1.2 update crash xdg-desktop-portal

[phenix-factory]

This morning, I got this update:

vStart-Date: 2026-01-06  08:03:51
Commandline: apt full-upgrade -y
Requested-By: phenix (1000)
Upgrade: libsodium23:amd64 (1.0.18-1+b2, 1.0.18-1+deb13u1), regolith-session-flashback:amd64 (1.1.15-4-1regolith-trixie, 1.2.0-1ubuntu1-1regolith-trixie), regolith-session-common:amd64 (1.1.15-4-1regolith-trixie, 1.2.0-1ubuntu1-1regolith-trixie), regolith-session-flashback-ext:amd64 (1.1.15-4-1regolith-trixie, 1.2.0-1ubuntu1-1regolith-trixie)
End-Date: 2026-01-06  08:03:52

Tonight, I rebooted my computer and got several issues: the terminal takes a long time to open, dark mode fails to apply (and other issues, like Control Center slow to open).

I managed to find this error in the journal

jan 06 20:27:20 Thanatos systemd[2195]: xdg-desktop-portal.service: start operation timed out. Terminating.
jan 06 20:27:20 Thanatos systemd[2195]: xdg-desktop-portal.service: Failed with result 'timeout'.
jan 06 20:27:20 Thanatos systemd[2195]: Failed to start xdg-desktop-portal.service - Portal service.

When I used Gnome, everything was fine. So I downgraded the package using

sudo apt install regolith-session-common=1.1.15-4-1regolith-trixie regolith-session-flashback=1.1.15-4-1regolith-trixie regolith-session-flashback-ext=1.1.15-4-1regolith-trixie

And everything went back to normal.
I'm using Debian 13, I can provide other information if I can find it :)

[phenix-factory]

I just updated my laptop and got the same problem. I guess it's not an hardware issue.

[SoumyaRanjanPatnaik]

Can you check the version of xdg-dekstop-portal?

apt list --installed | grep xdg-desktop-portal

[phenix-factory]

Can you check the version of xdg-dekstop-portal?

apt list --installed | grep xdg-desktop-portal

Of course :

xdg-desktop-portal-gnome/stable,now 48.0-2 amd64 [installé, automatique]
xdg-desktop-portal-gtk/stable,now 1.15.3-1 amd64 [installé, automatique]
xdg-desktop-portal-regolith-x11-config/unstable,now 0.3.8-1-1regolith-trixie amd64 [installé, automatique]
xdg-desktop-portal/stable,now 1.20.3+ds-1 amd64 [installé, automatique]

[adamroyjones]

I had the same problems today on Debian 13.

It may be that the issue is that some Ubuntu-specific packages were mistakenly added to the Debian package repository; I've noticed that the three problematic packages (regolith-session-common, regolith-session-flashback, regolith-session-flashback-ext) have the version string "1.2.0-1ubuntu1-1regolith-testing" and that no other Regolith package has "ubuntu" as a substring.

[khos2ow]

the version string "1.2.0-1ubuntu1-1regolith-testing"

In this particular case this is not relevant, -1ubuntu1- is just an arbitrary string we append to the name of the package which is being build for individual distro/codename independently.

[kgilmer]

I did full install test this morning from testing on Debian 13 and did not notice any xdg-desktop-portal regressions. It may be that long term installs with upgrades keep packages that are conflicting in some way, but just a guess.

[alive1]

I experienced the exact same issue. The downgrade reported by the original reporter fixed everything. Here is what was in my journal log when trying to open gnome-control-center:

Jan 23 17:52:09 dak-t14g5 systemd[4173]: Started run_ilia_org.gnome.Settings.desktop_599c6194.scope - [systemd-run] /usr/bin/gnome-control-center.
Jan 23 17:52:09 dak-t14g5 systemd-run[44835]: Running as unit: run_ilia_org.gnome.Settings.desktop_599c6194.scope; invocation ID: ddc77b7db45543d3a65ff156ca5b8241
Jan 23 17:52:10 dak-t14g5 dbus-daemon[4203]: [session uid=1000 pid=4203 pidfd=5] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.portal.Desktop' unit='xdg-desktop-portal.service' requested by ':1.386' (uid=1000 pid=44835 comm="/usr/b>
Jan 23 17:52:10 dak-t14g5 systemd[4173]: Starting xdg-desktop-portal.service - Portal service...
Jan 23 17:52:10 dak-t14g5 xdg-desktop-por[44854]: Choosing gnome.portal for org.freedesktop.impl.portal.Screenshot via the deprecated UseIn key
Jan 23 17:52:10 dak-t14g5 xdg-desktop-por[44854]: The preferred method to match portal implementations to desktop environments is to use the portals.conf(5) configuration file
Jan 23 17:52:10 dak-t14g5 dbus-daemon[4203]: [session uid=1000 pid=4203 pidfd=5] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.impl.portal.desktop.gnome' unit='xdg-desktop-portal-gnome.service' requested by ':1.387' (uid=1000 pid=4>
Jan 23 17:52:10 dak-t14g5 systemd[4173]: graphical-session.target - Current graphical user session is inactive.
Jan 23 17:52:10 dak-t14g5 systemd[4173]: Dependency failed for xdg-desktop-portal-gnome.service - Portal service (GNOME implementation).
Jan 23 17:52:10 dak-t14g5 systemd[4173]: xdg-desktop-portal-gnome.service: Job xdg-desktop-portal-gnome.service/start failed with result 'dependency'.

The main reasons I noticed something was wrong:

• I had just done apt upgrade, did a reboot
• Terminal font was unusually large
• All apps regressed to light mode
• gnome-control-center, gnome-tweaks did not work for reducing font size
• gnome-control-center was super slow to start
• ctrl+super+r did not fix font size+dark mode
• changing regolith-look did not work

what can I do to give more useful feedback?

[gauthier-th]

I experienced the exact same issue. The downgrade reported by the original reporter fixed everything. Here is what was in my journal log when trying to open gnome-control-center:

Jan 23 17:52:09 dak-t14g5 systemd[4173]: Started run_ilia_org.gnome.Settings.desktop_599c6194.scope - [systemd-run] /usr/bin/gnome-control-center.
Jan 23 17:52:09 dak-t14g5 systemd-run[44835]: Running as unit: run_ilia_org.gnome.Settings.desktop_599c6194.scope; invocation ID: ddc77b7db45543d3a65ff156ca5b8241
Jan 23 17:52:10 dak-t14g5 dbus-daemon[4203]: [session uid=1000 pid=4203 pidfd=5] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.portal.Desktop' unit='xdg-desktop-portal.service' requested by ':1.386' (uid=1000 pid=44835 comm="/usr/b>
Jan 23 17:52:10 dak-t14g5 systemd[4173]: Starting xdg-desktop-portal.service - Portal service...
Jan 23 17:52:10 dak-t14g5 xdg-desktop-por[44854]: Choosing gnome.portal for org.freedesktop.impl.portal.Screenshot via the deprecated UseIn key
Jan 23 17:52:10 dak-t14g5 xdg-desktop-por[44854]: The preferred method to match portal implementations to desktop environments is to use the portals.conf(5) configuration file
Jan 23 17:52:10 dak-t14g5 dbus-daemon[4203]: [session uid=1000 pid=4203 pidfd=5] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.impl.portal.desktop.gnome' unit='xdg-desktop-portal-gnome.service' requested by ':1.387' (uid=1000 pid=4>
Jan 23 17:52:10 dak-t14g5 systemd[4173]: graphical-session.target - Current graphical user session is inactive.
Jan 23 17:52:10 dak-t14g5 systemd[4173]: Dependency failed for xdg-desktop-portal-gnome.service - Portal service (GNOME implementation).
Jan 23 17:52:10 dak-t14g5 systemd[4173]: xdg-desktop-portal-gnome.service: Job xdg-desktop-portal-gnome.service/start failed with result 'dependency'.

The main reasons I noticed something was wrong:

* I had just done apt upgrade, did a reboot

* Terminal font was unusually large

* All apps regressed to light mode

* gnome-control-center, gnome-tweaks did not work for reducing font size

* gnome-control-center was super slow to start

* ctrl+super+r did not fix font size+dark mode

* changing regolith-look did not work

what can I do to give more useful feedback?

Same issue and same consequences for me. Downgrading also fixed the issue.

[phenix-factory]

Is the update of xdg-desktop-portal-regolith-x11-config I just got related to this issue? Should I hold the packages?

[jbylsma]

I have been experiencing these issue on Debian Trixie machine with both a long-running and fresh user account. The machine has been upgrade from Bookworm and probably from before that, too.

I didn't see anything obvious when I extracted and diffed the packages, so I went back and forth with Claude. It did identify two issues that could be worked around at the user level. The workarounds fixed the issues I had been seeing for both the long-running and fresh user accounts. That said, I'm outside of my comfort zone on this, especially with issue two, so even though I generated, digested, and edited the AI summary, I left a lot of the verbosity. My apologies in advance if this is slop-py.

For the record, here's the relevant packages I've been using during my testing.

Package	Version
regolith-session-common	1.2.0-1ubuntu1-1regolith-trixie
regolith-session-flashback	1.2.0-1ubuntu1-1regolith-trixie
regolith-session-flashback-ext	1.2.0-1ubuntu1-1regolith-trixie
xdg-desktop-portal-regolith-x11-config	0.3.10-1-1regolith-trixie

Issue 1: Missing systemd dependency

The new gnome-session-x11@regolith-x11.target file is missing a Wants=gnome-session-x11-services.target directive. This causes org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.XSettings.service to fail with a dependency error since it has a Requisite on gnome-session-x11-services.target.

Symptoms: Incorrect theming, wrong font sizes, maybe GNOME settings not applying.

Workaround: Create a drop-in override:

mkdir -p ~/.config/systemd/user/gnome-session-x11@regolith-x11.target.d
cat > ~/.config/systemd/user/gnome-session-x11@regolith-x11.target.d/x11-services.conf << 'EOF'
[Unit]
Wants=gnome-session-x11-services.target
EOF

Issue 2: Portal configuration not effective

The xdg-desktop-portal-regolith-x11-config package provides /usr/share/xdg-desktop-portal/regolith-portals.conf, but xdg-desktop-portal still attempts to use the GNOME portal backend.

XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP is set to Regolith:GNOME-Flashback:GNOME in /usr/bin/regolith-session-x11-launch from the regolith-session-flashback package:

...
if [ -z "${XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP-}" ]; then
    export XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP="Regolith:GNOME-Flashback:GNOME"
fi
...

Because this includes GNOME, the portal daemon matches against the deprecated UseIn=gnome key in /usr/share/xdg-desktop-portal/portals/gnome.portal rather than respecting regolith-portals.conf. The journal confirms this:

xdg-desktop-por: Choosing gnome.portal for org.freedesktop.impl.portal.Screenshot via the deprecated UseIn key
xdg-desktop-por: The preferred method to match portal implementations to desktop environments is to use the portals.conf(5) configuration file

The portal then tries to activate xdg-desktop-portal-gnome.service, which cannot start without GNOME Shell, and times out (~50 seconds total across multiple interfaces).

Symptoms: 15+ second delay on first D-Bus activation (opening terminal, settings, etc.). Subsequent launches are fast.

Log evidence:

Dependency failed for xdg-desktop-portal-gnome.service
Failed to create screenshot proxy: Error calling StartServiceByName for org.freedesktop.impl.portal.desktop.gnome: Timeout was reached

Workaround: Mask the GNOME portal service:

systemctl --user mask xdg-desktop-portal-gnome.service

[alive1]

Alright, I am going to test a package upgrade, apply the recommended workarounds, and report back. Hold my beer.

[alive1]

Before upgrade

 sudo apt list --upgradable
regolith-session-common/unstable 1.2.0-1ubuntu1-1regolith-trixie amd64 [upgradable from: 1.1.15-4-1regolith-trixie]
regolith-session-flashback-ext/unstable 1.2.0-1ubuntu1-1regolith-trixie amd64 [upgradable from: 1.1.15-4-1regolith-trixie]
regolith-session-flashback/unstable 1.2.0-1ubuntu1-1regolith-trixie amd64 [upgradable from: 1.1.15-4-1regolith-trixie]

 find /usr/lib/systemd -type f |grep regolith
/usr/lib/systemd/user/regolith-x11.service
/usr/lib/systemd/user/regolith-x11.target
/usr/lib/systemd/user/gnome-session@regolith-x11.target.d/session.conf

/usr/lib/systemd/user/regolith-x11.service:

[Unit]
Description=Regolith Session for i3
# On X11, try to show the GNOME Session Failed screen
OnFailure=gnome-session-failed.target
OnFailureJobMode=replace
CollectMode=inactive-or-failed
RefuseManualStart=on
RefuseManualStop=on

After=gnome-session-manager.target

Requisite=gnome-session-initialized.target
PartOf=gnome-session-initialized.target
Before=gnome-session-initialized.target

PartOf=regolith-x11.target
BindsTo=regolith-x11.target
After=regolith-x11.target

ConditionEnvironment=XDG_SESSION_TYPE=x11

# Limit startup frequency more than the default
StartLimitIntervalSec=15s
StartLimitBurst=3

[Service]
Slice=session.slice
Type=notify
NotifyAccess=all
ExecStart=regolith-session-x11

# Setup custom environment for session
EnvironmentFile=-%h/.config/regolith3/i3/env

# On X11 we do not need to unset any variables

# On X11 we want to restart on-success and on-failure.
Restart=always
# Do not wait before restarting the shell
RestartSec=0ms
# Kill any stubborn child processes after this long
TimeoutStopSec=5

# Lower down gnome-shell's OOM score to avoid being killed by OOM-killer too early
OOMScoreAdjust=-1000

/usr/lib/systemd/user/regolith-x11.target:

[Unit]
Description=Regolith on X11
DefaultDependencies=no

Requisite=gnome-session-initialized.target
PartOf=gnome-session-initialized.target
Before=gnome-session-initialized.target

/usr/lib/systemd/user/gnome-session@regolith-x11.target.d/session.conf:

[Unit]
Wants=org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.A11ySettings.target
Wants=org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Color.target
Wants=org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Datetime.target
Wants=org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Housekeeping.target
Wants=org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Keyboard.target
Wants=org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.MediaKeys.target
Wants=org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Power.target
Wants=org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.PrintNotifications.target
Wants=org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Rfkill.target
Wants=org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.ScreensaverProxy.target
Wants=org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Sharing.target
Wants=org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Smartcard.target
Wants=org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Sound.target
Wants=org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Wacom.target
Wants=org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.XSettings.target
Wants=gnome-flashback.target

Requires=regolith-x11.service

After Upgrade

• Terminal text is HUGE, unable to alter it via Xresources, gnome-tweaks, or otherwise.
• Everything is in Light mode, not Dark mode. Changing it is not possible.
• gnome-settings, regolith-settings is SLOW to start

ii  regolith-session-common                   1.2.0-1ubuntu1-1regolith-trixie      amd64        Common files for regolith X11 session
ii  regolith-session-flashback                1.2.0-1ubuntu1-1regolith-trixie      amd64        Regolith customized gnome-flashback session
ii  regolith-session-flashback-ext            1.2.0-1ubuntu1-1regolith-trixie      amd64        Additional files for regolith X11 session

Feb 11 11:05:43 dak-t14g5 gsd-color[49488]: Failed to connect to GeoClue2 service: Timeout was reached
Feb 11 11:05:44 dak-t14g5 xdg-desktop-por[49702]: Failed to create screenshot proxy: Error calling StartServiceByName for org.freedesktop.impl.portal.desktop.gnome: Timeout was reached
Feb 11 11:05:44 dak-t14g5 xdg-desktop-por[49702]: No skeleton to export
Feb 11 11:05:44 dak-t14g5 xdg-desktop-por[49702]: Choosing gnome.portal for org.freedesktop.impl.portal.ScreenCast via the deprecated UseIn key
Feb 11 11:05:46 dak-t14g5 gnome-software[49547]: Only 0 apps for curated list, hiding
Feb 11 11:05:47 dak-t14g5 systemd[4166]: Started run-p52135-i52435.scope - [systemd-run] /usr/bin/x-terminal-emulator.
Feb 11 11:05:47 dak-t14g5 systemd-run[52135]: Running as unit: run-p52135-i52435.scope; invocation ID: 883ba63cecb641f0b04bdcfdb3d13955
Feb 11 11:06:09 dak-t14g5 xdg-desktop-por[49702]: Failed to create screen cast proxy: Error calling StartServiceByName for org.freedesktop.impl.portal.desktop.gnome: Timeout was reached
Feb 11 11:06:09 dak-t14g5 xdg-desktop-por[49702]: No skeleton to export
Feb 11 11:06:09 dak-t14g5 dbus-daemon[48937]: [session uid=1000 pid=48937 pidfd=5] Successfully activated service 'org.freedesktop.portal.Desktop'
Feb 11 11:06:09 dak-t14g5 systemd[4166]: Started xdg-desktop-portal.service - Portal service.
Feb 11 11:07:19 dak-t14g5 dbus-daemon[48937]: [session uid=1000 pid=48937 pidfd=5] Failed to activate service 'org.freedesktop.impl.portal.desktop.gnome': timed out (service_start_timeout=120000ms)

Attempted workaround fix:

 cat .config/systemd/user/gnome-session-x11@regolith-x11.target.d/x11-services.conf
[Unit]
Wants=gnome-session-x11-services.target

Result: WORKS!
All my desktop visual settings, fonts, sizes, mouse cursor, is normal now.

Attempted workaround fix for log messages:
Masking the xdg-desktop-portal-gnome.service service.
Status: Ehhh.. not really.

I am left with the following in my journal:

Feb 11 11:12:43 dak-t14g5 gnome-session-binary[67452]: GnomeDesktop-WARNING: Could not create transient scope for PID 67944: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.UnixProcessIdUnknown: Failed to set unit properties: No such process
Feb 11 11:12:43 dak-t14g5 picom.desktop[67989]: [ 2026-02-11 11:12:43.592 sanitize_options ERROR ] Backend not specified. You must choose one explicitly. Valid ones are:
Feb 11 11:12:43 dak-t14g5 picom.desktop[67989]: [ 2026-02-11 11:12:43.592 sanitize_options ERROR ]         dummy
Feb 11 11:12:43 dak-t14g5 picom.desktop[67989]: [ 2026-02-11 11:12:43.592 sanitize_options ERROR ]         xrender
Feb 11 11:12:43 dak-t14g5 picom.desktop[67989]: [ 2026-02-11 11:12:43.592 sanitize_options ERROR ]         egl
Feb 11 11:12:43 dak-t14g5 picom.desktop[67989]: [ 2026-02-11 11:12:43.592 sanitize_options ERROR ]         glx
Feb 11 11:12:43 dak-t14g5 picom.desktop[67989]: [ 2026-02-11 11:12:43.592 session_init FATAL ERROR ] Failed to get configuration, usually mean you have specified invalid options.
Feb 11 11:12:43 dak-t14g5 picom.desktop[67989]: [ 2026-02-11 11:12:43.592 main FATAL ERROR ] Failed to create new session.

Feb 11 11:12:43 dak-t14g5 gnome-session[67452]: gnome-session-binary[67452]: GnomeDesktop-WARNING: Could not create transient scope for PID 67971: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.UnixProcessIdUnknown: Failed to set unit properties: No such process
Feb 11 11:12:43 dak-t14g5 gnome-session-binary[67452]: GnomeDesktop-WARNING: Could not create transient scope for PID 67971: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.UnixProcessIdUnknown: Failed to set unit properties: No such process
Feb 11 11:12:43 dak-t14g5 gnome-session[67452]: gnome-session-binary[67452]: GnomeDesktop-WARNING: Could not create transient scope for PID 67989: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.UnixProcessIdUnknown: Failed to set unit properties: No such process
Feb 11 11:12:43 dak-t14g5 gnome-session-binary[67452]: GnomeDesktop-WARNING: Could not create transient scope for PID 67989: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.UnixProcessIdUnknown: Failed to set unit properties: No such process

Feb 11 11:12:44 dak-t14g5 xdg-desktop-por[68102]: Failed to create screenshot proxy: Error calling StartServiceByName for org.freedesktop.impl.portal.desktop.gnome: Unit xdg-desktop-portal-gnome.service is masked.
Feb 11 11:12:44 dak-t14g5 xdg-desktop-por[68102]: Failed to create screen cast proxy: Error calling StartServiceByName for org.freedesktop.impl.portal.desktop.gnome: Unit xdg-desktop-portal-gnome.service is masked.