sudo -E nvidia-settings - Could not load a pixbuf from icon theme

ArchyLife · 2025-11-30 04:54:28

Hi,

I thought in the past, the nvidia drivers would allow a user to set the fan speed, but now I notice with the later versions you have to be root.

So I have been running sudo -E nvidia-settings, but when I do, I see this output;

(nvidia-settings:47049): Gtk-WARNING **: 18:29:08.425: Could not load a pixbuf from icon theme.
This may indicate that pixbuf loaders or the mime database could not be found.

I don't see anything wrong with nvidia-settings when I run it sudo, but is there a way to correct this not loading a pixbuf and the mime?

THANKS

Last edited by ArchyLife (2025-11-30 04:55:30)

seth · 2025-11-30 10:20:34

So I have been running sudo -E nvidia-settings

Don't. Do. That.

set the fan speed, but now I notice with the later versions you have to be root.

Fix that instead. What device requires access and why does it not have them?

The pixbuf error could stem from bubblewrap

ArchyLife · 2025-12-01 00:03:06

Hi @seth

I'm referring to the nvidia-settings > Thermal Settings > Enable GPU Fan Settings

I've seen this now on several different distros where you need to be root in order to enable this.

If I try to enable it as a user I'll get this message;

ERROR: The current user does not have permission for operation

In the past with nvidia, I've never had to adjust/fix anything with nivdia-settings, simply install it and that's it. I've also never had to be root to enable the fans, but I've been told in the past, that this is a change in the later/lastest nvidia drivers. There's actually a lot of info online with others experiencing this, so I don't know what's going on...

From some reading online, not sure if this is the reasons why;

The updated nvidia-settings control panel now uses NVML (NVIDIA Management Library) instead, which requires elevated privileges for certain operations that were previously accessible to unprivileged users via the X server.

I should of looked/dug through the Arch Wiki.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/NVIDIA/Tips_and_tricks

8.6 Set fan speed at login - It does mention the factual accuracy of this article or section is disputed.

Reason: This will not work because manual configuration of GPU fan speed requires running nvidia-settings as root (even if Xorg itself is running as root).

It also mentions setting coolbits, and I added it in my /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/10-nvidia.conf and it didn't help.

You can adjust the fan speed on your graphics card with nvidia-settings console interface. First ensure that your Xorg configuration has enabled the bit 2 in the Coolbits option.

bubblewrap is already installed on my box.

THANKS

Last edited by ArchyLife (2025-12-01 00:32:10)

seth · 2025-12-01 08:13:41

bubblewrap is already installed on my box

Yes, the idea is that the recent invocation by gdk-pixbuf2 might cause those warnings.

https://forums.opensuse.org/t/control-f … s/187756/2 makes it sound like being member of the video group will allow access here, you're however supposed to have access to /dev/dri/card* - at least in an active session.

So let's see what it wants and where it fails:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/NVIDIA … d_at_login

strace -o /tmp/nv-settings.strace nvidia-settings -a "[gpu:0]/GPUFanControlState=1" -a "[fan:0]/GPUTargetFanSpeed=ν" # replace ν w/  a sane value for your system
cat /tmp/nv-settings.strace | curl -F 'file=@-' 0x0.st

ArchyLife · Today 02:51:59

Hi @seth,

Ok I ran;

strace -o /tmp/nv-settings.strace nvidia-settings -a "[gpu:0]/GPUFanControlState=1" -a "[fan:0]/GPUTargetFanSpeed=40"

After I ran the cmd, I got this output at the term;

ERROR: The current user does not have permission for operation
ERROR: Error assigning value 1 to attribute 'GPUFanControlState' (arch:0[gpu:0]) as specified in assignment '[gpu:0]/GPUFanControlState=1' (Operation not permitted for the current user).
ERROR: The current user does not have permission for operation
ERROR: Error assigning value 40 to attribute 'GPUTargetFanSpeed' (arch:0[fan:0]) as specified in assignment '[fan:0]/GPUTargetFanSpeed=40' (Operation not permitted for the current user).

Here's the output;

https://0x0.st/KtE4.txt

THANKS

Last edited by ArchyLife (Today 02:55:02)

Arch Linux

#1 2025-11-30 04:54:28

sudo -E nvidia-settings - Could not load a pixbuf from icon theme

#2 2025-11-30 10:20:34

Re: sudo -E nvidia-settings - Could not load a pixbuf from icon theme

#3 2025-12-01 00:03:06

Re: sudo -E nvidia-settings - Could not load a pixbuf from icon theme

#4 2025-12-01 08:13:41

Re: sudo -E nvidia-settings - Could not load a pixbuf from icon theme

#5 Today 02:51:59

Re: sudo -E nvidia-settings - Could not load a pixbuf from icon theme

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