Arch Linux

pianogamer5

Member

Registered: 2013-06-03

Posts: 10

gnome-software contains no packagekit packages

I just got Arch up and running on my Surface Pro 2 and I honestly couldn't be happier so far - I've had only one minor hardware issue that was already solved by someone else online, and other than that it's been smooth sailing!

However, I've got an issue that developed over the course of setting this thing up. I was using GNOME Softwre to replace GNOME's default apps with their Flatpak counterparts from Flathub just as a fun experiment, but at a certain point of removing apps and reinstalling them as Flatpaks, GNOME Software's packagekit functionality seems to have partially broken.

Currently, my GNOME Software only shows results from Flathub and the GNOME Extensions repository. I can see the default arch repositories [core], [community], and [extra] alongside Flathub and GNOME Extensions when clicking "Software Repositories" from the hamburger menu, and in fact I saw the latest update to the linux package in the updates tab (it failed to apply), but any software from the Arch repos does not show in search results.

Has anyone run into this, or got an idea of what I can do to fix this? I've already tried reinstalling archlinux-appstream-data and gnome-software-packagekit-plugin to no avail. I've also got all available updates, with no repositories added outside the default 3. Thanks in advance for any replies!

Last edited by pianogamer5 (2019-12-19 13:13:42)

Xabre

Member

From: Serbia

Registered: 2009-03-19

Posts: 755

Re: gnome-software contains no packagekit packages

Is gnome-software-packagekit-plugin installed?
If so, you need to restart gnome-software fully to load the new plugin, set the order of preference in settings (flatpak or arch repos first).
Also, it takes a while for software catalogue to be downloaded and parsed, usually works after system restart.

Just a screen of how it works here https://i.imgur.com/bG5S6Iw.jpg

Last edited by Xabre (2019-12-19 13:47:42)

pianogamer5

Member

Registered: 2013-06-03

Posts: 10

Re: gnome-software contains no packagekit packages

Yes, I've got gnome-software-packagekit-plugin installed, and it was working just fine: I could see all the packages on my system, as well as others in the Arch Repo, alongside Extensions and Flathub. However, at a certain point when installing Flatpaks and removing their traditional package counterparts, gnome-software stopped displaying repo packages. I tried reinstalling gnome-software-packagekit-plugin, and it did prompt me to restart Software (I also tried restarting the system as a whole), but to no avail.

pianogamer5

Member

Registered: 2013-06-03

Posts: 10

Re: gnome-software contains no packagekit packages

Well, I have an update. It appears the problem lies with appstream. When I do `sudo gnome-software --verbose` in Terminal, I find this warning printed:

    disabling appstream as setup failed: Error opening directory “/usr/share/appdata”: No such file or directory

Killing and re-launching GNOME Software  after creating an empty directory at that location causes the software from the repos to re-appear, however they seem to be missing their icons. I found what I was looking for in /usr/share/app-info, but I'm not sure how to get GNOME Software to look there. I'm continuing to dig, but would still appreciate help!

Lone_Wolf

Administrator

From: Netherlands, Europe

Registered: 2005-10-04

Posts: 13,033

Re: gnome-software contains no packagekit packages

I was using GNOME Softwre to replace GNOME's default apps with their Flatpak counterparts from Flathub just as a fun experiment, but at a certain point of removing apps and reinstalling them as Flatpaks,

I know nothing about gnome software, but this sounds like it may have removed things without using pacman.

I suggest you run pacman -Qkk as root to check for problems.

---

Disliking systemd intensely, but not satisfied with alternatives so focusing on taming systemd.

clean chroot building not flexible enough ?
Try clean chroot manager by graysky