I’ve been struggling to re-build my Manjaro system on a new computer for the past 7 months.
I have a separate installation on my notebook computer, not updated since June, so still working as desired (the ‘reference’).
The newer, buggy system uses Linux 6.6.5-1-MANJARO, Wayland, GNOME 45.2
Issues:
Cannot pick colors from screen (e.g. but not only the dropper of gcolor3 remains grayed out). (gnome-shell-ext ‘Color-Picker’ as an inferior work around)
The ‘application overview’ shows (some) content only after clicking into the corresponding app-folder instead of showing the first 4. It’s correct directly after installing a new program, or ( just for the specific folder) after re-arranging its apps by drag n drop - but ‘forgets’ about it during the following hours.
Dragging an app from the overview to the dock doesn’t work (context menu ‘add to favorites’ appends it to the end of the dock), nor does drag n drop for re-arranging the sequence on the dock.
(gsettings get org.gnome.shell favorite-apps, copying the output into a gedit window, re-arranging it and
gsettings set org.gnome.shell favorite-apps “re-arranged output” is a suitable work around - suitable, since it’s not needed often)
These are examples, far from complete, and may look partly as rather cosmetic - but the whole becomes pesky over time, lets the system appear flaky, less trustworthy.
Questions: Has anybody observed similar behavior? (Or does it stem from my -buggy?- configuration)
And if so ↑, Any explanation? Or even solution?
Is it possible you’re still using older themes, widgets, or other addons which are no longer compatible with Gnome 45+? Unfortunately, that also includes old GTK-3.0/GTK-4.0 themes, etc.
If there is any residual trace of such addons, etc, they might potentially contribute. Everything now available in the official repo’s is fully compatible. Good luck.
It is possible, although to a minuscule extent. And all of the here involved applications come from the official repositories - Manjaro and official Gnome Shell Extensions. (Unlike in past years, extensions not marked as gnome-45-compatible do not run at all.)
If “compatible” means functional: Can You pick a color from the screen with gcolor3 (which is in the official (extra) repository - just to name a really simple and obvious example)?
… and I can’t imagine how theming could influence such functionality.
ps.: OHHH - I just 've seen an error message (I’m absolutely sure that this is very new) when trying to pick a color from the screen:
I have to admit: I feel punked! Well an explanation while not really helpful.
Have to look how to get X-functionality into the Wayland session - think I read something about that when not yet knowing for what that should be an option.
I agree, it’s not obvious, but there have been cases where (let’s call them broken) themes have created much dilemma for some users. However, themes are included in the requirement to be compatible for Gnome 45+, nonetheless.
Widgets, etc., would have the greater likelihood of causing inconsistencies, and unexpected behaviour, I think. Regardless, you asked for observations, and these are certainly possibilities. Whether they might apply to your scenario; only you can know.
I hope you find a workable solution to your woes. Cheers.
Anyway, my screenshot shows that the contents of the repositories (here (any) color picker and Wayland) are NOT always compatible. That had obviously been known in development (picker grayed out) but the corresponding message came only with the very last update.
Think that’s not the only incompatibility between parts of the repositories.
Meanwhile under Linux 6.6.6-2, Wayland, GNOME 45.2:
Update has repaired drag n drop between ‘apps overview’ and dock, not inside the dock.
(2.) Still ‘forgetting’ to show the first 4 apps of each app-folder.
(No change for color picking)
… and still hoping that anybody shares ideas re. issue (2.)
Well, for me it’s a love-hate.
Haven’t found another DE that allows to have multiple docks or a ‘menu’ (called ‘app-overview’) that shows 96 entries in 1-click and 216 in 2-click distance.
So I stick with it in spite of its permanent testing its users’ capacity for suffering.
(… until I find another DE doesn’t force you to click through many levels and/or scroll through many entries of its menus)
Perhaps, but my -heavily- tweaked configuration worked perfectly for some 4-5 years - until this summer’s updates.
Research’s been going on:
One action which restores the correct behavior/display of the apps-overview is renaming the active cursors-folder (which lets it going to what is specified in the ‘default’-folder (and to re-renaming it to let it show the wanted ones)).
Somehow this causes it to rebuild its cache to reflect what is specified for the system daemon.
Such actualizations of caches have lead to observations of apparently ‘magic self healing’ in the past: Struggling with manual trials to repair a seemingly broken setting had no direct effect but (after giving up) let the system recover in the following 2-48 hours.
If I knew how to invoke that directly, I could put it into a one-click action instead of re- & re-re-naming that folder in a script.
Meanwhile under Linux 6.6.7-1 (which brought no change in the topic’s matters) and with the above mentioned script for re- & re-re-naming the folder for the mouse cursors.
While I still wonder¹⁾, how that achieves repairing the app-overview, it does this job reliably (in fractions of a second - in so far less painful than expected).
¹) gtk-update-icon-cache doesn’t do the job - just the cursors appearance remains unchanged by renaming the folder.
So the topic’s results are:
one bug
a not understood misbehavior - the results of which I can repair
a new implementation of a similar feature into the new gnome, that almost achieves the functionality of the old one
… and (by the current frequency of Linux bug fixes/updates) the impression that this is still in the state of a chaotic construction area which it entered last summer.
For me the topic is closable while not really solved (or solvable until a stable Linux/Gnome would arrive).
I.e.: If a moderator wants to close it and mark this post as “solution”, feel free to do so.
Irrelevant I’m afraid. GNOME developers attitude towards unsupported user customisation of their DE is very well known. So it’ll work until it doesn’t (which would be GNOME 45 release in this case I guess, apparently that changed a lot of things but I’m not a GNOME user myself).
- I hope you understand.