Arch Linux

mcloaked

Member

From: Yorkshire, UK

Registered: 2012-02-02

Posts: 1,364

[SOLVED] Plasma Login Manager powersave with no users logged in

For a long time I have used Plasma Login Manager on laptops but on a desktop with an HDMI connected external monitor which runs server functions as well as acting as a user desktop, the monitor would only powersave when the login greeter was running sddm.  Recent updates caused sddm to no longer start up the greeter service at boot, and it was necessary to switch to PLM.  This works fine for running plasma wayland user sessions, and a logged in user will go perfectly well into screensave and will also powersave the monitor after a set timeout when idle. 

But as has been the case for some years with the greeter running wayland the monitor will not go into powersave after an idle timeout.  I have tried making an appropriate file in /var/lib/plasmalogin/.config/powermanagementprofilesrc or in /var/lib/plasmalogin/.config/powerdevilrc with content such as

cat /var/lib/plasmalogin/.config/powermanagementprofilesrc
[AC][DPMSControl]
idleTime=400
lockBeforeTurnOff=0

[AC][DimDisplay]
idleTime=300

or

[root@incus ~]# cat /var/lib/plasmalogin/.config/powerdevilrc
[AC][Display]
TurnOffDisplayWhenIdle=true
TurnOffDisplayIdleTimeoutSec=300

[AC][Suspend]
AutoSuspendAction=0

But no variation on those files makes the monitor go into powersave after an idle period with no users logged in.

Has anyone been able to achieve an idle timeout for the PLM greeter when no users are logged in?

Last edited by mcloaked (2026-10-13 16:13:37)

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Mike C

mcloaked

Member

From: Yorkshire, UK

Registered: 2012-02-02

Posts: 1,364

Re: [SOLVED] Plasma Login Manager powersave with no users logged in

I added a comment to the upstream bug at https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=513159#c9

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Mike C

mcloaked

Member

From: Yorkshire, UK

Registered: 2012-02-02

Posts: 1,364

Re: [SOLVED] Plasma Login Manager powersave with no users logged in

I spent quite a lot of time looking onto this issue, and finally found a method to implement a relatively straightforward set of configs that will achieve monitor powersave timeout to turn off the monitor when no users are logged in to the plasma login manager. It does need one arch package installed - hypridle. I have detailed the method in comment 9 in the upstream bug report at https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=513159 if anyone wants a working solution ahead of any upstream implementation to achieve the same outcome, if the developers begin to look into it.  Note that in my case it is for my arch linux desktop machine with an HDMI connected monitor only. Other types of monitor, or laptop screens, may need the configs altered appropriately, but in my case this is now working flawlessly as I wished it to.

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Mike C

mcloaked

Member

From: Yorkshire, UK

Registered: 2012-02-02

Posts: 1,364

Re: [SOLVED] Plasma Login Manager powersave with no users logged in

There is also an upstream merge request that looks like it will come through in the next release - https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-lo … quests/123

This looks like the target is version 6.9,2 which is scheduled for release in March 2027 - https://community.kde.org/Schedules/Plasma_6

Last edited by mcloaked (2026-10-13 20:27:16)

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Mike C