x-d-p-pantheon is taking 25 seconds to startup after updating gtk4 to 4.20.2 on NixOS #157
Description
What Happened?
After "gdk: Usea longer timeout to reach the portals" GNOME/gtk@a7e5025, xdg-desktop-portal-pantheon is now taking 25 seconds to startup on NixOS (which is exactly the timeout in the linked commit). Not very sure what is happening yet but this makes the entire Pantheon session slow to start which is annoying 😂
$ systemctl --user status xdg-desktop-portal-pantheon.service
● xdg-desktop-portal-pantheon.service - Portal service (Pantheon implementation)
Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/user/xdg-desktop-portal-pantheon.service; linked-runtime; preset: ignored)
Active: active (running) since Sun 2025-11-16 18:28:01 CST; 1min 15s ago
Invocation: 870407bd135e432d8eb1f3f7f6c6b09f
Main PID: 3453 (.xdg-desktop-po)
Tasks: 6 (limit: 37983)
Memory: 10.7M (peak: 11.3M)
CPU: 153ms
CGroup: /user.slice/user-1000.slice/[email protected]/app.slice/xdg-desktop-portal-pantheon.service
└─3453 /nix/store/sihi5jvrygknigw4d1ds2v6y2pydzdn7-xdg-desktop-portal-pantheon-8.0.4/libexec/xdg-desktop-portal-pantheon
Nov 16 18:27:36 thinkbook systemd[2757]: Starting Portal service (Pantheon implementation)...
Nov 16 18:28:01 thinkbook systemd[2757]: Started Portal service (Pantheon implementation).
This seem to be the only portal that has this slow startup issue, io.elementary.settings-daemon.xdg-desktop-portal, io.elementary.files.xdg-desktop-portal, xdg-desktop-portal-gtk starts fine within seconds (non of these depend on gtk4...).
Also the issue seems to only happen on session startup, I tried manually restarting the x-d-p-pantheon portal after the session starts and the portal is also up within seconds.
Nov 16 18:36:08 thinkbook systemd[2757]: Starting Portal service (Pantheon implementation)...
Nov 16 18:36:08 thinkbook systemd[2757]: Started Portal service (Pantheon implementation).
Steps to Reproduce
- Update gtk4 to 4.20.2
- Reboot, login
- Notice that wingpanel, dock etc takes 25 seconds to appear
Expected Behavior
No 25 seconds startup.
OS Version
Other Linux
OS Architecture
amd64 (on most hardwares)
Session Type
Secure Session (Wayland)
Software Version
Latest release (I have run all updates)
Log Output
machine # [ 23.867443] systemd[1709]: Starting Portal service (Pantheon implementation)...
...
machine # [ 48.887839] /nix/store/zm5a3sk2mk7f2z1f5sr5zm4l3sw4pby6-xdg-desktop-portal-1.20.3/libexec/xdg-desktop-portal[1814]: Failed to create app chooser proxy: Error calling StartServiceByName
for org.freedesktop.impl.portal.desktop.pantheon: Timeout was reached
machine # [ 48.889246] /nix/store/zm5a3sk2mk7f2z1f5sr5zm4l3sw4pby6-xdg-desktop-portal-1.20.3/libexec/xdg-desktop-portal[1814]: No skeleton to export
machine # [ 48.956457] .xdg-desktop-po[2252]: _g_io_module_get_default: Found default implementation dconf (DConfSettingsBackend) for ‘gsettings-backend’
machine # [ 48.957322] .xdg-desktop-po[2252]: watch_fast: "/org/gnome/desktop/interface/" (establishing: 0, active: 0)
machine # [ 48.958366] .xdg-desktop-po[2252]: watch_fast: "/org/gnome/desktop/peripherals/mouse/" (establishing: 0, active: 0)
machine # [ 48.959165] .xdg-desktop-po[2252]: watch_fast: "/org/gnome/desktop/sound/" (establishing: 0, active: 0)
machine # [ 48.959935] .xdg-desktop-po[2252]: watch_fast: "/org/gnome/desktop/privacy/" (establishing: 0, active: 0)
machine # [ 48.960736] .xdg-desktop-po[2252]: watch_fast: "/org/gnome/desktop/wm/preferences/" (establishing: 0, active: 0)
machine # [ 48.961560] .xdg-desktop-po[2252]: watch_fast: "/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/xsettings/" (establishing: 0, active: 0)
machine # [ 48.962254] .xdg-desktop-po[2252]: watch_fast: "/org/gnome/desktop/a11y/" (establishing: 0, active: 0)
machine # [ 48.962870] .xdg-desktop-po[2252]: watch_fast: "/org/gnome/desktop/a11y/interface/" (establishing: 0, active: 0)
machine # [ 49.040260] .xdg-desktop-po[2252]: watch_established: "/org/gnome/desktop/interface/" (establishing: 1)
machine # [ 49.040971] .xdg-desktop-po[2252]: watch_established: "/org/gnome/desktop/peripherals/mouse/" (establishing: 1)
machine # [ 49.041623] .xdg-desktop-po[2252]: watch_established: "/org/gnome/desktop/sound/" (establishing: 1)
machine # [ 49.042599] .xdg-desktop-po[2252]: watch_established: "/org/gnome/desktop/privacy/" (establishing: 1)
machine # [ 49.043614] .xdg-desktop-po[2252]: watch_established: "/org/gnome/desktop/wm/preferences/" (establishing: 1)
machine # [ 49.044671] .xdg-desktop-po[2252]: watch_established: "/org/gnome/settings-daemon/plugins/xsettings/" (establishing: 1)
machine # [ 49.045464] .xdg-desktop-po[2252]: watch_established: "/org/gnome/desktop/a11y/" (establishing: 1)
machine # [ 49.046311] .xdg-desktop-po[2252]: watch_established: "/org/gnome/desktop/a11y/interface/" (establishing: 1)
machine # [ 49.050324] .xdg-desktop-po[2252]: _g_io_module_get_default: Found default implementation gvfs (GDaemonVfs) for ‘gio-vfs’
machine # [ 49.092956] xdg-desktop-portal-pantheon[2252]: XdgDesktopPortalPantheon.vala:36: Access Portal registered!
machine # [ 49.093816] xdg-desktop-portal-pantheon[2252]: XdgDesktopPortalPantheon.vala:39: AppChooser Portal registered!
machine # [ 49.094636] xdg-desktop-portal-pantheon[2252]: XdgDesktopPortalPantheon.vala:42: Background Portal registered!
machine # [ 49.095468] xdg-desktop-portal-pantheon[2252]: XdgDesktopPortalPantheon.vala:45: Screenshot Portal registered!
machine # [ 49.096147] xdg-desktop-portal-pantheon[2252]: XdgDesktopPortalPantheon.vala:48: Wallpaper Portal registered!
machine # [ 49.097705] xdg-desktop-portal-pantheon[2252]: XdgDesktopPortalPantheon.vala:51: Screencast Portal registered!
machine # [ 49.129444] dbus-daemon[1759]: [session uid=1000 pid=1759] Successfully activated service 'org.freedesktop.impl.portal.desktop.pantheon'
machine # [ 49.131421] systemd[1709]: Started Portal service (Pantheon implementation).
machine # [ 49.131951] xdg-desktop-portal-pantheon[2252]: XdgDesktopPortalPantheon.vala:58: org.freedesktop.impl.portal.desktop.pantheon acquiredHardware Info
No response