# XFCE4 Interactive Desktop: Unable to load a failsafe session (and other errors)

**URL:** <https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/xfce4-interactive-desktop-unable-to-load-a-failsafe-session-and-other-errors/1165>\
**Category:** Get Help\
**Tags:** question\
**Created:** [October 19, 2020, 3:46pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/xfce4-interactive-desktop-unable-to-load-a-failsafe-session-and-other-errors/1165 "2020-10-19T15:46:33Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ndusek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/779978/32.png) [@ndusek](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/ndusek)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 3:46pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/xfce4-interactive-desktop-unable-to-load-a-failsafe-session-and-other-errors/1165/1 "2020-10-19T15:46:33Z")

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Hello,

One of our users is having issues launching an XFCE4 interactive desktop. From what I can tell, the issue seems to be isolated to him. I have previously posted on XFCE-related errors [here](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/websocket-issue-with-interactive-desktop/1042), but since I have more clarity on this issue than the previous one, I thought I’d start a new post.

When launching the interactive desktop window in the browser, the user is confronted with two errors, shown in the images below:

![unable-to-contact-settings-server](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/osc/original/1X/a8d06f02c5f5b852375095e3faad4a73a7588530.png)

![unable-to-load-a-failsafe-session](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/uploads/osc/original/1X/ce0ad427a95577d4b7bbb769adde57fce42cb0dc.png)

Previously, Jeff had mentioned that Anaconda can sometimes cause these issues. He does have Anaconda installed in his home directory, but he does not have conda automatically initializing in either his `~/.bashrc` or `~/.bash_profile`.

I’ve also ruled out the specific compute node and base image, because I am able to launch an interactive desktop successfully on the same node he is having trouble on. There are some home directory folders that I’ve been looking in, like `.config`, `.cache`, and `.dbus` but at this point, I’m kind of just throwing darts at the wall.

Can anyone provide some guidance on where I should be looking for this problem, or how to fix it?

Thanks,  
Nick

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**Author:** ![jeff.ohrstrom](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/jeff.ohrstrom/32/136_2.png) [@jeff.ohrstrom](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/jeff.ohrstrom)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 4:12pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/xfce4-interactive-desktop-unable-to-load-a-failsafe-session-and-other-errors/1165/2 "2020-10-19T16:12:21Z")

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Well looking at `~/.bashrc` or `~/.bash_profile` was my goto. Are you sure bash is their default shell?

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**Author:** ![jeff.ohrstrom](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/jeff.ohrstrom/32/136_2.png) [@jeff.ohrstrom](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/jeff.ohrstrom)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 7:22pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/xfce4-interactive-desktop-unable-to-load-a-failsafe-session-and-other-errors/1165/3 "2020-10-19T19:22:05Z")

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I guess just to follow up on that, I would say this: It only affects that user, so that’s a big clue. Hone in on this clue; what’s different about this user? As you say, they don’t have anything in their bash initialization files, but if they use `csh` they could be loading a `.cshrc` as an example.

Really all they need to do is modify their `$PATH` such that `dbus-*` are not the system dbus binaries. Or maybe they just set an `XDG` environment variable to something silly (in any of their init files).

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**Author:** ![ndusek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/779978/32.png) [@ndusek](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/ndusek)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 7:33pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/xfce4-interactive-desktop-unable-to-load-a-failsafe-session-and-other-errors/1165/4 "2020-10-19T19:33:59Z")

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Thanks, Jeff. Just to cover my bases, I checked again, and this user does indeed have the conda init routine in their `.bashrc` file – sorry about that. Not sure how I missed it.

Since Anaconda is so popular, have you all identified a way to make the interactive desktop app and Anaconda play nice together? For example, if I modify the `$PATH`, which directory contains the appropriate `dbus-*` binaries so I can list those first? Or as you suggested, can I just do something like `export XDG_CONFIG_DIRS=foobar`?

Again, sorry for the false alarm.

Nick

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**Author:** ![jeff.ohrstrom](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex015/user_avatar/discourse.openondemand.org/jeff.ohrstrom/32/136_2.png) [@jeff.ohrstrom](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/jeff.ohrstrom)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 8:33pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/xfce4-interactive-desktop-unable-to-load-a-failsafe-session-and-other-errors/1165/5 "2020-10-19T20:33:15Z")

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It’s no problem at all!

Actually, having triaged this myself and now seeing your topic I’m forced do the right thing and fix it on our side. [I’ve just created this ticket on our repo for this issue](https://github.com/OSC/ondemand/issues/700).

You maybe able to set the `PATH` in the `wrapper_script`, that could work. You can see that ticket for what I’d set it to to support all possible installation locations but you may be able to just use `PATH=/usr/bin:$PATH`.

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**Author:** ![ndusek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/779978/32.png) [@ndusek](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/ndusek)\
**Post date:** [October 19, 2020, 8:41pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/xfce4-interactive-desktop-unable-to-load-a-failsafe-session-and-other-errors/1165/6 "2020-10-19T20:41:53Z")

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Thanks, Jeff. That’s very helpful. I’ve modified that line in the `xfce.sh` script in our version of the desktop app.

I appreciate the help, as always.

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**Author:** ![westburg.2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/0ea827/32.png) [@westburg.2](https://discourse.openondemand.org/u/westburg.2)\
**Post date:** [May 26, 2022, 3:43pm UTC](https://discourse.openondemand.org/t/xfce4-interactive-desktop-unable-to-load-a-failsafe-session-and-other-errors/1165/7 "2022-05-26T15:43:03Z")

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