Guest user account not retaining any changes after reboot

I liked the idea of guest user account where I can lend my device to some friend or family without revealing my admin password.

It however comes with the default garuda configurations. I'd like to change some stuff like display scaling and icons. I tried it, but the settings revert to default after a reboot. I can't even have scaling changed without reboot.

╰─λ inxi -Faz
System:
Kernel: 5.15.7-arch1-g14-1 x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.1.0
parameters: pm_debug_messages amd_pmc.enable_stb=1 amd_pmc.dyndbg="+p"
acpi.dyndbg="file drivers/acpi/x86/s2idle.c +p"
BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-g14
root=UUID=edc8611c-d94e-4567-85f8-02b07c91fda3 rw rootflags=subvol=@
quiet
cryptdevice=UUID=98382a7e-5fd2-4dca-b6e6-6aca242b8ece:luks-98382a7e-5fd2-4dca-b6e6-6aca242b8ece
root=/dev/mapper/luks-98382a7e-5fd2-4dca-b6e6-6aca242b8ece splash
rd.udev.log_priority=3 vt.global_cursor_default=0
systemd.unified_cgroup_hierarchy=1 loglevel=3
Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.23.4 tk: Qt 5.15.2 info: latte-dock wm: kwin_x11
vt: 1 dm: SDDM Distro: Garuda Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: ASUSTeK product: ROG Zephyrus G14 GA401II_GA401II
v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: ASUSTeK model: GA401II v: 1.0 serial: <superuser required>
UEFI: American Megatrends v: GA401II.219 date: 12/30/2020
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 58.6 Wh (79.2%) condition: 74.0/76.0 Wh (97.4%)
volts: 15.8 min: 15.8 model: ASUSTeK ASUS Battery type: Li-ion serial: N/A
status: Not charging
Device-1: hid-dc:2c:26:05:66:0e-battery model: Keychron K2 serial: N/A
charge: N/A status: Discharging
Device-2: hidpp_battery_0
model: Logitech G304 Lightspeed Wireless Gaming Mouse serial: <filter>
charge: 100% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes status: Discharging
CPU:
Info: model: AMD Ryzen 5 4600HS with Radeon Graphics bits: 64 type: MT MCP
arch: Zen 2 family: 0x17 (23) model-id: 0x60 (96) stepping: 1
microcode: 0x8600104
Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 6 tpc: 2 threads: 12 smt: enabled cache:
L1: 384 KiB desc: d-6x32 KiB; i-6x32 KiB L2: 3 MiB desc: 6x512 KiB
L3: 8 MiB desc: 2x4 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 2099 high: 3116 min/max: 1400/3000 boost: enabled
scaling: driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: performance cores: 1: 1656 2: 1516
3: 2576 4: 2424 5: 1493 6: 2074 7: 3116 8: 2076 9: 1539 10: 2228 11: 2256
12: 2241 bogomips: 71899
Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
Vulnerabilities:
Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
Type: l1tf status: Not affected
Type: mds status: Not affected
Type: meltdown status: Not affected
Type: spec_store_bypass
mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
Type: spectre_v1
mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Full AMD retpoline, IBPB: conditional,
IBRS_FW, STIBP: conditional, RSB filling
Type: srbds status: Not affected
Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
Device-1: AMD Renoir vendor: ASUSTeK driver: amdgpu v: kernel
bus-ID: 04:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:1636 class-ID: 0300
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.21.1.2 compositor: kwin_x11 driver:
loaded: amdgpu,ati unloaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vesa
display-ID: :0 screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 508x285mm (20.0x11.2")
s-diag: 582mm (22.9")
Monitor-1: eDP res: 1920x1080 hz: 120 dpi: 158
size: 309x174mm (12.2x6.9") diag: 355mm (14")
Message: Unable to show advanced data. Required tool glxinfo missing.
Audio:
Device-1: AMD driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 04:00.1
chip-ID: 1002:1637 class-ID: 0403
Device-2: AMD Raven/Raven2/FireFlight/Renoir Audio Processor
vendor: ASUSTeK driver: N/A
alternate: snd_pci_acp3x, snd_rn_pci_acp3x, snd_pci_acp5x bus-ID: 04:00.5
chip-ID: 1022:15e2 class-ID: 0480
Device-3: AMD Family 17h HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel
v: kernel bus-ID: 04:00.6 chip-ID: 1022:15e3 class-ID: 0403
Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.7-arch1-g14-1 running: yes
Sound Server-2: JACK v: 1.9.19 running: no
Sound Server-3: PulseAudio v: 15.0 running: no
Sound Server-4: PipeWire v: 0.3.42 running: yes
Network:
Device-1: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel bus-ID: 02:00.0
chip-ID: 8086:2723 class-ID: 0280
IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Intel AX200 Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
bus-ID: 5-4:3 chip-ID: 8087:0029 class-ID: e001
Report: bt-adapter ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter>
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 953.87 GiB used: 112.23 GiB (11.8%)
SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Intel model: SSDPEKNW010T8
size: 953.87 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B
speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 004C
temp: 28.9 C scheme: GPT
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 953.57 GiB size: 953.57 GiB (100.00%)
used: 112.22 GiB (11.8%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/dm-0 maj-min: 254:0
mapped: luks-98382a7e-5fd2-4dca-b6e6-6aca242b8ece
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
used: 720 KiB (0.2%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:1
ID-3: /home raw-size: 953.57 GiB size: 953.57 GiB (100.00%)
used: 112.22 GiB (11.8%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/dm-0 maj-min: 254:0
mapped: luks-98382a7e-5fd2-4dca-b6e6-6aca242b8ece
ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 953.57 GiB size: 953.57 GiB (100.00%)
used: 112.22 GiB (11.8%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/dm-0 maj-min: 254:0
mapped: luks-98382a7e-5fd2-4dca-b6e6-6aca242b8ece
ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 953.57 GiB size: 953.57 GiB (100.00%)
used: 112.22 GiB (11.8%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/dm-0 maj-min: 254:0
mapped: luks-98382a7e-5fd2-4dca-b6e6-6aca242b8ece
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 15.11 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 48.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 44.0 C
Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 2800
Info:
Processes: 410 Uptime: 13m wakeups: 5 Memory: 15.12 GiB
used: 3.32 GiB (22.0%) Init: systemd v: 249 tool: systemctl Compilers:
gcc: 11.1.0 clang: 13.0.0 Packages: pacman: 1444 lib: 355 Shell: fish
v: 3.3.1 default: Zsh v: 5.8 running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.11

How about another user (family) and without root rights and password?

I think you will find solutions in the arch wiki.

3 Likes

i killed the guest by removing it :wink:

I've never tried it, but I might want to make my changes in Guest then switch user (log in, no re-booting) to a root account, set them, and see if they stuck.

Like said; I've never tried that. Shouldn't cause any harm (he said, with fingers crossed).
:wink:

1 Like

The whole point of the guest account is that changes are not saved. It's like booting off a live image, except with the software you already have installed on the root filesystem. @SGS's solution is very practical I think

4 Likes

Is the "guest" account completely different from what I would create using say the add user GUI or useradd?

I assumed it to be the same thing.

Yes, for example

passwd guest
passwd: You may not view or modify password information for guest.

Edit: my bad, it appears as root you could set a password for guest :eyes:
Instead of modifying anything about that account, I would simply hide it by adding it to the line

HideUsers=guest

in /etc/sddm.conf

1 Like

I see. I was under the impression that it's just a non-admin account created by default as per garuda custom configs.

I'll try adding a new user account, and probably remove guest account.

Thanks

2 Likes

That is the very purpose of the guest account. The guest user is using the computer on a temporary basis. Once she leaves, all the customization is reset. That is basically the expected behavior for the guest account.

1 Like

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