Arch Linux

Satas

Member

Registered: 2015-09-02

Posts: 25

Plasmashell cannot be edited and panel is missing - kcm_lookandfeel

Hello, since the update of my plasma-desktop and other plasma related stuff to 5.11.5 and now to 5.12 I cannot add panels nor change the settings of the desktop.

I already have posted a bug to kde team but since there seams to be no one else who has this problem, maybe it is related to my arch linux installation.

When I start systemsetting5 from terminal, go to Workspace Theme and  try to change the theme I get these errors:

KActivities: Database connection:  "kactivities_db_resources_140641274152960_readonly" 
    query_only:          QVariant(qlonglong, 1) 
    journal_mode:        QVariant(QString, "wal") 
    wal_autocheckpoint:  QVariant(qlonglong, 100) 
    synchronous:         QVariant(qlonglong, 0)
Nothing to load - the client id is empty
Nothing to load - the client id is empty
Error:  QSqlError("11", "Unable to fetch row", "database disk image is malformed")
Error:  QSqlError("11", "Unable to fetch row", "database disk image is malformed")
org.kde.kcoreaddons: Error loading plugin "kcm_lookandfeel" "The shared library was not found." 
Plugin search paths are ("/usr/lib/qt/plugins", "/usr/bin") 
The environment variable QT_PLUGIN_PATH might be not correctly set
Trying to use rootObject before initialization is completed, whilst using setInitializationDelayed. Forcing completion
KActivitiesStats( 0x5630d174b600 ) ResultModelPrivate::onResultScoreUpdated  result added: "kcm:kcm_lookandfeel.desktop" score: 0 last: 1518179215 first: 4294967295
file:///usr/share/kpackage/kcms/kcm_lookandfeel/contents/ui/main.qml:190: ReferenceError: needsSave is not defined

Further, when I try to set up the desktop (right click on the desktop) I get the settings menu but cannot edit anything. Instead I get the message:

Layout changes must be applied before other changes can be made.

Hitting "Apply now" doe not do anything.

What I have tried already:

1. new user -> nothing changes (this implies that deleting the configs and cashes files does not help ether).
2. reinstall plasma-stuff -> nothing changes
3. changed composer from OpenGL 3.1 to OpenGL 2.0 to XRender -> nothing changes
4. set the

QT_PLUGIN_PATH

to

/usr/lib/qt/plugins

-> nothing changes

I was able to use my old "settings" somehow were with the old panel after logout and log in again. But no I have set the Desktop Theme to default and the panel gone completely.

How can I get closer to a solution? Does someone has issues with plasma, too.

Reinstall the complete system is not an option for me.

Thanks.

Last edited by Satas (2018-02-09 13:12:04)

mgmacleod

Member

Registered: 2018-02-11

Posts: 1

Re: Plasmashell cannot be edited and panel is missing - kcm_lookandfeel

Hi,

I was having a similar problem, although not due to an update as I'm in the process of moving from Gnome to Plasma (i.e., it's a fresh install of Plasma).

I started with my laptop and everything went smoothly.  No issues at all so far.  Then I moved on to my desktop and that's when I started having problems.  I couldn't switch themes or it would only work partially (window border changes but nothing else), and trying to change anything under Application Style > GNOME Application Style (GTK) would cause System Settings to lock up completely.

I did some searching and came up with all the same things that you tried, none of which worked.  I see the same errors as you when launching systemsettings5 from the terminal; however, interestingly enough, I see the exact same output on my laptop where things work just fine.  On a whim, I tried switching my display manager from SDDM back to GDM.  When I rebooted and logged in to Plasma, to my surprise everything started to work.  Out of curiosity, I also tried LXDM and LightDM and they both work on my desktop.  All of these work on my laptop.  I have no explanation for why SDDM would cause an issue on my desktop, but the workaround of switching to another DM seems to work for me.

TL;DR If you're using SDDM, try a different display manager. 

Hope that helps,
mgm

Satas

Member

Registered: 2015-09-02

Posts: 25

Re: Plasmashell cannot be edited and panel is missing - kcm_lookandfeel

Hello, thank you for the reply. I have tried LightDM today but unfortunately nothing changed. However, I can imagine that something is going wrong while startup because I do not get any panel with auto-login but when I disable t, I arrive at my panel (which misses the entries in the tray).