SDDM not working at XFCE

Procenko · 05-09-2022, 09:25 AM

SDDM not login automatically. Its even not start after booting.

Why no standalone SDDM package for install not in Slackbuilds not in Alien repo?

Code:

bash-5.1# slackpkg search sddm

Looking for sddm in package list. Please wait... DONE

The list below shows all packages with name matching "sddm".

[ installed ] - sddm-0.19.0-x86_64-10
[ installed ] - sddm-kcm-5.23.5-x86_64-1

You can search specific files using "slackpkg file-search file".


bash-5.1#

Code:

# Default runlevel. (Do not set to 0 or 6)
id:4:initdefault:

Code:

#!/bin/bash
#
# rc.4		This file is executed by init(8) when the system is being
#		initialized for run level 4 (XDM)
#
# Version:	@(#)/etc/rc.d/rc.4	2.00	02/17/93
#
# Author:	Fred N. van Kempen, <waltje@uwalt.nl.mugnet.org>
# At least 47% rewritten by:  Patrick J. Volkerding <volkerdi@slackware.com>
#

# Tell the viewers what's going to happen...
echo "Starting up X11 session manager..."

# If you'd like to start something different or in a different order than
# the options below, create your own startup script /etc/rc.d/rc.4.local
# and make it executable and it will be used instead:
if [ -x /etc/rc.d/rc.4.local ]; then
  exec /bin/bash /etc/rc.d/rc.4.local
fi

# Start SLiM...
#if [ -x /usr/bin/slim ]; then
#  exec /usr/bin/slim
#fi

# Try to use GNOME's gdm session manager.  This comes first because if
# gdm is on the machine then the user probably installed it and wants
# to use it by default:
if [ -x /usr/bin/gdm ]; then
  exec /usr/bin/gdm -nodaemon
fi

# Someone thought that gdm looked prettier in /usr/sbin,
# so look there, too:
if [ -x /usr/sbin/gdm ]; then
  exec /usr/sbin/gdm -nodaemon
fi

# Not there?  OK, try to use KDE's kdm session manager:
if [ -x /opt/kde/bin/kdm ]; then
  exec /opt/kde/bin/kdm -nodaemon
elif [ -x /usr/bin/kdm ]; then
  exec /usr/bin/kdm -nodaemon
fi

# Look for SDDM as well:
if [ -x /usr/bin/sddm ]; then
  exec /usr/bin/sddm
fi

# If all you have is XDM, I guess it will have to do:
#if [ -x /usr/bin/xdm ]; then
#  exec /usr/bin/xdm -nodaemon
#elif [ -x /usr/X11R6/bin/xdm ]; then
#  exec /usr/X11R6/bin/xdm -nodaemon
#fi

# error
echo
echo "Hey, you don't have SDDM, KDM, GDM, or XDM.  Can't use runlevel 4 without"
echo "one of those installed."
sleep 30

# All done.

ponce · 05-09-2022, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Procenko

Why no standalone SDDM package for install not in Slackbuilds not in Alien repo?

because it's not distributed as a third party package: it's already included in a Slackware full installation, together with its dependencies.

on that matter, what is the output of

Code:

ldd /usr/bin/sddm.bin

?

SunnyJim · 05-12-2022, 10:03 PM

It also happens to be that sddm also does not wok for me either although i am using kde plasma on slackware 15.
Starting up X11 session manager...
aand nothing happend ...
Oh yeah and i have also added sddm to the video group as recommended in sddm readme that comes with the slack pkg
Apparently adding sddm to the video group is supposed to help but not in my case for some reason which may also
coincide with Procenko's problem. Maybe doing away with kdm was a mistake?

enorbet · 05-13-2022, 12:22 AM

Although I did have problems at first with SDDM causing an automatic switch to VT-7....

Code:

 
## /etc/sddm.conf
<snip>
[X11]
DisplayCommand=/usr/share/sddm/scripts/Xsetup
DisplayStopCommand=/usr/share/sddm/scripts/Xstop
EnableHiDPI=false
MinimumVT=7
ServerArguments=-nolisten tcp
ServerPath=/usr/bin/X
SessionCommand=/usr/share/sddm/scripts/Xsession
SessionDir=/usr/share/xsessions
SessionLogFile=.local/share/sddm/xorg-session.log
UserAuthFile=.Xauthority
XauthPath=/usr/bin/xauth
XephyrPath=/usr/bin/Xephyr
<snip>

on that PC I just changed the line to "MinimumVT=1". It's so trivial I can't recall if it was later fixed. It works fine as a secondary PC now. My new one handles VT-7 just fine.

I suggest booting to Runlevel 3 and trying other means whether "startx" or "startxfce4", whatever to be certain your /etc/X11/xorg.conf is working. Then try SDDM with different "MinimumVT=foo" settings. Apparently some older firmware has problems with the auto-switch.

SunnyJim · 05-13-2022, 01:11 AM

i tried setting MinimumVT=1 still no luck. I still get: "Starting up X11 session manager..." on boot up with no sddm login screen.
Now the systems (both of them) are fairly new and i get the same result with both.

brobr · 05-13-2022, 01:03 PM

anything interesting in "/var/log/sddm.log"?
Dou you use the standard breeze theme and has this been installed (in kde)...

does this work once you got into X11 via runlevel 3, startx:

Code:

sddm-greeter --test-mode --theme /usr/share/sddm/themes/SetTheme

enorbet · 05-13-2022, 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SunnyJim

i tried setting MinimumVT=1 still no luck. I still get: "Starting up X11 session manager..." on boot up with no sddm login screen.
Now the systems (both of them) are fairly new and i get the same result with both.

Does X work at all sidestepping sddm? What do you see in "/var/log/Xorg.0.log"?

SunnyJim · 05-14-2022, 01:14 AM

well i did find a work around. I un-commented sddm:
# Look for SDDM as well:
# if [ -x /usr/bin/sddm ]; then
# exec /usr/bin/sddm
# fi

in /etc/rc.d/rc.4
and used xdm instead. It works but i suspect nvidia proprietary drivers may be messing things up
for sddm because when i uninstalled nvidia to try out intel on board graphics sddm was working briefly
but in an unusable state so i had to end up using xdm. Funny that is. Don't know why. xdm DOES work
for sure though.

/var/log/Xorg.0.log did not say much unfortunately. Seems like sddm is a bit fickle and trouble some.
Anyways ...

LuckyCyborg · 05-14-2022, 01:34 AM

Did someone observe of a pattern there?

The guys having problems with SDDM uses the sorry NVIDIA hardware and at least the OP uses also Multilib, just because.

And of course is SDDM fault that it does not work well with the deplorable console support given by NVIDIA blobs.

BUY a real graphics card, people! Or start picketing the NVIDIA headquarters to stop sabotaging the Linux, as demonstrated also by this thread.

PS. The SDDM works like a charm with the stock settings in all my older than dirt hardware. Of course, AMD and Intel hardware. And while using the pure 64bit operating system, as shipped by Mr. Volkerding.

enorbet · 05-14-2022, 02:33 AM

Lucky Cyborg, I accept that you are very knowledgeable about computers, especially software, but your assessment of hardware and some software seems to be colored by your personal experience and preferences, that is contrary to most others.

Some of this may be what is apparent to me that your use case does not include modern 3D Gaming, Multimedia Editing or CAD work to name a few. I have been running Slackware as my Main for roughly 22 years and began using Multilib within months of it's first release, without any serious issues. Currently, I have 5 active PCs, and excepting a RockPro64 ARM device running Slackware Aarch64, all of them, including my aged laptop, have Nvidia GPUs and I've used nothing but nvidia for well over 22 years.

We don't yet know why OPs experience is what it is, but I strongly suspect either a compromised install or not a Full Recommended Install, which can be fine for Slackware veterans, but OP is not one, at least yet. Neither SDDM nor Nvidia have a track record of common, numerous failures on a huge variety of platforms. The odds are it is basically PEBCAK due to not only unfamiliarity, but actually being familiar with other sufficiently dissimilar distros to create confusion.

If it was an issue I faced, I'd not only reinstall clean and fresh Full Recommended Install, but actually md5sum the install iso and verify the writing to whatever media chosen. I'd only install MultiLib AFTER the base 64 bit system was verified running properly, and though I would replace nouveau at the first boot givenm my years of experience with nvidia drivers, someone new to Slackware is probably wise to go though several boot cycles checking everything important to him before installing the proprietary driver and then only after considerable reading.

I think trying to blame the reported issues on MultiLib and Nvidia is not productive, though your initial recommendation of holding off on Multilib until more familiar, is wise in my view.

SunnyJim · 05-14-2022, 11:36 PM

Well it seems a bit off to me that both of my computers cannot seem to run sddm and only xdm works. One is an amd, one is an intel and both are fairly recent and are running slackware 15 multilib.
Yeah and x does work by side stepping sddm only if i run startx afterward. I see the console post "Starting up X11 session manager..." and then a blinking cursor.
So what else could i do but just startx which worked. Why was kdm abandoned anyways, instability?

enorbet · 05-15-2022, 02:02 AM

SunnyJim, do you do Full Recommended Install or at least select KDE Plasma as default during Install? If two different PCs fail on SDDM, the common point of failure is in all likelihood, you the installer. While I have seen a few posts about SDDM failure, some are redundant (same poster) and even if they were all legit, the odds are extremely low. There is nothing so special about SDDM that it should fail on many machines while other display managers work... excepting lacking the libraries it specifically needs which will exist with a proper installation. Check your /var/log/Xorg.0.log to view what fails.

SunnyJim · 05-15-2022, 03:50 AM

I almost always do full install and then multilib but sometimes i leave out the included toys/games. Invariably choosing plasma/kde. I will try to reproduce the bug by running with sddm and then checking /var/log/Xorg.0.log Maybe i missed something.

SunnyJim · 05-15-2022, 12:25 PM

Ok i went ahead and reset my runlevel 4 shell script to run sddm again and have attached my xorg log file to look at.
Maybe some one can figure something out from it. I have looked and i can't see anything obviously wrong.

enorbet · 05-15-2022, 05:00 PM

It is a bit odd that even after DFP-0 is activated it still tries others and then stops abruptly. I'd try to specify in xorg.conf both display and mouse to minimize "thrashing" (examples below) and check /var/log/sddm.log.

I'm using this to force what I want in /etc/X11/xorg.conf for mouse and display

Code:

Section "InputDevice"
    
    Identifier     "Mouse0"
    Driver         "evdev"
    Option         "CorePointer"
    #Option         "Device" "/dev/input/mice"
    Option         "Name" "SteelSeries SteelSeries Rival 310 eSports Mouse"
    Option         "evBits" "+1-2"
    Option         "keybits" "~272-287"
    Option         "relbits" "~0-2 ~6 ~8"
    Option         "Pass" "3"
    Option         "Device" "/dev/input/event9"
    Option         "Buttons" "9"
    Option         "ButtonMapping" "1 2 3 6 7 8 9 4 5"
    Option         "AdaptiveDeceleration" "2"
EndSection
###
 # Option         "DPMS"
    Identifier     "Monitor0"
    VendorName     "Viewsonic"
    ModelName      "XG270QG"
    HorizSync       222.0 - 222.0
    VertRefresh     1.0 - 144.0
EndSection

Section "Device"

    Identifier     "Device0"
    Driver         "nvidia"
    VendorName     "NVIDIA Corporation"
    BoardName      "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti"
EndSection

Section "Screen"

    #Option         "BaseMosaic" "off"
    Identifier     "Screen0"
    Device         "Device0"
    Monitor        "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth    24
    Option         "Stereo" "0"
    Option         "nvidiaXineramaInfoOrder" "DFP-2"
    Option         "metamodes" "2560x1440_144 +0+0 {AllowGSYNCCompatible=On}"
    Option         "SLI" "Off"
    Option         "MultiGPU" "Off"
    Option         "BaseMosaic" "off"
    Option         "Coolbits" "28"
    Option         "TripleBuffer" "On"
 
 SubSection     "Display"
        Depth       24
    EndSubSection
EndSection

Hope that helps