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    [Graphics] Kubuntu - trouble with KDE Plasma - trouble after idle time - eye candy, windows

    Hello, Im not sure I posted into the right place, please redirect me if I failed to do so

    Im having some troubles with Kubuntu. Im not new to Linux/GNU, but I am new to KDE Plasma. First some info..

    Operating System: Kubuntu 20.04
    KDE Plasma Version: 5.18.8
    KDE Frameworks Version: 5.68.0
    Qt Version: 5.12.8
    Kernel Version: 5.13.0-30-generic
    OS Type: 64-bit
    Processors: 8 × Intel® Core™ i7-7700 CPU @ 3.60GHz
    Memory: 23,4 GiB of RAM

    GRUB:
    grub-common/focal-updates,now 2.04-1ubuntu26.13 amd64 [installed]
    grub-efi-amd64-bin/focal-updates,focal-security,now 2.04-1ubuntu44.2 amd64 [installed,automatic]
    grub-efi-amd64-signed/focal-updates,focal-security,now 1.167.2+2.04-1ubuntu44.2 amd64 [installed]
    grub-gfxpayload-lists/focal,now 0.7 amd64 [installed]
    grub-pc-bin/focal-updates,now 2.04-1ubuntu26.13 amd64 [installed]
    grub-pc/focal-updates,now 2.04-1ubuntu26.13 amd64 [installed]
    grub2-common/focal-updates,now 2.04-1ubuntu26.13 amd64 [installed]

    Sometwing weird I noticed after install:
    My EFI partition is on another disk! It is a disk containing Windows. I remember creating EFI partition on the same disk that was used to install Kubuntu. I do not know why it is not there I havent tried booting Windows yet, I hope I can get it back..

    Machine has been joined to a domain, using this tutorial. It works as intended. : <I am not allowed to insert links.. lets try it this way: computing for geeks com join-ubuntu-debian-to-active-directory-ad-domain/ >



    And now the trouble...

    First troubles began when I left PC to be idle some 30 minutes. The program that takes care of locking obviously has a bug or some other troubles. I could click with mouse, put cursor in password input field, open virtual keyboard BUT I could not enter any text, no matter what method or device. I even connected a second keyboard. I could change TTY and type there and either reboot machine or restart plasma to get login working, but that started a new session.
    After some tinkering, I have replaced sddm with gdm3. It still happened once, but after a reboot I did not yet encounter that again.
    Although I have fixed that, I have a feeling it is somehow connected to the second problem, as it happens at the same conditions.
    Again, after some 30 minutes of idle time (locked screen) or over night, I loose all GUI candy (all visual effects of moving, minimizing, closing windows, ..., terminal transparency (Terminator, Yakuake), ..). Also, almost all windows get moved around. They mostly get moved to my primary monitor, and from the right side of my primary monitor to the left side of the primary monitor (ultra-wide monitor).

    Why would this happen? I love transparent terminals as I can see website behind, or something like that. Moving everything around is very annoying as I leave computer idle multiple times a day. The windows seem to stay the same size, they just move around.

    So, what happens when PC is idle for half an hour? Why is it disabling GUI effects and transparency of terminals? Could I get sddm back without the "not accepting any input" incidents?

    Sorry for such a long post for such small troubles
    Thanks in advance
    Pikzigmar

    #2
    Originally posted by pikzigmar View Post
    My EFI partition is on another disk! It is a disk containing Windows. I remember creating EFI partition on the same disk that was used to install Kubuntu. I do not know why it is not there I havent tried booting Windows yet, I hope I can get it back..
    UEFI computers are supposed to have just one EFI system partition, or ESP. You don't need or want a Windows ESP and a Kubuntu ESP; their boot loaders go in different directories. Ideally, the computer boots to a grub menu and the menu has a Windows option. Now, some folks want to keep the OS's separate and go to lengths to stop them from seeing each other during installation, but IMO that's a misguided notion, and they're fighting the design of UEFI.

    Nothing to do with your sddm problems. I would first check if the problem occurs for another user, added through system settings.
    Regards, John Little

    Comment


      #3
      First of all, thank you for your fast reply!

      Putting EFI on OS drive seems practical. I can remove any drive and wipe them as desired. Good to know that this happens if EFI already exists on one of the drives.
      I know this is a bit off topic, but still; What would happen if disk that has EFI partition failed/was removed? Can I just copy content of EFI partition to other partition and move it this way?


      As per my troubles;
      Good to hear that sddm is not the culprit of the problem, as it looks very nice. I will start using it again.
      The lock screen troubles are back I was, however, successful at getting around it. I don't know what exactly fixed it, but I was jumping trough TTYs and smashing FN key, alone and in combination with others (Esc has some blue lock with Fn written on it, when I logged it it was probably locked, as Fn functions were used instead of lets say F12). The next time this happens, probably tomorrow morning, I will check if that fixes it. Also, as you proposed I will make a new user trough system settings and let it be locked trough the night.
      Windows also moved around, but this time, just a few.

      If that user has no such problems, what can I check next, to see why my account has this problem? I cannot make a new user every time I have such problems, as this is domain controlled user.

      Again, that you for your quick response. I will post my results as soon as I have some to post

      Comment


        #4
        Quick question: Do you really WANT/need the computer to lock after X minutes? If not, changing that setting should solve the problem! There are other options for dealing with idle time, such as dimming the screen or turning the screen off, etc. But if you really need it to lock, well, I don't know what's up because I never use that!
        Xenix/UNIX user since 1985 | Linux user since 1991 | Was registered Linux user #163544

        Comment


          #5
          Well this is weird, I left PC locked trough weekend and lost my session. When I logged I got empty desktop. I think this is because I tried to XRDP from home. It had the same effect when I did this today. I will leave PC locked trough night and see results.



          Originally posted by DoYouKubuntu View Post
          Quick question: Do you really WANT/need the computer to lock after X minutes? If not, changing that setting should solve the problem! There are other options for dealing with idle time, such as dimming the screen or turning the screen off, etc. But if you really need it to lock, well, I don't know what's up because I never use that!
          The computer needs to be locked at all times I am not present (near it). It is company policy, so I cannot change that. If I left my PC unlocked "I" would probably invite a lot of people to a beer or pizza

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by pikzigmar View Post
            The computer needs to be locked at all times I am not present (near it). It is company policy, so I cannot change that. If I left my PC unlocked "I" would probably invite a lot of people to a beer or pizza
            Gotcha!! Okay, then, finding a solution is a must. I really wish I could help you, but I've simply never used the lock feature--other than to try it--so I'm useless!
            Xenix/UNIX user since 1985 | Linux user since 1991 | Was registered Linux user #163544

            Comment


              #7
              I get "locked" and policies and security. When I put my laptop into locked, all kinds of weird things go on. When I put my laptop into sleep, not much bad happens. In fact nothing bad happens, because it's asleep and non-responsive. Then when I want it to wake up, what I see first is a prompt to enter my password. I enter and it's back to normal. If I enter the password incorrectly, it does not let me in. If someone else tries to get in, but doesn't know it, they won't get in.
              The next brick house on the left
              Intel i7 11th Gen | 16GB | 1TB | KDE Plasma 5.27.11​| Kubuntu 24.04 | 6.8.0-31-generic



              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by jglen490 View Post
                I get "locked" and policies and security. When I put my laptop into locked, all kinds of weird things go on. When I put my laptop into sleep, not much bad happens. In fact nothing bad happens, because it's asleep and non-responsive. Then when I want it to wake up, what I see first is a prompt to enter my password. I enter and it's back to normal. If I enter the password incorrectly, it does not let me in. If someone else tries to get in, but doesn't know it, they won't get in.
                That's all controlled via settings, right? I mean choosing 'sleep' and setting it up to prompt for a password, etc. So the OP could adjust their settings and use 'sleep' instead of 'lock' and still get the same functionality?
                Xenix/UNIX user since 1985 | Linux user since 1991 | Was registered Linux user #163544

                Comment


                  #9
                  As far as I know, it's tied into NOT having autologin and also the Power Settings, but yes selecting "sleep" in the Power Settings will give the same results. The OP may have to prove that to security or management in the workplace - assuming that as is true with so many places there may be a Windows bias and Windows biased language in the rulebook.
                  Last edited by jglen490; Mar 14, 2022, 03:31 PM.
                  The next brick house on the left
                  Intel i7 11th Gen | 16GB | 1TB | KDE Plasma 5.27.11​| Kubuntu 24.04 | 6.8.0-31-generic



                  Comment


                    #10
                    Thanks to everyone for interest in this thread

                    I have disabled sleep and hibernation, to test if auto sleep/hibernation causes my problems (even though they are disabled), so far with no success. I suspected sleep/hibernation were the cause after I saw some messages about task freezing that failed:
                    Freezing of task failed after 20.003 seconds )25 tasks refusing to freeze, wq_busy=0)
                    Error that appeared at the (more or less) same time:
                    ata4: COMRESET failed (errno=-16)
                    I will enable sleep/hibernation again and try with sleep after I try all compositors. I did not yet think of this, as I run multiple VM's and don't want them to be offline, one is for my remote work so it must not be shut down. I guess I'll just have to move them somewhere.


                    I have switched to OpenGL2.0 from OpenGL3.1. I have done this today. I will see if anything is better tomorrow. I dont expect much, as 10 minute absence from PC has left me with no transparency and shadows that look like black boxes around windows... not very appealing. At least I think they were supposed to be shadows, as windows don't really have any shadows. Wobbly effect that happened when I move windows with mouse has also disappeared... Ill move to XRender tomorrow, if I wont be able to get back at my session.

                    So far I am not very happy with the Kubuntu experience... It looks nice, but is becoming more and more frustrating every day. At home I run Manjaro KDE and has no problems. I can put it to sleep/hibernate and leave it for hours
                    Last edited by pikzigmar; Mar 16, 2022, 06:09 AM.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Originally posted by jglen490 View Post
                      As far as I know, it's tied into NOT having autologin and also the Power Settings, but yes selecting "sleep" in the Power Settings will give the same results. The OP may have to prove that to security or management in the workplace - assuming that as is true with so many places there may be a Windows bias and Windows biased language in the rulebook.
                      As long as I don't allow access to my account and don't prevent myself from working from home it will be alright. As I said in previous post, I will try sleep solution after I tried all compositors

                      Comment


                        #12
                        A quick update.. OpenGL2.0 seems to have the same issue. There was something different though, when I left PC locked overnight I could sign in with no problems. Later when I left it locked for 10-15 minutes it had the same freezing issue.

                        I have set XRender as my compositor, I will see results tomorrow

                        Comment


                          #13
                          XRender gives the same freezing issues.. I set OpenGL3.1 back as my compositor. I will try with sleeping, but it is not ideal to sleep my PC while I'm away, sometimes it's running several virtual machines.

                          Any others with ideas what I can check to get rid of the problem?

                          Comment


                            #14
                            I found out exactly who is not playing nice. Its kscreenlocker . After my login freezes I can go to other tty and do:
                            Code:
                            pkill kscreenlocker -9
                            After that I can switch back to login and login with no problems. Something interesting: When I left it locked over the weekend I could login, but when I left it alone for 15 min today, it was frozen.

                            Are there any alternatives to using kscreenlocker?

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Today I have found out that I can actually just enter password and login, even though it seems frozen.


                              Since no one has any recommendations and I can work around the issue, this thread can be closed/archived.


                              Thanks everyone for your interest in my problems!

                              Comment

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