Find systemd units on disk and report the packages the desktop needs

install/steps/login.sh

@@ -85,7 +85,13 @@ report_login_conflicts() {
 # its default target is multi-user.target, which never pulls in graphical.target.
 enable_display_manager() {
   if ! system_unit_exists sddm.service; then
-    say "WARN  sddm.service not found; the desktop cannot start at boot"
+    if package_installed sddm; then
+      say "WARN  sddm is installed but sddm.service is not visible to systemd"
+      say "      run 'sudo systemctl daemon-reload', then ./install.sh again"
+    else
+      say "WARN  sddm is not installed; the desktop cannot start at boot"
+      say "      install it with 'sudo pacman -S sddm', then ./install.sh again"
+    fi
     return 0
   fi
 
@@ -114,13 +120,19 @@ enable_display_manager() {
   fi
 
   if [[ $enable_needed == true ]]; then
-    as_root systemctl enable sddm.service
-    say "enable sddm.service"
+    if as_root systemctl enable sddm.service; then
+      say "enable sddm.service"
+    else
+      say "WARN  could not enable sddm.service"
+    fi
   fi
 
   if [[ $target_needed == true ]]; then
-    as_root systemctl set-default graphical.target
-    say "set   default target to graphical.target"
+    if as_root systemctl set-default graphical.target; then
+      say "set   default target to graphical.target"
+    else
+      say "WARN  could not set the default target to graphical.target"
+    fi
   fi
 }
 
@@ -137,6 +149,7 @@ launch_desktop() {
   fi
 
   if ! system_unit_exists sddm.service; then
+    say "No login screen to start: sddm is not installed."
     return 0
   fi
 
@@ -151,5 +164,7 @@ launch_desktop() {
   fi
 
   say "Starting the login screen. Pick the Blob session to log in."
-  as_root systemctl start sddm.service
+  as_root systemctl start sddm.service || {
+    say "WARN  sddm.service did not start; see 'systemctl status sddm'"
+  }
 }

install/steps/packages.sh

@@ -58,7 +58,7 @@ install_packages() {
 
   if (( ${#repo_missing[@]} )); then
     say "install ${#repo_missing[@]} repo package(s)"
-    as_root pacman -S --needed --noconfirm "${repo_missing[@]}"
+    install_repo_packages "${repo_missing[@]}"
   fi
 
   if (( ${#aur_missing[@]} )); then
@@ -71,6 +71,45 @@ install_packages() {
   fi
 }
 
+install_repo_packages() {
+  local package
+  local -a failed=()
+
+  as_root pacman -S --needed --noconfirm "$@" && return 0
+
+  say "WARN  the batch install failed; refreshing the package databases"
+  as_root pacman -Sy --noconfirm || true
+  as_root pacman -S --needed --noconfirm "$@" && return 0
+
+  say "WARN  still failing; retrying one package at a time"
+  for package in "$@"; do
+    as_root pacman -S --needed --noconfirm "$package" || failed+=("$package")
+  done
+
+  (( ${#failed[@]} == 0 )) && return 0
+
+  say "WARN  ${#failed[@]} repo package(s) failed to install: ${failed[*]}"
+}
+
+desktop_essentials=(sddm hyprland quickshell uwsm)
+
+report_desktop_essentials() {
+  local package
+  local -a missing=()
+
+  for package in "${desktop_essentials[@]}"; do
+    package_installed "$package" || missing+=("$package")
+  done
+
+  if (( ${#missing[@]} == 0 )); then
+    say "ok    desktop essentials"
+    return 0
+  fi
+
+  say "WARN  the desktop cannot start without: ${missing[*]}"
+  say "      install them with 'sudo pacman -S ${missing[*]}', then ./install.sh again"
+}
+
 install_aur_packages() {
   local package
   local -a failed=()