Valgrind is broken half of the time on Manjaro and cannot be executed at all. This is because as an Arch derivative, Manjaro uses the Arch debuginfod server to retrieve debuginfo files, and at least the debug information for ld-linux-x86-64.so is needed to even start Valgrind. However, the Arch server only hosts debuginfo files for the latest Arch packages. Whenever the Manjaro glibc package (which includes ld-linux-x86-64.so) is behind, Valgrind stops working.
I use Manjaro for daily work and often need Valgrind for C/C++ development. Therefore, I have created a workaround to keep Valgrind working. The idea is quite simple: A small Python script checks regularly for updates of Arch debuginfo files for the glibc package, fetches them, and stores them into a Git repository hosted on GitHub. Another Python script acts as a debuginfo proxy server and fetches debug symbols from this GitHub repository or from the Arch upstream server directly if not found in the archive.
If you are interested in using the proxy server, this is the link to the repository with installation instructions: https://github.com/IngoMeyer441/debuginfo-proxy. Only the proxy server needs to be installed; the archive is maintained on my side.
This should not be a problem at the moment because all 3 branches have the latest version of glibc
$ mbn info glibc -q
Branch : archlinux
Name : glibc
Version : 2.43+r22+g8362e8ce10b2-2
Repository : core
Build Date : Fri 01 May 2026 09:33:40
Packager : Frederik Schwan <freswa@archlinux.org>
Branch : unstable
Name : glibc
Version : 2.43+r22+g8362e8ce10b2-2
Repository : core
Build Date : Fri 01 May 2026 09:33:40
Packager : Frederik Schwan <freswa@archlinux.org>
Branch : testing
Name : glibc
Version : 2.43+r22+g8362e8ce10b2-2
Repository : core
Build Date : Fri 01 May 2026 09:33:40
Packager : Frederik Schwan <freswa@archlinux.org>
Branch : stable
Name : glibc
Version : 2.43+r22+g8362e8ce10b2-2
Repository : core
Build Date : Fri 01 May 2026 09:33:40
Packager : Frederik Schwan <freswa@archlinux.org>
If stable branch does not have the latest version in future you can switch to testing or unstable branch temporarily to get debug information for up-to-date packages.
Debugging outdated packages is not helpful if the package is to be replaced
This should not be a problem at the moment because all 3 branches have the latest version of glibc
This is true for the moment, but this can change in a few days or a few weeks depending on Arch development.
If stable branch does not have the latest version in future you can switch to testing or unstable branch temporarily to get debug information for up-to-date packages.
I would like to only use Manjaro stable for daily work.
Debugging outdated packages is not helpful if the package is to be replaced
This is true if you would like to debug system packages. But Valgrind stops working for all programs. This is relevant if you develop custom software that does not belong to the system itself.
I totally agree when I try to find bugs in software packages that come pre-packaged from Manjaro. But I don’t quite understand the point when I try to find bugs in my own software. For this use case, debugging tools should simply work regardless of the Manjaro branch in use. IMHO, the general advice should not be to force every developer to use the unstable branch.
I’m trying to understand the reason for this topic…
Are you asking the Manjaro Community for help with an issue, or are you promoting your workaround?
If the latter, then your Topic is misplaced in Support categories, while at the same time, I’m uncertain whether it qualifies for placement in Contributions.
I have unlisted the topic (for the time being), while it’s future is determined.
Sorry for placing this topic into the wrong category. This is not an issue thread to ask for help. I experienced problems with Valgrind on Manjaro stable, found other threads describing similar problems but without a real solution. Therefore, I developed a workaround for using Valgrind on Manjaro stable. This topic is for sharing my results with the community. Hopefully, others find this useful.