Most applications won't open from GUI launcher after software update

I used the software update GUI to update a bunch of packages a few days ago and since then almost all my applications will no longer open (from desktop GUI) and all my desktop icons disappeared (All my files are still in ~/Desktop, but they just aren’t rendered. The desktop background is still there though.). I’ve restarted my system many times now, so sadly the good ol’ on and off again isn’t enough this time.

When I try to open an application through the task bar or desktop app launcher menu, a tab for the application will appear in the task bar (as expected) and load for ~3 seconds, but then the application exits without ever opening the window. This happens for firefox, slack, dolphin (file browser) and system settings, just to name a few affected applications.
Using the CLI, I can open firefox and slack just fine and there doesn’t seem to be much or any error output to the terminal for either one, so it doesn’t look like an application level problem. I can also successfully open the terminal using hotkeys.
(firefox error ouput, in case it’s at all useful:

[GFX1-]: glxtest: VA-API test failed: failed to initialise VAAPI connection.
ATTENTION: default value of option mesa_glthread overridden by environment.
ATTENTION: default value of option mesa_glthread overridden by environment.
ATTENTION: default value of option mesa_glthread overridden by environment.

I doubt these issues would affect any other GUI based applications though, so I don’t think they’re the root cause)

Since this seems to mostly affect the plasma application launching GUIs, I’m guessing (using my extremely amateur level of knowledge) that this is a plasma problem somehow, possibly caused by some software conflict, or borked config that appeared after I updated my system.

So far I have tried restarting, updating packages again (there were no new updates), reinstalling all packages, and checking journalctl for errors.

jounralctl output for journalctl -p err -b:

Feb 21 19:43:31 liam-laptop kernel: Spectre V2 : WARNING: Unprivileged eBPF is enabled with eIBRS on, data leaks possible via Spectre v2 BHB attacks!
Feb 21 19:43:31 liam-laptop kernel: pci 0000:00:07.0: DPC: RP PIO log size 0 is invalid
Feb 21 19:43:31 liam-laptop kernel: pci 0000:00:07.1: DPC: RP PIO log size 0 is invalid
Feb 21 19:43:31 liam-laptop kernel: pci 0000:00:07.2: DPC: RP PIO log size 0 is invalid
Feb 21 19:43:31 liam-laptop kernel: pci 0000:00:07.3: DPC: RP PIO log size 0 is invalid
Feb 21 19:43:33 liam-laptop kernel: snd_hda_codec_hdmi hdaudioC0D2: Monitor plugged-in, Failed to power up codec ret=[-13]
Feb 21 19:43:33 liam-laptop kernel: overlayfs: missing 'lowerdir'
Feb 21 19:43:34 liam-laptop bluetoothd[1167]: src/plugin.c:plugin_init() Failed to init vcp plugin
Feb 21 19:43:34 liam-laptop bluetoothd[1167]: src/plugin.c:plugin_init() Failed to init mcp plugin
Feb 21 19:43:34 liam-laptop bluetoothd[1167]: src/plugin.c:plugin_init() Failed to init bap plugin
Feb 21 19:43:35 liam-laptop systemd[1294]: Failed to start Update XDG user dir configuration.
Feb 21 19:43:41 liam-laptop kded5[1590]: org.kde.plasma.dataengine.geolocation: error:  "Host location.services.mozilla.com not found"
Feb 21 19:43:41 liam-laptop kded5[1590]: org.kde.plasma.dataengine.geolocation: error:  "Host location.services.mozilla.com not found"
Feb 21 19:44:06 liam-laptop konsole[2042]: kf.xmlgui: Shortcut for action  "" "Show SSH Manager" set with QAction::setShortcut()! Use KActionCollection::setDefaultShortcut(s) instead.
Feb 21 19:44:06 liam-laptop konsole[2042]: kf.xmlgui: Shortcut for action  "" "Show Quick Commands" set with QAction::setShortcut()! Use KActionCollection::setDefaultShortcut(s) instead.

And here is obligatory inxi --admin --verbosity=7 --filter --width output:

System:
  Kernel: 5.15.94-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.1
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-5.15-x86_64
    root=UUID=37e8e72d-e09a-4498-a8cc-519e970c4bda rw quiet apparmor=1
    security=apparmor udev.log_priority=3
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.26.5 tk: Qt v: 5.15.8 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 1 dm: SDDM
    Distro: Manjaro Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Framework product: Laptop v: AB
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Framework model: FRANBMCP0B v: AB serial: <superuser required>
    UEFI: INSYDE v: 03.06 date: 10/18/2021
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT1 charge: 48.1 Wh (100.0%) condition: 48.1/55.0 Wh (87.5%)
    volts: 17.3 min: 15.4 model: NVT Framewo type: Li-ion serial: <filter>
    status: not charging
Memory:
  RAM: total: 15.41 GiB used: 4.01 GiB (26.0%)
  RAM Report: permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required.
CPU:
  Info: model: 11th Gen Intel Core i7-1165G7 bits: 64 type: MT MCP
    arch: Tiger Lake gen: core 11 level: v4 note: check built: 2020
    process: Intel 10nm family: 6 model-id: 0x8C (140) stepping: 1
    microcode: 0xA6
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 tpc: 2 threads: 8 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 320 KiB desc: d-4x48 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 5 MiB desc: 4x1.2 MiB L3: 12 MiB
    desc: 1x12 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 749 high: 883 min/max: 400/4700 scaling:
    driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave cores: 1: 552 2: 756 3: 881 4: 806
    5: 649 6: 683 7: 783 8: 883 bogomips: 44864
  Flags: 3dnowprefetch abm acpi adx aes aperfmperf apic arat
    arch_capabilities arch_perfmon art avx avx2 avx512_bitalg avx512_vbmi2
    avx512_vnni avx512_vp2intersect avx512_vpopcntdq avx512bw avx512cd
    avx512dq avx512f avx512ifma avx512vbmi avx512vl bmi1 bmi2 bts cat_l2
    cdp_l2 clflush clflushopt clwb cmov constant_tsc cpuid cpuid_fault cx16
    cx8 de ds_cpl dtes64 dtherm dts epb ept ept_ad erms est f16c flexpriority
    flush_l1d fma fpu fsgsbase fsrm fxsr gfni ht hwp hwp_act_window hwp_epp
    hwp_notify hwp_pkg_req ibpb ibrs ibrs_enhanced ida intel_pt invpcid
    invpcid_single lahf_lm lm mca mce md_clear mmx monitor movbe movdir64b
    movdiri msr mtrr nonstop_tsc nopl nx ospke pae pat pbe pcid pclmulqdq pdcm
    pdpe1gb pebs pge pku pln pni popcnt pse pse36 pts rdpid rdrand rdseed
    rdt_a rdtscp rep_good sdbg sep sha_ni smap smep split_lock_detect ss ssbd
    sse sse2 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 stibp syscall tm tm2 tpr_shadow tsc
    tsc_adjust tsc_deadline_timer tsc_known_freq umip vaes vme vmx vnmi
    vpclmulqdq vpid x2apic xgetbv1 xsave xsavec xsaveopt xsaves xtopology xtpr
  Vulnerabilities:
  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: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
    prctl and seccomp
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 status: Vulnerable: eIBRS with unprivileged eBPF
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel TigerLake-LP GT2 [Iris Xe Graphics] driver: i915 v: kernel
    arch: Gen-12.1 process: Intel 10nm built: 2020-21 ports: active: DP-1,eDP-1
    empty: DP-2,DP-3,DP-4 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:9a49 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Realtek Laptop Camera type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 3-7:5
    chip-ID: 0bda:5634 class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.7 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 display-ID: :0
    screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 3936x1504 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 1038x397mm (40.87x15.63")
    s-diag: 1111mm (43.75")
  Monitor-1: DP-1 pos: right model: HP OMEN by 25 serial: <filter>
    built: 2018 res: 1680x1050 hz: 60 dpi: 79 gamma: 1.2
    size: 543x302mm (21.38x11.89") diag: 621mm (24.5") ratio: 16:9 modes:
    max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
  Monitor-2: eDP-1 pos: primary,left model: BOE Display 0x095f built: 2019
    res: 2256x1504 hz: 60 dpi: 201 gamma: 1.2 size: 285x190mm (11.22x7.48")
    diag: 343mm (13.5") ratio: 3:2 modes: 2256x1504
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 22.3.5 renderer: Mesa Intel Xe Graphics (TGL GT2)
    direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Tiger Lake-LP Smart Sound Audio driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel alternate: snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:a0c8
    class-ID: 0403
  Sound API: ALSA v: k5.15.94-1-MANJARO running: yes
  Sound Server-1: JACK v: 1.9.22 running: no
  Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 16.1 running: yes
  Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.65 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX210/AX211/AX411 160MHz driver: iwlwifi v: kernel
    pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: aa:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:2725
    class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp170s0 state: up mac: <filter>
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
    broadcast: <filter>
  IP v6: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
  IP v6: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
  IF-ID-1: docker0 state: down mac: <filter>
  IP v4: <filter> scope: global broadcast: <filter>
  WAN IP: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel AX210 Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 3-10:9
    chip-ID: 8087:0032 class-ID: e001
  Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: see --recommends
Logical:
  Message: No logical block device data found.
RAID:
  Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 931.51 GiB used: 79.3 GiB (8.5%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Western Digital
    model: WDS100T1X0E-00AFY0 size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter>
    rev: 614600WD temp: 36.9 C scheme: GPT
  Message: No optical or floppy data found.
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 931.22 GiB size: 915.53 GiB (98.32%) used: 79.3 GiB (8.7%)
    fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2 label: N/A
    uuid: 37e8e72d-e09a-4498-a8cc-519e970c4bda
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 288 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
    label: NO_LABEL uuid: ACF8-E59E
Swap:
  Alert: No swap data was found.
Unmounted:
  Message: No unmounted partitions found.
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: Hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 1 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s 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
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-3: 2-1:2 info: Genesys Logic Hub ports: 4 rev: 3.1 speed: 5 Gb/s
    chip-ID: 05e3:0626 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-4: 2-1.1:3 info: Genesys Logic GL3523 Hub ports: 2 rev: 3.1
    speed: 5 Gb/s chip-ID: 05e3:0620 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-5: 3-0:1 info: Hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 12 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s chip-ID: 1d6b:0002 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-6: 3-1:2 info: Genesys Logic Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.1 speed: 480 Mb/s
    power: 100mA chip-ID: 05e3:0610 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-7: 3-1.1:4 info: Genesys Logic Hub ports: 2 rev: 2.1 speed: 480 Mb/s
    power: 100mA chip-ID: 05e3:0610 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 3-1.2:6 info: Apple Aluminium Keyboard (ANSI)
    type: Keyboard,Mouse driver: apple,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0
    speed: 12 Mb/s power: 100mA chip-ID: 05ac:024f class-ID: 0301
  Device-2: 3-1.3:8 info: Evoluent VerticalMouse D type: Mouse
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 1 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 1a7c:0197 class-ID: 0301
  Device-3: 3-3:3 info: Framework HDMI Expansion Card type: Billboard,HID
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 32ac:0002 class-ID: 0300 serial: <filter>
  Device-4: 3-7:5 info: Realtek Laptop Camera type: Video driver: uvcvideo
    interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s power: 300mA chip-ID: 0bda:5634
    class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
  Device-5: 3-9:7 info: Shenzhen Goodix USB2.0 MISC type: <vendor specific>
    driver: N/A interfaces: 1 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 27c6:609c class-ID: ef00 serial: <filter>
  Device-6: 3-10:9 info: Intel AX210 Bluetooth type: Bluetooth driver: btusb
    interfaces: 2 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s power: 100mA chip-ID: 8087:0032
    class-ID: e001
  Hub-8: 4-0:1 info: Super-speed hub ports: 4 rev: 3.1 speed: 10 Gb/s
    chip-ID: 1d6b:0003 class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 37.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
  Processes: 235 Uptime: 1h 47m wakeups: 1 Init: systemd v: 252
  default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.1 clang: 15.0.7
  Packages: 1407 pm: pacman pkgs: 1391 libs: 368 tools: pamac,yay pm: flatpak
  pkgs: 0 pm: snap pkgs: 16 Shell: Bash v: 5.1.16 running-in: konsole
  inxi: 3.3.25

I can probably recreate my desktop shortcuts, so I don’t care as much about that issue. But it would be really great to be able to open applications using the launchers again.
Any ideas on what the issue may be, or what else I can try?

looks like this could be it:

1 Like

Thank you! Deleting those 2 lines from the config worked!

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