Help needed for polkit

Support System Updates
1

Hello,

Just to tell I have the same problem encountered by rob215x following the Manjaro 26.0 update: after its installation via pamac-manager (as I usually do, without any problem), authentication fails on the same way for pamac and pamac-manager.

At first, I’ve tried the polkit fix (although my setup was apparently good). Then I read carefully this whole thread to guess any clue, and the solution found for rob215x does not work for me: I’m already using linux 6.12 for several months!

I don’t see anything relevant in journalctl.

It may be a cat plot. :laughing:

Mod edit:- Please read:
2

@KittyCat

Always possible, I suppose; cats tend to be quietly subversive, in their feline way.

Please provide your system information as described (below) to help others identify any factors that might be contributing. I’m sure someone will help when they are able.

Regards.

System Information

For Support purposes it’s better to ask your system directly.

Output of the inxi command will generate information useful for those wishing to help:

Suggested inxi command (use either):
inxi -zv8 (short-form)
inxi --filter --verbosity=8 (long-form)
inxi man pages (manual)
Running `inxi` within a `chroot` environment
  • Add --color=0 to the long-form command, or…
  • Change the short-form command to inxi -zv8c0
Your privacy is respected
3 
System:
  Kernel: 6.12.63-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 15.2.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-6.12-x86_64 root=/dev/mapper/VG1-root rw
    quiet splash udev.log_priority=3 cpufreq.default_governor=ondemand
    nowatchdog
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.5.4 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.21.0
    wm: kwin_wayland with: krunner vt: 1 dm: SDDM Distro: Manjaro
    base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: ASUS product: N/A v: N/A serial: N/A
  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: PRIME B550M-K v: Rev X.0x serial: <filter>
    part-nu: SKU uuid: 67a7bf24-ab95-a784-66fc-581122bfd83b Firmware: UEFI
    vendor: American Megatrends v: 3902 date: 08/12/2025
Battery:
  Message: No system battery data found. Is one present?
Memory:
  System RAM: total: 16 GiB available: 15.53 GiB used: 4.71 GiB (30.3%)
  Array-1: capacity: 128 GiB slots: 4 modules: 2 EC: None
    max-module-size: 32 GiB note: est.
  Device-1: DIMM_A1 type: no module installed
  Device-2: DIMM_A2 type: DDR4 detail: synchronous unbuffered (unregistered)
    size: 8 GiB speed: 3600 MT/s volts: curr: 1.2 min: 1.2 max: 1.2
    width (bits): data: 64 total: 64 manufacturer: Corsair
    part-no: CMK16GX4M2D3600C16 serial: N/A
  Device-3: DIMM_B1 type: no module installed
  Device-4: DIMM_B2 type: DDR4 detail: synchronous unbuffered (unregistered)
    size: 8 GiB speed: 3600 MT/s volts: curr: 1.2 min: 1.2 max: 1.2
    width (bits): data: 64 total: 64 manufacturer: Corsair
    part-no: CMK16GX4M2D3600C16 serial: N/A
PCI Slots:
  Slot: 0 type: PCIe status: in use length: long volts: 3.3 bus-ID: 00:03.1
    children: 1: 0b:00.0 class-ID: 0300 type: display 2: 0b:00.1 class-ID: 0403
    type: audio
  Slot: 1 type: PCIe status: available length: short volts: 3.3
    bus-ID: 00:1f.7
  Slot: 2 type: PCIe status: available length: short volts: 3.3
    bus-ID: 00:1f.7
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X socket: AM4 bits: 64 type: MT MCP
    arch: Zen 3+ gen: 3 level: v3 note: check built: 2022 process: TSMC n6 (7nm)
    family: 0x19 (25) model-id: 0x21 (33) stepping: 2 microcode: 0xA201213
  Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 1 cores: 6 threads: 12 tpc: 2
    smt: enabled cache: L1: 384 KiB desc: d-6x32 KiB; i-6x32 KiB L2: 3 MiB
    desc: 6x512 KiB L3: 32 MiB desc: 1x32 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 550 min/max: 550/4875 boost: enabled
    base/boost: 3700/4650 scaling: driver: amd-pstate-epp governor: powersave
    volts: 1.1 V ext-clock: 100 MHz cores: 1: 550 2: 550 3: 550 4: 550 5: 550
    6: 550 7: 550 8: 550 9: 550 10: 550 11: 550 12: 550 bogomips: 88833
  Flags: 3dnowprefetch abm adx aes aperfmperf apic arat avic avx avx2 bmi1
    bmi2 bpext cat_l3 cdp_l3 clflush clflushopt clwb clzero cmov cmp_legacy
    constant_tsc cpb cpuid cqm cqm_llc cqm_mbm_local cqm_mbm_total
    cqm_occup_llc cr8_legacy cx16 cx8 de debug_swap decodeassists erms
    extapic extd_apicid f16c flushbyasid fma fpu fsgsbase fsrm fxsr fxsr_opt
    ht hw_pstate ibpb ibrs ibs invpcid irperf lahf_lm lbrv lm mba mca mce
    misalignsse mmx mmxext monitor movbe msr mtrr mwaitx nonstop_tsc nopl npt
    nrip_save nx ospke osvw overflow_recov pae pat pausefilter pclmulqdq
    pdpe1gb perfctr_core perfctr_llc perfctr_nb pfthreshold pge pku pni
    popcnt pse pse36 rapl rdpid rdpru rdrand rdseed rdt_a rdtscp rep_good sep
    sha_ni skinit smap smca smep ssbd sse sse2 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3
    stibp succor svm svm_lock syscall tce topoext tsc tsc_scale umip
    user_shstk v_spec_ctrl v_vmsave_vmload vaes vgif vmcb_clean vme vmmcall
    vpclmulqdq wbnoinvd wdt x2apic xgetbv1 xsave xsavec xsaveerptr xsaveopt
    xsaves xtopology
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: indirect_target_selection status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow mitigation: Safe RET
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
    prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; IBPB: conditional; IBRS_FW;
    STIBP: always-on; RSB filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not
    affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsa mitigation: Clear CPU buffers
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
  Type: vmscape mitigation: IBPB before exit to userspace
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GA104 [GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Lite Hash Rate] vendor: Gigabyte
    driver: nvidia v: 590.48.01 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm
    non-free: 550-580.xx+ status: current (as of 2025-11; EOL~2026-12-xx)
    arch: Ampere code: GAxxx process: TSMC n7 (7nm) built: 2020-2023 pcie:
    gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 ports: active: DP-1
    empty: DP-2,HDMI-A-1,HDMI-A-2 bus-ID: 0b:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:2489
    class-ID: 0300
  Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.21 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.9
    compositor: kwin_wayland driver: X: loaded: nvidia
    gpu: nv_platform,nvidia,nvidia-nvswitch display-ID: 0
  Monitor-1: DP-1 model: PA24A serial: <filter> built: 2020 res:
    mode: 1920x1200 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 94 gamma: 1.2 chroma: red:
    x: 0.655 y: 0.337 green: x: 0.306 y: 0.627 blue: x: 0.145 y: 0.051 white:
    x: 0.314 y: 0.329 size: 518x324mm (20.39x12.76") diag: 611mm (24.1")
    ratio: 16:10 modes: 1920x1200, 1920x1080, 1600x1200, 1680x1050,
    1280x1024, 1440x900, 1280x960, 1366x768, 1152x864, 1280x720, 1024x768,
    800x600, 720x576, 720x480, 640x480
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: nvidia platforms: device: 0 drv: nvidia device: 2
    drv: swrast gbm: drv: nvidia surfaceless: drv: nvidia wayland: drv: nvidia
    x11: drv: nvidia inactive: device-1
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: nvidia mesa v: 25.3.2-arch1.1
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti/PCIe/SSE2
    memory: 7.81 GiB display-ID: :1.0
  API: Vulkan v: 1.4.335 layers: 2 device: 0 type: discrete-gpu name: NVIDIA
    GeForce RTX 3060 Ti driver: nvidia v: 590.48.01 device-ID: 10de:2489
    surfaces: N/A
  Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo
    de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor gpu: nvidia-settings,nvidia-smi
    wl: wayland-info x11: xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
Audio:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GA104 High Definition Audio vendor: Gigabyte
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 0b:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:228b class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Starship/Matisse HD Audio
    vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s
    lanes: 16 bus-ID: 0d:00.4 chip-ID: 1022:1487 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.12.63-1-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
  Server-2: PipeWire v: 1.4.9 status: off with: wireplumber status: active
    tools: pw-cli,wpctl
  Server-3: PulseAudio v: 17.0-98-gb096 status: active (root, process)
    with: pulseaudio-alsa type: plugin tools: pacat,pactl
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: ASUSTeK RTL8111H driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: f000 bus-ID: 0a:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168
    class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp10s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
    broadcast: <filter>
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
  Info: services: NetworkManager,systemd-timesyncd
  WAN IP: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Message: No bluetooth data found.
Logical:
  Device-1: VG: VG1 type: LVM2 size: 931.26 GiB free: 393.76 GiB
  LV-1: boot maj-min: 254:0 type: linear dm: dm-0 size: 512 MiB
  Components:
  p-1: nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2 size: 931.26 GiB
  LV-2: home maj-min: 254:5 type: linear dm: dm-5 size: 500 GiB
  Components:
  p-1: nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2 size: 931.26 GiB
  LV-3: log maj-min: 254:3 type: linear dm: dm-3 size: 1024 MiB
  Components:
  p-1: nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2 size: 931.26 GiB
  LV-4: root maj-min: 254:4 type: linear dm: dm-4 size: 20 GiB
  Components:
  p-1: nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2 size: 931.26 GiB
  LV-5: swap maj-min: 254:1 type: linear dm: dm-1 size: 4 GiB
  Components:
  p-1: nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2 size: 931.26 GiB
  LV-6: var maj-min: 254:2 type: linear dm: dm-2 size: 12 GiB
  Components:
  p-1: nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2 size: 931.26 GiB
RAID:
  Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 2.73 TiB lvm-free: 393.76 GiB used: 1.2 TiB (44.0%)
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 980 1TB
    size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s
    lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 3B4QFXO7 temp: 35.9 C
    scheme: GPT
  SMART: yes health: PASSED on: 23d 19h cycles: 1,151
    read-units: 22,491,030 [11.5 TB] written-units: 15,930,089 [8.15 TB]
  ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Western Digital
    model: WD20EZBX-00AYRA0 family: Blue (SMR) size: 1.82 TiB block-size:
    physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B sata: 3.1 speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: HDD
    rpm: 7200 serial: <filter> fw-rev: 1A01 temp: 29 C scheme: GPT
  SMART: yes state: enabled health: PASSED on: 209d 16h cycles: 1151
  Message: No optical or floppy data found.
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 20 GiB size: 19.52 GiB (97.59%) used: 12.41 GiB (63.6%)
    fs: ext4 block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/dm-4 maj-min: 254:4 mapped: VG1-root
    label: N/A uuid: N/A
  ID-2: /boot raw-size: 512 MiB size: 487.2 MiB (95.16%)
    used: 47.5 MiB (9.8%) fs: ext4 block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/dm-0
    maj-min: 254:0 mapped: VG1-boot label: N/A uuid: N/A
  ID-3: /boot/efi raw-size: 256 MiB size: 252 MiB (98.46%)
    used: 370 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat block-size: 512 B dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
    maj-min: 259:1 label: EFI uuid: 88D1-F720
  ID-4: /home raw-size: 500 GiB size: 491.08 GiB (98.22%)
    used: 283.63 GiB (57.8%) fs: ext4 block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/dm-5
    maj-min: 254:5 mapped: VG1-home label: N/A uuid: N/A
  ID-5: /home/<filter>/Torrents/seed raw-size: N/A size: 213 GiB
    used: 77.08 GiB (36.2%) fs: fuse.sshfs
    remote: transmission@esteban.lan.kittycat.fr:seed
  ID-6: /home/<filter>/Torrents/tasks raw-size: N/A size: 213 GiB
    used: 77.08 GiB (36.2%) fs: fuse.sshfs
    remote: transmission@esteban.lan.kittycat.fr:tasks
  ID-7: /mnt/data raw-size: 1.82 TiB size: 1.79 TiB (98.37%)
    used: 926.66 GiB (50.6%) fs: ext4 block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/sda1
    maj-min: 8:1 label: data uuid: 27588577-926e-4d50-8615-c08884f7bb5a
  ID-8: /var raw-size: 12 GiB size: 11.74 GiB (97.83%)
    used: 6.78 GiB (57.8%) fs: ext4 block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/dm-2
    maj-min: 254:2 mapped: VG1-var label: N/A uuid: N/A
  ID-9: /var/log raw-size: 1024 MiB size: 973.4 MiB (95.06%)
    used: 101.7 MiB (10.4%) fs: ext4 block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/dm-3
    maj-min: 254:3 mapped: VG1-log label: N/A uuid: N/A
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 50 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 4 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 1
    dev: /dev/dm-1 maj-min: 254:1 mapped: VG1-swap label: swap
    uuid: f22e425c-4869-459f-b778-03b714410112
Unmounted:
  Message: No unmounted partitions found.
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 10 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-2: 2-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 4 rev: 3.1
    speed: 10 Gb/s (1.16 GiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-2x1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-3: 3-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 4 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
    class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 3-1:2 info: AVerMedia AVerTV Volar Green HD (A835B)
    type: <vendor specific> driver: dvb_usb_af9035,it913x interfaces: 1 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 power: 500mA
    chip-ID: 07ca:3835 class-ID: 0000 serial: <filter>
  Device-2: 3-3:3 info: Acer Peripherals (now BenQ ) ZOWIE Gaming Mouse
    type: mouse,keyboard,HID driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 3 rev: 1.1
    speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 04a5:8002 class-ID: 0300
  Device-3: 3-4:4 info: Logitech UltraX Keyboard (Y-BL49) type: keyboard,HID
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 1.1
    speed: 1.5 Mb/s (183 KiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.0 power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 046d:c30e class-ID: 0300
  Hub-4: 4-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 4 rev: 3.1
    speed: 10 Gb/s (1.16 GiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-2x1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
    class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 43.8 C mobo: 39.5 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Repos:
  Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1455 libs: 449 tools: pamac
  Active pacman repo servers in: /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
    1: https://mirror.futureweb.be/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    2: https://ftp.free.org/mirrors/repo.manjaro.org/repos/stable/$repo/$arch
    3: http://ftp.uni-kl.de/pub/linux/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    4: https://ct.mirror.garr.it/mirrors/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    5: https://mirror.datacenter.by/pub/mirrors/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    6: https://manjaro.mirror.garr.it/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    7: https://southfront.mm.fcix.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    8: https://mirror.kamtv.ru/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
Processes:
  CPU top: 5 of 354
  1: cpu: 2.7% command: firefox pid: 2001 mem: 715.1 MiB (4.4%)
  2: cpu: 1.6% command: kwin_wayland pid: 942 mem: 351.4 MiB (2.2%)
  3: cpu: 0.7% command: steam pid: 2785 mem: 194.5 MiB (1.2%)
  4: cpu: 0.5% command: ./steamwebhelper pid: 2953 mem: 408.4 MiB (2.5%)
  5: cpu: 0.5% command: steamwebhelper pid: 3024 mem: 489.3 MiB (3.0%)
  Memory top: 5 of 354
  1: mem: 715.1 MiB (4.4%) command: firefox pid: 2001 cpu: 2.7%
  2: mem: 582.4 MiB (3.6%) command: thunderbird pid: 1622 cpu: 0.2%
  3: mem: 489.3 MiB (3.0%) command: steamwebhelper pid: 3024 cpu: 0.5%
  4: mem: 468.8 MiB (2.9%) command: plasmashell pid: 1099 cpu: 0.1%
  5: mem: 463.6 MiB (2.9%) command: firefox pid: 2453 cpu: 0.2%
Info:
  Processes: 354 Power: uptime: 1h 3m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
    avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
    suspend, test_resume image: 6.2 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,upowerd
    Init: systemd v: 258 default: graphical tool: systemctl
  Compilers: clang: 21.1.6 gcc: 15.2.1 Shell: Bash (su) v: 5.3.9
    running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.40
4

Hello,

Looking at the logs again, it seems a line escaped my attention the first time.
The authentication failure reports this:
polkit-agent-helper-1[19317]: polkit-agent-helper-1: pam_authenticate failed: System error

Hope this can help, this is certainly not expected behavior.

5

The following is from Known issues and solutions in the most recent Stable Update notification threads; there are a few solutions listed that may help:

6

I’d advise to be very very careful with the last two commands - especially with the very last one.

Do not forget to revert that later - when it either did not have the desired effect
or even when it had that effect -
because that would permanently disable an important security feature.

stopping the service to troubleshoot is not a problem
a reboot will restore original function

masking it will be permanent across future reboots - and is not intuitive to revert

4 Likes