Cannot log into KDE (Wayland) with any display manager. [SOLVED]

Lex0s · 2026-02-11 00:59:56

Basically the title, when trying to log into the KDE session with wayland, SDDM freezes and the only solution is to force a shutdown. I've been going around the internet looking for an answer and the most consistent answer is related to NVIDIA card problems, which don't apply to me because I use AMD, besides that I haven't found anything else neither on Arch or KDE forums nor the wiki.

X11 session works normally though. I have the journal for the attempt to get into the wayland session here. I Can log into other wayland based sessions too, e.g: Qtile.

Last edited by Lex0s (2026-02-12 21:40:07)

seth · 2026-02-11 09:03:29

pacman -Qi ddcutil

https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/ … b8cf081f16

Lex0s · 2026-02-11 13:08:41

seth wrote:

pacman -Qi ddcutil
https://gitlab.archlinux.org/archlinux/ … b8cf081f16

I have that package installed with the same version that appears in the link:

Name            : ddcutil
Version         : 2.2.5-2
Description     : Query and change Linux monitor settings using DDC/CI and USB.
Architecture    : x86_64
URL             : http://ddcutil.com/
Licenses        : GPL-2.0-or-later
Groups          : None
Provides        : None
Depends On      : gcc-libs  glibc  glib2  i2c-tools  libusb  libdrm  jansson  libx11  libxext  libxrandr  systemd-libs
Optional Deps   : None
Required By     : powerdevil
Optional For    : None
Conflicts With  : None
Replaces        : None
Installed Size  : 2.38 MiB
Packager        : Christian Heusel <gromit@archlinux.org>
Build Date      : Mon Feb 9 09:47:45 2026
Install Date    : Tue Feb 10 15:09:20 2026
Install Reason  : Installed as a dependency for another package
Install Script  : No
Validated By    : Signature

At first I installed the plasma-desktop along with the plasma-x11-session to try it out. Now I installed the plasma-meta package to see if it was a missing dependency but the result is the same that before. http://0x0.st/PAxU.txt

Lone_Wolf · 2026-02-11 13:35:35

can you start plasma from a tty console ?

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/KDE#From_the_console

seth · 2026-02-11 14:04:14

Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1065]: /home/Matixannder/.local/bin/xremap-x11 was fired with teh /home/Matixannder/.config/xremap-x11/config.yml configuration
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss picom[1067]: [ 02/11/26 09:56:45.208 main FATAL ERROR ] Can't open display.
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss systemd[1034]: picom.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss systemd[1034]: picom.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1069]: Selecting devices from the following list:
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1069]: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1069]: /dev/input/event0 : Power Button
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1069]: /dev/input/event1 : Lid Switch
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1069]: /dev/input/event10: SYNA32AA:00 06CB:CE17 Mouse
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1069]: /dev/input/event11: HP WMI hotkeys
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1069]: /dev/input/event12: HD-Audio Generic HDMI/DP,pcm=7
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1069]: /dev/input/event13: SYNA32AA:00 06CB:CE17 Touchpad
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1069]: /dev/input/event14: HD-Audio Generic Mic
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1069]: /dev/input/event15: HD-Audio Generic Headphone
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1069]: /dev/input/event2 : SEMICO USB Keyboard
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1069]: /dev/input/event3 : SEMICO USB Keyboard Consumer Control
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1069]: /dev/input/event4 : SEMICO USB Keyboard System Control
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1069]: /dev/input/event5 : KYE SYSTEMS CORP. Wired Mouse
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1069]: /dev/input/event6 : Video Bus
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1069]: /dev/input/event7 : AT Translated Set 2 keyboard
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1069]: /dev/input/event8 : Wireless hotkeys
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1069]: /dev/input/event9 : HD-Audio Generic HDMI/DP,pcm=3
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1069]: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1069]: Selected keyboards automatically since --device options weren't specified:
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss sddm-helper[1072]: pam_kwallet5: final socket path: /run/user/1000/kwallet5.socket
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss sddm-helper[1013]: Starting Wayland user session: "/usr/share/sddm/scripts/wayland-session" "/usr/lib/plasma-dbus-run-session-if-needed /usr/bin/startplasma-wayland"
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss sddm-helper[1074]: Jumping to VT 1
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss sddm-helper[1074]: VT mode didn't need to be fixed
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss systemd[1034]: picom.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 1.
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss systemd[1034]: Started Picom Compositor.
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss picom[1075]: [ 02/11/26 09:56:45.548 main FATAL ERROR ] Can't open display.
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss systemd[1034]: picom.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss systemd[1034]: picom.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss systemd[1034]: picom.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 2.
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss systemd[1034]: Reached target Sound Card.
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss sddm[893]: Session started true
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss systemd[1034]: Started Picom Compositor.
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss picom[1077]: [ 02/11/26 09:56:45.732 main FATAL ERROR ] Can't open display.
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss systemd[1034]: picom.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss systemd[1034]: picom.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss systemd[1]: Starting Locale Service...
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss systemd[1]: Started Locale Service.
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss systemd[1034]: picom.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 3.
Feb 11 09:56:45 Lex0ss systemd[1034]: Started Picom Compositor.
Feb 11 09:56:46 Lex0ss picom[1097]: [ 02/11/26 09:56:46.020 main FATAL ERROR ] Can't open display.
Feb 11 09:56:46 Lex0ss systemd[1034]: picom.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Feb 11 09:56:46 Lex0ss systemd[1034]: picom.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Feb 11 09:56:46 Lex0ss systemd[1034]: picom.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 4.
Feb 11 09:56:46 Lex0ss systemd[1034]: Started Picom Compositor.
Feb 11 09:56:46 Lex0ss picom[1099]: [ 02/11/26 09:56:46.252 main FATAL ERROR ] Can't open display.
Feb 11 09:56:46 Lex0ss systemd[1034]: picom.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Feb 11 09:56:46 Lex0ss systemd[1034]: picom.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Feb 11 09:56:46 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1069]: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Feb 11 09:56:46 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1069]: /dev/input/event2 : SEMICO USB Keyboard
Feb 11 09:56:46 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1069]: /dev/input/event7 : AT Translated Set 2 keyboard
Feb 11 09:56:46 Lex0ss select_xremap_binary[1069]: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Feb 11 09:56:46 Lex0ss kernel: input: xremap as /devices/virtual/input/input20
Feb 11 09:56:46 Lex0ss (udev-worker)[1049]: mouse3: Failed to find and pin callout binary "/usr/bin/synclient": No such file or directory
Feb 11 09:56:46 Lex0ss (udev-worker)[1049]: mouse3: Failed to execute '/usr/bin/synclient TouchpadOff=1', ignoring: No such file or directory
Feb 11 09:56:46 Lex0ss systemd-logind[825]: Watching system buttons on /dev/input/event16 (xremap)
Feb 11 09:56:46 Lex0ss systemd[1034]: picom.service: Scheduled restart job, restart counter is at 5.
Feb 11 09:56:46 Lex0ss systemd[1034]: picom.service: Start request repeated too quickly.
Feb 11 09:56:46 Lex0ss systemd[1034]: picom.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Feb 11 09:56:46 Lex0ss systemd[1034]: Failed to start Picom Compositor.
Feb 11 09:56:46 Lex0ss systemd[1034]: Created slice User Core Session Slice.

Disable picom, dunst and select_xremap_binary

Lex0s · 2026-02-11 16:42:05

Lone_Wolf wrote:

can you start plasma from a tty console ?
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/KDE#From_the_console

I got into a tty with and without a display manger running, ran

startplasma-wayland

and in both the command just hangs there with no output. This are the journal output from that: http://0x0.st/PAgj.txt

Worth mentioning, I ran the binary with the dbus-session script and without it, both just did the same, the journal is from running it with the script.

seth wrote:

Disable picom, dunst and select_xremap_binary

I did it and try again with SDDM, same thing, it just freezes: https://0x0.st/PAYt.txt

I tried again from the tty with no display manager and some options to see if it would output something, the command was:

QT_LOGGING_RULES="*.debug=true" \
WAYLAND_DEBUG=1 \
/usr/lib/plasma-dbus-run-session-if-needed /usr/bin/startplasma-wayland

And the journal seems to point to some problem with org portal, but I'm not sure tbh: http://0x0.st/PAgB.txt

seth · 2026-02-11 20:39:59

Feb 11 12:25:15 Lex0ss /usr/lib/xdg-desktop-portal[1131]: Choosing gtk.portal for org.freedesktop.impl.portal.Lockdown as a last-resort fallback

suggests you don't have https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x8 … ortal-kde/ ?

Feb 11 12:25:14 Lex0ss systemd-logind[867]: New session '2' of user 'Matixannder' with class 'user' and type 'wayland'.
…
Feb 11 12:25:40 Lex0ss systemd-logind[867]: System is powering down.
Feb 11 12:25:40 Lex0ss sddm-helper[1032]: Signal received: SIGTERM
Feb 11 12:25:40 Lex0ss systemd[1]: Stopping Session 2 of User Matixannder...

Feb 11 12:25:16 Lex0ss baloo_file[1124]: QDBusConnection: name 'org.freedesktop.UPower' had owner '' but we thought it was ':1.23'

Possibly sth. up w/ your shell environment killing the session bus connection?
What's the output of

printenv

What if you move away any shell rc/profile (.bashrc, .bash_profile, .zshrc, .zshenv, .zprofile etc)?

Lex0s · 2026-02-12 15:08:35

seth wrote:

Feb 11 12:25:16 Lex0ss baloo_file[1124]: QDBusConnection: name 'org.freedesktop.UPower' had owner '' but we thought it was ':1.23'
Possibly sth. up w/ your shell environment killing the session bus connection?
What's the output of
printenv
What if you move away any shell rc/profile (.bashrc, .bash_profile, .zshrc, .zshenv, .zprofile etc)?

So I tried running a fresh session with

dbus-run-session /usr/bin/startplasma-wayland

from the tty and I discovered that my .zshrc was causing problems with the variable:

export QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME=gtk3

Without it, the command worked with and without the configured zsh tty and can get into KDE, but I still can't get into it from SDDM or the TTY. So it must be something wrong with the initial dbus session and I'm getting a bit lost on where to look at.

seth · 2026-02-12 15:11:31

Please upload your shell configs somewhere.

Lex0s · 2026-02-12 16:56:23

# Enable Powerlevel10k instant prompt. Should stay close to the top of ~/.zshrc.
# Initialization code that may require console input (password prompts, [y/n]
# confirmations, etc.) must go above this block; everything else may go below.
if [[ -r "${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-$HOME/.cache}/p10k-instant-prompt-${(%):-%n}.zsh" ]]; then
  source "${XDG_CACHE_HOME:-$HOME/.cache}/p10k-instant-prompt-${(%):-%n}.zsh"
fi
bindkey -v
export KEYTIMEOUT=5


source ~/.zsh_config/powerlevel10k/powerlevel10k.zsh-theme
source ~/.zsh_config/zsh-autosuggestions/zsh-autosuggestions.zsh
source ~/.zsh_config/completion.zsh
source ~/.zsh_config/zsh-syntax-highlighting/zsh-syntax-highlighting.zsh

# Remember one day to come here and see if you could find this useful
# source ~./zsh_config/fzf-tab
# fpath has to load first before setting the completions
fpath=(/usr/share/zsh/functions/Completion /home/Matixannder/.zsh_config/custom-completions $fpath)
autoload -U compinit
# the flag and argument is so it skips the process of rewriting the file
# If you want to add new commands to the completion system, you'll have to run
# compinit manually
compinit -d /dev/null

# For using Maven
alias -g mcompile="mvn clean compile -Dorg.slf4j.simpleLogger.defaultLogLevel=error"
alias -g mpackage="mvn clean package -Dorg.slf4j.simpleLogger.defaultLogLevel=error"

alias lvim="NVIM_APPNAME=\"lvim\" nvim"
alias vi="nvim --clean"
alias cont="tr '\n' ' '"
alias cht.sh="$HOME/.cht.shbin/cht.sh"
alias keyboardflt='setxkbmap latam && xmodmap /home/Matixannder/.Xmodmap'
alias ls=lsd
alias setvenv='source .venv/bin/activate'
alias vim=nvim
alias fvim="nvim \$(fzf)"
alias src_zsh="source $HOME/.zshrc"
alias startIJ="$HOME/.local/share/JetBrains/Toolbox/apps/intellij-idea-community-edition/bin/idea.sh"

up-to() {
	shortenPath=$(pwd | sed "s|\(.*\)/$1/.*|\1/$1|")
	if [[ $shortenPath == $(pwd) ]]; then
		echo "Folder not in current path"
	else
		cd "$shortenPath"
	fi
}

function idea() {
    startIJ "$1" > /dev/null 2>&1 &
}

# Remember me to make a script to avoid deleting shit like "/" or "~"

# To customize prompt, run `p10k configure` or edit ~/.p10k.zsh.
[[ ! -f ~/.p10k.zsh ]] || source ~/.p10k.zsh

# History config

HISTFILE=~/.zsh_history
HISTSIZE=100000
SAVEHIST=100000
# Deletes any kind of duplicate in the history file.
HISTDUP=erase
setopt appendhistory
setopt sharehistory
# If you add an space before a command, it will
# prevent it from getting into the history file
setopt hist_ignore_space
setopt hist_ignore_all_dups
setopt hist_ignore_dups
setopt hist_save_no_dups


export MANPAGER='nvim --clean +Man!'

# FZF config
source ~/.zsh_config/fzf.zsh
export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.local/scripts"
bindkey -s ^f "tmux-sessionizer\r"
# Your can put ** into a completion so you can use fzf looking
export FZF_DEFAULT_COMMAND="find . -path './.cache' -prune -o -print"
# To apply the command to CTRL-T as well
export FZF_ALT_C_COMMAND="$FZF_DEFAULT_COMMAND"
FZF_DEFAULT_OPTS="--tmux --walker=file,dir,follow,hidden"

bindkey '^ ' autosuggest-accept
# Allows me to put a command and then search all the uses for that command in history
bindkey '^j' history-search-forward
bindkey '^k' history-search-backward
# For Ctrl - backspace work for deleting word
bindkey '^H' backward-kill-word

# For copying the current command written in the terminal to the clipboard
cmd_to_clip () { xclip -select primary <<< $BUFFER }
zle -N cmd_to_clip
bindkey '^Y' cmd_to_clip

# JDK and Spring Boot configuration
export JAVA_HOME="/usr/lib/jvm/java-17-openjdk"

export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/Maven/apache-maven-3.9.9/bin"
export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.spring-cli/bin"
export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.bins"

# export PATH="$PATH:$HOME/.local/bin/pynvim-python"

export CHROMEDRIVER=~/chromdriver
# export QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME=gtk3

This is the only shell config for my user, I don't have neither a .zprofile or a .zshenv, also don't have any files for bash since I've moved those.

The output of printenv on a tty is:

XDG_DATA_DIRS=/home/Matixannder/.local/share/flatpak/exports/share:/var/lib/flatpak/exports/share:/usr/local/share:/usr/share
LANG=C.UTF-8
MAIL=/var/spool/mail/Matixannder
_P9K_SSH_TTY=/dev/pts/4
HOME=/home/Matixannder
MOTD_SHOWN=pam
USER=Matixannder
P9K_TTY=old
NVIM_LOG_FILE=/home/Matixannder/.local/state/nvim/log
SHELL=/usr/bin/zsh
COLORTERM=truecolor
LOGNAME=Matixannder
PATH=/home/Matixannder/.local/share/nvim/mason/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/home/Matixannder/.local/share/flatpak/exports/bin:/var/lib/flatpak/exports/bin
:/usr/lib/jvm/default/bin:/usr/bin/site_perl:/usr/bin/vendor_perl:/usr/bin/core_perl:/usr/lib/rustup/bin:/home/Matixannder/.local/scripts:/home/Matixannder/Maven/apache-m
aven-3.9.9/bin:/home/Matixannder/.spring-cli/bin:/home/Matixannder/.bins:/home/Matixannder/.local/scripts:/home/Matixannder/Maven/apache-maven-3.9.9/bin:/home/Matixannder
/.spring-cli/bin:/home/Matixannder/.bins
NVIM=/run/user/1000/nvim.79873.0
CHROMEDRIVER=/home/Matixannder/chromdriver
DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=unix:path=/run/user/1000/bus
FZF_ALT_C_COMMAND=find . -path './.cache' -prune -o -print
MYVIMRC=/home/Matixannder/.config/nvim/init.lua
XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/run/user/1000
OLDPWD=/home/Matixannder
XDG_SEAT=seat0
DEBUGINFOD_URLS=https://debuginfod.archlinux.org 
JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-17-openjdk
PWD=/home/Matixannder
TERM=xterm-256color
_=/usr/bin/printenv
FZF_DEFAULT_COMMAND=find . -path './.cache' -prune -o -print
MASON=/home/Matixannder/.local/share/nvim/mason
XDG_SESSION_TYPE=tty
XDG_VTNR=3
XDG_SESSION_CLASS=user
KEYTIMEOUT=5
_P9K_TTY=/dev/pts/4
SDL_VIDEO_MINIMIZE_ON_FOCUS_LOSS=0
SHLVL=2
XDG_SESSION_ID=4
MANPAGER=nvim --clean +Man!
P9K_SSH=0

Last edited by Lex0s (2026-02-12 17:31:06)

seth · 2026-02-12 20:06:23

Looks harmless enough - tbc

dbus-run-session /usr/bin/startplasma-wayland

works but

/usr/bin/startplasma-wayland

does not?

From the console (no SDDM running):

(loginctl session-status; qdbus6) | curl -F 'file=@-' 0x0.st

Lex0s · 2026-02-12 20:23:57

seth wrote:

Looks harmless enough - tbc
dbus-run-session /usr/bin/startplasma-wayland
works but
/usr/bin/startplasma-wayland
does not?

Exactly.

seth wrote:

From the console (no SDDM running):
(loginctl session-status; qdbus6) | curl -F 'file=@-' 0x0.st

Here is the output http://0x0.st/PmUW.txt

seth · 2026-02-12 20:44:43

Nothing there suggests anything would be wrong - can you change your SHELL to bash and see whether that has any impact on the situation (just so we know where we need to look)?

Lex0s · 2026-02-12 21:37:27

Hey, so I was trying to put some variables into systemd for when it ran xremap so it would select the right xremap binary for the selected graphical user environment to have it settled when this problem was fixed (whether it'd be awesomeWM, KDE wayland or qtile with either wayland or x11). That was the xremap_select_binary script's purpose that the xremap.service unit would run.

So I got into it and went to try this folder called

"~/.config/environment.d"

And I noticed a little file that would set a variable for flameshot to work, that contain this variable:

QT_QPA_PLATFORMTHEME="gtk3"

Oddly familiar, went to the .zshrc and it was the same file that wouldn't let KDE wayland start when running

dbus-run-session startplasma-wayland

Within a tty console with the source .zshrc

I commented that variable definition and it now works, it was that. It was a env variable that for some reason won't let the QT system on KDE to start. No wonder couldn't find anything in the logs. Either way thank you so much for the help seth and sorry for the trouble, you're the GOAT, have a nice day. Marking this as solved

Last edited by Lex0s (2026-02-12 21:38:55)

Arch Linux

#1 2026-02-11 00:59:56

Cannot log into KDE (Wayland) with any display manager. [SOLVED]

#2 2026-02-11 09:03:29

Re: Cannot log into KDE (Wayland) with any display manager. [SOLVED]

#3 2026-02-11 13:08:41

Re: Cannot log into KDE (Wayland) with any display manager. [SOLVED]

#4 2026-02-11 13:35:35

Re: Cannot log into KDE (Wayland) with any display manager. [SOLVED]

#5 2026-02-11 14:04:14

Re: Cannot log into KDE (Wayland) with any display manager. [SOLVED]

#6 2026-02-11 16:42:05

Re: Cannot log into KDE (Wayland) with any display manager. [SOLVED]

#7 2026-02-11 20:39:59

Re: Cannot log into KDE (Wayland) with any display manager. [SOLVED]

#8 2026-02-12 15:08:35

Re: Cannot log into KDE (Wayland) with any display manager. [SOLVED]

#9 2026-02-12 15:11:31

Re: Cannot log into KDE (Wayland) with any display manager. [SOLVED]

#10 2026-02-12 16:56:23

Re: Cannot log into KDE (Wayland) with any display manager. [SOLVED]

#11 2026-02-12 20:06:23

Re: Cannot log into KDE (Wayland) with any display manager. [SOLVED]

#12 2026-02-12 20:23:57

Re: Cannot log into KDE (Wayland) with any display manager. [SOLVED]

#13 2026-02-12 20:44:43

Re: Cannot log into KDE (Wayland) with any display manager. [SOLVED]

#14 2026-02-12 21:37:27

Re: Cannot log into KDE (Wayland) with any display manager. [SOLVED]

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