How to prevent KDE Plasma being launched by systemd user?

Support KDE Plasma
1

I have the impression that there are two parallel plasmashell instances running.

When launching Plasma 6 X11 from SDDM, I have to exit and enter the desktop once or twice for the desktop to be fully responsive (keyboard shortcuts not working, emacs can’t connect to a systemd server session).

Instances

  1. The proper one via SDDM (see picture #1)
  2. The wayland duplicate instance launched by systemd in user mode (see picture #2)
    • After a restart, after completing SDDM login (or even with disabled SDDM) I have kwin_wayland_wrapper running
    • It appears to be direct child of /usr/lib/systemd/systemd --user

Plan

I think what I need to do is disable the systemd-user services that launch plasma with wayland. But systemctl --user disable plasma-kwin_wayland.service fails as it’s a descedant of another unit.

2024-05-22_12-33
2024-05-22_12-331127×779 111 KB

2024-05-23_14-28b
2024-05-23_14-28b1353×823 230 KB

  UNIT                                            LOAD   ACTIVE SUB     DESCRIPTION
  app-geoclue\x2ddemo\x2dagent@autostart.service  loaded active running Geoclue Demo agent
  app-greenclip@autostart.service                 loaded active running greenclip manager clipboard
  app-kaccess@autostart.service                   loaded active running Accessibility
  app-org.kde.discover.notifier@autostart.service loaded active running Discover
  app-pamac\x2dtray\x2dplasma@autostart.service   loaded active running Update Notifier Tray Icon
  app-zeitgeist\x2ddatahub@autostart.service      loaded active running Zeitgeist Datahub
  aria2cd.service                                 loaded active running Aria2 Daemon
  at-spi-dbus-bus.service                         loaded active running Accessibility services bus
  dbus-:1.3-org.kde.kdeconnect@1.service          loaded active running dbus-:1.3-org.kde.kdeconnect@1.service
  dbus-:1.84-org.a11y.atspi.Registry@0.service    loaded active running dbus-:1.84-org.a11y.atspi.Registry@0.service
  dbus-broker.service                             loaded active running D-Bus User Message Bus
  dconf.service                                   loaded active running User preferences database
  emacs.service                                   loaded active running Emacs text editor
  gnome-keyring-daemon.service                    loaded active running GNOME Keyring daemon
  gvfs-daemon.service                             loaded active running Virtual filesystem service
  mpd.service                                     loaded active running Music Player Daemon
  pipewire-pulse.service                          loaded active running PipeWire PulseAudio
  pipewire.service                                loaded active running PipeWire Multimedia Service
  plasma-gmenudbusmenuproxy.service               loaded active running Proxies GTK DBus menus to a Plasma readable format
  plasma-kactivitymanagerd.service                loaded active running KActivityManager Activity manager Service
  plasma-kded6.service                            loaded active running KDE Daemon 6
  plasma-kglobalaccel.service                     loaded active running KDE Global Shortcuts Server
  plasma-krunner.service                          loaded active running KRunner
  plasma-kscreen.service                          loaded active running KScreen
  plasma-ksmserver.service                        loaded active running KDE Session Management Server
  plasma-kwin_x11.service                         loaded active running KDE Window Manager
  plasma-plasmashell.service                      loaded active running KDE Plasma Workspace
  plasma-polkit-agent.service                     loaded active running KDE PolicyKit Authentication Agent
  plasma-powerdevil.service                       loaded active running Powerdevil
  plasma-xdg-desktop-portal-kde.service           loaded active running Xdg Desktop Portal For KDE
  plasma-xembedsniproxy.service                   loaded active running Handle legacy xembed system tray icons
  syncthing.service                               loaded active running Syncthing - Open Source Continuous File Synchronization
  wireplumber.service                             loaded active running Multimedia Service Session Manager
  xdg-desktop-portal.service                      loaded active running Portal service
  xdg-document-portal.service                     loaded active running flatpak document portal service
  xdg-permission-store.service                    loaded active running sandboxed app permission store
  zeitgeist-fts.service                           loaded active running Zeitgeist full-text search indexer
  zeitgeist.service                               loaded active running Zeitgeist activity log service

Legend: LOAD   → Reflects whether the unit definition was properly loaded.
        ACTIVE → The high-level unit activation state, i.e. generalization of SUB.
        SUB    → The low-level unit activation state, values depend on unit type.

38 loaded units listed.

System:
  Kernel: 6.9.0-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 13.2.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.9-x86_64
    root=UUID=241227a5-8577-4d5e-8e22-a7a71811402d rw acpi_osi=!
    "acpi_osi=Windows 2015" quiet splash
    resume=UUID=1b3384a0-ba34-41af-86aa-c7969bda3901 udev.log_priority=3
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.0.4 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.1.0
    wm: kwin_x11 with: krunner tools: avail: light-locker, xlock, xscreensaver
    vt: 2 dm: SDDM Distro: Manjaro base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASRock model: B660M-ITX/ac serial: <superuser required>
    uuid: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends LLC. v: 5.03
    date: 09/06/2022
Battery:
  Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech Performance MX serial: <filter>
    charge: 10% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes status: discharging
CPU:
  Info: model: 12th Gen Intel Core i5-12600K bits: 64 type: MST AMCP
    arch: Alder Lake gen: core 12 level: v3 note: check built: 2021+
    process: Intel 7 (10nm ESF) family: 6 model-id: 0x97 (151) stepping: 2
    microcode: 0x34
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 10 mt: 6 tpc: 2 st: 4 threads: 16 smt: enabled
    cache: L1: 864 KiB desc: d-4x32 KiB, 6x48 KiB; i-6x32 KiB, 4x64 KiB
    L2: 9.5 MiB desc: 6x1.2 MiB, 1x2 MiB L3: 20 MiB desc: 1x20 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 816 high: 991 min/max: 800/4900:3600 scaling:
    driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave cores: 1: 800 2: 800 3: 991 4: 800
    5: 800 6: 868 7: 800 8: 800 9: 800 10: 801 11: 800 12: 800 13: 800 14: 800
    15: 800 16: 800 bogomips: 118000
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  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 mitigation: Clear Register File
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow 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: Enhanced / Automatic IBRS; IBPB:
    conditional; RSB filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: SW sequence; BHI: BHI_DIS_S
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GP106 [GeForce GTX 1060 6GB] driver: nvidia v: 550.78
    alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 545.xx+ status: current (as of
    2024-04; EOL~2026-12-xx) arch: Pascal code: GP10x process: TSMC 16nm
    built: 2016-2021 pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:1c03 class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.13 with: Xwayland v: 23.2.6
    compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: N/A failed: nvidia gpu: nvidia
    display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 2560x1440 s-dpi: 122 s-size: 533x302mm (20.98x11.89")
    s-diag: 613mm (24.12")
  Monitor-1: Unknown-1 mapped: HDMI-0 res: 2560x1440 hz: 60 dpi: 124
    size: 526x296mm (20.71x11.65") modes: 800x600
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: nvidia platforms: device: 0 drv: nvidia device: 2
    drv: swrast gbm: drv: kms_swrast surfaceless: drv: nvidia x11: drv: nvidia
    inactive: wayland,device-1
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: nvidia mesa v: 550.78
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060
    6GB/PCIe/SSE2 memory: 5.86 GiB
  API: Vulkan v: 1.3.279 layers: 5 device: 0 type: discrete-gpu name: NVIDIA
    GeForce GTX 1060 6GB driver: nvidia v: 550.78 device-ID: 10de:1c03
    surfaces: xcb,xlib
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel Alder Lake-S HD Audio vendor: ASRock driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel alternate: snd_soc_avs,snd_sof_pci_intel_tgl bus-ID: 00:1f.3
    chip-ID: 8086:7ad0 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP106 High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.1
    chip-ID: 10de:10f1 class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: GYROCOM C&C NuForce µDAC 2
    driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid type: USB rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s
    lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 1-5.2:7 chip-ID: 1852:db96 class-ID: 0102
  API: ALSA v: k6.9.0-1-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: N/A
  Server-3: PipeWire v: 1.0.5 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Alder Lake-S PCH CNVi WiFi driver: iwlwifi v: kernel
    bus-ID: 00:14.3 chip-ID: 8086:7af0 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp0s20f3 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Intel Ethernet I219-V vendor: ASRock driver: e1000e v: kernel
    port: N/A bus-ID: 00:1f.6 chip-ID: 8086:1a1d class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp0s31f6 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  Info: services: NetworkManager, sshd, systemd-timesyncd
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel Bluetooth 9460/9560 Jefferson Peak (JfP) driver: btusb
    v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 1-14:6
    chip-ID: 8087:0aaa class-ID: e001
  Report: rfkill ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: down bt-service: enabled,running
    rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes address: see --recommends
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 1.37 TiB used: 375.85 GiB (26.8%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Intel model: SSDPEKNW010T8
    size: 953.87 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s
    lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 002C temp: 40.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Kingston model: SA400S37480G
    size: 447.13 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 66C5 scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 429.9 GiB size: 422.08 GiB (98.18%)
    used: 375.85 GiB (89.0%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 316 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: yes
    compressor: zstd max-pool: 20%
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 16.93 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%)
    priority: -2 dev: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 43.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 52 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): fan-1: 853 fan-2: 369 fan-3: 0 fan-4: 0 fan-5: 0
    fan-7: 0 gpu: nvidia fan: 0%
Info:
  Memory: total: 16 GiB note: est. available: 15.39 GiB used: 7.98 GiB (51.9%)
  Processes: 398 Power: uptime: 2h 5m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
    avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
    suspend, test_resume image: 6.14 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,upowerd
    Init: systemd v: 255 default: graphical tool: systemctl
  Packages: 3220 pm: pacman pkgs: 3211 libs: 617 tools: octopi,pamac,yay,yup
    pm: flatpak pkgs: 9 Compilers: clang: 17.0.6 gcc: 13.2.1 Shell: Zsh v: 5.9
    running-in: kitty inxi: 3.3.34

6.9.0-1-MANJARO
2

For anyone who struggled to figure out why a unit was launched, like I did, the root cause was that at unit was launching a parent indirectly via WantedBy=

I discovered this accidentally. What would have saved me the hassle would be to search for the name of the unit that is being launched among the contents of all systemd unit files.

Case closed!

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3

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