Error: you cannot perform this operation unless you are root

Hey guys, I have been cleaning up and optimising my laptop where I can and I recently tried to clear orphans and reinstall packages to save some space. However, when selecting these two options in Garuda Assistant, I get an error in the title. Is this a known problem anyone else has and does anyone know a solution? Thanks

System:
  Kernel: 6.0.0-2-bore arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-bore
    root=UUID=95b636ca-42a5-47b4-9b7a-038581af6cdf rw rootflags=subvol=@
    mitigations=off quiet splash rd.udev.log_priority=3
    vt.global_cursor_default=0
    resume=UUID=41193397-191d-45b5-8c2b-405cf71e73b2 loglevel=3
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.25.5 tk: Qt v: 5.15.6 info: latte-dock
    wm: kwin_wayland vt: 2 dm: SDDM Distro: Garuda Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: ASUSTeK product: X510UA v: 1.0
    serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: X510UA v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required>
    UEFI: American Megatrends v: X510UA.312 date: 04/29/2020
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 19.6 Wh (74.2%) condition: 26.4/42.1 Wh (62.6%)
    volts: 11.5 min: 11.5 model: ASUSTeK ASUS Battery type: Li-ion serial: N/A
    status: charging cycles: 518
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i7-7500U bits: 64 type: MT MCP
    arch: Amber/Kaby Lake note: check gen: core 7 level: v3 note: check
    built: 2017 process: Intel 14nm family: 6 model-id: 0x8E (142)
    stepping: 9 microcode: 0xF0
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 2 tpc: 2 threads: 4 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 128 KiB desc: d-2x32 KiB; i-2x32 KiB L2: 512 KiB desc: 2x256 KiB
    L3: 4 MiB desc: 1x4 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 664 high: 698 min/max: 400/3500 scaling:
    driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave cores: 1: 698 2: 690 3: 633 4: 638
    bogomips: 23220
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: vulnerable
  Type: mds status: Vulnerable; SMT vulnerable
  Type: meltdown status: Vulnerable
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Vulnerable
  Type: retbleed status: Vulnerable
  Type: spec_store_bypass status: Vulnerable
  Type: spectre_v1 status: Vulnerable: __user pointer sanitization and
    usercopy barriers only; no swapgs barriers
  Type: spectre_v2 status: Vulnerable, IBPB: disabled, STIBP: disabled,
    PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected
  Type: srbds status: Vulnerable
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 620 vendor: ASUSTeK driver: i915 v: kernel
    arch: Gen-9.5 process: Intel 14nm built: 2016-20 ports: active: eDP-1
    empty: HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:5916 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: IMC Networks VGA UVC WebCam type: USB driver: uvcvideo
    bus-ID: 1-6:2 chip-ID: 13d3:5a07 class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
  Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.4 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.3
    compositor: kwin_wayland driver: X: loaded: modesetting
    alternate: fbdev,intel,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 display-ID: 0
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 res: 1920x1080 size: N/A modes: N/A
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 620 (KBL GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 22.1.7
    direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Sunrise Point-LP HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel alternate: snd_soc_skl,snd_soc_avs
    bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:9d71 class-ID: 0403
  Sound API: ALSA v: k6.0.0-2-bore running: yes
  Sound Server-1: PulseAudio v: 16.1 running: no
  Sound Server-2: PipeWire v: 0.3.59 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Wireless 8265 / 8275 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel pcie: gen: 1
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:24fd class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-1: virbr0 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
    bus-ID: 1-8:3 chip-ID: 8087:0a2b class-ID: e001
  Report: bt-adapter ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: down
    bt-service: enabled,running rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes
    address: <filter>
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 931.52 GiB used: 509.55 GiB (54.7%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 870 EVO 500GB
    size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 1B6Q scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 860 EVO M.2 500GB
    size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 1B6Q scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 448.4 GiB size: 448.4 GiB (100.00%) used: 119.33 GiB
    (26.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%) used: 32.1 MiB
    (10.7%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 448.4 GiB size: 448.4 GiB (100.00%) used: 119.33
    GiB (26.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2
  ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 448.4 GiB size: 448.4 GiB (100.00%) used: 119.33
    GiB (26.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2
  ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 448.4 GiB size: 448.4 GiB (100.00%) used: 119.33
    GiB (26.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 15.52 GiB used: 73.2 MiB (0.5%)
    priority: 100 dev: /dev/zram0
  ID-2: swap-2 type: partition size: 17.06 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%)
    priority: -2 dev: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 52.0 C pch: 41.0 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 3300
Info:
  Processes: 250 Uptime: 7h 47m wakeups: 5 Memory: 15.52 GiB used: 3.43 GiB
  (22.1%) Init: systemd v: 251 default: graphical tool: systemctl
  Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 clang: 14.0.6 Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1766
  libs: 383 tools: pamac,paru Shell: fish v: 3.5.1 running-in: yakuake
  inxi: 3.3.22
Garuda (2.6.8-1):
  System install date:     2022-05-27
  Last full system update: 2022-10-13 ↻
  Is partially upgraded:   No
  Relevant software:       NetworkManager
  Windows dual boot:       Probably (Run as root to verify)
  Snapshots:               Snapper
  Failed units:            mnt-backups.mount systemd-sysctl.service 
2 Likes

I got the same error, maybe @TNE can have a look? :slight_smile:

I never used reinstall, and for orphan I use the alias cleanup from config.fish.

# Cleanup orphaned packages
alias cleanup='sudo pacman -Rns (pacman -Qtdq)'
3 Likes

Good to hear that it’s not just me I guess lol. Thanks for the cleanup alias. I hadn’t thought to check for that. Reinstalling can be good now and then I find as it can save space.

Fixed:

5 Likes

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