I have geth 1.5.8 and Mist 0.8.9. Geth is running Homestead with default parameters. IPC is in the default location.
$ geth version
Geth
Version: 1.5.8-stable
Protocol Versions: [63 62]
Network Id: 1
Go Version: go1.7.5
OS: linux
GOPATH=/home/user/.go
GOROOT=/usr/lib/go
$ mist --version
[2017-02-11 17:06:00.857] [INFO] main - 0.8.9
$ ls -lsha $HOME/.ethereum/geth.ipc
0 srw------- 1 user users 0 Feb 11 17:03 /home/user/.ethereum/geth.ipc
However, my mist wallet does not connect to geth. Even when I teach it about the path to the geth binary it starts to download a new node.
$ mist --gethpath /usr/bin/geth
[2017-02-11 17:08:30.103] [INFO] main - Running in production mode: true
[2017-02-11 17:08:30.163] [INFO] main - Starting in Mist mode
[2017-02-11 17:08:30.190] [INFO] Db - Loading db: /home/user/.config/Mist/mist.lokidb
[2017-02-11 17:08:30.197] [INFO] Windows - Creating commonly-used windows
[2017-02-11 17:08:30.197] [INFO] Windows - Create secondary window: loading, owner: notset
[2017-02-11 17:08:30.216] [INFO] updateChecker - Check for update...
[2017-02-11 17:08:31.590] [INFO] Windows - Create primary window: main, owner: notset
[2017-02-11 17:08:31.602] [INFO] Windows - Create primary window: splash, owner: notset
[2017-02-11 17:08:31.823] [INFO] ipcCommunicator - Backend language set to: en-US
[2017-02-11 17:08:32.364] [INFO] (ui: splashscreen) - Web3 already initialized, re-using provider.
[2017-02-11 17:08:32.439] [INFO] ClientBinaryManager - Initializing...
[2017-02-11 17:08:32.439] [INFO] ClientBinaryManager - Resolving path to Eth client binary ...
[2017-02-11 17:08:32.439] [INFO] ClientBinaryManager - Eth client binary path: /usr/share/mist/nodes/eth/linux-x64/eth
[2017-02-11 17:08:32.440] [INFO] ClientBinaryManager - Checking for new client binaries config from: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ethereum/mist/master/clientBinaries.json
[2017-02-11 17:08:32.673] [INFO] updateChecker - App is up-to-date.
[2017-02-11 17:08:32.831] [INFO] ClientBinaryManager - No "skippedNodeVersion.json" found.
[2017-02-11 17:08:32.833] [INFO] ClientBinaryManager - Initializing...
[2017-02-11 17:08:32.834] [INFO] ClientBinaryManager - Resolving platform...
[2017-02-11 17:08:32.835] [INFO] ClientBinaryManager - Calculating possible clients...
[2017-02-11 17:08:32.839] [INFO] ClientBinaryManager - 1 possible clients.
[2017-02-11 17:08:32.839] [INFO] ClientBinaryManager - Verifying status of all 1 possible clients...
[2017-02-11 17:08:32.841] [INFO] ClientBinaryManager - Verify Geth status ...
[2017-02-11 17:08:32.859] [ERROR] ClientBinaryManager - Unable to resolve Geth executable: geth
[2017-02-11 17:08:32.864] [INFO] ClientBinaryManager - Download binary for Geth ...
[2017-02-11 17:08:32.867] [INFO] ClientBinaryManager - Downloading package from https://gethstore.blob.core.windows.net/builds/geth-linux-amd64-1.5.8-f58fb322.tar.gz to /home/user/.config/Mist/binaries/Geth/archive.tar ...
^C[2017-02-11 17:08:36.336] [INFO] main - Defer quitting until sockets and node are shut down
[2017-02-11 17:08:36.336] [INFO] Sockets - Destroy all sockets
[2017-02-11 17:08:36.338] [INFO] Sockets/3 - Disconnecting...
[2017-02-11 17:08:36.340] [INFO] Sockets/node-ipc - Disconnecting...
[2017-02-11 17:08:36.343] [ERROR] main - Error shutting down sockets
^C
This is really annoying. Why is Mist checking the binary path anyways? Didn't the browser connect directly to the IPC in earlier releases?
Parity has a --no-download option, is there anything similar for Mist?
