unable to add "startup applications" in gnome-tweak-tool

[badbodh]

when gnome-tweak-tool is started via gnome-shell dash or .desktop file in /usr/share/applications, i cannot add "startup applications" by clicking the '+' button. clicking on '+' produces no response.

but when the same is started via terminal , clicking on the '+' button returns a list of applications that can be added. this is the intended behaviour (screenshot attached).

uninstall/re-install din't fix the problem. OS: ubuntuGnome 14.04 64bit fresh install.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: gnome-tweak-tool 3.10.1-2ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-24.46-generic 3.13.9
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-24-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: wl
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: GNOME
Date: Tue May 6 00:57:35 2014
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-05-04 (1 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-GNOME 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140416.2)
PackageArchitecture: all
SourcePackage: gnome-tweak-tool
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[badbodh (badbodh-yahoo)]

setting "Terminal=true" in .desktop file in '/usr/share/applications/...' solved the above problem but opens up the ugly terminal window.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Ben Davis (bendavis78)]

I've created a pull request in upstream that fixes this issue: https://github.com/GNOME/gnome-tweak-tool/pull/1

[François Jacques (francois-jacques)]

Reviewed and commented Ben's pull request. Hope it gets committed and integrated soon, this is really annoying.

[François Jacques (francois-jacques)]

Ah, forgot to mention. For those who know how to read the change that Ben proposes and would like to fix it locally, you can do so by correcting the file:

/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/gtweak/tweaks/tweak_group_startup.py

It works great after that.

[Ben Wolsieffer (benwolsieffer)]

This bug has been fixed, and the fix is extremely simple and works perfectly, so why has no one pulled it in yet after nearly a month?

[tulainas (tulainas)]

 So, I've opened " usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/gtweak/tweaks/tweak_group_startup.py " but, to be honest i don't have the faintest clue of what to do next.

 Could you point me please?

 As a workaround, i just copied the respective "*.desktop" file from " /usr/share/applications/ " to " ~./.config/autostart " and it's loading my app at login now. Gnome tweak is still not working correctly.

[Ashton (cogneato)]

Ben's changes fixes it fine. It would be great to get this merged already.

https://github.com/GNOME/gnome-tweak-tool/pull/1/files

[Pau Iranzo (paugnu)]

Confirmed this works:
https://github.com/GNOME/gnome-tweak-tool/pull/1/files

You can do the changes directly. Open the file:
/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/gtweak/tweaks/tweak_group_startup.py

And:

Add 1 line after line 21:
import pwd

Add 1 line after line 208:
login = pwd.getpwuid(os.getuid())[0]

Remove line 210 and replace it by:
login,'-o','cmd'],

[Javier Domingo (txomon)]

Fix also applies to gnome-tweak-tool 3.14.0-1 in archlinux.

[albert fishnets (mateolingerhaus)]

Just an FYI:

I was having this problem in Ubuntu 14.10 Gnome edition. Running tweak tool as sudo ( sudo gnome-tweak-tool ) allows me to add and remove startup applications. It aso allows me to make other changes that running tweak tool in a non-su capacity would not allow me to do. Maybe a patch that gives tweak tool SU by default might be a better long term fix.

[LambdaFox (lambdafox)]

I have this also in Ubuntu GNOME 14.04. Seeing albet fishnet's comment, I tried using gksu in my menu entry. That does not work. Nor does gksu from the terminal. sudo in the terminal will work, but I get the following errors:

WARNING : Shell not installed or running
WARNING : Error detecting shell
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/gtweak/tweaks/tweak_group_shell_extensions.py", line 284, in __init__
    raise Exception("Shell not running or DBus service not available")
Exception: Shell not running or DBus service not available
WARNING : Shell not running
None
WARNING : Error loading desktopfile: /home/randyb/.config/autostart/gshared.desktop
INFO : GSettings missing key org.gnome.nautilus.desktop (key computer-icon-visible)

Eventually, tweak tool will open with the Start Up plus button working properly.

[LambdaFox (lambdafox)]

P.S. changing /usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packages/gtweak/tweaks/tweak_group_startup.py does not work for me. After I make the change, gnome-tweak-tool will fails to run at all.

[Jeremy Bícha (jbicha)]

Thank you for reporting this bug to Ubuntu. I apologize that we are not always to respond to bug reports promptly. Ubuntu GNOME 14.04 LTS reached End of Life in April.

https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-gnome/2017-March/004211.html

Please upgrade to Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and re-test. If the bug is still
reproducible, increase the verbosity of the steps to recreate it so we
can try again.

Do feel free to report any other bugs you may find.