Can't install on NixOS due to AGS errors

[wwhost1ve]

Hi! I really like your environment; I've been trying to install it for a while now, but I'm having problems with Astal dependencies on AGS 2.3.0. Do you have an updated version without Astal, instructions on how to migrate to a modern AGS, or any alternatives? Or can you tell me where to find a supported version? I'd be so grateful for your help; I absolutely love your work.

[retrozinndev]

Thanks for all the compliments!! I really appreciate them ❤️

I've been trying to install it for a while now, but I'm having problems with Astal dependencies on AGS 2.3.0. Do you have an updated version without Astal, instructions on how to migrate to a modern AGS, or any alternatives?

The Astal libraries are runtime dependencies of colorshell, so there's unfortunately no way to use it without the libraries.
Are you installing from the main(ryo) branch? Because the gtk4-ags3 branch only works with the latest ags 3.0.0(main branch version) which hasn't been launched yet.
You can check your AGS version with:

ags --version

If you're not using ags v3(built from the latest ags repo commit), you could try using it; but I don't know how to do so, since I don't use NixOS, you would need to do that yourself in this case, sorry 😭 .
But, if you're actually using AGS v3, you could try installing colorshell from the gtk4-ags3 branch instead of the main one(ryo). Also, in the installation process, remember to choose to install the unstable version instead of the stable one, since gtk4-ags3 is unstable yet.

[retrozinndev]

I took a look at the AGS flake and it seems that you can use v3 with no problems, since the flake is updated.
You just need to add it to your nix as you would add any flake.
The AGS flake file if you need more info about it.

[retrozinndev]

There's no need to use the gtk4-ags3 branch anymore, AGS v3 had its tagged release recently and I updated colorshell to 2.0.0 today, so it now supports the new AGS version + new installation scripts(they work better now).

[retrozinndev]

Closing this due to inactivity. If you still have the issue, you're welcome to reopen it.

[naestech]

hey!! huge fan of these dots

just tried reinstalling this on nixos and ran into the same issues. i followed the suggestions from this thread including:

• using the ryo branch (since gtk4-ags3 seems to be merged now)
• installed all required astal libraries
• on ags v3.0.0
• set up all the typelib paths for gtk4, graphene, libadwaita, etc.

everything builds fine but when i try to run it i get this error:

(gjs:83250): Gjs-CRITICAL **:  22:05:45.234: JS ERROR: Error: only strings can be gobject signals
signal/<@file:///run/user/1000/ags.js:649:13 -> ../../../home/nae/.config/colorshell/node_modules/.pnpm/gnim@1.8.2/node_modules/gnim/dist/gobject.ts:279:19
__decorateClass@file:///run/user/1000/ags.js:123:24 ->
@file:///run/user/1000/ags.js:1627:16 -> ../../../home/nae/.config/colorshell/node_modules/.pnpm/ags@file+..+..+..+..+nix+store+c9iw5dwfjl1qgf8x645y7xyqpxv8wdna-ags-3.0.0+share+ags+js_gnim@1.8.2/node_modules/ags/lib/process.ts:22:15.

seems like gnim 1.8.2 (pulled from gnim-utils) isn't compatible with ags v3.0.0's signal handling coming from the signal decorator in ags/lib/process.ts line 22. tried both the ags from nixpkgs and from github but same error. not sure if there's something specific about nixos that breaks this or if the dependencies just need updating but wanted to confirm this still doesn't work on nixos 😓

[retrozinndev]

hey!! huge fan of these dots

Thanks!! 😊

seems like gnim 1.8.2 (pulled from gnim-utils) isn't compatible with ags v3.0.0's signal handling coming from the signal decorator in ags/lib/process.ts line 22. tried both the ags from nixpkgs and from github but same error. not sure if there's something specific about nixos that breaks this or if the dependencies just need updating but wanted to confirm this still doesn't work on nixos 😓

hmm, I'll make gnim on gnim-utils be a peer dependency, so it will expect that colorshell provides the library, then you can try updating your installation(see README, in the Updating section for a guide) to see if it works...

[retrozinndev]

Done! You can try by updating to the unstable version(the updater asks if you want to use it or not).

[conroy-cheers]

Added a Nix flake and package definition in #25; I'm using this in my system configuration right now with recent nixpkgs and ags v3.0.0, all seems to be working.

Btw, this might not have originally been an ags version issue - when running the ags bundle from commandline on NixOS, I also had some GLib/Astal dependency issues: e.g. "Settings schema 'io.astal.notifd' is not installed". The package definition uses wrapGAppsHook4 to wrap the executable, which seems to fix the problem.

[retrozinndev]

Added a Nix flake and package definition in #25; I'm using this in my system configuration right now with recent nixpkgs and ags v3.0.0, all seems to be working.

Thanks for providing your flake @conroy-cheers!! I'll surely take a look at it 😁

Btw, this might not have originally been an ags version issue - when running the ags bundle from commandline on NixOS, I also had some GLib/Astal dependency issues: e.g. "Settings schema 'io.astal.notifd' is not installed". The package definition uses wrapGAppsHook4 to wrap the executable, which seems to fix the problem.

There was actually an issue about the wrapGAppsHook3 at the AGS repo. Since colorshell uses GTK4, maybe the wrapGAppsHook4 is in fault in the AGS flake? (I don't know about this hook nor about nix, so I'm not very sure)

[conroy-cheers]

Yes, wrapGAppsHook4 should be used because we're using GTK4.

On NixOS, executables often need to be wrapped because runtime dependencies exist in /nix/store/.../... and not in /usr/lib/..., so this is normal and expected. When using system libraries not provided by Nix, no wrapper would be required.