Complete black screen mid-session. (Plasma X11)

About half an hour ago, I was quietly editing a file in emacs, and typed (or at least I think I typed) Alt-W to copy the selected text. At that point, the screen went black, and then the monitor went into standby on the grounds that it was getting no signal.

I rebooted the system by switching to a different virtual desktop, and then logged in again. After the initial splash, at the point when my desktop settings would take over from the default wallpaper the screen again went black and the monitor went into inactivity timeout. Checking from a console login on another virtual desktop, I found that all of the applications that I would expect to have been running on the desktop were running – just not showing.

Trying a plasma wayland session was no better.

I was however able to start an XFCE4 session (which is what I’m using right now to write this message).

Can anybody suggest:

  1. Which log files might help me to find the error?
  2. Any config files that it might be a good idea to remove (or rename) to allow login to proceed with a visible desktop?
  3. Any other information that might be useful in diagnosing the problem?
  4. Any other useful ideas?

I’ve not made any updates to the system in the last few days.

… such things - such behavior - would deter me even further from using Plasma/KDE :wink:

Xfce4, on the other hand, has served me very well over the years.:grin:

Hello @JamesT, I do have a couple of questions and maybe a suggestion.

Did you install the Xfce desktop environment using the same user account as Plasma? This is never a good idea as you can end up with conflicting configuration files, leading to issue such as these.

I guess you also mean switching TTY rather than virtual desktop.

Could you post the results of inxi -zv8 at the minimum, from your working installation? (Select the pasted text and click the </> button at the top of the reply window, for proper formatting).

… You can also try creating a new user account and see if the problem persists there?

Cheers!

Thanks for the questions.

$ inxi -zv8
System:
  Kernel: 6.12.4-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.2.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.12-x86_64
    root=UUID=4e6d9dda-3b8d-4610-84d1-3a9451d63592 rw quiet apparmor=1
    security=apparmor resume=UUID=f1b0cc86-c086-487e-b1a4-77c34d2291d6
    udev.log_priority=3
  Desktop: Xfce v: 4.18.1 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.43 wm: xfwm4 v: 4.18.0
    with: xfce4-panel vt: 1 dm: SDDM Distro: Manjaro base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: M4A88T-V EVO/USB3 v: Rev X.0x
    serial: <superuser required> uuid: <superuser required>
    BIOS: American Megatrends v: 0306 date: 11/10/2010
Battery:
  Message: No system battery data found. Is one present?
Memory:
  System RAM: total: 16 GiB available: 15.62 GiB used: 3.2 GiB (20.5%)
  Message: For most reliable report, use superuser + dmidecode.
  Array-1: capacity: 16 GiB slots: 4 modules: 4 EC: None
    max-module-size: 4 GiB note: est.
  Device-1: DIMM0 type: N/A size: 4 GiB speed: 1333 MT/s volts: N/A
    width (bits): data: 64 total: 64 manufacturer: N/A part-no: N/A serial: N/A
  Device-2: DIMM1 type: N/A size: 4 GiB speed: 1333 MT/s volts: N/A
    width (bits): data: 64 total: 64 manufacturer: N/A part-no: N/A serial: N/A
  Device-3: DIMM2 type: N/A size: 4 GiB speed: 1333 MT/s volts: N/A
    width (bits): data: 64 total: 64 manufacturer: N/A part-no: N/A serial: N/A
  Device-4: DIMM3 type: N/A size: 4 GiB speed: 1333 MT/s volts: N/A
    width (bits): data: 64 total: 64 manufacturer: N/A part-no: N/A serial: N/A
PCI Slots:
  Permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required.
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Phenom II X6 1055T bits: 64 type: MCP arch: K10 level: v1
    built: 2009-13 process: AMD 45nm family: 0x10 (16) model-id: 0xA (10)
    stepping: 0 microcode: 0x10000DC
  Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 1 cores: 6 smt: <unsupported> cache:
    L1: 768 KiB desc: d-6x64 KiB; i-6x64 KiB L2: 3 MiB desc: 6x512 KiB L3: 6 MiB
    desc: 1x6 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 800 min/max: 800/2800 boost: enabled scaling:
    driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: schedutil cores: 1: 800 2: 800 3: 800 4: 800
    5: 800 6: 800 bogomips: 33763
  Flags: 3dnow 3dnowext 3dnowprefetch abm aperfmperf apic clflush cmov
    cmp_legacy constant_tsc cpb cpuid cr8_legacy cx16 cx8 de extapic
    extd_apicid fpu fxsr fxsr_opt ht hw_pstate ibs lahf_lm lbrv lm mca mce
    misalignsse mmx mmxext monitor msr mtrr nonstop_tsc nopl npt nrip_save nx
    osvw pae pat pausefilter pdpe1gb pge pni popcnt pse pse36 rdtscp rep_good
    sep skinit sse sse2 sse4a svm svm_lock syscall tsc vme vmmcall wdt
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass status: Not affected
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; STIBP: disabled; RSB filling;
    PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Lexa PRO [Radeon
    540/540X/550/550X / RX 540X/550/550X] vendor: Sapphire driver: amdgpu
    v: kernel arch: GCN-4 code: Arctic Islands process: GF 14nm built: 2016-20
    pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 8 link-max: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s ports:
    active: DP-1 off: HDMI-A-1 empty: DVI-D-1 bus-ID: 01:00.0
    chip-ID: 1002:699f class-ID: 0300 temp: 54.0 C
  Device-2: Logitech HD Webcam C525 driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo type: USB
    rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 3-6:3 chip-ID: 046d:0826
    class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.14 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.4
    compositor: xfwm4 v: 4.18.0 driver: X: loaded: amdgpu
    unloaded: modesetting,radeon alternate: fbdev,vesa dri: radeonsi
    gpu: amdgpu display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 2560x1440 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 677x381mm (26.65x15.00")
    s-diag: 777mm (30.58")
  Monitor-1: DP-1 mapped: DisplayPort-0 pos: primary
    model: Idek Iiyama PL2793Q serial: <filter> built: 2022 res: mode: 2560x1440
    hz: 60 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 109 gamma: 1.2 chroma: red: x: 0.655 y: 0.325
    green: x: 0.294 y: 0.616 blue: x: 0.141 y: 0.059 white: x: 0.314 y: 0.329
    size: 597x336mm (23.5x13.23") diag: 685mm (27") ratio: 16:9
    modes: 2560x1440, 2048x1152, 1920x1200, 1920x1080, 1600x1200, 1680x1050,
    1600x900, 1280x1024, 1440x900, 1280x800, 1152x864, 1280x720, 1024x768,
    832x624, 800x600, 720x576, 720x480, 640x480, 720x400
  Monitor-2: HDMI-A-1 mapped: HDMI-A-0 note: disabled model: Samsung
    serial: <filter> built: 2010 res: 2560x1440 dpi: 55 gamma: 1.2 chroma: red:
    x: 0.639 y: 0.329 green: x: 0.298 y: 0.600 blue: x: 0.149 y: 0.059 white:
    x: 0.314 y: 0.329 size: 160x90mm (6.3x3.54") diag: 1021mm (40.2")
    ratio: 16:9 modes: 1920x1080, 1600x1200, 1680x1050, 1280x1024, 1440x900,
    1280x960, 1360x768, 1280x800, 1152x864, 1280x720, 1024x768, 832x624,
    800x600, 720x576, 720x480, 640x480, 720x400
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: amd radeonsi platforms: device: 0 drv: radeonsi
    device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: kms_swrast surfaceless: drv: radeonsi x11:
    drv: radeonsi inactive: wayland
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: amd mesa v: 24.2.8-arch1.1
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: AMD Radeon RX 550 / 550 Series
    (radeonsi polaris12 LLVM 18.1.8 DRM 3.59 6.12.4-1-MANJARO)
    device-ID: 1002:699f memory: 1.95 GiB unified: no
  API: Vulkan v: 1.4.303 layers: N/A device: 0 type: discrete-gpu name: AMD
    Radeon RX 550 / 550 Series (RADV POLARIS12) driver: N/A
    device-ID: 1002:699f surfaces: xcb,xlib
  Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo de: kscreen-console,
    kscreen-doctor, xfce4-display-settings wl: wayland-info x11: xdriinfo,
    xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
Audio:
  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] SBx00 Azalia
    vendor: ASUSTeK M5A88-V EVO driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:14.2
    chip-ID: 1002:4383 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Baffin HDMI/DP Audio [Radeon
    RX 550 640SP / 560/560X] vendor: Sapphire driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 8 link-max: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s
    bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:aae0 class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: Logitech HD Webcam C525 driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo type: USB
    rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 3-6:3 chip-ID: 046d:0826
    class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
  API: ALSA v: k6.12.4-1-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: sndiod v: N/A status: off tools: aucat,midicat,sndioctl
  Server-2: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: qjackctl
  Server-3: PipeWire v: 1.2.7 status: off with: pipewire-media-session
    status: active tools: pw-cli
  Server-4: PulseAudio v: 17.0-43-g3e2bb status: active with:
    1: pulseaudio-alsa type: plugin 2: pulseaudio-jack type: module
    tools: pacat,pactl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel 82574L Gigabit Network driver: e1000e v: kernel pcie: gen: 1
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: dc00 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:10d3
    class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp2s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
    broadcast: <filter>
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: global
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
  Info: services: NetworkManager,ntpd
  WAN IP: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Message: No bluetooth data found.
Logical:
  Message: No logical block device data found.
RAID:
  Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 12.28 TiB used: 5.76 TiB (46.9%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Western Digital
    model: WDS500G2B0A-00SM50 size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 20WD
    scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Western Digital
    model: WD1001FALS-00J7B0 size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B speed: <unknown> tech: N/A serial: <filter> fw-rev: 0K05
    scheme: MBR
  ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: Western Digital
    model: WD40EZRZ-00GXCB0 size: 3.64 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B
    logical: 512 B speed: <unknown> tech: HDD rpm: 5400 serial: <filter>
    fw-rev: 0A80 scheme: GPT
  ID-4: /dev/sdh maj-min: 8:112 vendor: Seagate model: ST8000DM004-2CX188
    size: 7.28 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B type: USB
    rev: 3.1 spd: 5 Gb/s lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 tech: HDD rpm: 5425
    serial: <filter> fw-rev: D785 scheme: GPT
  Optical-1: /dev/sr0 vendor: ATAPI model: iHAS224 B rev: GL05
    dev-links: cdrom
  Features: speed: 48 multisession: yes audio: yes dvd: yes
    rw: cd-r,cd-rw,dvd-r,dvd-ram state: running
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 117.19 GiB size: 114.79 GiB (97.95%)
    used: 81.47 GiB (71.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2 label: N/A
    uuid: 4e6d9dda-3b8d-4610-84d1-3a9451d63592
  ID-2: /backup raw-size: 7.28 TiB size: 7.22 TiB (99.20%)
    used: 3.11 TiB (43.1%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdh1 maj-min: 8:113 label: Backup
    uuid: c37aadc5-7e69-4c16-9827-523ffc6fe7a5
  ID-3: /boot/efi raw-size: 8 MiB size: 7.9 MiB (98.24%) used: 1 KiB (0.0%)
    fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 label: NO_LABEL uuid: F97C-7C81
  ID-4: /data raw-size: 3.64 TiB size: 3.58 TiB (98.40%)
    used: 2.04 TiB (57.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdc1 maj-min: 8:33 label: DATA
    uuid: db2a9add-a71e-412d-80f3-d2210838856c
  ID-5: /home raw-size: 325.13 GiB size: 318.95 GiB (98.10%)
    used: 131.57 GiB (41.3%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5 maj-min: 8:5 label: N/A
    uuid: c157ac56-5951-49f2-80ba-1b066839f8ee
  ID-6: /scratch raw-size: 931.51 GiB size: 916.7 GiB (98.41%)
    used: 408 GiB (44.5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdb1 maj-min: 8:17 label: N/A
    uuid: e0085250-f30b-43b6-ba30-62b143653b89
  ID-7: /usr/local raw-size: 7.81 GiB size: 7.59 GiB (97.19%)
    used: 858.7 MiB (11.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda4 maj-min: 8:4 label: N/A
    uuid: 868dccf5-951a-4dee-a57f-587b7d64d506
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 15.62 GiB used: 512 KiB (0.0%)
    priority: -2 dev: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3 label: N/A
    uuid: f1b0cc86-c086-487e-b1a4-77c34d2291d6
Unmounted:
  Message: No unmounted partitions found.
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: full speed or root hub ports: 3 rev: 1.1
    speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0001
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-2: 2-0:1 info: full speed or root hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-3: 2-1:2 info: Seagate RSS LLC Backup Plus Hub ports: 3 rev: 2.1
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 0bc2:ab44 class-ID: 0900
  Hub-4: 2-2:3 info: Genesys Logic Hub ports: 4 rev: 2.1
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 05e3:0610 class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 2-3:4 info: Seiko Epson ET-2850 Series type: printer
    driver: usblp interfaces: 5 rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1
    mode: 2.0 power: 2mA chip-ID: 04b8:118b class-ID: 0701 serial: <filter>
  Hub-5: 3-0:1 info: full speed or root hub ports: 6 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
    class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 3-3:2 info: Alcor Micro Flash Card Reader/Writer
    type: mass storage driver: usb-storage interfaces: 1 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 power: 250mA
    chip-ID: 058f:6362 class-ID: 0806 serial: <filter>
  Device-2: 3-6:3 info: Logitech HD Webcam C525 type: audio,video
    driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo interfaces: 4 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 power: 500mA
    chip-ID: 046d:0826 class-ID: 0e02 serial: <filter>
  Hub-6: 4-0:1 info: full speed or root hub ports: 3 rev: 1.1
    speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0001
    class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 4-2:2 info: INSTANT USB Keyboard type: keyboard,mouse
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 1.1
    speed: 1.5 Mb/s (183 KiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.0 power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 30fa:2031 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: 4-3:3 info: Elecom M-XT2URBK EX-G Optical TrackBall type: mouse
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 1 rev: 2.0
    speed: 1.5 Mb/s (183 KiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.0 power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 056e:00f9 class-ID: 0301
  Hub-7: 5-0:1 info: full speed or root hub ports: 3 rev: 1.1
    speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0001
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-8: 6-0:1 info: full speed or root hub ports: 3 rev: 1.1
    speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0001
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-9: 7-0:1 info: full speed or root hub ports: 2 rev: 1.1
    speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0001
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-10: 8-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 2 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-11: 9-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 2 rev: 3.0
    speed: 5 Gb/s (596.0 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-12: 9-1:2 info: Seagate RSS LLC Backup+ Hub ports: 3 rev: 3.0
    speed: 5 Gb/s (596.0 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 chip-ID: 0bc2:ab45
    class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 9-1.1:4 info: Seagate RSS LLC Backup Plus Hub (Mass Storage)
    type: mass storage driver: usb-storage interfaces: 1 rev: 3.1
    speed: 5 Gb/s (596.0 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 chip-ID: 0bc2:ab38
    class-ID: 0806 serial: <filter>
  Hub-13: 9-2:3 info: Genesys Logic Hub ports: 4 rev: 3.2
    speed: 5 Gb/s (596.0 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 chip-ID: 05e3:0626
    class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 42.0 C mobo: 32.0 C gpu: amdgpu temp: 54.0 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): cpu: 2368 psu: 0 case-1: 0 case-2: 0 gpu: amdgpu
    fan: 1103
  Power: 12v: 12.23 5v: N/A 3.3v: 3.27 vbat: N/A gpu: amdgpu watts: 4.23
Repos:
  Packages: 3170 pm: pacman pkgs: 3164 libs: 608 tools: octopi,pamac,yay
    pm: flatpak pkgs: 6
  Active pacman repo servers in: /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
    1: https://mirror.vinehost.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    2: https://mirror.futureweb.be/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    3: http://ftp.uni-kl.de/pub/linux/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    4: https://mirror.easyname.at/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    5: https://mirror.telepoint.bg/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    6: https://mirrors.up.pt/pub/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    7: https://mirror.zetup.net/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    8: https://manjaro.mirror.garr.it/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
Processes:
  CPU top: 5 of 299
  1: cpu: 200% command: ps pid: 56274 mem: 3.64 MiB (0.0%)
  2: cpu: 49.1% command: firefox pid: 53752 mem: 640.6 MiB (4.0%)
  3: cpu: 13.1% command: tumblerd pid: 54457 mem: 37.1 MiB (0.2%)
  4: cpu: 10.8% command: firefox pid: 53833 mem: 554.0 MiB (3.4%)
  5: cpu: 8.2% command: firefox pid: 19158 mem: 745.8 MiB (4.6%)
  Memory top: 5 of 299
  1: mem: 745.8 MiB (4.6%) command: firefox pid: 19158 cpu: 8.2%
  2: mem: 640.6 MiB (4.0%) command: firefox pid: 53752 cpu: 49.1%
  3: mem: 554.0 MiB (3.4%) command: firefox pid: 53833 cpu: 10.8%
  4: mem: 256.3 MiB (1.6%) command: baloo_file pid: 4462 cpu: 0.0%
  5: mem: 246.5 MiB (1.5%) command: kalendarac pid: 19159 cpu: 0.0%
Info:
  Processes: 299 Power: uptime: 14h 28m states: freeze,standby,mem,disk
    suspend: deep avail: s2idle,shallow wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform
    avail: shutdown, reboot, suspend, test_resume image: 6.23 GiB
    services: upowerd,xfce4-power-manager Init: systemd v: 256
    default: graphical tool: systemctl
  Compilers: clang: 18.1.8 gcc: 14.2.1 Shell: Bash v: 5.2.37
    running-in: xfce4-terminal inxi: 3.3.37

Yes, the KDE and XFCE desktops run as the same user, and have done so without problem for over a decade – so I don’t think that would be likely to lead to a sudden mid-session failure.

Yes I do mean a different TTY (Ctrl-Alt-F3).

Will try adding a new user to see what happens — If that works, do you think it would be useful to try removing ~/.local/state?

1 Like

See what happens creating a new user. If Plasma works with that, it does sort of suggest conflicting configuration files. These can bite when you least expect them. :wink:

As for removing config. files I’d suggest (assuming you have the disk space) just renaming the appropriate directories, whilst logged out of the Plasma desktop i.e. in a TTY. That way these can be easily restored — possibly selectively, if it comes to it.

1 Like

Confirmed that the new user does work.
Moving .local/state didn’t help.

Can you try Wayland ?

See the original post. That was less successful than X11

One other note: I did check that none of my disk partitions was full.

1 Like

It does seem at least one configuration file is messed up.

In this case, see what you have in the ~/.cache (maybe also temporarily rename this, whilst in a TTY) and I’d also suggest the same with ~/.config (you will likely need some of the files in here, so don’t just delete it, particularly stuff related to your browser(s) and email).

This is for the user in the “hybrid” Plasma & Xfce session, so you will need to log in to that from a TTY (or maybe su <original-username> in Terminal from the new working user account).

The other thing I’ll try (probably next) is to restore my home directory as it was overnight on 12 Jan – I have a daily rdiff-backup to an external HD.

Restoring the home directory to the state 24 hours ago seems to have fixed it, but of course doesn’t explain the problem.

Let this be a reminder to any who chance across this thread in the future of the importance of regular backups.

You don’t use them often other than for accidental deletions (in my case maybe 3 or 4 times in almost 30 years) but when you do they can be a life saver

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This topic will be closed as no actual solution to the problem was found. Restoring a recent configuration does not a solution make.

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