Libayatana

[jhugus]

Desktop MX Linux 25 OS, which is just released based on Debian 13 Trixie. Installed Linux client from spotify repository. Installed without problem. GUI shows briefly, then disappears. When started from CLI receive message "(spotify:10677): libayatana-appindicator-WARNING **: libayatana-appindicator is deprecated. Please use libayatana-appindicator-glib in newly written code. Illegal instruction. After that, I uninstalled the official client, and installed Spotify Client from Flatpak. Same result. Any help would be appreciated. 

[no4b · Accepted solution]

Most likely, you're using a very old CPU that doesn't support the instructions required by Spotify. If that's the case, an older version of the Spotify client might work.

[jhugus]

Thank you for pointing me in the right direction. Indeed, you are correct. I am trying to recycle a 2012 Core Duo to be a pure music server using MX and SysVInit. Using your suggestion I have tried installing an older version, but am running into insurmountable dependency problems, specifically several libqt4 dependencies. After failing this, I tried to find an old snap version, but am unable to use snap due to its requirement for systemd. At this point, I will just use the web browser instead of the dedicated linux client. Again, thank you for identifying the problem. 

[jhugus]

Just to expand on the problem for anyone researching this in the future. Spotify quietly started to require the CPU avx extension in October 2024 release of the desktop client 1.2.46. AVX started to be incorporated into Intel CPU's around 2012-2013. To tell whether a CPU would be able to run modern Spotify clients, you can check CPU flags in terminal with the 'lscpu' command. Under flags, it should show avx and avx2. 

Using no4b's suggestion, I switched to an arch based distribution, Artix, and installed an older version of Spotify from the AUR repository, 1.1.84. This worked, but the sign-in was much more frequent and clunky than the modern version. Ultimately, I used another computer with a 2016 cpu to run the modern desktop client.

[JontomXire]

I have error code 19776 rather than 10677.

My CPU flags includes avx but not avx2. My CPU is AMD Ryzen 5 1600 Six-Core Processor dating back to about 2017.

So I am not sure I have the same issue, but I do have the same error message:

(spotify:19776): libayatana-appindicator-WARNING **: 17:32:08.963: libayatana-appindicator is deprecated. Please use libayatana-appindicator-glib in newly written code.
Trace/breakpoint trap (core dumped) spotify

[jhugus]

I am not sure you have the avx problem I had. My error message was "Illegal instruction", which pointed to the CPU flag problem. Your message is "Trace/breakpoint trap (core dumped)". Some questions: What OS are you using? What spotify desktop client install method - .deb, snap, AUR, or flatpak, and version? Is this a fresh install or upgrade/reinstall?

You might try starting spotify from the terminal with $ spotify --show-console

for more messages.

[boblikesopeth]

I have a 9th gen intel i5, any idea why i could be having this problem? im very new to linux its a little difficult for me to even diagnose whats wrong

[jhugus]

What happens when you start Spotify? Does the desktop package start or fail to open? If it fails to open, try starting it in a terminal with

$ spotify --show-console

and post the results.

If the spotify program opens in the usual gui, then no problem. The libayatana warning concerns the spotify tray icon. It means the library used to write the code is outdated, and merely is telling the coders to update to a glib version of libayatana when the program is updated. Most of the time it causes no practical problem for the users. Just ignore it. 

[miroslaw]

Good morning.

I have a similar problem.
The app opens and I can control playback on other devices on my home network, but I can't listen to music on my computer using the app (Debian stable version).
A window appears with the message:

"Spotify can't play this file right now.
If you have the file on your computer, you can import it."

When I run it from the terminal, I get the message:
(spotify:12916) and then ... libayatana-appindicator is deprecated. Please use libayatana-appindicator-glib in newly written code."

Everything was working fine (I think) until the last Spotify update.

What can I do about this?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

CPU I5-10600

[jhugus]

The libayatana-appindicator message is probably not related to your problem. Try closing all open instances of the app, and start it from a terminal with

$ spotify --show-console

You should see messages about pre-fetch and hopefully messages about the failure to play the file. I am using the spotify app from the Arch Linux AUR, so probably cannot duplicate your issue. 

[miroslaw]

I deleted all files associated with the app.
I installed the app.
I logged in.
and... still the same...

[jhugus]

The error message,

pw_conf_load_conf_for_context. Can't load config client.conf: No such file or directory.

you posted shows a problem with the pipewire sound module. That is why you can't hear any audio on spotify. Spotify says it cannot locate the pipewire configuration file. This should be located in

/usr/share/pipewire/client.conf

Try entering this in a terminal to see if it exists:

$ ls /usr/share/pipewire/client.conf

I would also check to see what audio server your system is using:

$ inxi -A

It should show that Pipewire is active.

If the config file is not is not present, you can try to install a default one. Otherwise, I would try to downgrade your Spotify client to a version prior to your current one, such as spotify-client 1.2.84. To find your current version:

$ sudo apt-cache policy spotify-client

Since I am on Arch Linux. I am not sure how to do this on Debian.

[miroslaw]

Dear jhugus

I didn't have piperwire installed.
I installed piperwire, and still the same thing.
I uninstalled Spotify again and deleted all the configuration files.

After reinstalling, everything started working !  

Thank you so much for your help!