When trying to use SUSE Image writer I am getting the error:
DBUS error (sdc): Not authorised to perform action
Also gets ‘Authentication fails’ error when trying to install ISO Image writer from the Software repository
How to fix this issue with Authentication ?
The image writer will fail if the device mounted - so be sure the device is not mounted.
Sounds like it might be the polkit issue mentioned in the Known issues and solutions section of the 2026-01-04 & 2026-01-13 Stable branch update announcements. The fix is included in that post:
The device was not mounted.
The mentioned post is mostly about NVIDIA drivers, did not see any mention of issues that I am experiencing. For me The Authentication window does not appear and stay for entering the password, All I can see is the error ‘Authentication failed’
Then you clearly didn’t read the information referred to under Known Issues and Solutions:
That’s strange. I can see the click-to-expand polkit advice when I visit that same forum post:
I did this as per below, but the issue still persists.
sudo chmod 4755 /usr/lib/polkit-1/polkit-agent-helper-1
[sudo] password for jkl-pc:
sudo chown -R root:root /usr/lib/polkit-1/
sudo chmod 755 /usr/lib/polkit-1/
sudo chmod 755 /usr/lib/polkit-1/polkitd /usr/lib/polkit-1/polkit-agent-helper-1
sudo chmod 644 /usr/lib/polkit-1/rules.d/*
zsh: no matches found: /usr/lib/polkit-1/rules.d/*
sudo systemctl stop polkit-agent-helper.socket
sudo systemctl mask polkit-agent-helper.socket
Created symlink '/etc/systemd/system/polkit-agent-helper.socket' → '/dev/null'.
Mod edit: Applied code formatting and removed those extraneous characters which zsh produces. 
The invormation given contained four possible solutions for the Polkit issue described – it was not by any means a suggestion to perform all of them at once.
Nonetheless, it was worth investigating as it was an issue that affected some after a recent update.
SUSE Image Writer
I used it once some years ago, and for whatever reason, it failed.
Since then, I havent used it, at least, not until a few minutes ago when testing it locally – it installs without issue using pacman, pamac-cli and pamac-manager (Add/Remove Software).
The point of these results is to rule out a wider issue of there being a problem with the package itself – there doesn’t seem to be.
It’s sometimes possible that a dependency might be the problem – in this case, imagewriter seems to be standalone.
imagewriter – using pacman, pamac-cli or Add.Remove Software?If the issue is limited to imagewriter, perhaps another method for creating a bootable USB will better suit you. Consider creating a Ventoy USB instead:
After installing Ventoy with: sudo pacman -S ventoy
I tried to start the program after a restart but then had the same
error, The Authentication window just flashes and it does not stay for me to
enter the password.
Did you reboot after making the changes to the polkit ownership & permissions? A reboot might be required for the changes to take effect, as the service would have been started on boot.
Alternatively, you could try restarting the service from a terminal:
sudo systemctl restart polkit
If the above gives you an error message, try reloading the systemd daemon first, and then run the above command again:
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
And then see if the authentication dialog works properly when you start ventoy or install a package via the Pamac GUI.
You can also check the status of the polkit service by running:
systemctl status polkit
I’ve got some authentication problems after that monster update (Dec-Jan) on an old machine running kernel 5.15 and none of the polkit suggestions solved it!
The authentication problems were caused by the kernel 5.15 and all got solved by installing kernel 6.6
Just in case …
@fdietreich If rebooting does not fix the polkit authentication issue, then could you please confirm the kernel you are running by posting the output of:
uname -r
I ran these codes in the Terminal and tried to start after a reboot, it has the same errors.
sudo systemctl restart polkit:
[sudo] password for jkl-pc:
systemctl status polkit
● polkit.service - Authorization Manager
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/polkit.service; static)
Active: active (running) since Sat 2026-01-17 23:48:53 EST; 26s ago
Invocation: 18bd4e2994be45adb27b0b3e3f29916d
Docs: man:polkit(8)
Main PID: 6778 (polkitd)
Status: "Processing requests..."
Tasks: 4 (limit: 9366)
Memory: 3.7M (max: 32M, swap max: 32M, available: 28.2M, peak: 5M)
CPU: 140ms
CGroup: /system.slice/polkit.service
└─6778 /usr/lib/polkit-1/polkitd --no-debug --log-level=notice
Jan 17 23:48:53 jkl-hpelitebook850g1 systemd[1]: Starting Authorization Manager...
Jan 17 23:48:53 jkl-hpelitebook850g1 polkitd[6778]: Started polkitd version 127
Jan 17 23:48:53 jkl-hpelitebook850g1 systemd[1]: Started Authorization Manager.]
The kernel is 6.1.159-1-MANJARO
Mod edit:- Tidied preformatted text according to forum guidelines. No charge.
Note: Grave accent (or, backtick) characters are used. 
For inline code or to show a single command:
code here.For multi-line command output:
The empty row between these rows of backtick characters is where to paste any multi-line command output (such as inxi).
An example of a pre-formatted text enclosure:
What is a Quark?
A. In Physics, an elementary particle and fundamental constituent of matter.
B. A character from the Star Trek: "Deep Space Nine" television series.
C. A soft, creamy, usually unsalted cheese traditional to central Europe.
Since you just copy/pasted everything from the possible solutions linked to here:
[Stable Update] 2026-01-04 - Manjaro 26.0, Mesa, Firefox, LibreOffice, COSMIC - #2 by discobot
and the situation did not change,
I strongly suggest you revert the last action:
masking the polkit-agent-helper.socket
Do this by:
sudo rm /etc/systemd/system/polkit-agent-helper.socket
which will remove the symlink to /dev/null that was created by this action
As the explanation says:
Please use this as a temporary or last resort solution if everything else fails as this disables an important component and cannot be officially recommended
As of now, you have done just that, with that command:
disabled this important component
for no good reason
and with no positive effect, without the (presumably) intended effect.
revert that
or it will permanently haunt you
There are already two posts mentioning a kernel (6.1.159-1) related authentication problem!
(beside my own one with kernel 5.15)
and
Those posts gave me actually the idea to switch the kernel which solved the problem.
In summery, the polkit problem seems not only be related to the permissions and reboot, but to certain kernels as well.
That does indeed appear to be the case, and in that regard, it should be noted that there have been certain security-related changes between 6.1 and 6.6, with compatibility breaking on 6.1 and earlier kernels.
I would therefore recommend that anyone with polkit problems on 6.1 and earlier would switch to a 6.6 or later kernel.
Should be added under ‘Known issues and solutions’ !!
Well, it’s not a fact written in stone. It’s just an observation I myself had — and you too, apparently — but I don’t know whether it’s the deciding factor.
There may be people with a later kernel who are running into the same problem — I haven’t taken note of the kernel versions with each member who reported a polkit issue.
Myself, I have not had any issues, neither with 6.12 nor with 6.18.
To clarify (for me):
is the issue resolved with the switch to a different kernel?
If not:
revert what you did here
Authentication fails when using Imagewriter - #15 by Nachlese
If it is:
revert it anyway - to restore proper intended operation