Use Howdy face unlock only for screensaver unlock, but not for login (pam configuration)

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1

Hi !
I have setup howdy following arch wiki Howdy - ArchWiki
it works fine for unlock from lock screen, but it fails for gdm login.

Based on a hint I found here: Unable to login on Kubuntu 19.04 (KDE 5.15 SDDM) · Issue #208 · boltgolt/howdy · GitHub
I guess it’s because my home dir is encrypted and need explicit password login to allow home decryption.

Nevertheless, I still like howdy to unlock from lock screen, I do this quite more often than login, so I wish to disable it at gdm login but keep it for unlock…

I’m not sure it’s feasible, but if yes, I guess there’s something to do in pam settings files…but not sure which one ?

currently, based on arch wiki page I mentioned, I added a line in /etc/pam.d/system-local-login

is there a suitable pam file or setting to limit howdy only to lockscreen unlock ?

1 Like
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Isnt that the one for general login?

And gdm is
/etc/pam.d/gdm-password

?

Also note this section in the wiki

So maybe a combination of what youve done and using a line like that in the gdm pam file might work out.

3

Hi, thanks for feedback!

well, currently, both howdy / password works.
This is how I was able to login : @login, howdy pass the login screen, but then I’m stuck in a grey screen because it cannot access to home.
So I hide my camera, wait for howdy to fail and then use password :slight_smile:

Your proposal may be a workaround:

  • at login, I can use password
  • at unlock I can press enter and let howdy do the job.

it would be great if there’s a way to skip the “press enter” step.
Maybe it’s not possible (yet)

4

darn. Thought I was close :sweat_smile:
Then again Gnome is a mystery to me.

5

for all of us :smiley:

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