Flatpak app won't launch from .desktop

I have some issues with launching some, but not all, flatpaks.
I tried installing and launching Newsflash (news-flash / news_flash_gtk · GitLab) but it won’t launch.
Previously it worked fine on Linux Mint but now that I use Fedora KDE it doesn’t work.
This issue isn’t just with the Newsflash flatpak application, but with other flatpaks as well.

I tried the following to launch/test/fix it:

  • Launch from the app menu using the .desktop file - doesn’t work
  • Launch using flatpak run ... - works
  • Validate the .desktop file using desktop-file-validate ... - no errors found
  • Launch using the execution command from the .desktop file in the command-line - works
  • Run flatpak update - doesn’t work
  • Reinstall the application - doesn’t work
  • Run flatpak repair - doesn’t work
  • Reboot the machine - doesn’t work

So, launching from the command-line works fine and the .desktop file doesn’t seem to be malformed.
Any idea what the issue could be and how to solve it?

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

Added f40

Journal output when launching from app menu:

Aug 03 12:42:22 fedora plasmashell[2336]: The cached device pixel ratio value was stale on window update.  Please file a QTBUG which explains how to reproduce.
Aug 03 12:42:22 fedora systemd[1836]: Started app-io.gitlab.news_flash.NewsFlash@5de55f3fc666451c85c9bb3e83e0fffc.service - Newsflash - RSS Reader.
Aug 03 12:42:22 fedora systemd[1836]: Started app-flatpak-io.gitlab.news_flash.NewsFlash-16186.scope.
Aug 03 12:42:22 fedora io.gitlab.news_[16199]: Locale not supported by C library.
                                                       Using the fallback 'C' locale.
Aug 03 12:42:23 fedora flatpak[16199]: 12:42:23 - INFO  - Newsflash 3.3.4 (io.gitlab.news_flash.NewsFlash) (news_flash_gtk::app:82)
Aug 03 12:42:23 fedora flatpak[16199]: 12:42:23 - INFO  - Loading backend local_rss           (news_flash:120)
Aug 03 12:42:23 fedora flatpak[16199]: 12:42:23 - INFO  - Attempting to open local cache file: "/home/{REDACTED}/.var/app/io.gitlab.news_flash.NewsFlash/config/news-flash/local_rss_cache.json" (news_flash::feed_api_implementations::local::cache:26)
Aug 03 12:42:23 fedora flatpak[16199]: 12:42:23 - INFO  - Successful load from config         (news_flash_gtk::app:91)
Aug 03 12:42:23 fedora xdg-desktop-portal-kde[2414]: xdp-kde-settings: Namespace  "org.gnome.desktop.a11y.interface"  is not supported
Aug 03 12:42:23 fedora flatpak[16199]: 12:42:23 - INFO  - WebKit version: 2.44.2              (news_flash_gtk::article_view::imp:145)
Aug 03 12:42:24 fedora systemd[1836]: Started app-flatpak-io.gitlab.news_flash.NewsFlash-16245.scope.
Aug 03 12:42:24 fedora flatpak[16255]: flatpak-spawn: Invalid byte sequence in conversion input
Aug 03 12:42:24 fedora flatpak[16255]: Try "flatpak-spawn --help" for more information.
Aug 03 12:42:24 fedora audit[16199]: ANOM_ABEND auid=1000 uid=1000 gid=1000 ses=3 subj=unconfined_u:unconfined_r:unconfined_t:s0-s0:c0.c1023 pid=16199 comm="io.gitlab.news_" exe="/app/bin/io.gitlab.news_flash.NewsFlash" sig=11 res=1
Aug 03 12:42:24 fedora kernel: traps: io.gitlab.news_[16199] general protection fault ip:7fd7d7ea6f62 sp:7fffe8767800 error:0 in libwebkitgtk-6.0.so.4.5.6[7fd7d78b6000+2d5c000]
Aug 03 12:42:24 fedora audit: BPF prog-id=125 op=LOAD
Aug 03 12:42:24 fedora audit: BPF prog-id=126 op=LOAD
Aug 03 12:42:24 fedora audit: BPF prog-id=127 op=LOAD
Aug 03 12:42:24 fedora systemd[1]: Started systemd-coredump@4-16286-0.service - Process Core Dump (PID 16286/UID 0).
Aug 03 12:42:24 fedora audit[1]: SERVICE_START pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj=system_u:system_r:init_t:s0 msg='unit=systemd-coredump@4-16286-0 comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
Aug 03 12:42:24 fedora audit: BPF prog-id=128 op=LOAD
Aug 03 12:42:24 fedora audit: BPF prog-id=129 op=LOAD
Aug 03 12:42:24 fedora audit: BPF prog-id=130 op=LOAD
Aug 03 12:42:24 fedora systemd[1]: Started drkonqi-coredump-processor@4-16286-0.service - Pass systemd-coredump journal entries to relevant user for potential DrKonqi handling.
Aug 03 12:42:24 fedora audit[1]: SERVICE_START pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj=system_u:system_r:init_t:s0 msg='unit=drkonqi-coredump-processor@4-16286-0 comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
Aug 03 12:42:26 fedora (sd-parse-elf)[16289]: Could not parse number of program headers from core file: invalid `Elf' handle
Aug 03 12:42:26 fedora (sd-parse-elf)[16289]: Could not parse number of program headers from core file: invalid `Elf' handle
Aug 03 12:42:26 fedora systemd-coredump[16287]: [🡕] Process 16199 (io.gitlab.news_) of user 1000 dumped core.

                                                Module /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libjavascriptcoregtk-6.0.so.1.2.6 without build-id.
                                                Module /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libjavascriptcoregtk-6.0.so.1.2.6
                                                Module /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libwebkitgtk-6.0.so.4.5.6 without build-id.
                                                Module /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libwebkitgtk-6.0.so.4.5.6
                                                Stack trace of thread 2:
                                                #0  0x00007fd7d7ea6f62 n/a (/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libwebkitgtk-6.0.so.4.5.6 + 0xca6f62)
                                                #1  0x00007fd7d7e7783f n/a (/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libwebkitgtk-6.0.so.4.5.6 + 0xc7783f)
                                                #2  0x00007fd7d7dbc863 n/a (/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libwebkitgtk-6.0.so.4.5.6 + 0xbbc863)
                                                #3  0x00007fd7d7de22fc n/a (/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libwebkitgtk-6.0.so.4.5.6 + 0xbe22fc)
                                                #4  0x00007fd7d7ceb920 n/a (/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libwebkitgtk-6.0.so.4.5.6 + 0xaeb920)
                                                #5  0x00007fd7d6b8f16b n/a (/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libjavascriptcoregtk-6.0.so.1.2.6 + 0x158f16b)
                                                #6  0x00007fd7d6bf373d n/a (/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libjavascriptcoregtk-6.0.so.1.2.6 + 0x15f373d)
                                                #7  0x00007fd7d6bf2b31 n/a (/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libjavascriptcoregtk-6.0.so.1.2.6 + 0x15f2b31)
                                                #8  0x00007fd7db9d4697 n/a (/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libglib-2.0.so.0.8000.4 + 0x60697)
                                                #9  0x00007fd7db9d67b7 n/a (/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libglib-2.0.so.0.8000.4 + 0x627b7)
                                                #10 0x00007fd7db9d6e73 n/a (/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libglib-2.0.so.0.8000.4 + 0x62e73)
                                                #11 0x00007fd7dbbbc14d n/a (/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libgio-2.0.so.0.8000.4 + 0xf814d)
                                                #12 0x000055fa09b66667 n/a (/app/bin/io.gitlab.news_flash.NewsFlash + 0x4c6667)
                                                ELF object binary architecture: AMD x86-64
Aug 03 12:42:26 fedora systemd[1]: systemd-coredump@4-16286-0.service: Deactivated successfully.
Aug 03 12:42:26 fedora audit[1]: SERVICE_STOP pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj=system_u:system_r:init_t:s0 msg='unit=systemd-coredump@4-16286-0 comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
Aug 03 12:42:26 fedora systemd[1]: systemd-coredump@4-16286-0.service: Consumed 2.286s CPU time.
Aug 03 12:42:26 fedora systemd[1836]: app-io.gitlab.news_flash.NewsFlash@5de55f3fc666451c85c9bb3e83e0fffc.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=139/n/a
Aug 03 12:42:26 fedora systemd[1836]: app-io.gitlab.news_flash.NewsFlash@5de55f3fc666451c85c9bb3e83e0fffc.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Aug 03 12:42:26 fedora systemd[1836]: app-flatpak-io.gitlab.news_flash.NewsFlash-16186.scope: Consumed 2.139s CPU time.
Aug 03 12:42:26 fedora audit: BPF prog-id=127 op=UNLOAD
Aug 03 12:42:26 fedora audit: BPF prog-id=126 op=UNLOAD
Aug 03 12:42:26 fedora audit: BPF prog-id=125 op=UNLOAD
Aug 03 12:42:26 fedora systemd[1]: drkonqi-coredump-processor@4-16286-0.service: Deactivated successfully.
Aug 03 12:42:26 fedora audit[1]: SERVICE_STOP pid=1 uid=0 auid=4294967295 ses=4294967295 subj=system_u:system_r:init_t:s0 msg='unit=drkonqi-coredump-processor@4-16286-0 comm="systemd" exe="/usr/lib/systemd/systemd" hostname=? addr=? terminal=? res=success'
Aug 03 12:42:26 fedora systemd[1836]: Started drkonqi-coredump-launcher@51-16288-0.service - Launch DrKonqi for a systemd-coredump crash (PID 16288/UID 0).
Aug 03 12:42:27 fedora drkonqi-coredump-launcher[16299]: Detected locale "C" with character encoding "ANSI_X3.4-1968", which is not UTF-8.
                                                         Qt depends on a UTF-8 locale, and has switched to "C.UTF-8" instead.
                                                         If this causes problems, reconfigure your locale. See the locale(1) manual
                                                         for more information.
Aug 03 12:42:27 fedora drkonqi-coredump-launcher[16299]: Unable to find file for pid 16199 expected at "kcrash-metadata/io.gitlab.news_flash.NewsFlash.3ff48940afc04242be578cd5247a9e99.16199.ini"
Aug 03 12:42:27 fedora drkonqi-coredump-launcher[16299]: Nothing handled the dump :O
Aug 03 12:42:27 fedora audit: BPF prog-id=130 op=UNLOAD
Aug 03 12:42:27 fedora audit: BPF prog-id=129 op=UNLOAD
Aug 03 12:42:27 fedora audit: BPF prog-id=128 op=UNLOAD

can you send us the .desktop?, to see what command it’s using to launch de app

.desktop file from Newsflash. Note that the issue isn’t just with Newsflash, I have similar issues with flatpak applications such as Fluentreader.

[Desktop Entry]
Name[sv]=Newsflash
Name=Newsflash
GenericName[de_DE]=RSS-Reader
GenericName[es]=Lector RSS
GenericName[pt_BR]=Leitor RSS
GenericName[uk]=Читанка RSS
GenericName[he]=קורא RSS
GenericName[zh_CN]=RSS 阅读器
GenericName[fr]=Lecteur de flux RSS
GenericName[tr]=RSS Okuyucu
GenericName[ru]=RSS-ридер
GenericName[it]=Lettore RSS
GenericName[fi]=RSS-syötteenlukija
GenericName[pl]=Czytnik RSS
GenericName[hu]=RSS Olvasó
GenericName[nl]=RSS-lezer
GenericName[cs]=Čtečka RSS
GenericName[ar]=قارئ آر‌إس‌<U+202A>إس
GenericName[pt]=Leitor RSS
GenericName[zh_Hant]=RSS 閱讀器
GenericName[hi]=RSS पाठक
GenericName[ca]=Lector RSS
GenericName[sv]=RSS Läsare
GenericName=RSS Reader
Comment[de_DE]=Bleiben Sie mit Ihren Feeds auf dem Laufenden
Comment[es]=Manténgase al día con sus canales
Comment[pt_BR]=Acompanhe seus feeds
Comment[uk]=Слідкуйте за вашими стрічками
Comment[he]=התעדכנות בכל ערוצי העדכונים שלך
Comment[zh_CN]=及时跟进您的订阅
Comment[fr]=Tenez vos flux à jour
Comment[tr]=Beslemelerinizi takip edin
Comment[ru]=Следите за своими каналами
Comment[it]=Tieni il passo con i tuoi feed
Comment[fi]=Pysy ajan tasalla syötteiden kanssa
Comment[pl]=Bądź na bieżąco ze swoimi kanałami
Comment[gl]=Mantéñase ao día das súas fontes
Comment[nl]=Blijf op de hoogte van uw feeds
Comment[cs]=Udržujte krok se svými kanály
Comment[pt]=Acompanhe os seus feeds
Comment[zh_Hant]=追蹤您的摘要
Comment[hi]=अपने फीड के साथ बने रहें
Comment[ca]=Manteniu-vos al dia amb les vostres fonts
Comment[sv]=Håll dig uppdaterad på dina feeds
Comment=Keep up with your feeds
Type=Application
Exec=/usr/bin/flatpak run --branch=stable --arch=x86_64 --command=io.gitlab.news_flash.NewsFlash io.gitlab.news_flash.NewsFlash
Terminal=false
X-GNOME-UsesNotifications=true
Categories=GNOME;GTK;Network;Feed;
Keywords[de_DE]=Gnome;GTK;RSS;Feed;Nachrichten;
Keywords[es]=Gnome;GTK;RSS;Canal;
Keywords[pt_BR]=Gnome;GTK;RSS;Feed;Notícias;
Keywords[uk]=Gnome;GTK;RSS;Feed;гном;Стрічка;ГТК;РСС;новини;
Keywords[he]=Gnome;GTK;RSS;ערוץ;הזנה;עדכונים;חדשות;כתבות;כתבה;ידיעה;
Keywords[zh_CN]=Gnome;GTK;RSS;Feed;订阅;新闻;
Keywords[fr]=Gnome;GTK;RSS;Flux ;
Keywords[tr]=Gnome;GTK;RSS;Besleme;
Keywords[ru]=Gnome;GTK;RSS;Feed;Канал;
Keywords[it]=Gnome;GTK;RSS;Feed;Notizie;
Keywords[fi]=Gnome;GTK;RSS;Feed;syöte;
Keywords[pl]=Gnome;GTK;RSS;kanał;
Keywords[hu]=Gnome;GTK;RSS;Hírforrás;
Keywords[nl]=GNOME;GTK;RSS;feed;nieuws;
Keywords[cs]=Gnome;GTK;RSS;Feed;kanál;
Keywords[ar]=جنوم;جي تي كي;آر إس إس;موجز;
Keywords[pt]=Gnome;GTK;RSS;Feed;
Keywords[zh_Hant]=Gnome;GTK;RSS;摘要;
Keywords[hi]=Gnome;GTK;RSS;फीड;
Keywords[ca]=Gnome;GTK;RSS;Feed;
Keywords[sv]=Gnome;GTK;RSS;Flöde;
Keywords=Gnome;GTK;RSS;Feed;
Icon=io.gitlab.news_flash.NewsFlash
StartupNotify=true
X-Purism-FormFactor=Workstation;Mobile;
X-Flatpak=io.gitlab.news_flash.NewsFlash

❯ flatpak-coredumpctl -m 16199 io.gitlab.news_flash.NewsFlash

Program terminated with signal SIGSEGV, Segmentation fault.
#0  0x00007fd7d7ea6f62 in webkitWebViewSetIsWebProcessResponsive (webView=0x55fa40a5a700, isResponsive=true)
    at /buildstream/gnome/sdk/webkitgtk-6.0.bst/Source/WebKit/UIProcess/API/glib/WebKitWebView.cpp:5312

warning: 5312   /buildstream/gnome/sdk/webkitgtk-6.0.bst/Source/WebKit/UIProcess/API/glib/WebKitWebView.cpp: No such file or directory

just a guess try to reinstall gnome platform

flatpak install --reinstall flathub org.gnome.Platform.Locale

Doens’t work sadly. Running the .desktop file doesn’t work. But running flatpak run io.gitlab.news_flash.NewsFlash does work.

did you run in ther terminal the exactly command that’s on the .desktop or just flatpak run io.gitlab.news_flash.NewsFlash?

Both the exact command from .desktop (/usr/bin/flatpak run --branch=stable --arch=x86_64 --command=io.gitlab.news_flash.NewsFlash io.gitlab.news_flash.NewsFlash) and flatpak run io.gitlab.news_flash.NewsFlash work fine.

i’m out of ideas lol

What we know right now is:

  • There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with the application itself, as it runs fine if launched from the command-line
  • The problem is that it won’t launch from the .desktop file
  • The Exec variable in .desktop runs fine if run from the command-line

So there is something else wrong with flatpak, or something else.

Okay,
so if I change the value of Exec in the .desktop file to something like flatpak run com.usebottles.bottles it works.
But if I change it to flatpak run io.gitlab.news_flash.NewsFlash it doesn’t work.