Cannot switch between users (Gnome 40.1)

steve · July 8, 2021, 12:59pm

Hello everyone,

I can log in to each of my accounts sequentially, but I cannot switch from one account to another while still being logged. There is no “Switch User” option in the user menu. The same applies to the lock screen, too.

This is probably a minor issue, but I am new to NixOS (21.05) and I don’t know what to do. So far, I like NixOS a lot, but this tiny problem keeps me from fully switching to NixOS.

I am thankful for any hints.

jtojnar · July 8, 2021, 2:16pm

There are several conditions for the switch user option to appear:

github.com

GNOME/gnome-shell/blob/7d35fc1397dba9def16e1d4922630aa5fe66176b/js/misc/systemActions.js#L368


      
          _updateMultiUser() {
              this._updateLogout();
              this._updateSwitchUser();
          }
          
          
_updateSwitchUser() {
              let allowSwitch = !this._lockdownSettings.get_boolean(DISABLE_USER_SWITCH_KEY);
              let multiUser = this._userManager.can_switch() && this._userManager.has_multiple_users;
              let shouldShowInMode = !Main.sessionMode.isLocked && !Main.sessionMode.isGreeter;
          
          
    let visible = allowSwitch && multiUser && shouldShowInMode;
              this._actions.get(SWITCH_USER_ACTION_ID).available = visible;
              this.notify('can-switch-user');
          
          
    return visible;
          }
          
          
_updateLogout() {
              let user = this._userManager.get_user(GLib.get_user_name());
          
          
    let allowLogout = !this._lockdownSettings.get_boolean(DISABLE_LOG_OUT_KEY);

Most importantly, you need multiple non-system users.

See also gnome3 logout button doesn't show · Issue #100108 · NixOS/nixpkgs · GitHub for more details.

There might also be an issue with AccountsService returning incorrect information:

https://github.com/NixOS/nixpkgs/issues/84634

steve · July 8, 2021, 3:20pm

Thanks for your detailed reply. Looks like I am affected by issue #84634.