[RESOLVED] Login screen looks like Ubuntu, after applying Plasma settings to it.

[jasoncollege24]

Freshly installed Kubuntu 22.04.

After going into System Settings > Startup and Shutdown > Login Screen (SDDM), and choosing to apply plasma settings to SDDM, my login screen now looks like the Ubuntu login screen, without customizations such as my chosen background image, and color scheme changes. Sorry about the shoddy image. I had to take it on my phone.

Once logged in, if I lock my PC, I get the expected Kubuntu Lock screen with all of my customizations.

I'm not 100% certain that setting is what caused it, but it was the only setting I applied that asked me for my password, so logically it makes sense to peg that as the cause.

Any idea how I can get the login screen I'm expecting? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: Since I mentioned no background customization, I should probably tell you that I changed the login screen background, after I saw this, hoping that change would fix it.

[claydoh]

I *think* that this is a default or fallback SDDM theme (which is not KDE's Breeze), not Gnome's login manager - if you had that installed for some, that would be a different issue altogether

Probably a bug, for sure. But SDDM really needs its background image to be located somewhere outside of the user home directories. Though this would just make the theme use a blank or default image, not change the theme itself.

Have you gone back and switched to the Breeze theme and reset things to use the defaults, just to get back to normal? Do you see two instances of Breeze there?
Can you try selecting the other instance?


I see two here on my 22.04 virtual machine, which I do not yet understand why.
Ok, one is the stock Breeze theme, and the other is a symlink to one in /etc/alternatives, which apparently is there so that it is easier somehow for Kubuntu, Lubntu, and Ubuntu Studio to all manage their separate SDDM themes?
This is one of those Debian things I can never fully understand, let alone why *buntu are using it for this purpose.

I am guessing that the symlink somehow broke. Selecting the other instance should work, and without using symlinks, probably will work with applying your breeze settings correctly.

Ok, found something:
See the last report on this:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+s...e/+bug/1872833
Looks like they need to re-fix the fix

Temporary workaround that helped me to get rid of the duplicate theme entries:

1. Delete the symlink /usr/share/themes/sddm/ubuntu-theme
2. In Systemsettings, go to the login screen configuration page, where now only one Breeze entry should be displayed. Click on that entry to select it, and choose "Apply". (This step is important because otherwise you may be greeted with some strange looking non-KDE fallback theme of sddm the next time you log in.)
3. If you had set a custom wallpaper for the SDDM Breeze theme before or changed other settings, you may need to apply them again.

Probably worthwhile to click the 'does this bug effect you?" button. to give it some 'heat'.

The lock screen is completely separate from the login screen, that is part of Plasma. SDDM, or whichever login manager, will be a separate standalone entity.

[jasoncollege24]

Probably a bug, for sure. But SDDM really needs its background image to be located somewhere outside of the user home directories. Though this would just make the theme use a blank or default image, not change the theme itself.

I didn't try changing the background image until after I saw the default SDDM theme. Sorry for the misunderstanding on that. From my understanding, if you choose an image in your home directory, it copies it out to a place owned by root. I say this, because it prompts for a password when changing that.

Have you gone back and switched to the Breeze theme and reset things to use the defaults, just to get back to normal? Do you see two instances of Breeze there?
Can you try selecting the other instance?

Thank you! Switching between the two themes, and applying the first one (Left most theme) restored the the Breeze theme to SDDM. I also applied my background image to that theme, and it did apply it.

I see two here on my 22.04 virtual machine, which I do not yet understand why.
Ok, one is the stock Breeze theme, and the other is a symlink to one in /etc/alternatives, which apparently is there so that it is easier somehow for Kubuntu, Lubntu, and Ubuntu Studio to all manage their separate SDDM themes?

Quite possible. I've seen the twin themes there for as long as I've been using Kubuntu (16.04 i think?), and I've always just ignored the second one. In my eyes, if leaving it there doesn't break anything, or take up a lot of disk space, it's not important enough for me to fix, or get rid of.

Thank you so much for pointing me in the right direction. With my migration from Windows (currently dual-booting), I'm trying to customize Kubuntu to be close to the customizations I have in Windows.

For others who might have the same issue, choosing one of the Breeze themes (I chose the first one) clicking apply, and entering your credentials will restore the Breeze theme to SDDM.

[claydoh]

I didn't try changing the background image until after I saw the default SDDM theme. Sorry for the misunderstanding on that. From my understanding, if you choose an image in your home directory, it copies it out to a place owned by root. I say this, because it prompts for a password when changing that.

Yes, but that hasn't always worked for me, so it can be useful to copy it somewhere else if isn't working correctly.
The password is needed because the config needs admin privileges to change SDDM's settings to point to the image, it is not per-user.

I've seen the twin themes there for as long as I've been using Kubuntu (16.04 i think?)

They need to fix it, however they did it that one time in that bug report

[jasoncollege24]

Yes, but that hasn't always worked for me, so it can be useful to copy it somewhere else if isn't working correctly.
The password is needed because the config needs admin privileges to change SDDM's settings to point to the image, it is not per-user.

Yup. I understand why the password is needed. That's needed any time you're messing with something that is owned, or restricted by root (or another user). There was an earlier version where I was forced to copy the image out of my home directory, and into a specific location. Can't remember when they fixed that though.

[claydoh]

Can't remember when they fixed that though.

I am saying that this feature is not always 'fixed', at least in my experience, particularly with themes not called 'breeze"


Still tweaking this one, slowly. I hardly ever see it.

[jasoncollege24]

I am saying that this feature is not always 'fixed', at least in my experience, particularly with themes not called 'breeze"

Since they implemented it, I've always had a positive experience myself, though I always use the Breeze theme for my login, and just change the background.

I like what you've done with the place! I'm simple... mine is the Breeze theme, with Avril Lavigne as the background image...Some believe I'm obsessed with her.

No idea how to take a screenshot from the login/lock screen.

[claydoh]

No need to be at the login screen.

sddm-greeter --test-mode
If you don't specify a path it uses the default fallback UI you saw.


sddm-greeter --test-mode --theme /usr/share/sddm/themes/<theme-folder>
Or wherever you are working on a copy or download for a test. Wallpapers may need to be located relative to the working directory, in this case


Lock screen screenshots are different, and not related to sddm (login) at all. Probably a timed screenshot, but I can't recall how I did it some time in the distant past.

[jasoncollege24]

I managed to get the screenshot take before it blurred the entire background out. I do wish I knew how to stop that behavior.

[claydoh]

I managed to get the screenshot take before it blurred the entire background out. I do wish I knew how to stop that behavior.

Ahem....

[jasoncollege24]

That looks doable. I'll have to do a little research to find what to edit for the login screen.

[claydoh]

You probably will need to swap the sddm theme. I am sure the qml in the theme files can be edited for this, but no idea how, even after looking. Other themes are available without blur, so have already done the hard work