KDEInit could not launch '/usr/bin/synaptiks'

zetrotrack000 · 2013-08-25 06:50:11

Hi
Suddenly a problem starts to appear in my arch linux. When I try to start "synaptiks", kde gives error:

KDEInit could not launch '/usr/bin/synaptiks'

When try to run from terminal, it gives following error:

Segmentation fault (core dumped)

How can I fix it?

PS: 2 days ago, after upgrade, the kde stopped loading with error "desktop shell could not load" and I fixed it by removing ~/.kde4/share/apps/plasma directory.

phanisvara · 2013-08-25 08:41:50

same thing happened to me. i re-opened an old bug report that's similar: https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/35842

arojas · 2013-08-25 10:03:16

Downgrade sip and pyqt4

https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/36652

phanisvara · 2013-08-25 12:34:47

doesn't help, unfortunately. synaptiks still segfaults, with all sip versions down to sip-4.14.3-1.

zetrotrack000 · 2013-08-25 12:46:08

Downgrade to which version?
And
How to downgrade?

phanisvara · 2013-08-25 12:51:54

don't bother, downgrading those two packages doesn't help in this case.

in general, you can downgrade if you have the older package still around. unless you specifically clean that cache, they are kept in /usr/cache/pacman/pkg. then you can downgrade with "pacman -U <exact-package.name>".

zetrotrack000 · 2013-08-25 13:10:42

Hmm... so if downgrading will not help then how this problem can be fixed?

phanisvara · 2013-08-25 13:19:14

look at https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Touchpad_Synaptics

there's several ways managing your touchpad without synaptiks, depending on what you want to achieve.

for me, the most important thing is to switch it off when i type on the laptop's keyboard (normally i use an ext. keyboard), which can be achieved with the simple command

synclient TouchpadOff=1

or set it to "0" to enable the touchpad again.

you'll get a list of available settings/options for your device with "synclient -l", and as far as i know all can be set via the 'synclient' command (as normal user, no need to be root).

in the wiki page mentioned above you'll find fancier options, using udev rules and/or .xinitrc settings, that will manage your touchpad automatically, depending on the presence of a mouse, or if you're typing or not. basically, you can do everything synaptiks does that way.

arojas · 2013-08-25 13:25:26

phanisvara wrote:

doesn't help, unfortunately. synaptiks still segfaults, with all sip versions down to sip-4.14.3-1.

You have to downgrade sip, python2-sip and python2-pyqt4. Works fine here with sip 4.14.7 and pyqt4 4.10.2

phanisvara · 2013-08-25 13:26:45

one handy udev rule i just applied switches the touchpad off automatically when an external mouse is plugged in, and on again when the mouse is removed. to achieve that, you'll have to create the file /etc/udev/rules.d/01-touchpad.rules and add the following line (got to be a single line, no line breaks or such):

 ACTION=="add", SUBSYSTEM=="input", KERNEL=="mouse[0-9]", ENV{DISPLAY}=":0", ENV{XAUTHORITY}="/home/<your-user-name>/.Xauthority", ENV{ID_CLASS}="mouse", ENV{REMOVE_CMD}="/usr/bin/synclient TouchpadOff=0", RUN+="/usr/bin/synclient TouchpadOff=1"

(<your-user-name> needs to be replaced with your real username, obviously.)

oh, and you'll have to run "udevadm control --reload-rules" as root, otherwise your system won't know about the new one.

for me that was enough to get the auto-switch-on/off working. if you're using gdm or kdm as login manager, there's a few other permission things you may have to do. (mentioned in the wiki page).

phanisvara · 2013-08-25 13:31:32

arojas wrote:

You have to downgrade sip, python2-sip and python2-pyqt4. Works fine here with sip 4.14.7 and pyqt4 4.10.2

ah, i downgraded only those two packages you mentioned in your first post, and that didn't work. in the meantime, i managed to get everything i want from synaptiks with a simple udev rule, so i'll just leave it at that.

the original poster may want to try downgrading all the packages you listed now though. i always find it a hassle to put those packages into pacman's "exclude" array, so i think i'll live w/o synaptiks from now

zetrotrack000 · 2013-08-26 08:22:56

As it seems that downgrading does not always work, I will try the following guide:
look at https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Touchpad_Synaptics

phanisvara · 2013-08-26 08:26:12

even though i haven't tried it with all the files arojas specified in his second post here, i'm pretty sure it will work if you do it correctly. that said, i also think it makes more sense to eliminate the middleman (synaptiks) and do things in a way that's not DE specific (udev, .xinitrc).

brunocodutra · 2013-09-08 23:18:13

I'm having a similar problem lately. Sometimes when I try to launcheither dolphin, konsole or kate I'm either presented to a similar KDEInit could not launch * error, or the launching simply hangs.
I found out that killing the latest instance of kdeinit4 seems to temporarely solve the problem, but I keep having regular issues after the first one till I effectively restart de kdm service.
I couldn't really reproduce the problem, but I have the feeling it starts right after I try using the embedded konsole in dolphin or kde, or when I use the "open terminal here" in the context menu of dolphin.

Maybe this problem is correlated?

Last edited by brunocodutra (2013-09-08 23:18:24)

arojas · 2013-09-09 06:46:57

brunocodutra wrote:

Maybe this problem is correlated?

You issue is unrelated. Neither dolphin nor konsole have anything to do with the Python bindings, which is the cause of the issue here.

Arch Linux

#1 2013-08-25 06:50:11

KDEInit could not launch '/usr/bin/synaptiks'

#2 2013-08-25 08:41:50

Re: KDEInit could not launch '/usr/bin/synaptiks'

#3 2013-08-25 10:03:16

Re: KDEInit could not launch '/usr/bin/synaptiks'

#4 2013-08-25 12:34:47

Re: KDEInit could not launch '/usr/bin/synaptiks'

#5 2013-08-25 12:46:08

Re: KDEInit could not launch '/usr/bin/synaptiks'

#6 2013-08-25 12:51:54

Re: KDEInit could not launch '/usr/bin/synaptiks'

#7 2013-08-25 13:10:42

Re: KDEInit could not launch '/usr/bin/synaptiks'

#8 2013-08-25 13:19:14

Re: KDEInit could not launch '/usr/bin/synaptiks'

#9 2013-08-25 13:25:26

Re: KDEInit could not launch '/usr/bin/synaptiks'

#10 2013-08-25 13:26:45

Re: KDEInit could not launch '/usr/bin/synaptiks'

#11 2013-08-25 13:31:32

Re: KDEInit could not launch '/usr/bin/synaptiks'

#12 2013-08-26 08:22:56

Re: KDEInit could not launch '/usr/bin/synaptiks'

#13 2013-08-26 08:26:12

Re: KDEInit could not launch '/usr/bin/synaptiks'

#14 2013-09-08 23:18:13

Re: KDEInit could not launch '/usr/bin/synaptiks'

#15 2013-09-09 06:46:57

Re: KDEInit could not launch '/usr/bin/synaptiks'

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