost elogind[3895]: Watching system buttons on /dev/input/event2 (Sleep Button)
2026-11-03T10:15:56.975301+00:00 localhost elogind[3895]: Watching system buttons on /dev/input/event0 (AT Translated Set 2 keyboard)
2026-11-03T10:15:56.975369+00:00 localhost elogind[3895]: Watching system buttons on /dev/input/event10 (ThinkPad Extra Buttons)
2026-11-03T10:15:56.975440+00:00 localhost elogind[3895]: Watching system buttons on /dev/input/event17 (ACPI Virtual Keyboard Device)
2026-11-03T10:15:57.965924+00:00 localhost slim: pam_unix(slim:session): session opened for user devuan(uid=1000) by devuan(uid=0)
2026-11-03T10:15:57.965963+00:00 localhost slim: gkr-pam: unable to locate daemon control file
2026-11-03T10:15:57.973551+00:00 localhost slim: gkr-pam: gnome-keyring-daemon started properly
2026-11-03T10:15:57.985212+00:00 localhost elogind[3895]: New session 2 of user devuan.
2026-11-03T10:15:57.990813+00:00 localhost slim: gkr-pam: couldn't unlock the login keyring.
2026-11-03T10:16:00.144224+00:00 localhost pkexec: PAM (polkit-1) /usr/lib/pam.d is not supported on this system; see /usr/share/doc/libpam0g/Debian-PAM-MiniPolicy.gz
2026-11-03T10:16:00.147273+00:00 localhost pkexec: pam_unix(polkit-1:session): session opened for user root(uid=0) by devuan(uid=1000)
2026-11-03T10:16:00.148941+00:00 localhost pkexec[4792]: devuan: Executing command [USER=root] [TTY=unknown] [CWD=/home/devuan] [COMMAND=/usr/sbin/xfpm-power-backlight-helper --set-brightness-switch 0]
2026-11-03T10:16:15.793469+00:00 localhost polkit-agent-helper-1[5051]: PAM (polkit-1) /usr/lib/pam.d is not supported on this system; see /usr/share/doc/libpam0g/Debian-PAM-MiniPolicy.gz
2026-11-03T10:16:21.869917+00:00 localhost polkit-agent-helper-1[5051]: gkr-pam: unable to locate daemon control file
2026-11-03T10:16:21.869924+00:00 localhost polkit-agent-helper-1[5051]: gkr-pam: stashed password to try later in open session
2026-11-03T10:16:21.876807+00:00 localhost pkexec: PAM (polkit-1) /usr/lib/pam.d is not supported on this system; see /usr/share/doc/libpam0g/Debian-PAM-MiniPolicy.gz
2026-11-03T10:16:21.878425+00:00 localhost pkexec: pam_unix(polkit-1:session): session opened for user root(uid=0) by devuan(uid=1000)
2026-11-03T10:16:21.879121+00:00 localhost pkexec[5012]: devuan: Executing command [USER=root] [TTY=unknown] [CWD=/home/devuan] [COMMAND=/usr/sbin/gparted]
2026-11-03T10:16:48.092548+00:00 localhost su: The gnome keyring socket is not owned with the same credentials as the user login: /home/devuan/.cache/keyring-4FE4X3/control
2026-11-03T10:16:48.092556+00:00 localhost su: gkr-pam: couldn't unlock the login keyring.
2026-11-03T10:16:48.094372+00:00 localhost su[5201]: (to root) devuan on pts/0
2026-11-03T10:16:48.094925+00:00 localhost su[5201]: pam_unix(su-l:session): session opened for user root(uid=0) by devuan(uid=1000)
2026-11-03T10:16:48.094968+00:00 localhost su[5201]: The gnome keyring socket is not owned with the same credentials as the user login: /home/devuan/.cache/keyring-4FE4X3/control
2026-11-03T10:16:48.094976+00:00 localhost su[5201]: gkr-pam: couldn't unlock the login keyring.
2026-11-03T10:17:01.934906+00:00 localhost CRON[5217]: pam_unix(cron:session): session opened for user root(uid=0) by root(uid=0)
2026-11-03T10:17:01.938067+00:00 localhost CRON[5217]: pam_unix(cron:session): session closed for user root

Last edited by fsmithred (Yesterday 15:43:07)

fsmithred · Yesterday 15:13:51

I tried running the script in that elgoind thread and it gets rid of the extra cgroups stuff that accumulate on repeated logins, but it doesn't fix the problem with gparted not starting after the first login. I also couldn't start it from terminal after the first login.

greenjeans · Yesterday 16:59:46

su: The gnome keyring socket is not owned with the same credentials as the user login: /home/devuan/.cache/keyring-4FE4X3/control

Even if this is not the problem here, it's still a problem, gnome-keyring is a pain. It gets off-sync with the user (and their credentials) over the course of builds/installs. Username/password changes on install but nothing corrects the info in gnome-keyring. This is what causes a browser error that is legend now for all it's years of being a bug.

Last edited by greenjeans (Yesterday 17:00:38)

greenjeans · Yesterday 18:05:00

@fsmithred - Re: file chooser default size - You should be able to just initiate the file-chooser for something, use the corner grab-handle to re-size, and it will remember your setting after that. And that preference will still be in the config in a snapshotted system.

Oh and forgot to mention, the screensaver gui does the same thing, too long for screen.

greenjeans · Yesterday 19:14:58

I think one of the reasons the wallpaper is slow to load that first time is because it looks like it had to try more than once, snippet of the log on that first boot:

** Message: 20:00:54.863: Unable to migrate old setting /backdrop/screen0/monitor2/image-path; monitor 2 is not currently attached
** Message: 20:00:54.865: Unable to migrate old setting /backdrop/screen0/monitor1/image-style; monitor 1 is not currently attached
** Message: 20:00:54.873: Unable to migrate old setting /backdrop/screen0/monitor3/image-show; monitor 3 is not currently attached
** Message: 20:00:54.921: Unable to migrate old setting /backdrop/screen0/monitor3/image-path; monitor 3 is not currently attached

(xfce4-panel:2321): Gtk-WARNING **: 20:00:54.935: Theme parsing error: gtk-widgets.css:154:27: The style property GtkButton:image-spacing is deprecated and shouldn't be used anymore. It will be removed in a future version

(xfce4-panel:2321): Gtk-WARNING **: 20:00:54.936: Theme parsing error: gtk-widgets.css:155:26: The style property GtkButton:inner-border is deprecated and shouldn't be used anymore. It will be removed in a future version

(xfce4-panel:2321): Gtk-WARNING **: 20:00:54.939: Theme parsing error: gtk-widgets.css:585:27: The style property GtkButton:image-spacing is deprecated and shouldn't be used anymore. It will be removed in a future version

(xfce4-panel:2321): Gtk-WARNING **: 20:00:54.939: Theme parsing error: gtk-widgets.css:586:28: The style property GtkWidget:interior-focus is deprecated and shouldn't be used anymore. It will be removed in a future version

(xfce4-panel:2321): Gtk-WARNING **: 20:00:54.939: Theme parsing error: gtk-widgets.css:587:28: The style property GtkButton:default-border is deprecated and shouldn't be used anymore. It will be removed in a future version

(xfce4-panel:2321): Gtk-WARNING **: 20:00:54.939: Theme parsing error: gtk-widgets.css:588:26: The style property GtkButton:inner-border is deprecated and shouldn't be used anymore. It will be removed in a future version
** Message: 20:00:54.945: Unable to migrate old setting /backdrop/screen0/monitor1/image-show; monitor 1 is not currently attached
** Message: 20:00:54.981: Unable to migrate old setting /backdrop/screen0/monitor1/image-path; monitor 1 is not currently attached
** Message: 20:00:54.987: Unable to migrate old setting /backdrop/screen0/monitor2/image-style; monitor 2 is not currently attached
** Message: 20:00:54.990: Unable to migrate old setting /backdrop/screen0/monitor3/image-style; monitor 3 is not currently attached
** Message: 20:00:54.996: Unable to migrate old setting /backdrop/screen0/monitor2/image-show; monitor 2 is not currently attached

(xfce4-session:2168): xfce4-session-WARNING **: 20:00:55.026: Unable to launch "/usr/libexec/polkit-mate-authentication-agent-1" (specified by autostart/polkit-mate-authentication-agent-1.desktop): Failed to execute child process “/usr/libexec/polkit-mate-authentication-agent-1” (No such file or directory)

Then I guess it tried a 3rd time and quietly succeeded?

fsmithred · Yesterday 22:57:29

It's not a snapshotted system, so there's no corner to grab until the user boots the iso. It's made with live-sdk, so it's essentially a debootstrapped system.

greenjeans · Today 00:12:25

It's not a snapshotted system, so there's no corner to grab until the user boots the iso. It's made with live-sdk, so it's essentially a debootstrapped system.

Bummer. So no gtkfilechooser.ini anywhere? (I'm not booted into the iso right now).

No pre-configging might be why the wallpaper issue exists to start with. Just dropping packages in there would generally mean that a paper/path wasn't set in the first place, so nothing to carry over into the live-session.

Are y'all sure you want to build your desktop-live isos this way? Using Refracta-Snapshot instead offers a ton of advantages.

Last edited by greenjeans (Today 00:17:31)

dzz · Today 02:34:12

For those interested in the background issue.. a bit of "magic code" is all we have for now. So what if there's a few seconds delay. In case you missed these relevant links:

https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugrepo … w_referer=
https://gitlab.xfce.org/xfce/xfdesktop/ … Background
https://gitlab.xfce.org/xfce/xfdesktop/ … 8b4d936aaa

Quotes include "not a bug" "Sorry, but that won't be possible" "regression".. What does reading between the lines tell you?

greenjeans · Today 02:58:28

@dzz both those gitlab links and any others I try to xfce's gitlab are showing blank pages for me at least.

From the Debian link:

" So, I know I had stumbled upon this earlier this year and I found it:

https://gitlab.xfce.org/xfce/xfdesktop/ … ote_106405

The default-backdrop is kind of a red herring, the real issue is that
xfdesktop lost the ability to read the relevant property.

I think this should be fixed upstream but as you can see there's no answer on
the bug, unfortunately."

dzz · Today 03:35:26

No pre-configging might be why the wallpaper issue exists to start with.

There is a preconfigured live user /home/devuan in this ISO. You can do that with a clean bootstrap build. The issue here is how xfce detects monitors. here the 2 laptops are monitorLVDS-1 .. qemu is monitorVirtual-1 .. my tower case is VGA_1 and HDMI-1 .. Nowhere is "monitor0"..

The DE must detect and sort every monitor scenario for a portable live-image. It can't in it's current state. No surprise if xsession errors when it tries to configure one that doesn't exist.

So rbit's script uses xrandr to detect the monitor.. but xrandr can't work till after xserver starts, maybe that's the delay.

The links work here as in the post, don't know why not for you. Something changed since excalibur and they don't seem keen to solve it.

The officially official Devuan Forum!

#26 2026-11-02 19:46:38

Re: freia desktop-live test iso

#27 2026-11-02 19:59:51

Re: freia desktop-live test iso

#28 2026-11-02 23:43:14

Re: freia desktop-live test iso

#29 Yesterday 01:52:19

Re: freia desktop-live test iso

#30 Yesterday 11:30:30

Re: freia desktop-live test iso

#31 Yesterday 15:13:51

Re: freia desktop-live test iso

#32 Yesterday 16:59:46

Re: freia desktop-live test iso

#33 Yesterday 18:05:00

Re: freia desktop-live test iso

#34 Yesterday 19:14:58

Re: freia desktop-live test iso

#35 Yesterday 22:57:29

Re: freia desktop-live test iso

#36 Today 00:12:25

Re: freia desktop-live test iso

#37 Today 02:34:12

Re: freia desktop-live test iso

#38 Today 02:58:28

Re: freia desktop-live test iso

#39 Today 03:35:26

Re: freia desktop-live test iso

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