[ALPM] upgraded xdg-desktop-portal (1.20.4-1 -> 1.22.0-1)

After doing this upgrade I noticed that dark mode in my cinnamon Desktop stopped working. Looking at the logs revealed that my xdg-desktop-portal.service is failing with the following message:

Jun 10 22:44:54 archlinux systemd[1185]: Dependency failed for Portal service.
Jun 10 22:44:54 archlinux systemd[1185]: xdg-desktop-portal.service: Job xdg-desktop-portal.service/start failed with result 'dependency'.

$ systemctl --user start xdg-desktop-portal.service
A dependency job for xdg-desktop-portal.service failed. See 'journalctl -xe' for details.

$journalctl -xe
Jun 11 07:02:50 archlinux systemd[1185]: Current graphical user session is inactive.
Jun 11 07:02:50 archlinux systemd[1185]: Dependency failed for Portal service.

Starting $ /usr/lib/xdg-desktop-portal from the shell brings back dark mode as a workaround.

[edit]
For now the workaround mentioned in the github issue linked by wekauwau works for me:

[edit2]
The solution posted by tekstryder also works for me, so I mark this solved.

Last edited by ldierk (2026-06-11 15:04:47)

I have to admit that I don't fully understand the issue you linked, but my environment probably fits the description.

graphical-session.target and xdg-desktop-portal.service reside in /usr/lib/systemd/user/.
xdg-desktop-portal.service has a requisite of graphical-session.target.
There is no systemd service for cinnamon. I assume lightdm is starting it.

Last edited by ldierk (2026-06-11 06:47:56)

I filed an Arch issue yesterday to see if the maintainer will consider patching out the Requisite=graphical-session.target:

• https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/ … rk_items/4

It hasn't been rejected outright at least.

And yes as @wekauwau found, the relevant upstream issue is:

• https://github.com/flatpak/xdg-desktop- … ssues/1983

Caused by this MR:

• https://github.com/flatpak/xdg-desktop-portal/pull/1830

For now you can just use a drop-in. I stole the Ubuntu patch method:

~ ❯ systemctl --user cat xdg-desktop-portal.service                                                 
# /home/tekstryder/.config/systemd/user/xdg-desktop-portal.service
[Unit]
Description=Portal service
PartOf=graphical-session.target
#Requisite=graphical-session.target   # removed = workaround
Requires=dbus.service
After=dbus.service graphical-session-pre.target

[Service]
Type=dbus
BusName=org.freedesktop.portal.Desktop
ExecStart=/usr/lib/xdg-desktop-portal
Slice=session.slice

Just remember to zap that file away if we get a distro-patched pkgrel bump.

For Sway users, the drop-in workaround is no longer required:

• https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/ … 37ebef70bb

This accomodates the x-d-p change by creating sway-session.target which binds to graphical-session.target.