[SOLVED] KDE 4.4 problem- Corrupted graphics at login screen and no desktop

[Mountain Man]

I'm having a really big problem here. I upgraded from KDE 4.3.x to 4.4, and everything seemed to go fine until I rebooted. I get the login screen, so I login, then I get the splash screen, and then... nothing. The splash screen goes away and I have background wallpaper but no desktop. I can use ALT-F2 to run programs and stuff and ALT-TAB through various windows, so KDE is under there somewhere, but where the hell is my desktop?

Any help would be appreciated.

[grncamaro69]

Re: KDE 4.4 problem - No desktop!

I also have NO desktop after doing the upgrade to 4.4.0 !!!!

This is the partial upgrade through the PPA Backports using Karmiic.

What happens is that it gets to the login screen, about a second later 3 red bars appear in the upper end of the screen, and then the desktop blanks out.

If I type in my password, the boot continues underneath the blank screen. ( I hear the welcome tune cycle).

I have an Nvidia card, and have desktop effects ( compiz) enabled before the upgrade.

My last update to KDE was 4.3.5.

Note: During the upgrade, there was a dialog box for keeping or setting new the KDM settings. I elected to use new settings.

[Mountain Man]

Re: KDE 4.4 problem - No desktop!

I'm getting the graphics corruption, too (what you described as red bars), and I also elected to use the new KDM settings, and I have an nVidia card just like you. Glad to know it's not an isolated problem.

:sigh: I guess this is what I get for jumping on an upgrade before it's been thoroughly tested.

[grncamaro69]

Re: KDE 4.4 problem - No desktop!

I got the desktop back.

Had to remove the splash entry in the GRUB line for the current kernel load.

At boot, hold the shift key during the GRUB activation.

Select the default Kernal load. Type the 'e' key for edit.

Cursor to the line with 'Quiet Splash '.

Delete the 'Splash" and then hit CTRL + X.

The boot will be normal, but the screen does not disappear.

I had this problem a while ago with one of the 4.3.x revisions. The screen resolution selection for the boot splash wiped out the sync for the desktop screen resolution. taking out the splash switch let the desktop load.

Sounds odd, but it worked!

[Mountain Man]

Re: KDE 4.4 problem - No desktop!

That removes my graphics corruption, but I still have no desktop.

[grncamaro69]

Re: KDE 4.4 problem - No desktop!

Try going back one Kernel from the newest.

Do the same edit with the splash switch.

otherwise, through the GRUB, select the repair mode for the current, and run the dpkg fix packages.

You might have a broken package that is stalling everything.

I ran this before I thought about editing out the splash switch. Not being scientific, a combination of these got mine back.

If you can get the desktop back up, go to system settings and check or reconfigure settings for the display in general settings, and login manager in Advanced settings.

Note: Editing settings in GRUB at boot are not permanent. It is only for that moment.

[rsk02]

Re: KDE 4.4 problem - No desktop!

That removes my graphics corruption, but I still have no desktop.

If you are able to open konsole using Alt+F2, type plasma-desktop. This should give you some idea of what's going wrong even if your desktop is not restored. Most likely you will need to remove the appropriate rc file. I had a similar problem initially but was able to get the desktop back after applying the shipped themes to widgets. I guess not all the themes off kde-look.org are "4.4" compatible.

[Mountain Man]

Re: KDE 4.4 problem - No desktop!

If you are able to open konsole using Alt+F2, type plasma-desktop.

Apparently plasma-desktop wasn't installed. I wonder how that got skipped in the upgrade?

Anyway, installed plasma-desktop and now all seems normal(ish).

Thanks for your help.

[wrender]

Re: *** SOLVED *** KDE 4.4 problem - No desktop!

How did you reinstall the plasma desktop?

[Mountain Man]

Re: *** SOLVED *** KDE 4.4 problem - No desktop!

In Synaptic, I simply searched for "plasma-desktop" and marked it for installation.

You could accomplish the same thing on the command line by typing:

sudo apt-get install plasma-desktop

[reyfer]

Re: *** SOLVED *** KDE 4.4 problem - No desktop!

Ok, I still get the graphic corruption during log on. My grub line does not have the "Splash" thing. Plas,a-desktop is iinstalled, but still the corruption exists. I get to the log on screen, and while I'm typing my password the screen turns into square colors and symbols, but I can see and hera that the desktop loads....only way to get to the desktop is to do Ctrl+Alt+F1 to go to a text screen, and then Ctrl+Alt+F7 to get a graphical screen again....what is going on?

[sthauge]

Re: *** SOLVED *** KDE 4.4 problem - No desktop!

I can confirm this issue. It is not SOLVED yet. We can not expect people to edit the GRUB configuration files. There must be a bug here. This was OK with KDE 4.4.0 RC 2. I'll have to use ctrl-alt-f1 and ctrl-alt-f7 to restore my desktop.

[stevek]

Re: *** SOLVED *** KDE 4.4 problem - No desktop!

To avoid editing grub on every reboot, you can edit (with root permissions) /etc/default/grub and remove the splash option from line 7 so that it reads :

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet"

Then run sudo update-grub

If you have grub installed from a different operating system, you will need to update that also.

Of course doing the above will remove the splash screen and let you boot straight into kdm or to your desktop if you have auto-login enabled.

Works for me!

[Mountain Man]

Re: *** SOLVED *** KDE 4.4 problem - No desktop!

It is not SOLVED yet.

I'm sorry, is there some guideline as for what can marked as solved or not? My particular issue has been remedied, so I went ahead and marked it as solved.

[reyfer]

Re: *** SOLVED *** KDE 4.4 problem - No desktop!

To avoid editing grub on every reboot, you can edit (with root permissions) /etc/default/grub and remove the splash option from line 7 so that it reads :

GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet"

Then run sudo update-grub

If you have grub installed from a different operating system, you will need to update that also.

Of course doing the above will remove the splash screen and let you boot straight into kdm or to your desktop if you have auto-login enabled.

Works for me!

But my grub line does NOT have the splash option, it only has the quiet option, was like that from the start without need to edit, and still I get the corruption and have to do the ctrl+al+f1 and ctrl+alt+f7 to restore my desktop