since the error seems to be with client4, I looked for this with dbus-monitor - again there's an error, but not much clue as to what the error is...

method call sender=:1.15 -> dest=org.freedesktop.DBus serial=14 path=/org/freedesktop/DBus; interface=org.freedesktop.DBus; member=AddMatch
   string "type='signal',sender=':1.3',interface='org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties',member='PropertiesChanged',path='/org/gnome/SessionManager/Client4',arg0='org.gnome.SessionManager.ClientPrivate'"
method call sender=:1.15 -> dest=org.freedesktop.DBus serial=15 path=/org/freedesktop/DBus; interface=org.freedesktop.DBus; member=AddMatch
   string "type='signal',sender=':1.3',interface='org.gnome.SessionManager.ClientPrivate',path='/org/gnome/SessionManager/Client4'"
method call sender=:1.15 -> dest=:1.3 serial=16 path=/org/gnome/SessionManager/Client4; interface=org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties; member=GetAll
   string "org.gnome.SessionManager.ClientPrivate"
method return sender=:1.3 -> dest=:1.12 reply_serial=152
error sender=:1.3 -> dest=:1.15 error_name=org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.UnknownMethod reply_serial=16
   string "Method "GetAll" with signature "s" on interface "org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties" doesn't exist
"
method call sender=:1.15 -> dest=:1.3 serial=17 path=/org/gnome/SessionManager/Client4; interface=org.gnome.SessionManager.ClientPrivate; member=EndSessionResponse
   boolean true
   string ""
signal sender=:1.3 -> dest=:1.5 serial=83 path=/org/gnome/SessionManager/Client1; interface=org.gnome.SessionManager.ClientPrivate; member=EndSession
   uint32 1
signal sender=:1.3 -> dest=:1.12 serial=84 path=/org/gnome/SessionManager/Client3; interface=org.gnome.SessionManager.ClientPrivate; member=EndSession
   uint32 1
signal sender=:1.3 -> dest=:1.15 serial=85 path=/org/gnome/SessionManager/Client4; interface=org.gnome.SessionManager.ClientPrivate; member=EndSession
   uint32 1
signal sender=:1.3 -> dest=:1.2 serial=86 path=/org/gnome/SessionManager/Client5; interface=org.gnome.SessionManager.ClientPrivate; member=EndSession
   uint32 1

Created attachment 294152 [details]
gnome-session --debug output

It would be useful to know what "client4" is and if there is a way to use "dbus-monitor" to debug why "client4" does not register with gnome-session.

Created attachment 294348 [details]
dbus-monitor output

I attached the output from dbus-monitor above - the following snippets look like errors, but from what and which ones are fatal?

method call sender=:1.11 -> dest=:1.11 serial=111 path=/org/gnome/SettingsDaemon/Power; interface=org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties; member=GetAll
   string "org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Power"
method call sender=:1.11 -> dest=:1.11 serial=112 path=/org/gnome/SettingsDaemon/Power; interface=org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties; member=GetAll
   string "org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Power.Screen"
method call sender=:1.11 -> dest=:1.11 serial=113 path=/org/gnome/SettingsDaemon/Power; interface=org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties; member=GetAll
   string "org.gnome.SettingsDaemon.Power.Keyboard"
error sender=:1.11 -> dest=:1.11 error_name=org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.InvalidArgs reply_serial=111
   string "No such interface"
----------
method call sender=:1.11 -> dest=org.freedesktop.DBus serial=116 path=/org/freedesktop/DBus; interface=org.freedesktop.DBus; member=GetNameOwner
   string "org.gnome.SessionManager"
method return sender=:1.11 -> dest=:1.11 reply_serial=110
   array [
   ]
method return sender=:1.11 -> dest=:1.11 reply_serial=112
   array [
   ]
method return sender=:1.11 -> dest=:1.11 reply_serial=113
   array [
   ]
method call sender=:1.11 -> dest=:1.4 serial=120 path=/org/gnome/SessionManager/Client3; interface=org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties; member=GetAll
   string "org.gnome.SessionManager.ClientPrivate"
error sender=:1.4 -> dest=:1.11 error_name=org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.UnknownMethod reply_serial=120
   string "Method "GetAll" with signature "s" on interface "org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties" doesn't exist
"
----------
method call sender=:1.3 -> dest=org.freedesktop.DBus serial=13 path=/org/freedesktop/DBus; interface=org.freedesktop.DBus; member=GetNameOwner
   string "org.gnome.SessionManager"
method call sender=:1.3 -> dest=:1.4 serial=14 path=/org/gnome/SessionManager/Client5; interface=org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties; member=GetAll
   string "org.gnome.SessionManager.ClientPrivate"
error sender=:1.4 -> dest=:1.3 error_name=org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.UnknownMethod reply_serial=14
   string "Method "GetAll" with signature "s" on interface "org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties" doesn't exist
"
method call sender=:1.18 -> dest=org.freedesktop.DBus serial=6 path=/org/freedesktop/DBus; interface=org.freedesktop.DBus; member=RemoveMatch
   string "type='signal',sender='org.freedesktop.DBus',interface='org.freedesktop.DBus',member='NameOwnerChanged',path='/org/freedesktop/DBus',arg0='org.gtk.vfs.Daemon'"
signal sender=org.freedesktop.DBus -> dest=(null destination) serial=38 path=/org/freedesktop/DBus; interface=org.freedesktop.DBus; member=NameOwnerChanged
----------
method call sender=:1.16 -> dest=org.freedesktop.DBus serial=14 path=/org/freedesktop/DBus; interface=org.freedesktop.DBus; member=AddMatch
   string "type='signal',sender=':1.4',interface='org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties',member='PropertiesChanged',path='/org/gnome/SessionManager/Client4',arg0='org.gnome.SessionManager.ClientPrivate'"
method call sender=:1.16 -> dest=org.freedesktop.DBus serial=15 path=/org/freedesktop/DBus; interface=org.freedesktop.DBus; member=AddMatch
   string "type='signal',sender=':1.4',interface='org.gnome.SessionManager.ClientPrivate',path='/org/gnome/SessionManager/Client4'"
method call sender=:1.16 -> dest=:1.4 serial=16 path=/org/gnome/SessionManager/Client4; interface=org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties; member=GetAll
   string "org.gnome.SessionManager.ClientPrivate"
method return sender=:1.4 -> dest=:1.3 reply_serial=15
method call sender=:1.11 -> dest=:1.4 serial=152 path=/org/gnome/SessionManager/Client3; interface=org.gnome.SessionManager.ClientPrivate; member=EndSessionResponse
   boolean true
   string ""
error sender=:1.4 -> dest=:1.16 error_name=org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.UnknownMethod reply_serial=16
   string "Method "GetAll" with signature "s" on interface "org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties" doesn't exist
"
method return sender=:1.4 -> dest=:1.11 reply_serial=152
method call sender=:1.16 -> dest=:1.4 serial=17 path=/org/gnome/SessionManager/Client4; interface=org.gnome.SessionManager.ClientPrivate; member=EndSessionResponse
   boolean true
   string ""
----------
method call sender=:1.16 -> dest=org.freedesktop.DBus serial=18 path=/org/freedesktop/DBus; interface=org.freedesktop.DBus; member=RemoveMatch
   string "type='signal',sender=':1.4',interface='org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties',member='PropertiesChanged',path='/org/gnome/SessionManager/Client4',arg0='org.gnome.SessionManager.ClientPrivate'"
method call sender=:1.16 -> dest=org.freedesktop.DBus serial=19 path=/org/freedesktop/DBus; interface=org.freedesktop.DBus; member=RemoveMatch
   string "type='signal',sender=':1.4',interface='org.gnome.SessionManager.ClientPrivate',path='/org/gnome/SessionManager/Client4'"
method call sender=:1.16 -> dest=org.freedesktop.DBus serial=20 path=/org/freedesktop/DBus; interface=org.freedesktop.DBus; member=AddMatch
   string "type='signal',sender=':1.4',interface='org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties',member='PropertiesChanged',path='/org/gnome/SessionManager/Client4',arg0='org.gnome.SessionManager.ClientPrivate'"
method call sender=:1.16 -> dest=org.freedesktop.DBus serial=21 path=/org/freedesktop/DBus; interface=org.freedesktop.DBus; member=AddMatch
   string "type='signal',sender=':1.4',interface='org.gnome.SessionManager.ClientPrivate',path='/org/gnome/SessionManager/Client4'"
method call sender=:1.16 -> dest=:1.4 serial=22 path=/org/gnome/SessionManager/Client4; interface=org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties; member=GetAll
   string "org.gnome.SessionManager.ClientPrivate"
signal sender=org.freedesktop.DBus -> dest=(null destination) serial=31 path=/org/freedesktop/DBus; interface=org.freedesktop.DBus; member=NameOwnerChanged
   string ":1.3"
   string ":1.3"
   string ""
method return sender=:1.4 -> dest=:1.8 reply_serial=14
method return sender=:1.4 -> dest=:1.11 reply_serial=153
error sender=:1.4 -> dest=:1.16 error_name=org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.UnknownMethod reply_serial=22
   string "Method "GetAll" with signature "s" on interface "org.freedesktop.DBus.Properties" doesn't exist
"

GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name org.freedesktop.login1 was not provided by any .service files

looks like logind isn't working?

1) does loginctl give any output?
2) do you use anything like selinux?
3) do you have any 0 byte files in /etc/dbus-1/system.d  ?

Thanks for the feedback.

As mentioned at the top, I'm trying as much as possible to use gnome-session without using consolekit, polkit and gdm (though they are present as unadvoidable deps). In addition my system does not use systemd.

All of this works with gnome-3.10.x (which also warns of the missing logind) and, as I built gnome-3.14.x in the same way, I'm presuming things should also work.

Ref the above:

1) loginctl is not present on my system as systemd is not present
2) I do not use selinux
3) there are no zero byte files in /usr/local/etc/dbus-1/system.d

It would be nice to get some support with this, even if it's only to let me know what "client4" is...

So the thing is, you're trying to get things to work in a way that's not really supported.  That's why there haven't been very many replies to your requests; you're asking for support to something unsupported.  logind (or instead ConsoleKit, though increasingly less so) isn't some optional component of the desktop, the desktop depends on it for functionality.  It's possible that your desktop happened to seemingly work in the past with the broken parts breaking more silently than they do now, I suppose.  It's also possible that you may be able to get things back to that state with some surgical changes, but if so, I wouldn't expect them to keep working down the line.  And I don't know what changes you would need to make, off hand.  Furthermore, it is indeed possible that the logind warnings are a red herring and things are broken in completely unrelated ways, but there's no way to know without investigating. That's not something you're going to find much enthusiasm for because you're doing off label things.

In the output, though, you can see that gnome-settings-daemon is started, then gnome-shell is started and gnome-shell fails to register with the session manager.  So gnome-shell is getting hung up in some way. could be it's getting hung up talking to gnome-settings-daemon or the missing logind or something else.

Thanks for the feedback.

I didn't mention it previously, but I can launch gnome-session with consolekit and the only thing that changes is that the consolekit warnings disappear.

I presume that logind is part of systemd - both gnome-shell and gnome-session have configure switches to disable systemd and compile without it, which would seem to indicate that logind is optional.

As can be seen from the debug output attached earlier from gnome-session and dbus-monitor I have been trying to find out why gnome-shell fails to register, but without any error messages beyond "failed to register" this is not obvious.

Again, I would like to try and make this work and it would help me a lot to know what "client4" is?

> Again, I would like to try and make this work and it would help me a lot to
> know what "client4" is?
Not 100% sure. the debug log says the pid of client 4, so you could do something like

while true; do ps -ef ; sleep .2; done >> processes.txt

then log in , look up the pid from the debug log and

grep 12345 processes.txt

Thanks for the suggestion - it seems to have identified "client4"

gnome-session1[2896]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: RegisterClient 
gnome-session1[2896]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Adding new client 10612ce506950cfa0a14219263014450200000028960019 to session
gnome-session1[2896]: DEBUG(+): uid = 1001
gnome-session1[2896]: DEBUG(+): pid = 3024
gnome-session1[2896]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/Client4 to store
gnome-session1[2896]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Client added: /org/gnome/SessionManager/Client4

3024 tc       /usr/local/lib/gnome-settings-daemon-3.0/gsd-printer

..as per "ldd" all of the deps for gsd-printer are present, so it's not too obvious that this is indeed the problem :(

By contrasting the clients and pid with the working version of gnome-3.10.x, I found this:

client1 pid not found
client2 pulseaudio
client3 /usr/local/lib/gnome-settings-daemon-3.0/gnome-settings-daemon
client4 /usr/local/lib/gnome-settings-daemon-3.0/gsd-printer
client5 see below
client6 /usr/local/lib/at-spi2-core/at-spi2-registryd --use-gnome-session

client1 pid not found
client2 pulseaudio
client3 /usr/local/lib/gnome-settings-daemon-3.0/gnome-settings-daemon
client4 /usr/local/lib/gnome-settings-daemon-3.0/gsd-printer
client5 /usr/local/lib/at-spi2-core/at-spi2-registryd --use-gnome-session
client6 not present

client5 in the working gnome-3.10.x gives this:

gnome-session1[4264]: DEBUG(+): GsmXsmpServer: accept_ice_connection()
gnome-session1[4264]: DEBUG(+): GsmXsmpServer: auth_ice_connection()
gnome-session1[4264]: DEBUG(+): GsmXSMPClient: Setting up new connection
gnome-session1[4264]: DEBUG(+): GsmXSMPClient: New client '0x202b440 []'
gnome-session1[4264]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/Client5 to store
gnome-session1[4264]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Client added: /org/gnome/SessionManager/Client5
gnome-session1[4264]: DEBUG(+): GsmXSMPClient: Initializing client 0x202b440 []
gnome-session1[4264]: DEBUG(+): GsmXSMPClient: Client '0x202b440 []' received RegisterClient(106ee88b707a038095142194117440432400000042640000)
gnome-session1[4264]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Adding new client 106ee88b707a038095142194117440432400000042640000 to session
gnome-session1[4264]: DEBUG(+): GsmXSMPClient: Sending RegisterClientReply to '0x202b440 [106ee88b707a038095142194117440432400000042640000]'
gnome-session1[4264]: DEBUG(+): App gnome-shell.desktop registered
gnome-session1[4264]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: ending phase WINDOW_MANAGER
gnome-session1[4264]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: starting phase PANEL

..this section is not present at all in the not working gnome-3.14.x

I wonder if this is related to mutter, gnome-session and upower:

1. In 3.10.x mutter and gnome-session are compiled against upower-0.9.23

2. In 3.14.x, mutter is compiled against upower-0.99.1, but gnome-session does not compile against upower-0.99.1 and instead gives an option to use the "Legacy UPower backend", which I take to be upower-0.9.23.

..the only other option I can think of is that gnome-shell does not work with the xf86-video-intel-2.99.916 driver.

might be related to https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1184453

I started gnome-shell directly with all of the various xdg/autostart commands starting with X - gnome-shell brings up a gui without any error messages.

Is there a --debug or dbus-monitor command that will help find out why gnome-shell starts and runs without errors and yet fails to register with gnome-session?

bump

you might be bumping into bug 738691

Thanks, but that patch is already included in gnome-shell-3.14.3

There must surely be a way for gnome-session to launch gnome-shell in some kind of debug mode so that it reports what it is doing and why it fails to register?

the only patch mentioned on that bug is the one that causes the problem.  There's no fix for the problem on that that bug report.  You'd have to revert the change to get things working again.

That doesn't seem to help...

There must surely be a way to debug the registration process to determine at what point and why gnome-shell fails to register.

Bump

I recompiled with gnome-shell-3.14.4/mutter-3.14.4, but the result is the same, gnome-shell fails to register.

Until 3.12.x, gnome-session compiled against upower, but in 3.14.x it doesn't (except if the older upower is present), even though various other packages do.

Is gnome-session expecting some other component to care of upower - hopefully not systemd?

I completely recompiled everything to 3.16.x and gnome-shell still fails to register when started by gnome-session.

I figure this could be:

1. My system does not use systemd - this being said, gnome-shell and gnome-session both recognise that it is not present, but still compile.

2. A run time dep that gnome-shell/gnome-session do not complain about is missing (gnome-3.10.x works fine for me).

3. Something else that "gnome-session --debug" does not mention.

Sorry to repeat myself, but any suggestions on how to use dbus to debug why gnome-shell fails to register would be much appreciated.

Is the a list of gnome-3.16.x run time deps anywhere?

gnome-session --debug output below

----------

gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): Enabling debugging
gnome-session2[20901]: WARNING: Using null backend for session tracking
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: setting client store 0x1694f10
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmXsmpServer: SESSION_MANAGER=local/boxdell:@/tmp/.ICE-unix/20901,unix/boxdell:/tmp/.ICE-unix/20901

gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): emitting SessionIsActive
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): fill: *** Getting session 'gnome'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): fill: *** Looking if /home/tc/.config/gnome-session/sessions/gnome.session is a valid session file
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): Cannot use session '/home/tc/.config/gnome-session/sessions/gnome.session': non-existing or invalid file.
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): fill: *** Looking if /etc/xdg/gnome-session/sessions/gnome.session is a valid session file
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): Cannot use session '/etc/xdg/gnome-session/sessions/gnome.session': non-existing or invalid file.
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): fill: *** Looking if /usr/local/share/gnome-session/sessions/gnome.session is a valid session file
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): fill: *** Checking required components
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking for file 'gnome-shell.desktop'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/home/tc/.config/autostart'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/usr/local/share/gnome/autostart'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/usr/share/gnome/autostart'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/etc/xdg/autostart'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/home/tc/.local/share/applications'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/usr/local/share/applications'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/usr/share/applications'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: found in XDG dirs: '/usr/local/share/applications/gnome-shell.desktop'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking for file 'gnome-settings-daemon.desktop'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/home/tc/.config/autostart'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/usr/local/share/gnome/autostart'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/usr/share/gnome/autostart'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/etc/xdg/autostart'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/home/tc/.local/share/applications'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/usr/local/share/applications'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/usr/share/applications'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: found in XDG dirs: '/etc/xdg/autostart/gnome-settings-daemon.desktop'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): fill: *** Done checking required components
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): fill: *** Adding required components
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking for file 'gnome-shell.desktop'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/home/tc/.config/gnome-session/saved-session'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/home/tc/.config/autostart'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/usr/local/share/gnome/autostart'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/usr/share/gnome/autostart'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/etc/xdg/autostart'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/home/tc/.local/share/applications'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/usr/local/share/applications'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/usr/share/applications'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: found in XDG dirs: '/usr/local/share/applications/gnome-shell.desktop'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: read /usr/local/share/applications/gnome-shell.desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/App1 to store
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: adding required app gnome-shell.desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking for file 'gnome-settings-daemon.desktop'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/home/tc/.config/gnome-session/saved-session'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/home/tc/.config/autostart'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/usr/local/share/gnome/autostart'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/usr/share/gnome/autostart'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/etc/xdg/autostart'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/home/tc/.local/share/applications'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/usr/local/share/applications'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: Looking in '/usr/share/applications'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmUtil: found in XDG dirs: '/etc/xdg/autostart/gnome-settings-daemon.desktop'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: read /etc/xdg/autostart/gnome-settings-daemon.desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/App2 to store
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: adding required app gnome-settings-daemon.desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): fill: *** Done adding required components
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: *** Adding autostart apps for /home/tc/.config/autostart
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: *** Adding autostart apps for /usr/local/share/gnome/autostart
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: read /usr/local/share/gnome/autostart/libcanberra-login-sound.desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/App3 to store
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: *** Adding autostart apps for /usr/share/gnome/autostart
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: *** Adding autostart apps for /etc/xdg/autostart
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: read /etc/xdg/autostart/nm-applet.desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/App4 to store
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: read /etc/xdg/autostart/gnome-keyring-ssh.desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/App5 to store
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: read /etc/xdg/autostart/gnome-keyring-secrets.desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/App6 to store
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: read /etc/xdg/autostart/gnome-keyring-pkcs11.desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/App7 to store
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: read /etc/xdg/autostart/gnome-keyring-gpg.desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/App8 to store
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: read /etc/xdg/autostart/pulseaudio.desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/App9 to store
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: read /etc/xdg/autostart/pulseaudio-kde.desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/App10 to store
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: read /etc/xdg/autostart/gnome-settings-daemon.desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: not adding app: app-id 'gnome-settings-daemon.desktop' already exists
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: read /etc/xdg/autostart/evolution-alarm-notify.desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/App12 to store
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: read /etc/xdg/autostart/caribou-autostart.desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/App13 to store
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: read /etc/xdg/autostart/polkit-gnome-authentication-agent-1.desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/App14 to store
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: read /etc/xdg/autostart/notification-daemon-autostart.desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/App15 to store
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: read /etc/xdg/autostart/tracker-store.desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/App16 to store
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: read /etc/xdg/autostart/tracker-miner-user-guides.desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/App17 to store
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: read /etc/xdg/autostart/tracker-miner-fs.desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/App18 to store
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: read /etc/xdg/autostart/tracker-miner-apps.desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/App19 to store
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: read /etc/xdg/autostart/tracker-extract.desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/App20 to store
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: read /etc/xdg/autostart/at-spi-dbus-bus.desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/App21 to store
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: GSM starting to manage
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: App startup summary
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Phase EARLY_INITIALIZATION
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Phase DISPLAY_SERVER
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Phase INITIALIZATION
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager:	ID: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App21	app-id:at-spi-dbus-bus.desktop	is-disabled:0	is-conditionally-disabled:1
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager:	ID: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App2	app-id:gnome-settings-daemon.desktop	is-disabled:0	is-conditionally-disabled:0
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager:	ID: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App5	app-id:gnome-keyring-ssh.desktop	is-disabled:0	is-conditionally-disabled:0
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager:	ID: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App6	app-id:gnome-keyring-secrets.desktop	is-disabled:0	is-conditionally-disabled:0
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager:	ID: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App7	app-id:gnome-keyring-pkcs11.desktop	is-disabled:0	is-conditionally-disabled:0
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager:	ID: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App8	app-id:gnome-keyring-gpg.desktop	is-disabled:0	is-conditionally-disabled:0
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager:	ID: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App9	app-id:pulseaudio.desktop	is-disabled:0	is-conditionally-disabled:0
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Phase WINDOW_MANAGER
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager:	ID: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App1	app-id:gnome-shell.desktop	is-disabled:0	is-conditionally-disabled:0
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Phase PANEL
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Phase DESKTOP
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Phase APPLICATION
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager:	ID: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App18	app-id:tracker-miner-fs.desktop	is-disabled:0	is-conditionally-disabled:0
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager:	ID: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App19	app-id:tracker-miner-apps.desktop	is-disabled:0	is-conditionally-disabled:0
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager:	ID: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App3	app-id:libcanberra-login-sound.desktop	is-disabled:0	is-conditionally-disabled:0
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager:	ID: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App4	app-id:nm-applet.desktop	is-disabled:0	is-conditionally-disabled:0
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): app /org/gnome/SessionManager/App10 is not for the current desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager:	ID: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App10	app-id:pulseaudio-kde.desktop	is-disabled:1	is-conditionally-disabled:0
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager:	ID: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App12	app-id:evolution-alarm-notify.desktop	is-disabled:0	is-conditionally-disabled:0
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager:	ID: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App13	app-id:caribou-autostart.desktop	is-disabled:0	is-conditionally-disabled:1
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager:	ID: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App14	app-id:polkit-gnome-authentication-agent-1.desktop	is-disabled:0	is-conditionally-disabled:1
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): app /org/gnome/SessionManager/App15 is not for the current desktop
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager:	ID: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App15	app-id:notification-daemon-autostart.desktop	is-disabled:1	is-conditionally-disabled:0
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager:	ID: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App16	app-id:tracker-store.desktop	is-disabled:0	is-conditionally-disabled:0
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager:	ID: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App17	app-id:tracker-miner-user-guides.desktop	is-disabled:0	is-conditionally-disabled:0
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager:	ID: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App20	app-id:tracker-extract.desktop	is-disabled:0	is-conditionally-disabled:0
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: starting phase EARLY_INITIALIZATION

gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: ending phase EARLY_INITIALIZATION
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: starting phase DISPLAY_SERVER

gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: ending phase DISPLAY_SERVER
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: starting phase INITIALIZATION

gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Skipping disabled app: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App21
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: starting app '/org/gnome/SessionManager/App2'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): Starting app: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App2
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: starting gnome-settings-daemon.desktop: command=/usr/local/lib/gnome-settings-daemon-3.0/gnome-settings-daemon-localeexec startup-id=10ab6dfce97d99cbd4142954049135379200000209010001
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: started pid:20943
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: starting app '/org/gnome/SessionManager/App5'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): Starting app: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App5
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: starting gnome-keyring-ssh.desktop: command=/usr/local/bin/gnome-keyring-daemon --start --components=ssh startup-id=10ab6dfce97d99cbd4142954049135456200000209010004
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: started pid:20946
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: starting app '/org/gnome/SessionManager/App6'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): Starting app: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App6
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: starting gnome-keyring-secrets.desktop: command=/usr/local/bin/gnome-keyring-daemon --start --components=secrets startup-id=10ab6dfce97d99cbd4142954049135473500000209010005
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: started pid:20947
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: starting app '/org/gnome/SessionManager/App7'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): Starting app: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App7
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: starting gnome-keyring-pkcs11.desktop: command=/usr/local/bin/gnome-keyring-daemon --start --components=pkcs11 startup-id=10ab6dfce97d99cbd4142954049135489900000209010006
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: started pid:20948
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: starting app '/org/gnome/SessionManager/App8'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): Starting app: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App8
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: starting gnome-keyring-gpg.desktop: command=/usr/local/bin/gnome-keyring-daemon --start --components=gpg startup-id=10ab6dfce97d99cbd4142954049135506300000209010007
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: started pid:20950
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: starting app '/org/gnome/SessionManager/App9'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): Starting app: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App9
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: starting pulseaudio.desktop: command=start-pulseaudio-x11 startup-id=10ab6dfce97d99cbd4142954049135520200000209010008
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: started pid:20951
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: (pid:20947) done (status:0)
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): App gnome-keyring-secrets.desktop exited successfully
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: (pid:20946) done (status:0)
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): App gnome-keyring-ssh.desktop exited successfully
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: (pid:20950) done (status:0)
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): App gnome-keyring-gpg.desktop exited successfully
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: (pid:20948) done (status:0)
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): App gnome-keyring-pkcs11.desktop exited successfully
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmXsmpServer: accept_ice_connection()
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmXsmpServer: auth_ice_connection()
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): exporting client to object path: /org/gnome/SessionManager/Client1
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmXSMPClient: Setting up new connection
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmXSMPClient: New client '0x168a130 []'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/Client1 to store
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Client added: /org/gnome/SessionManager/Client1
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmXSMPClient: Initializing client 0x168a130 []
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmXSMPClient: Client '0x168a130 []' received RegisterClient(NULL)
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Adding new client 10ab6dfce97d99cbd4142954049145033800000209010021 to session
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmXSMPClient: Sending RegisterClientReply to '0x168a130 [10ab6dfce97d99cbd4142954049145033800000209010021]'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmXSMPClient: Sending initial SaveYourself
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmXSMPClient: Set properties from client '0x168a130 [10ab6dfce97d99cbd4142954049145033800000209010021]'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmXSMPClient:   Program = 'pulseaudio'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmXSMPClient:   UserID = 'tc'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmXSMPClient: Client '0x168a130 [pulseaudio 10ab6dfce97d99cbd4142954049145033800000209010021]' received SaveYourselfDone(success = True)
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmXsmpServer: sms_error_handler (0x1701db0, FALSE, 3, 9, 32771, 0)
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: (pid:20951) done (status:0)
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): App pulseaudio.desktop exited successfully
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: RegisterClient 10ab6dfce97d99cbd4142954049135379200000209010001
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Adding new client 10ab6dfce97d99cbd4142954049135379200000209010001 to session
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): uid = 1001
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): pid = 20943
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): exporting client to object path: /org/gnome/SessionManager/Client2
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): exporting dbus client to object path: /org/gnome/SessionManager/Client2
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/Client2 to store
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Client added: /org/gnome/SessionManager/Client2
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): App gnome-settings-daemon.desktop registered
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: ending phase INITIALIZATION
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: starting phase WINDOW_MANAGER

gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: starting app '/org/gnome/SessionManager/App1'
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): Starting app: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App1
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: starting gnome-shell.desktop: command=/usr/local/bin/gnome-shell startup-id=10ab6dfce97d99cbd4142954049135341900000209010000

(gnome-settings-daemon:20943): media-keys-plugin-WARNING **: Unable to inhibit keypresses: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name org.freedesktop.login1 was not provided by any .service files
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: started pid:20979
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: RegisterClient 
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Adding new client 10ab6dfce97d99cbd4142954049160693400000209010022 to session
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): uid = 1001
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): pid = 20985
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): exporting client to object path: /org/gnome/SessionManager/Client3
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): exporting dbus client to object path: /org/gnome/SessionManager/Client3
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/Client3 to store
gnome-session2[20901]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Client added: /org/gnome/SessionManager/Client3
gnome-session2[20901]: WARNING: Application 'gnome-shell.desktop' failed to register before timeout

did you revert the patches i mentioned in comment 18 ?

Thanks - yes I did - I just reverted the patch again on gnome-shell-3.16.1 and (unfortunately) it does not change anything.

What would be great would be able to add more debug flags to "gnome-shell --debug" to show the steps taken for gnome-shell.desktop to register via dbus so I could see at what point things fail.

I tried looking through the gnome-{session, shell} source but I don't see where the registration process is coded...

I looked at the system message (as opposed to the wm error log) log to get the debug output timing - maybe it's the way the messages are written, but it seems strange that the polkitd start-up messages come after the "gnome-shell.desktop failed to register" message.

Could this be something to do with the problem?

Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: ending phase INITIALIZATION
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: starting phase WINDOW_MANAGER
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: starting app '/org/gnome/SessionManager/App1'
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): Starting app: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App1
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: starting gnome-shell.desktop: command=/usr/local/bin/gnome-shell startup-id=10d86ca3189ecee61b142978102550133800000195790000
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: started pid:19685
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.notice dbus[18557]: [system] Activating service name='org.freedesktop.ColorManager' (using servicehelper)
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Using config file /usr/local/etc/colord.conf
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Using mapping database file /var/lib/colord/mapping.db
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Using device database file /var/lib/colord/storage.db
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: loaded plugin libcd_plugin_scanner.so
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: plugin /usr/local/lib/colord-plugins/libcd_plugin_sane.so not loaded: plugin refused to load
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: loaded plugin libcd_plugin_camera.so
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Daemon ready for requests
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.notice dbus[18557]: [system] Successfully activated service 'org.freedesktop.ColorManager'
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Profile added: icc-ca9fd5be3f56edb96554b2c8ece61258
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Profile added: icc-c9f517487ce8a91b65d7344760974d11
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Profile added: icc-7a5872320ef62d5cb56cad6930a538a7
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Profile added: icc-d2689ace609a5be43ac76dc3f1fdd2dd
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Profile added: icc-0a52a773446f7c9a4fcd2f06b5d52f66
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Profile added: icc-0935099031051f8f9a6bdb1c6f01bf2c
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Profile added: icc-a0d8e3cf27ec99218789da090bdcc4ed
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Profile added: icc-bf2009c76b093cee655151296c09cbbe
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Profile added: icc-bc132766a3743399d84960b42fcebb8d
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Profile added: icc-20fe4f40dcb5540624bf6163f65ff486
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Profile added: icc-0108d080537756cecb1f8693fe4b7bef
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Profile added: icc-19bb7f5413184709bb6390484f645e8f
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: RegisterClient 
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Adding new client 10d86ca3189ecee61b142978102592096500000195790020 to session
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Profile added: icc-4be1111819d94c50a870f0f80acb2eec
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): uid = 1001
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): pid = 19696
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): exporting client to object path: /org/gnome/SessionManager/Client4
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): exporting dbus client to object path: /org/gnome/SessionManager/Client4
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/Client4 to store
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Client added: /org/gnome/SessionManager/Client4
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Profile added: icc-fe852b3ff2471910bcf7197cea14464d
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Profile added: icc-756500e627e866c7db70ef7e726134b3
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Profile added: icc-2b24d83128a2f0e0a87d596a89c66816
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Profile added: icc-f8f29b337e753958016935f93e21e437
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Profile added: icc-90f6f0b2d9f72b2208fe23376c86c4df
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Profile added: icc-de99c0abc933670a762f7867bdb95d1f
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Profile added: icc-30232525e2d65933fbea08b5253539c3
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Profile added: icc-792127b619605841faff6bf843cc4d59
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Profile added: icc-7bc3f54bfafd12a989bcf810609946cf
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Profile added: icc-337505a6142a25797795fceef8487654
Apr 23 09:23:45 box daemon.info colord: Profile added: icc-6100a4709228a20d88266e14af4513e5Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: WARNING: Application 'gnome-shell.desktop' failed to register before timeout
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: ending phase WINDOW_MANAGER
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: starting phase PANEL
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: ending phase PANEL
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: starting phase DESKTOP
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: ending phase DESKTOP
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: starting phase APPLICATION
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): app /org/gnome/SessionManager/App4 is not for the current desktop
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Skipping disabled app: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App4
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Skipping disabled app: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App6
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): app /org/gnome/SessionManager/App7 is not for the current desktop
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Skipping disabled app: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App7
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: starting app '/org/gnome/SessionManager/App8'
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): Starting app: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App8
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: starting nm-applet.desktop: command=nm-applet startup-id=10d86ca3189ecee61b142978102550389400000195790007
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: started pid:19721
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Skipping disabled app: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App9
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: starting app '/org/gnome/SessionManager/App10'
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): Starting app: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App10
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: starting tracker-store.desktop: command=gdbus call -e -d org.freedesktop.DBus -o /org/freedesktop/DBus -m org.freedesktop.DBus.StartServiceByName org.freedesktop.Tracker1 0 startup-id=1
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: started pid:19724
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: starting app '/org/gnome/SessionManager/App11'
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): Starting app: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App11
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: starting tracker-miner-user-guides.desktop: command=/usr/local/lib/tracker-1.0/tracker-miner-user-guides startup-id=10d86ca3189ecee61b142978102550579800000195790010
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: started pid:19727
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: starting app '/org/gnome/SessionManager/App12'
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): Starting app: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App12
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: starting tracker-miner-fs.desktop: command=/usr/local/lib/tracker-1.0/tracker-miner-fs startup-id=10d86ca3189ecee61b142978102550607600000195790011
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: started pid:19731
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: starting app '/org/gnome/SessionManager/App13'
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): Starting app: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App13
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: starting tracker-miner-apps.desktop: command=/usr/local/lib/tracker-1.0/tracker-miner-apps startup-id=10d86ca3189ecee61b142978102550683500000195790012
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: started pid:19732
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: starting app '/org/gnome/SessionManager/App14'
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): Starting app: /org/gnome/SessionManager/App14
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: starting tracker-extract.desktop: command=/usr/local/lib/tracker-1.0/tracker-extract startup-id=10d86ca3189ecee61b142978102550706700000195790013
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: started pid:19733
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: ending phase APPLICATION
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: starting phase RUNNING
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): gsm_xsmp_server_start
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmPresence: adding idle watch (1) for 300 secs
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: RegisterClient 
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Adding new client 10d86ca3189ecee61b142978111640328300000195790021 to session
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): uid = 1001
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): pid = 19614
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): exporting client to object path: /org/gnome/SessionManager/Client5
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): exporting dbus client to object path: /org/gnome/SessionManager/Client5
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmStore: Adding object id /org/gnome/SessionManager/Client5 to store
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmManager: Client added: /org/gnome/SessionManager/Client5
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.warn gnome-session2[19579]: DEBUG(+): GsmAutostartApp: (pid:19724) done (status:0)
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.notice dbus[18557]: [system] Activating service name='org.freedesktop.UDisks2' (using servicehelper)
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.notice udisksd[19762]: udisks daemon version 2.1.3 starting
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.notice dbus[18557]: [system] Activating service name='org.freedesktop.PolicyKit1' (using servicehelper)
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.info polkitd[19767]: Started polkitd version 0.112
Apr 23 09:25:16 box authpriv.notice polkitd[19767]: Loading rules from directory /usr/local/etc/polkit-1/rules.d
Apr 23 09:25:16 box authpriv.notice polkitd[19767]: Loading rules from directory /usr/local/share/polkit-1/rules.d
Apr 23 09:25:16 box authpriv.notice polkitd[19767]: Finished loading, compiling and executing 3 rules
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.notice dbus[18557]: [system] Successfully activated service 'org.freedesktop.PolicyKit1'
Apr 23 09:25:16 box authpriv.notice polkitd[19767]: Acquired the name org.freedesktop.PolicyKit1 on the system bus
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.notice dbus[18557]: [system] Successfully activated service 'org.freedesktop.UDisks2'
Apr 23 09:25:16 box daemon.notice udisksd[19762]: Acquired the name org.freedesktop.UDisks2 on the system message bus
Apr 23 09:25:38 box authpriv.notice sudo:       tc : TTY=tty1 ; PWD=/home/tc ; USER=root ; COMMAND=/usr/bin/killall Xorg.bin

Between:

GsmAutostartApp: starting gnome-shell.desktop: command=/usr/local/bin/gnome-shell startup-id=10d86ca3189ecee61b142978102550133800000195790000

and:

WARNING: Application 'gnome-shell.desktop' failed to register before timeout

I presume gnome-session sets gnome-shell a number of tasks to perform before it can register and it fails one of them.

The developers must surely have a method to debug this and find out why it fails?

(In reply to john.frankish@outlook.com from comment #28)
> The developers must surely have a method to debug this and find out why it
> fails?

Apparently you didn't read what Ray already told you so I'll repeat it to you:

(In reply to Ray Strode [halfline] from comment #10)
> So the thing is, you're trying to get things to work in a way that's not
> really supported.  That's why there haven't been very many replies to your
> requests; you're asking for support to something unsupported.

Honestly, I don't see this going anywhere. IMO, if you don't bother to follow the developers' advice you get to keep both pieces.

I'm not sure that's strictly true, after all I have gnome-3.10.x working without problems and without hacking anything.

It's true that I am not using systemd, but gnome-session, gnome-shell, gnome-settings-daemon, etc, all recognise this and compile without it, so it would be a reasonable expectation that things should work without systemd.

All that being said, it could be something as simple as a missing runtime dependency (I've checked jhbuild for 3.16 and I seem to have everything), but without knowing what gnome-session/gnome-shell check for prior to gnome-shell being able to register, I'm stuck.

I just noticed that this was set to "resolved".

If that's going to be the case, I would suggest:

1. The output of "gnome-session --debug" is improved to indicate why a component fails to register.

2. The ./configure scripts for gnome-session and gnome-shell halt with an error message when systemd is not present - i.e. systemd becomes a hard dependency.

Please keep the ticket resolution set in comment 29. Thank you.

It would be more appropriate if it were set to "rejected" rather than "resolved" since it plainly isn't "resolved".

(In reply to john.frankish@outlook.com from comment #33)
> It would be more appropriate if it were set to "rejected" rather than
> "resolved" since it plainly isn't "resolved".

That's why the resolution was set to "invalid" rather than "fixed", before you changed it again.

Note that current releases of GNOME *are* available on OpenBSD (and FreeBSD as well I think), which does not have systemd or an alternative logind implementation, so while not using systemd is part of what makes your system uncommon, it is not necessarily the only reason for your troubles. You are of course perfectly in your rights to build GNOME yourself on a system that lacks standard core components that are still optional(*) for core functionality, but the price of a highly individual and unique system like that is that to a large extent, you are on your own in case of problems - whether trying to reproduce your setup to track down an issue which as far as we can tell affects exactly *one* user is a good use of developer time is a valid question, and "no" not an unreasonable answer.

(*) The intention of the patches you need to revert according to comment #18 was to disable the locking functionality on non-systemd systems, not to break un-unlocking - a fix for that would be welcome, but not something I will spend time on, considering how ubiquitous the logind API has become (it's almost everywhere on Linux - Ubuntu/Debian proved that it can be made to work even without systemd before switching init systems in their latest releases - and work on a BSD implementation is underway)

OK - thanks, I will now officially give up and return to one of the the many wm that do work on my system (tinycorelinux).

For the avoidance of doubt, I did revert the patches mentioned in comment #18 (it did not fix the problem) and I did not change the status to fixed, resolved, invalid or anything else (unless replying somehow changes the status).

(In reply to john.frankish@outlook.com from comment #35)
> (unless replying somehow changes the status).

It should not, but somehow you managed to change the resolution from "invalid" to "fixed" with each comment (including the last one) - likely another oddity with your system ...

All of my replies were from windows :P

It took a long, long time, but finally I found the answer.

For the benefit of others, gnome-shell uses mutter to register with gnome-session.

Using the X11 backend, at some point in the initialisation of mutter, it calls XIGrabTouchBegin, which fails with libXi <= 1.7.4, i.e. you need to build libXi from git.

Note also that gnome-session will not start without the presence of gdm, even though it is not being used.

Anyway, now things work, without systemd and, I suspect (although I have not tried yet) without consolekit.