Fixing all-white log-in screen when using the LightDM KDE greeter with Plasma 5 in Gentoo Linux
August 24, 2016 Leave a comment
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.