[SOLVED] Don't pre-fill username at startup

[DoYouKubuntu]

I asked this in another thread, but it kind of got buried. I cannot find the setting that prevents anything from being pre-filled at startup. I want both the username and password fields to be blank, and require manually entering both fields; right now, it pre-fills the username with the name of the last user who logged in. I've looked through "Startup and Shutdown" but I'm not seeing it. Auto-login is definitely unchecked, but that's not what this is. There's always been a separate setting for this, and I can't find it.

[claydoh]

Looking at the man page for the /etc/sddm.conf config file:

RememberLastUser=false

Add that to /etc/sddm.conf . The default is 'true'

[DoYouKubuntu]

This whole sddm thing is new to me...I wouldn't have had a clue to read that particular man page. Thanks for the heads-up.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Looking at the man page for the /etc/sddm.conf config file:

RememberLastUser=false

Add that to /etc/sddm.conf . The default is 'true'

I did. It didn't.

I was going to try changing it to 'true' just to see if...somehow...ignoring all logic, that would work, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

So if this didn't solve it, what else can I try? It seems pretty clear-cut to me, but it's not working. Any ideas will be appreciated.

Oh! I've been restarting this laptop a lot lately, while trying to get various things working, and at some point today--having changed NOTHING, not even LOOKING at anything to do with appearance (I've only been working on networking)--I started getting the beautiful splash screen I had chosen last week! Go figure! I'm not complaining, but I like logic, and when something defies it, I want to know why. I'm going to mark that other thread solved, but with a note that I don't know how it got solved...other than lots of rebooting...maybe it's related to windows...

[kubicle]

Which sddm theme are you using? As I'm not sure you can effectively disable a preselected user with themes that show a "user list" instead of a user name field. The "RememberLastUser=false" just stops the pre-selected user from chnaging based on the last user that has logged in (and the default user is pre-selected instead).

You can install and use a sddm theme that supports user name fields and not filling it automatically (like this one: https://store.kde.org/p/1272122/ more themes here: https://store.kde.org/browse/cat/101/ord/rating/).
Unpack the theme to /usr/share/sddm/themes and change in theme.conf: ForceLastUser=false (you may also change other options in theme.conf to your liking, it's fairly configurable...since I've gotten the impression you are into modding )

Note that not prefilling user name does not really improve security (if that is why you want it that way), you're just slowing down your own logins. No one is ever going to brute-force a gui login screen, if someone has physical access to a machine (which is usually required to access the gui login screen), there are like half a dozen ways to gain (root) access to the machine which are like a trillion times faster than brute-forcing...and if someone is daft enough to try, they'll go for a known username "root".
Of course you are free to change it anyway, if it's simply a personal preference.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Hold everything! Just like the splash screen that didn't work, then did, this started working, too, after [unrelated] rebooting numerous times. So, once again, the issue is resolved but I can't post a solution, which is something I like to do in case someone else comes along with the same problem. Telling them "well, just reboot a bunch of times" is counter-intuitive to why they should use Linux instead of window$, you know?

[DoYouKubuntu]

Note that not prefilling user name does not really improve security (if that is why you want it that way), you're just slowing down your own logins. No one is ever going to brute-force a gui login screen, if someone has physical access to a machine (which is usually required to access the gui login screen), there are like half a dozen ways to gain (root) access to the machine which are like a trillion times faster than brute-forcing...and if someone is daft enough to try, they'll go for a known username "root".
Of course you are free to change it anyway, if it's simply a personal preference.

You're probably right, but it's how I like it and want it, and since I type at lightning speed, the extra 2ms it takes really doesn't bother me.

[Snowhog]

Hold everything! Just like the splash screen that didn't work, then did, this started working, too, after [unrelated] rebooting numerous times. So, once again, the issue is resolved but I can't post a solution, which is something I like to do in case someone else comes along with the same problem. Telling them "well, just reboot a bunch of times" is counter-intuitive to why they should use Linux instead of window$, you know?

Given what you are describing, I'M going to suggest that it was a cache issue, and that after several reboots (after you made the initial 'change(s)', the cache item(s) were cleared and updated/replaced with the 'new choice(s)'. Just my gut speaking.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Given what you are describing, I'M going to suggest that it was a cache issue, and that after several reboots (after you made the initial 'change(s)', the cache item(s) were cleared and updated/replaced with the 'new choice(s)'. Just my gut speaking.

You're probably right. Nothing else makes any sense at all.