I have similiar problem. Config is simple i3 window manager, so no gnome services running by default except gnome keyring
when I run gpg-agent either from standard /etc/ xsession or from .xsessionrc I dont get any pinentry, only immediate failure and it logs (guru loglevel): 2015-09-25 12:21:12 gpg-agent[23399] starting a new PIN Entry 2015-09-25 12:21:12 gpg-agent[23399] DBG: connection to PIN entry established 2015-09-25 12:21:12 gpg-agent[23399] DBG: error calling pinentry: Operacja anulowana <Pinentry> 2015-09-25 12:21:12 gpg-agent[23399] failed to unprotect the secret key: Operacja anulowana 2015-09-25 12:21:12 gpg-agent[23399] failed to read the secret key 2015-09-25 12:21:12 gpg-agent[23399] ssh sign request failed: Operacja anulowana <Pinentry> 2015-09-25 12:21:12 gpg-agent[23399] ssh request handler for sign_request (13) ready (Operacja anulowana is "operation cancelled" in english) but when I kill the daemon and run it from X11's terminal and then try to connect (after setting correct env of couse) I get pinentry correctly -- Mariusz Gronczewski (XANi) <xani...@gmail.com> GnuPG: 0xEA8ACE64
