Arch Linux

yaestoycansado

Member

Registered: 2018-05-14

Posts: 11

Suddenly i can't open any programs

First I'm sorry I can't provide any logs, but i'm having an strange problem.

sometimes when I'm working, suddenly I can't open new programs, they just won't open. But the ones I have already open work great, I mean, in Opera or thunar I even can open new windows using the "file" menu.

I can't narrow it dow the problem. It happens whatever I'm doing, sometimes i'm using MPLAB, sometimes I just have open evince or calibre. I can't find any pattern and I can't open a terminal

So, how can I trace the problem?

Thanks.

seth

Member

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 51,240

Re: Suddenly i can't open any programs

Can't open "how"?
Can you run them from an interactive shell (bash terminal)?
If not: what's the output?
Can you still run non-GUI processes?
Wayland or X11 session?

Usual suspect: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ne … e_hostname

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yaestoycansado

Member

Registered: 2018-05-14

Posts: 11

Re: Suddenly i can't open any programs

Hi seth, I don't know because when that happens, I can't open the terminal so I don't know if I can run them from there and I can't get the output.

I have the hostname properly setup. I followed the installation guide as always and it is the first time in five years

I'm using X11 and like i said, I don't find any patterns so I don't know what more information can I provide but I can say i'm using XFCE4 and kkep the system always up to date.

thanks.

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 21,740

Re: Suddenly i can't open any programs

Keep a terminal open, wait for it to break, try to run something from the terminal. FWIW what's your output of

hostnamectl

yaestoycansado

Member

Registered: 2018-05-14

Posts: 11

Re: Suddenly i can't open any programs

Hi V1del

the output is

   Static hostname: localhost
Transient hostname: localhost.localdomain
         Icon name: computer-desktop
           Chassis: desktop
  Operating System: Arch Linux
            Kernel: Linux 5.3.12-arch1-1
      Architecture: x86-64

and this is the output when I try to run any software after the crash

when trying to open evince:

$ evince
No protocol specified
Unable to init server: No se pudo conectar: Conexión rehusada
Cannot parse arguments: No se puede abrir el visor: 

Opera

$ opera
No protocol specified

(opera:18569): Gtk-WARNING **: 18:35:35.235: cannot open display: :0.0

But I just realize that thunar and xfce4-terminal open without a problem from the terminal but not from the menu or the shortcuts.

thanks.

Last edited by yaestoycansado (2019-11-26 23:37:21)

loqs

Member

Registered: 2014-03-06

Posts: 17,373

Re: Suddenly i can't open any programs

localhost is not a valid hostname so it can be overwritten for instance when the system obtains a DHCP lease.
X relies on the hostname for authentication.  The changed hostname fails X auth so the programs do not start.
Set a valid hostname for the system.

Last edited by loqs (2019-11-26 23:39:41)