It is very strange - what is going on.
It is obvious that sddm has not changed since January 8. 2025
[master → upstream-manjaro ?:4] $ mbn info sddm -q
Branch : archlinux
Name : sddm
Version : 0.21.0-6
Repository : extra
Build Date : Wed 08 Jan 2025 09:06:50
Packager : Antonio Rojas <arojas@archlinux.org>
Branch : unstable
Name : sddm
Version : 0.21.0-6
Repository : extra
Build Date : Wed 08 Jan 2025 09:06:50
Packager : Antonio Rojas <arojas@archlinux.org>
Branch : testing
Name : sddm
Version : 0.21.0-6
Repository : extra
Build Date : Wed 08 Jan 2025 09:06:50
Packager : Antonio Rojas <arojas@archlinux.org>
Branch : stable
Name : sddm
Version : 0.21.0-6
Repository : extra
Build Date : Wed 08 Jan 2025 09:06:50
Packager : Antonio Rojas <arojas@archlinux.org>
And the theme has not changed since January 27. 2026
Branch : unstable
Name : sddm-breath-theme
Version : 24.0.0-6
Repository : extra
Build Date : Tue 27 Jan 2026 22:38:41
Packager : Mark Wagie <mark@manjaro.org>
Branch : testing
Name : sddm-breath-theme
Version : 24.0.0-6
Repository : extra
Build Date : Tue 27 Jan 2026 22:38:41
Packager : Mark Wagie <mark@manjaro.org>
Branch : stable
Name : sddm-breath-theme
Version : 24.0.0-6
Repository : extra
Build Date : Tue 27 Jan 2026 22:38:41
Packager : Mark Wagie <mark@manjaro.org>
It is also clear that the ISO I built a couple of days ago shows the same behaviour as the original poster @Jhonny_Davidson - those ISOs was independently verified by @soundofthunder and they did not boot to desktop.
On the different systems I tested - some worked - some did not.
What we know
- the breath theme has not changed
- sddm has not changed
- editing the sddm configuration on a failing system (replace breath with breeze) and restarting sddm would autologin as expected
- test profile for KDE ISO to use plasma-login-manager work
- second test profile without the Manjaro’s settings package work
The reason the first test profile with plasma-login-manager work is likely because it is a different application
The reason the second test profile work is because plasma is not reconfigured to use the breath theme.
I am more confused now than I have been - with this matter - especially because
Hmm - strange - very strange …