Element-desktop not starting any more

[tenthousand]

Hello, I recently ran into an issue where Element (the matrix client) does not start any more. This occurred after an update a few days ago. The previous update had been a week and a half ago. Plasma is my DE.

When I launch it via the terminal I see some errors but I’m not sure what next steps would be. Possibly an issue with Kwallet or electron?

Any troubleshooting pointers or help is appreciated

safeStorage backend 'kwallet6' selected, 'kwallet6' in config.
[51524:0529/081159.597468:ERROR:dbus/object_proxy.cc:590] Failed to call method: org.kde.KWallet.isEnabled: object_path= /modules/kwalletd6: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Could not activate remote peer 'org.kde.kwalletd6': unit failed
[51524:0529/081159.597484:ERROR:components/os_crypt/sync/kwallet_dbus.cc:117] Error contacting kwalletd6 (isEnabled)
[51524:0529/081159.597562:ERROR:dbus/object_proxy.cc:590] Failed to call method: org.kde.KLauncher.start_service_by_desktop_name: object_path= /KLauncher: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name is not activatable
[51524:0529/081159.597568:ERROR:components/os_crypt/sync/kwallet_dbus.cc:86] Error contacting klauncher to start kwalletd6
[51524:0529/081159.736866:ERROR:dbus/object_proxy.cc:590] Failed to call method: org.kde.KWallet.close: object_path= /modules/kwalletd6: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NameHasNoOwner: Could not activate remote peer 'org.kde.kwalletd6': unit failed
[51524:0529/081159.736883:ERROR:components/os_crypt/sync/kwallet_dbus.cc:412] Error contacting kwalletd6 (close)
Error: safeStorage is not available
    at Store.prepareSafeStorage (file:///usr/lib/element/app.asar/lib/store.js:273:19)
    at async Store.safeStorageReady (file:///usr/lib/element/app.asar/lib/store.js:175:9)
    at async App.<anonymous> (file:///usr/lib/element/app.asar/lib/electron-main.js:402:9)
Opening main window
(node:51524) [DEP0044] DeprecationWarning: The `util.isArray` API is deprecated. Please use `Array.isArray()` instead.
(Use `electron --trace-deprecation ...` to show where the warning was created)

(electron:51524): IBUS-WARNING **: 08:11:59.769: electron has no capability of surrounding-text feature

[Bink]

Which version do you have installed @tenthousand, as there’s a number of options in the official Arch repo and AUR?

If I’m not mistaken, element-desktop’s profile location is:

~/.config/Element/

In case it’s a profile issues, you could try renaming that folder to something like Element.backup, then launching Element again.

mv ~/.config/Element ~/.config/Element.backup

If that works, and starting your profile fresh isn’t going to cause any issues for you, you can just delete the backup.

[tenthousand]

I have the version in extra “extra/element-desktop 1.11.101-1”

Thanks for the suggestion. It doesn’t look like a profile issue as I tried the rename and restart steps provided and the same errors/element not starting happened.

[Bink]

What’s the output of:

yay -Q kwallet

[tenthousand]

kwallet 6.14.1-1

[Bink]

Have you recently changed password, and/or is the system set to auto-login per chance?

These are nothing more than hunches, so it may go nowhere, but here’s something to try.

Might you try unlocking your wallet first, before starting Element. To do this, install kwalletmanager (if it’s not already), and start it. Unlock your wallet if it prompts you, otherwise, I expect it will tell you your wallet is currently open:

Now try starting Element.

[tenthousand]

That did it! I had kwalletmanager already installed but I’ve never used it before and I had to OK it using kwallet and once inside kwalletmanager it said my wallet was closed. So I opened it and then Element was able to open!

I had to sign into Element again so it seems something changed between kwallet and Element as I had not changed my password nor do I have auto-login.

Thank you for your help and reading the error messages I could not.