Linux: sleep-inhibit during encode fails on portals without suspend support, with no fallback (KDE/Wayland)
Author: looktoCreated Jun 9, 2026Updated Aug 28, 2026
LabelsBugPatch / Help Welcome
Problem Description
On Linux (KDE Plasma / Wayland), HandBrake does not prevent the system from suspending during an encode.
HandBrake appears to request a suspend inhibition via the org.freedesktop.portal.Inhibit portal, but the active portal backend only supports the idle flag, so the call fails and no inhibitor is registered (not even idle). The system then follows its normal idle-suspend timer and suspends partway through the encode, freezing the job until the machine is woken manually.
Two things make this hard to notice: HandBrake surfaces no error to the user when the inhibit request fails, and there is no fallback to a working mechanism (e.g. a direct logind inhibit).
Steps to reproduce:
KDE Plasma Wayland session with automatic suspend enabled. Start an encode in HandBrake and leave the machine without input. At the idle timeout, the system suspends despite the encode running.
Expected: the system stays awake for the duration of the encode. Actual: the system suspends; the encode is frozen.
Workaround that confirms the diagnosis: launching via systemd-inhibit --what=idle:sleep ghb (which talks to logind directly and bypasses the portal) holds the inhibitor correctly and prevents suspend. That isolates the failure to the portal-based inhibit path.
Activity Log, Crash Log or any other details
System journal line(after starting an encode)
Jun 09 15:46:45 cachyos-desktop /usr/lib/xdg-desktop-portal[4622]: A backend call failed: Inhibiting other than idle not supportedActivity Log
[16:12:08] gtkgui: Modified Custom Preset: /My Presets/4k
[16:12:08] Starting work at: Tue Jun 9 16:12:08 2026
[16:12:08] 1 job(s) to process
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[16:12:08] OS: Linux 7.0.11Source: HandBrake/HandBrake