SDDM slow with double log in after removing windows

[wevans]

System:
Old Dell Inspiron 13 (5000 series)
Kubuntu 25.04
KDE Plasma 6.3.4
KDE Framework 6.12.0
Qt 6.8.3
Kernel 6.14.0-15

My issue:Reboot has become a bit sluggish and I have to log in twice. The first log in seems to stall and perhaps time out, second works.

What happened:

First install was great! I moved Windows 10 into a small partition and gave Linux a test drive for a few days. Was able to use Wine as needed and get my work printer up and running. I decided I'm done with Windows in toto and had replaced all my functionality plus needed the space on my SDD.

So I followed some instructions to use a live boot and KDE Partition manager to delete Windows related partitions and expand the one for Kubuntu. I accessed the boot folder and deleted the Microsoft folder and saw further different instructions to run etfibootcntrl (?) first. I ran it second by accident, but did run it and remove Windows from the boot log, then did the update-grub.

After all of this rebooting has been slow, though it sped up a bit after I removed the boot option, but mostly the issue is at login. I log in once, and the system seems to stall for awhile. Then the password box clears and I have to enter it again. This second time everything if fine, kubuntu starts, and I notice no issues in performance or problems running things.

What I've tried thus far
I've attempted so far to reinstall KDE and reapply the SDDM from the options. I've attempted to check the logs but unclear if I'm seeing anything of note.

I don't mind doing a full wipe and reinstall. I've not done enough to make a backup difficult, but would a) like to avoid it and b) use this as a learning opportunity for the system. Because oh wow I should have ditched Windows long ago!

[skyfishgoo]

you can probably fix it by just reinstalling grub rather than the whole OS.

there are many guides on line, depending on if you are GPT partition table or the older MBR type (i'm guessing the latter, given your newness to linux and coming from a windows install).

GPT is better tho and most of the advice you are going to find on line will be geared toward that because it's newer, so now might be a good time to bite the bullet and switch everything over.

that would mean completely wiping the disk where linux lives and reinstalling from scratch... back up your data first, of course.

[oshunluvr]

GPT is better tho and most of the advice you are going to find on line will be geared toward that because it's newer, so now might be a good time to bite the bullet and switch everything over.

that would mean completely wiping the disk where linux lives and reinstalling from scratch... back up your data first, of course.

Not exactly. I've had no trouble converting MBR to GPT. gdisk can do it in one step.

But I doubt that has anything to do with the complaint.

[oshunluvr]

Try looking at some log output; Try this first:

journalctl --since "2025-06-10" |grep sddm

[oshunluvr]

you can probably fix it by just reinstalling grub rather than the whole OS.

This may fix it. Update grub first, then re-install it. Also, browse your EFI folder (if you're using EFI booting) and make sure there aren't any left over Windows entries.

[kubicle]

Is the removed windows filesystem still present in /etc/fstab? (this can cause a boot delay, if the system is attempting to mount a non-existant filesystem during boot)...probably shouldn't affect sddm, though