Joplin won't start on Manjaro KDE - "xdg-settings: invalid application name" error

Support
1

If this is a bug report, please create it on GitHub instead. Follow this link:

on

Operating system

Linux

Joplin version

3.4.12

Editor

Markdown Editor

What issue do you have?

Hi everyone,

I'm having trouble getting Joplin to start on a fresh Manjaro KDE installation. The application initializes but the window never opens.

System Information:

  • OS: Manjaro KDE (fresh installation)
  • Desktop Environment: KDE Plasma
  • Display Server: Wayland/X11

What I've tried:

  1. AUR packages:

    • joplin-desktop - System hung during compilation (high RAM usage)
    • joplin-appimage - Installed but won't start

  2. Flatpak:

    • flatpak install flathub net.cozic.joplin_desktop
    • Same issue - won't start

  3. Official AppImage:

    • Downloaded from Joplin install script
    • Same problem

Error output:
When running from terminal, I see:

xdg-settings: invalid application name
Try 'xdg-settings --help' for more information.
Sentry: Initialized with autoUploadCrashDumps: false

Then nothing happens - no window opens.

What works:
Starting with these flags shows initialization but still no window:

~/.joplin/Joplin.AppImage --disable-gpu --no-sandbox

Additional observations:

  • xdg-utils, xdg-desktop-portal, and xdg-desktop-portal-kde are all installed
  • Multiple Joplin processes start in the background (visible with ps aux | grep joplin)
  • Killing all processes and restarting doesn't help
  • Tried both X11 and Wayland sessions

Question:
Has anyone successfully run Joplin on Manjaro KDE? Is there a known workaround for this xdg-settings error, or is this a compatibility issue with KDE Plasma?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance.

2

Hello!

I had a somewhat similar issue in Bazzite (also KDE Plasma in my case). For me, it was an Accessibility Bus crash. When you try to open it, does it look like it’s starting and then close a couple of seconds later?

I fixed the Accessibility Bus crash by disabling Assistive Technology Bridge. Try to run the app with this:

NO_AT_BRIDGE=1 ~/.joplin/Joplin.AppImage --no-sandbox --disable-gpu

Hopefully it works for you too!

3

I know this probably isn’t helpful. I am currently running Joplin on Manjaro 26 KDE Wayland without any issues. I always use the Joplin install and update script.

Which version of Manjaro did you install?

Pete