[xubuntu-users] Synaptic doesn't work on a new 14.04 installation

[Steve Litt]

On Thu, 17 Jul 2014 16:13:10 +0100
Chris Green <cl at isbd.net> wrote:

> I have just installed xubuntu 14.04 on an IBM Thinkpad x201i.
> 
> I like to use synaptic for adding software so I installed that (from
> the command line using apt-get) but it doesn't work, there are various
> symptoms according to how you try to run it:-
> 
>     Run from the menus - asks for authentication in the normal manner
>     but nothing further happens, no GUI, nothing.
> 
>     Run from the command line as ordinary user - synpatic GUI comes up
>     OK but of course with the message that you can't actually install
>     anything as you don't have root privilege.
> 
>     Run 'sudo synaptic' and you get the following errors after
>     entering the password:-
> 
>         No protocol specified
>         **[synaptic:10781]: WARNING **: Could not open X display
>         No protocol specified
>         error: XDG_RUNTIME_DIR not set in environment.
>         **[synaptic:10781]: Gtk-WARNING **: cannot open display: :0.0
> 
> 
> Wierdly enough if I 'ssh -X ...' into the system from another computer
> on the LAN I *can* run synaptic successfully!

What happens if you do the following:

1) Run an xterm (or aterm or rxvt if you don't have xterm)

2) On the xterm, run su -c

3) On the su root xterm, run synaptic

SteveT

Steve Litt                *  http://www.troubleshooters.com/
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