Fixing all-white log-in screen when using the LightDM KDE greeter with Plasma 5 in Gentoo Linux

In a previous post I explained how I got LightDM to work on my Clevo W230SS laptop running KDE Plasma 5 in Gentoo Linux (Stable Branch). However, following a world update a few weeks later, the LightDM log-in screen (‘greeter’) became all white. Searching the Web showed me that this is a common problem with LightDM, although the cause appeared to be different in many other cases, as I could still see the password-entry box and the button to select the session.

To summarise what was already installed:

fitzcarraldo@clevow230ss ~ $ uname -a
Linux clevow230ss 3.18.11-gentoo #47 SMP Thu May 26 11:03:29 BST 2016 x86_64 Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4810MQ CPU @ 2.80GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux
fitzcarraldo@clevow230ss ~ $ eix -I plasma-meta
[I] kde-plasma/plasma-meta
     Available versions:  (5) 5.6.5 ~5.7.3
       {bluetooth +display-manager grub gtk +handbook mediacenter networkmanager pam plymouth pulseaudio +sddm sdk +wallpapers}
     Installed versions:  5.6.5(5)(12:28:08 26/07/16)(bluetooth display-manager gtk handbook networkmanager pam pulseaudio wallpapers -grub -mediacenter -plymouth -sddm -sdk)
     Homepage:            https://www.kde.org/workspaces/plasmadesktop/
     Description:         Merge this to pull in all Plasma 5 packages

fitzcarraldo@clevow230ss ~ $ eix -I lightdm
[I] x11-misc/lightdm
     Available versions:  1.10.5^t 1.16.7^t ~1.17.6^t ~1.18.1^t ~1.19.0^t ~1.19.3^t {audit +gnome +gtk +introspection kde qt4 qt5}
     Installed versions:  1.16.7^t(04:11:41 23/08/16)(introspection kde qt4 qt5 -audit -gnome -gtk)
     Homepage:            https://www.freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/LightDM
     Description:         A lightweight display manager

[I] x11-misc/lightdm-kde
     Available versions:  (4) 0.3.2.1-r1
       {aqua debug L10N="bs cs da de el es et fi fr ga gl hu it ja km lt mr nds nl pl pt pt-BR ro ru sk sl sv tr uk"}
     Installed versions:  0.3.2.1-r1(4)(01:13:13 12/07/16)(-aqua -debug L10N="pt-BR -bs -cs -da -de -el -es -et -fi -fr -ga -gl -hu -it -ja -km -lt -mr -nds -nl -pl -pt -ro -ru -sk -sl -sv -tr -uk")
     Homepage:            https://projects.kde.org/projects/playground/base/lightdm
     Description:         LightDM KDE greeter

Found 2 matches

And this is what I had previously configured:

fitzcarraldo@clevow230ss ~ $ grep -v ^# /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf
[LightDM]

session-wrapper=/etc/lightdm/Xsession
[Seat:*]
greeter-session=lightdm-kde-greeter
session-wrapper=/etc/lightdm/Xsession
display-setup-script=/etc/X11/Sessions/plasma

[XDMCPServer]

[VNCServer]
fitzcarraldo@clevow230ss ~ $ cat /etc/X11/Sessions/plasma
#!/bin/bash
GPU=`eselect opengl list | grep \* | awk '{ print $2 }'`
if [ "$GPU" = "nvidia" ]; then
    xrandr --setprovideroutputsource modesetting NVIDIA-0
    xrandr --auto
fi

Now, given that I had installed the LightDM KDE Greeter, I would have expected there to be a default configuration file lightdm-kde-greeter.conf for it, but there was none:

fitzcarraldo@clevow230ss ~ $ ls /etc/lightdm/
Xsession  keys.conf  lightdm.conf  users.conf

So I created the file /etc/lightdm/lightdm-kde-greeter.conf with the following contents:

[greeter]
theme-name=classic

[greeter-settings]
Background=/home/fitzcarraldo/Pictures/Wallpaper/Linux/kde-1920x1080.jpg
BackgroundKeepAspectRatio=true
GreetMessage=Welcome to %hostname%

I downloaded a nice KDE wallpaper file from the Web, which I saved as /home/fitzcarraldo/Pictures/Wallpaper/Linux/kde-1920x1080.jpg, but you can save it anywhere you like and give it any name you want.

I found that the package manager had installed two themes, so I could have specified either:

fitzcarraldo@clevow230ss ~ $ ls /usr/share/apps/lightdm-kde-greeter/themes/
classic  userbar

Anyway, the outcome is that the LightDM login screen (greeter) is no longer white and displays a wallpaper of my choice. Mission accomplished.

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