Table of Contents
Ubuntu 24.04 Snap Startup Failure: libX11.so.6 Error Troubleshooting Guide
Problem Description
After booting up, it was found that Firefox could not start, and after attempting to reinstall, it was discovered that the Application Center (Snap Store) could not open either. Upon further investigation, it was found that all Snap applications could not run and the following error appeared:
snap: error while loading shared libraries: libX11.so.6: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directoryThis indicates that Snap cannot load libX11.so.6, and the shared library might be missing or cannot be found by the system.
Troubleshooting and Resolution Process
Step 1: Try Updating the System
First, ensure the system and installed packages are up to date.
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -yAfter updating, try to start Firefox again, but the problem still persists.
Step 2: Reinstall Snap
Suspecting that Snap itself might be corrupted, attempt to reinstall it:
sudo apt install --reinstall snapdThe following error appears:
snap: error while loading shared libraries: libX11.so.6: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory Could not execute systemctl: at /usr/bin/deb-systemd-invoke line 148. snapd.failure.service is a disabled or a static unit not running, not starting it. snapd.snap-repair.service is a disabled or a static unit not running, not starting it. Could not execute systemctl: at /usr/bin/deb-systemd-invoke line 148.
Then, try removing and reinstalling it:
sudo apt remove snapd
sudo apt install snapd
But the same error still appears, indicating that libX11.so.6 is missing.
Confirm that snapd is correctly installed, and that the system can find the path:
which /usr/lib/snapd/snapd which snap
Step 3: Check if libX11.so.6 is Installed
Since the error always indicates that libX11.so.6 cannot be found, the idea is to reinstall libX11.so.6 to fix it.
Use the following command to check if libX11.so.6 is installed on the system:
dpkg -l | grep libx11-6
find /usr -name libX11.so.6If libX11.so.6 is not installed or may be corrupted, attempt to reinstall the library:
sudo apt install --reinstall libx11-6
After installation, verify that libX11.so.6 is in the correct system directory.
dpkg -l libx11-6 find /usr -name libX11.so.6
Then, reinstall snap again, but still get the same error message.
Step 4: Try Restarting Snap Service
sudo systemctl restart snapd
or
sudo systemctl start snapd.serviceTry to enable the socket:
sudo systemctl enable --now snapd.socket
Restart the service, but the error still appears.
If the service cannot start, check the status of the Snap service:
sudo systemctl status snapd.serviceThe error still appears, indicating that Snap cannot start.
Check system logs
Check system logs for any other errors related to snapd:
journalctl --no-pager -u snapd
Still, many errors appear.
After completing Steps 1-4, the problem was mostly resolved.
Step 5: Completely Reinstall Snap
It seemed like there was an issue with system links, which was causing the system to fail to find libX11.so.6. Eventually, a complete removal of Snap and a fresh installation was necessary. After this, all programs installed via Snap would need to be reinstalled.
sudo apt remove --purge snapd
Reinstall snapd:
sudo apt install snapd
Carefully observe that during the installation process, no system links related to libX11.so.6 were created, which may be included in a system link somewhere else, but at least system links were recreated.
Then, I immediately tried to install Darktable:
snap install darktable
Still the same error: snap: error while loading shared libraries: libX11.so.6: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Having tried all available methods online, I was about to give up and reinstall Ubuntu from scratch.
Step 5: Check for Software Conflicts
After further searching, I discovered that many users reported that Citrix (icaclient) might conflict with Snap. I recalled that I had installed Citrix for work, so I tried removing it:
sudo apt remove --purge icaclient
After removal, I tried installing a new Snap application to verify:
snap install darktableFinally, a different error message appeared:
error: cannot communicate with server: Post "http://localhost/v2/snaps/darktable": dial unix /run/snapd.socket: connect: connection refused
Then, restart the Snap service:
sudo systemctl start snapd.serviceReinstall Darktable again, and this time it installed successfully! Later, I installed the Snap Store from the application center, as the user interface is more convenient.
snap install snap-store
Final Solution Summary
Root Cause
- Citrix (icaclient) interfered with the system link of libX11.so.6, causing Snap to fail to load the library.
Complete Solution Steps
-
- Update the system
sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y - Reinstall Snap
sudo apt install --reinstall snapd - Check and reinstall libX11.so.6
sudo apt install --reinstall libx11-6 - Check and remove any conflicting software (such as Citrix)
sudo apt remove --purge icaclient - Restart Snap service
sudo systemctl restart snapd
- Update the system
Other Commands Found But Not Used
Unmask the snapd.service:
sudo systemctl unmask snapd.serviceEnable snapd.service:
sudo systemctl enable snapd.serviceRemove Configuration Files:
If the issue persists, check for any configuration files that might be blocking Snap installations. Specifically, look for a file named nosnap.pref in /etc/apt/preferences.d/ and remove or comment it out:
sudo rm /etc/apt/preferences.d/nosnap.pref
Conclusion
Although the troubleshooting process took several hours, the root cause of the problem was found to be Citrix interfering with libX11.so.6. If your Snap experiences similar errors, try these methods, and hopefully, it will help you resolve the issue quickly!
This drove me nuts. Reason 300 to hate citrix