hey guys! first post of a long time reader.
so i installed debian 9.5 no desktop, on an old dell inspiron mini 1018. then i installed minimal xorg, and openbox + tint2, and among others gpa (GnuPG Assistant). when it cannot find any, it asks to create a private key. it asks for a name, email, and whether a backup should be created, before trying to generate a key. if gpa is started by a launcher (ie. the .desktop file is launched which executes gksudo gpa) then after like 15 secs it tells me that an unexpected timeout has happened, and no key is generated. first i thought there it's a bug, but then i realized, if i start gpa from the command line, it shows a window there to put a passphrase that protects the key.
so my question is what can i do to make applications show these kinds of prompts in the gui as i suspect it is not a gpa specific phenomenon?

there were some problems with gksu in debian recently iirc.
try to change the Exec line to

same rusult. altough now i noticed that when i exit openbox/the x session, a black and white window is visible for a fraction of the moment that is resembles the one that asks to create a passphrase in the terminal. that window does not seem to be accessible/existing tho until then.

other idea?

k i was wrong. i accidentally changed another application's desktop file. now that tried, both applications that i set to launch showed me the lil running ring icon that indicates the system works on something for like 10s and thats it, seemingly nothing more is happening, the app does not open.

let's see the exact command you enter, and the Exec line inside the .desktop file executed by the menu.

pkexec requires a policy file for each application. If 'pkexec [program name]' runs at the command line then there is a policy, else one needs to be created.

I think I've discovered that desktop files do not execute pkexec. I have needed to create a script to execute 'pkexec [program name]', and then have the desktop file run that.

Mike