KDE installation partially broken all of a sudden

Issues & Assistance
1

My desktop suddenly started displaying an issue today, seemingly out of nowhere. Symptoms:

  1. I get the following message on boot: "Configuration file /var/lib/sddm/.config/sddm-greeterrc not writable." When I attempt to follow the suggestions on this page, I am told that it's a read-only file system.
  2. Latte dock is not showing up when KDE loads. However, when I attempt to run it in the terminal, I am told that an instance is already running. I also get the error message "Icon theme 'gnome' not found."
  3. My KDE settings customizations have gone away. Window button placements have reverted to default, custom keyboard shortcuts are gone, etc.

I tried reverting to a few old snapshots and none of them fixed the issue. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Below is my inxi -Faz

System:
Kernel: 5.15.10-zen1-1-zen x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.1.0
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/.snapshots/1267/snapshot/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
root=UUID=98598844-044f-41ac-a5a9-7b45c555414d quiet splash
rd.udev.log_priority=3 vt.global_cursor_default=0
systemd.unified_cgroup_hierarchy=1
resume=UUID=23cc812f-a1d1-453e-85f0-01f210e1e021 loglevel=3
rootflags=defaults,noatime,space_cache,autodefrag,compress=zstd,subvol=@/.snapshots/1267/snapshot
Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.23.4 tk: Qt 5.15.2 info: latte-dock wm: kwin_x11
vt: 1 dm: SDDM Distro: Garuda Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Desktop System: ASUS product: N/A v: N/A serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: ASUSTeK model: TUF GAMING X570-PRO (WI-FI) v: Rev X.0x
serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends v: 4021
date: 08/10/2021
CPU:
Info: model: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 3
family: 0x19 (25) model-id: 0x21 (33) stepping: 0 microcode: 0xA201016
Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 6 tpc: 2 threads: 12 smt: enabled cache:
L1: 384 KiB desc: d-6x32 KiB; i-6x32 KiB L2: 3 MiB desc: 6x512 KiB
L3: 32 MiB desc: 1x32 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 4188 high: 4201 min/max: 2200/5279 boost: enabled
scaling: driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: performance cores: 1: 4199 2: 4191
3: 4192 4: 4193 5: 4190 6: 4200 7: 4201 8: 4134 9: 4177 10: 4195 11: 4197
12: 4192 bogomips: 100802
Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
Vulnerabilities:
Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
Type: l1tf status: Not affected
Type: mds status: Not affected
Type: meltdown status: Not affected
Type: spec_store_bypass
mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
Type: spectre_v1
mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Full AMD retpoline, IBPB: conditional,
IBRS_FW, STIBP: always-on, RSB filling
Type: srbds status: Not affected
Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
Device-1: NVIDIA vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: nvidia v: 470.74
alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm bus-ID: 0a:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:2487
class-ID: 0300
Device-2: Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920 type: USB
driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo bus-ID: 5-2:3 chip-ID: 046d:082d
class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter>
Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.21.1.2 compositor: kwin_x11 driver:
loaded: nvidia unloaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,nouveau,nv,vesa
display-ID: :0 screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 3440x1440 s-dpi: 109 s-size: 802x333mm (31.6x13.1")
s-diag: 868mm (34.2")
Monitor-1: DP-0 res: 3440x1440 dpi: 109 size: 800x330mm (31.5x13.0")
diag: 865mm (34.1")
OpenGL: renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060/PCIe/SSE2
v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 470.74 direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: NVIDIA GA104 High Definition Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 0a:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:228b
class-ID: 0403
Device-2: AMD Starship/Matisse HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 0c:00.4 chip-ID: 1022:1487
class-ID: 0403
Device-3: Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920 type: USB
driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo bus-ID: 5-2:3 chip-ID: 046d:082d
class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter>
Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.10-zen1-1-zen running: yes
Sound Server-2: JACK v: 1.9.19 running: no
Sound Server-3: PulseAudio v: 15.0 running: no
Sound Server-4: PipeWire v: 0.3.42 running: yes
Network:
Device-1: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel bus-ID: 05:00.0
chip-ID: 8086:2723 class-ID: 0280
IF: wlp5s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Device-2: Intel Ethernet I225-V vendor: ASUSTeK driver: igc v: kernel
port: N/A bus-ID: 06:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:15f3 class-ID: 0200
IF: enp6s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Intel AX200 Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
bus-ID: 1-4:3 chip-ID: 8087:0029 class-ID: e001
Report: bt-adapter ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter>
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 3.68 TiB used: 1.95 TiB (52.9%)
SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 model: T-FORCE TM8FP8001T
size: 953.87 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B
speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: V9002s77
temp: 39.9 C scheme: GPT
ID-2: /dev/nvme1n1 maj-min: 259:1 model: T-FORCE TM8FP8001T
size: 953.87 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B
speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: V9002s77
temp: 39.9 C scheme: GPT
ID-3: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 870 QVO 2TB
size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 2B6Q scheme: GPT
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 936.48 GiB size: 1.85 TiB (201.86%)
used: 628.6 GiB (33.3%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme1n1p2 maj-min: 259:4
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
used: 576 KiB (0.2%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme1n1p1 maj-min: 259:3
ID-3: /home raw-size: 936.48 GiB size: 1.85 TiB (201.86%)
used: 628.6 GiB (33.3%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme1n1p2 maj-min: 259:4
ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 936.48 GiB size: 1.85 TiB (201.86%)
used: 628.6 GiB (33.3%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme1n1p2 maj-min: 259:4
ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 936.48 GiB size: 1.85 TiB (201.86%)
used: 628.6 GiB (33.3%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme1n1p2 maj-min: 259:4
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 17.09 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%)
priority: -2 dev: /dev/nvme1n1p3 maj-min: 259:5
ID-2: swap-2 type: zram size: 31.32 GiB used: 2.2 MiB (0.0%)
priority: 100 dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: N/A mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 40 C
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: nvidia fan: 0%
Info:
Processes: 348 Uptime: 6m wakeups: 0 Memory: 31.32 GiB
used: 4.07 GiB (13.0%) Init: systemd v: 249 tool: systemctl Compilers:
gcc: 11.1.0 clang: 13.0.0 Packages: 1949 pacman: 1947 lib: 514 flatpak: 2
Shell: fish v: 3.3.1 default: Bash v: 5.1.12 running-in: konsole
inxi: 3.3.11
2

Did you search in forum?

No, I think you do not.

3

Sigh. I did search, but to be honest I'm in a bit of a rush because I'm trying to figure this out before my daughter needs to use the computer. I just searched again and found this post. I tried switching over from sddm to sddm-git, rebooted, and got no success.

If you have recommendations or if you're aware of a particular post that my searching didn't find, I would appreciate a point in the right direction.

4

It is better to post one problem in one topic.

Start button issue - #14 by psifidotos

Search for latte dock.

Which DE do you use? KDE ?

Qtile, LXQT-Kwin, Wayfire ...

I have no /var/lib/sddm/.config/sddm-greeterrc ???

1 Like
5

I have KDE, which is in the forum title. I'll search for latte dock. That issue that you linked doesn't appear related to what I'm experiencing at all. What I've got going on seems to be more than just an SDDM problem, unless SDDM does a lot more work than I think it does. The lack of latte dock, the settings reverting to defaults seems to be more than just SDDM, but I'm still not very knowledgeable in Linux. I'm almost wondering if the permissions somewhere in my system got all messed up.

6

In my KDE I dont have this file, so I ask :slight_smile:

Try garuda-assistant to restore your settings.

7

I got a similar problem all of a sudden today; except that KDE is loading in my case. Buttons at the wrong place, snapshot restore doesn't help. Graphics are slow in games, indicating an issue with NVIDIA driver?

8

Configs in the users home directory are not restored with a snapshot by default. You need to use a separate backup program for user data.

2 Likes
9

Hi all. I was able to fix this by restoring the home folders for my user and my daughter's user from a backup. Once I did this, everything was back to normal for both users.

Strangely enough, the SDDM error stopped showing up on reboot before I did the home folder restoration. Still absolutely no idea what happened, but glad I had that backup!

Thanks for the help, everyone!

10

~/home/.config stores some user system files, KDE configs, and application configs. Some random error was generated by something and probably the only way(s) to know for sure are either…

  • Your journalctl output reads strange as can be, AND you can interpret it, or
  • Same thing starts again, in which case keep as good a recollection what was done just prior. Even then it might be something that happened hours or days before but didn’t show up until you boot, reboot, log out/in, etc. or run an application that depends on something that is not there any more.

There are apps to backup your user configs if you want to run one.

2 Likes
11

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