Pamac, polkit problem - Authentication Failure

Technical Issues Installation
1

I have been using Mabox for several months without issue. But after an update yesterday, I cannot access timeshift or gparted or pacman updater. The box where I would put in my password to authenticate the process shows up briefly on the screen – moves so quickly from left to right that I cannot tell what the error message is, and then the box disappears from the screen. Anyone have this problem and the solution to it? Thanks, marshden.

2

Hi @marshden ,

Welcome to the forum.

I am facing the same.

If you want to use gparted or other root GUI.

For the moment, run root GUI from terminal, till issue is solved.

sudo gparted

sudo pamac-manager

sudo timeshift

I have no idea what the source of the issue is.

3

Thank you, muzqs. I am going to remove pamac, gparted, and timeshift and reinstall them to see if that resolves the issue.

4

In my opinion if 3 separate applications are doing the same thing then those applications are likely fine and that somehow the policy kit ( the authenticator ) is broke.

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image1564×785 291 KB

You may need to re-install polkit-gnome with ‘sudo pacman -S polkit-gnome’

5

@marshden

I switch from kernel and it works fine.

Using now.

Linux  6.12.63-1-MANJARO
1 Like
6

Thanks, SauronsMouth and muzqs.

I have been fiddling with trying to restore a snapshot from timeshift via the terminal with no success. Perhaps one of these two solutions will be the ticket.

1 Like
7

FYI, removing and reloading the polkit did not rectify the failure. There has to be some conflict in the kernel that was recently updated in the past 2 days. Switching to the kernel version muzqs suggested worked.

2 Likes
8

what ever it try to download it says authencation not recognized please any help in not able to download nothing

2026-01-08_17-32
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9

@Batmanx moved your topic here as it seems this is the same issue.

I can’t reproduce this issue on my installation anyway.

10

where do want me to move it

11

still having the same issue not able to download nothing any help please

12

Problem is mentioned on Manjaro forum… with several possible solutions…

[Stable Update] 2026-01-04 - Manjaro 26.0, Mesa, Firefox, LibreOffice, COSMIC - #2 by discobot - Stable Updates - Manjaro Linux Forum

see problems with polkit section.

13

where is the polkit section ? I noticed that anything that is related to mangaro even updating the kernel has the same issue authentication failure please can the maker of mabox look into these there are many bugs to resolve

14

2026-01-08_20-43
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15

please see example

16

Just click on the link and read what you see on the screen ?

I can’t correct errors if they don’t occur on my computer.

You’ve been given help in the form of a link and several possible solutions. Having trouble reading?

Have you tried any of the proposed solutions?

If you’re having trouble finding the text, I’m pasting it here…

problems with polkit

After a change in polkit, some users report permission problems. Different solutions are suggested:

  • rebooting
  • reinstalling polkit (with sudo pacman -S polkit, since pamac may not work in that case)
  • fixing the suid permissions manually with
sudo chmod 4755 /usr/lib/polkit-1/polkit-agent-helper-1
  • fixing the file permissions manually
    The proper permissions are:
drwxr-xr-x (755) - root:root - Directory
-rwxr-xr-x (755) - root:root - Executables
-rw-r--r-- (644) - root:root - Rules files

so to fix you use

sudo chown -R root:root /usr/lib/polkit-1/
sudo chmod 755 /usr/lib/polkit-1/
sudo chmod 755 /usr/lib/polkit-1/polkitd /usr/lib/polkit-1/polkit-agent-helper-1
sudo chmod 644 /usr/lib/polkit-1/rules.d/*

Alternatively, running the full Manjaro packages update via pacman and rebooting before updating the AUR packages withpamac might circumvent the problem from occurring in the first place.

In Linux world, the ability to read, search and some minimum troubleshooting knowledge is required.
You are the administrator of your system.

18

@Batmanx

Can you give the kernel version you running now.

uname -a

I am pretty sure another kernel would solve the root gui issue (polkit)
Try again another kernel.
But…Is this a completed failed kernel installation you showing?

Tell us how you installed the new kernel and boot into it.

Are you running manjaro-settings-manager from cli?

sudo manjaro-settings-manager

EDIT: additional info. show bootmenu.

How to show bootmenu so one can choose kernel at boot.

  1. Open a terminal and edit the GRUB configuration file with a text editor as root:
sudo nano /etc/default/grub

  1. Change the value to your preferred timeout in seconds. For example:

    • GRUB_TIMEOUT=10 for 10 seconds
    • GRUB_TIMEOUT=0 to skip the menu entirely
    • GRUB_TIMEOUT=-1 to wait indefinitely

  2. Save the file (Ctrl+O, Enter, Ctrl+X in nano)

  3. Update GRUB with your changes:

sudo grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg

Additional useful GRUB options:

  • GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=menu - Shows the menu automatically
  • GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=countdown - Shows a countdown timer
  • GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden - Hides the menu (press Esc to show it)
19

the kernel im using is 6.1.159.1

20

GRUB_DEFAULT=saved
GRUB_TIMEOUT=10
GRUB_TIMEOUT_STYLE=hidden
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=‘Mabox’
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT=‘quiet udev.log_priority=3’
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX=“”

If you want to enable the save default function, uncomment the following

line, and set GRUB_DEFAULT to saved.

GRUB_SAVEDEFAULT=true

Preload both GPT and MBR modules so that they are not missed

GRUB_PRELOAD_MODULES=“part_gpt part_msdos”

Uncomment to enable Hidden Menu, and optionally hide the timeout count

#GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=5
#GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=true

Uncomment to use basic console

GRUB_TERMINAL_INPUT=console

21

please can you tell in this menu what should I change to show as :

  • GRUB_TIMEOUT=10 for 10 seconds

  • GRUB_TIMEOUT=0 to skip the menu entirely

  • GRUB_TIMEOUT=-1 to wait indefinitely