SDDM not working on Fedora 41 KDE on Dell Inspiron 14 7440 2-in-1

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1

On my dual booted Inspiron 14 7440 2-in-1, I want to use SDDM because I prefer it over GDM and LightDM but I can’t because whenever I login with SDDM I am met with a black screen. So I have to CTRL+ALT+F2 in order to use startplasma-wayland. I have a fingerprint reader and GDM supports it so I have been using GDM instead but I have to login to my keyring manually. here is the output of sudo journalctl -u sddm.service

-- Boot cca60072844d447387bde9570ed904e6 --
Feb 19 02:54:16 fedora systemd[1]: Started sddm.service - Simple Desktop Display Manager.
Feb 19 02:54:16 fedora sddm-helper[1369]: Detected locale "C" with character encoding "ANSI_X3.4-1968", which is not UTF-8.
                                          Qt depends on a UTF-8 locale, and has switched to "C.UTF-8" instead.
                                          If this causes problems, reconfigure your locale. See the locale(1) manual
                                          for more information.
Feb 19 02:54:16 fedora sddm-helper[1369]: pam_unix(sddm-greeter:session): session opened for user sddm(uid=971) by (uid=0)
Feb 19 02:54:27 fedora sddm-helper[1530]: Detected locale "C" with character encoding "ANSI_X3.4-1968", which is not UTF-8.
                                          Qt depends on a UTF-8 locale, and has switched to "C.UTF-8" instead.
                                          If this causes problems, reconfigure your locale. See the locale(1) manual
                                          for more information.
Feb 19 02:54:27 fedora sddm-helper[1530]: PAM unable to dlopen(/usr/lib64/security/pam_kwallet.so): /usr/lib64/security/pam_kwallet.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Feb 19 02:54:27 fedora sddm-helper[1530]: PAM adding faulty module: /usr/lib64/security/pam_kwallet.so
Feb 19 02:54:27 fedora sddm-helper[1530]: PAM unable to dlopen(/usr/lib64/security/pam_ck_connector.so): /usr/lib64/security/pam_ck_connector.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
Feb 19 02:54:27 fedora sddm-helper[1530]: PAM adding faulty module: /usr/lib64/security/pam_ck_connector.so
Feb 19 02:54:27 fedora sddm-helper[1530]: gkr-pam: no password is available for user
Feb 19 02:54:27 fedora sddm-helper[1530]: pam_kwallet5(sddm:auth): pam_kwallet5: pam_sm_authenticate
Feb 19 02:54:27 fedora sddm-helper[1530]: pam_kwallet5(sddm:auth): pam_kwallet5: Couldn't get password (it is empty)
Feb 19 02:54:27 fedora sddm-helper[1530]: pam_kwallet5(sddm:setcred): pam_kwallet5: pam_sm_setcred
Feb 19 02:54:27 fedora sddm-helper[1530]: gkr-pam: unable to locate daemon control file
Feb 19 02:54:27 fedora sddm-helper[1530]: gkr-pam: gnome-keyring-daemon started properly
Feb 19 02:54:27 fedora sddm-helper[1530]: pam_kwallet5(sddm:session): pam_kwallet5: pam_sm_open_session
Feb 19 02:54:27 fedora sddm-helper[1540]: pam_kwallet5: final socket path: /tmp/kwallet5_leigh.socket
Feb 19 02:54:28 fedora sddm-helper[1530]: pam_unix(sddm:session): session opened for user leigh(uid=1000) by leigh(uid=0)
Feb 19 02:54:28 fedora sddm-helper[1530]: gkr-pam: couldn't unlock the login keyring.
Feb 19 02:54:28 fedora sddm-helper[1530]: pam_kwallet5(sddm:session): pam_kwallet5: pam_sm_open_session
Feb 19 02:54:28 fedora sddm-helper[1530]: pam_kwallet5(sddm:session): pam_kwallet5: we were already executed
Feb 19 02:54:28 fedora sddm-helper[1530]: Starting Wayland user session: "/usr/share/sddm/scripts/wayland-session" "/usr/libexec/plasma-dbus-run-session-if-needed /usr/bin/startplasma-wayland"
Feb 19 02:54:35 fedora sddm[1321]: Auth: sddm-helper exited with 64
Feb 19 02:54:35 fedora sddm-helper[1720]: Detected locale "C" with character encoding "ANSI_X3.4-1968", which is not UTF-8.
                                          Qt depends on a UTF-8 locale, and has switched to "C.UTF-8" instead.
                                          If this causes problems, reconfigure your locale. See the locale(1) manual
                                          for more information.
Feb 19 02:54:35 fedora sddm-helper[1720]: pam_unix(sddm-greeter:session): session opened for user sddm(uid=971) by (uid=0)
2

Have you checked for errors in the user journal?
Possible you will have errors from kwin.

What GPU to you have? If it is nvidia you will likely need the rpmfusion nvidia drivers to be installed.

3

I dont have an gpu. I just have intel integrated graphics
Heres out put from journalctl -b | grep kwin

Feb 20 12:46:55 fedora sddm-helper-start-wayland[1407]: "kwin_core: EDID colorimetry xy( 0.594727 0.367188 ) xy( 0.351563 0.55957 ) xy( 0.157227 0.102539 ) xy( 0.313477 0.329102 ) is is invalid\n"
Feb 20 12:47:07 fedora sddm-helper-start-wayland[1407]: Stopping... "kwin_wayland"
Feb 20 12:47:07 fedora sddm-helper-start-wayland[1407]: "kwin_scene_opengl: Could not delete render time query because no context is current\n"
Feb 20 12:47:15 fedora sddm-helper-start-wayland[1732]: "kwin_core: EDID colorimetry xy( 0.594727 0.367188 ) xy( 0.351563 0.55957 ) xy( 0.157227 0.102539 ) xy( 0.313477 0.329102 ) is is invalid\n"
Feb 20 12:47:43 fedora systemd[1872]: Starting plasma-kwin_wayland.service - KDE Window Manager...
Feb 20 12:47:43 fedora systemd[1872]: Started plasma-kwin_wayland.service - KDE Window Manager.
Feb 20 12:47:44 fedora kwin_wayland[2244]: No backend specified, automatically choosing drm
Feb 20 12:47:44 fedora kwin_wayland[2244]: kwin_core: EDID colorimetry xy( 0.594727 0.367188 ) xy( 0.351563 0.55957 ) xy( 0.157227 0.102539 ) xy( 0.313477 0.329102 ) is is invalid
Feb 20 12:47:44 fedora kwin_wayland[2244]: kwin_decorations: Could not locate decoration plugin "org.kde.vinyl"
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora kwin_wayland_wrapper[2327]: [dix] couldn't enable device 11
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora kwin_wayland_wrapper[2327]: [dix] couldn't enable device 12
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora kwin_wayland_wrapper[2327]: [dix] couldn't enable device 13
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora kwin_wayland_wrapper[2351]: The XKEYBOARD keymap compiler (xkbcomp) reports:
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora kwin_wayland_wrapper[2351]: > Warning:          Unsupported maximum keycode 708, clipping.
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora kwin_wayland_wrapper[2351]: >                   X11 cannot support keycodes above 255.
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora kwin_wayland_wrapper[2351]: > Warning:          Could not resolve keysym XF86KbdInputAssistPrevgrou
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora kwin_wayland_wrapper[2351]: > Warning:          Could not resolve keysym XF86KbdInputAssistNextgrou
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora kwin_wayland_wrapper[2351]: Errors from xkbcomp are not fatal to the X server
Feb 20 12:47:46 fedora kwin_wayland[2244]: kwin_decorations: Could not locate decoration plugin "org.kde.vinyl"
Feb 20 12:47:49 fedora kwin_wayland[2244]: kf.windowsystem: static bool KX11Extras::mapViewport() may only be used on X11
Feb 20 12:48:00 fedora kwin_wayland[2244]: kwin_core: Cannot grant a token to KWin::ClientConnection(0x557f10a629c0)

Then here is journalctl -b --user -p err…warning

Feb 20 12:47:07 fedora dbus-broker-launch[1593]: Service file '/usr/share//dbus-1/services/org.erikreider.swaync.service' is not named after the D-Bus name 'org.freedesktop.Notifications'.
Feb 20 12:47:07 fedora dbus-broker-launch[1593]: Ignoring duplicate name 'org.gnome.Connections' in service file '/usr/share//dbus-1/services/org.gnome.Connections.service'
Feb 20 12:47:07 fedora dbus-broker-launch[1593]: Service file '/usr/share//dbus-1/services/org.kde.dolphin.FileManager1.service' is not named after the D-Bus name 'org.freedesktop.FileManager1'.
Feb 20 12:47:07 fedora dbus-broker-launch[1593]: Service file '/usr/share//dbus-1/services/org.kde.kscreen.service' is not named after the D-Bus name 'org.kde.KScreen'.
Feb 20 12:47:07 fedora dbus-broker-launch[1593]: Service file '/usr/share//dbus-1/services/org.kde.plasma.Notifications.service' is not named after the D-Bus name 'org.freedesktop.Notifications'.
Feb 20 12:47:07 fedora dbus-broker-launch[1593]: Ignoring duplicate name 'org.freedesktop.Notifications' in service file '/usr/share//dbus-1/services/org.kde.plasma.Notifications.service'
Feb 20 12:47:09 fedora wireplumber[1633]: s-monitors-utils: skipping device libcamera:\_SB_.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.HS06-6:1.0-0bda:557a
Feb 20 12:47:25 fedora wireplumber[1633]: pw.core: 0x55d793759370: leaked proxy 0x55d79367eb50 id:10
Feb 20 12:47:39 fedora dbus-broker-launch[1892]: Service file '/usr/share//dbus-1/services/org.erikreider.swaync.service' is not named after the D-Bus name 'org.freedesktop.Notifications'.
Feb 20 12:47:39 fedora dbus-broker-launch[1892]: Ignoring duplicate name 'org.gnome.Connections' in service file '/usr/share//dbus-1/services/org.gnome.Connections.service'
Feb 20 12:47:39 fedora dbus-broker-launch[1892]: Service file '/usr/share//dbus-1/services/org.kde.dolphin.FileManager1.service' is not named after the D-Bus name 'org.freedesktop.FileManager1'.
Feb 20 12:47:39 fedora dbus-broker-launch[1892]: Service file '/usr/share//dbus-1/services/org.kde.kscreen.service' is not named after the D-Bus name 'org.kde.KScreen'.
Feb 20 12:47:39 fedora dbus-broker-launch[1892]: Service file '/usr/share//dbus-1/services/org.kde.plasma.Notifications.service' is not named after the D-Bus name 'org.freedesktop.Notifications'.
Feb 20 12:47:39 fedora dbus-broker-launch[1892]: Ignoring duplicate name 'org.freedesktop.Notifications' in service file '/usr/share//dbus-1/services/org.kde.plasma.Notifications.service'
Feb 20 12:47:41 fedora wireplumber[1944]: s-monitors-utils: skipping device libcamera:\_SB_.PC00.XHCI.RHUB.HS06-6:1.0-0bda:557a
Feb 20 12:47:44 fedora kwin_wayland[2244]: kwin_core: EDID colorimetry xy( 0.594727 0.367188 ) xy( 0.351563 0.55957 ) xy( 0.157227 0.102539 ) xy( 0.313477 0.329102 ) is is invalid
Feb 20 12:47:44 fedora kwin_wayland[2244]: kwin_decorations: Could not locate decoration plugin "org.kde.vinyl"
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora maliit-keyboard[2301]: QSoundEffect(pulseaudio): Error decoding source file:///usr/share/maliit/keyboard2/sounds/key_tick2_quiet.wav
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora kded6[2379]: QDBusObjectPath: invalid path "/modules/oom-notifier"
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora kded6[2379]: kf.dbusaddons: The kded module name "oom-notifier" is invalid!
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora kded6[2379]: QDBusObjectPath: invalid path "/modules/plasma-session-shortcuts"
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora kded6[2379]: kf.dbusaddons: The kded module name "plasma-session-shortcuts" is invalid!
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora kded6[2379]: QDBusObjectPath: invalid path "/modules/kded_plasma-welcome"
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora kded6[2379]: kf.dbusaddons: The kded module name "kded_plasma-welcome" is invalid!
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora plasma-mobile-envmanager[2445]: QThreadStorage: Thread 0x55d0d1f5b6e0 exited after QThreadStorage 3 destroyed
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora kded6[2379]: org.kde.libkbolt: Failed to connect to Bolt manager DBus interface:
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora kconf_update[2471]: kf.config.kconf_update: /usr/share/kconf_update/ark.upd defined Version=5 but Version=6 was expected
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora kconf_update[2471]: kf.config.kconf_update: /usr/share/kconf_update/dolphin_detailsmodesettings.upd defined Version=5 but Version=6 was expected
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora kconf_update[2471]: kf.config.kconf_update: /usr/share/kconf_update/dolphin_directorysizemode.upd defined Version=5 but Version=6 was expected
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora kconf_update[2471]: kf.config.kconf_update: /usr/share/kconf_update/filepicker.upd defined Version=5 but Version=6 was expected
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora kconf_update[2471]: kf.config.kconf_update: /usr/share/kconf_update/okular.upd defined Version=5 but Version=6 was expected
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora kactivitymanagerd[2456]: kf.windowsystem: virtual void KX11Extras::connectNotify(const QMetaMethod&) may only be used on X11
Feb 20 12:47:45 fedora kactivitymanagerd[2456]: kf.windowsystem: virtual void KX11Extras::connectNotify(const QMetaMethod&) may only be used on X11
Feb 20 12:47:46 fedora kwin_wayland[2244]: kwin_decorations: Could not locate decoration plugin "org.kde.vinyl"
Feb 20 12:47:46 fedora plasmashell[2410]: file:///usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.desktopcontainment/contents/ui/main.qml:178:25: QML FolderViewDropArea (parent or ancestor of QQuickLayoutAttached): Binding lo>
                                          file:///usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.desktopcontainment/contents/ui/main.qml:201:9
Feb 20 12:47:46 fedora plasmashell[2410]: Toolbox not loading, toolbox package is either invalid or disabled.
Feb 20 12:47:46 fedora xdg-desktop-por[2576]: Theme parsing error: gtk.css:2:122: Failed to import: Error opening file /home/leigh/.local/share/gnome-shell/extensions/unite@hardpixel.eu/styles/gtk3/buttons-right/>
Feb 20 12:47:47 fedora plasmashell[2410]: file:///usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.taskmanager/contents/ui/Task.qml:79: TypeError: Cannot read property 'status' of null
Feb 20 12:47:47 fedora plasmashell[2410]: file:///usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.taskmanager/contents/ui/Task.qml:79: TypeError: Cannot read property 'status' of null
Feb 20 12:47:47 fedora plasmashell[2410]: file:///usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.taskmanager/contents/ui/Task.qml:79: TypeError: Cannot read property 'status' of null
Feb 20 12:47:47 fedora plasmashell[2410]: file:///usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.taskmanager/contents/ui/Task.qml:79: TypeError: Cannot read property 'status' of null
Feb 20 12:47:47 fedora plasmashell[2410]: file:///usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.taskmanager/contents/ui/Task.qml:79: TypeError: Cannot read property 'status' of null
Feb 20 12:47:47 fedora plasmashell[2410]: file:///usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.taskmanager/contents/ui/Task.qml:79: TypeError: Cannot read property 'status' of null
Feb 20 12:47:47 fedora plasmashell[2410]: file:///usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.taskmanager/contents/ui/Task.qml:79: TypeError: Cannot read property 'status' of null
Feb 20 12:47:47 fedora plasmashell[2410]: file:///usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.taskmanager/contents/ui/Task.qml:79: TypeError: Cannot read property 'status' of null
Feb 20 12:47:47 fedora plasmashell[2410]: file:///usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.taskmanager/contents/ui/Task.qml:79: TypeError: Cannot read property 'status' of null
Feb 20 12:47:47 fedora plasmashell[2410]: file:///usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.taskmanager/contents/ui/Task.qml:79: TypeError: Cannot read property 'status' of null
Feb 20 12:47:47 fedora plasmashell[2410]: file:///usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.taskmanager/contents/ui/Task.qml:79: TypeError: Cannot read property 'status' of null
Feb 20 12:47:47 fedora plasmashell[2410]: file:///usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.taskmanager/contents/ui/Task.qml:79: TypeError: Cannot read property 'status' of null
Feb 20 12:47:47 fedora plasmashell[2410]: file:///usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.taskmanager/contents/ui/Task.qml:79: TypeError: Cannot read property 'status' of null
Feb 20 12:47:47 fedora plasmashell[2410]: file:///usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.private.systemtray/contents/ui/main.qml:50:9: QML KSortFilterProxyModel: Binding loop detected for property "sourceModel"
Feb 20 12:47:47 fedora plasmashell[2410]: file:///usr/share/plasma/plasmoids/org.kde.plasma.private.systemtray/contents/ui/main.qml:50:9: QML KSortFilterProxyModel: Binding loop detected for property "sourceModel"
Feb 20 12:47:47 fedora kdeconnectd[2636]: 2025-02-20T12:47:47 kdeconnect.core: Warning: KDE Connect private key file has too open permissions  "/home/leigh/.config/kdeconnect/privateKey.pem"
Feb 20 12:47:47 fedora kdeconnectd[2636]: 2025-02-20T12:47:47 kdeconnect.core: Warning: KDE Connect certificate file has too open permissions  "/home/leigh/.config/kdeconnect/certificate.pem"
Feb 20 12:47:48 fedora plasmashell[2410]: qt.dbus.integration: Could not connect "org.cups.cupsd.Notifier" to PrinterFinishingsChanged(QString, QString, QString, uint, QString, bool) :
4

What does this mean?

If you installed the KDE Spin, you have SDDM.

Did you replace packages from Fedora Workstation somehow, without a reinstall?

SDDM needs some user setup, but first we need to know how you arrived at your current setup

5

I installed fedora workstation and then I installed KDE and SDDM? that shouldn’t be an issue as I already have the packages required? When I installed the KDE spin it wouldn’t let me login with SDDM so I installed Fedora workstation and then installed KDE and enabled SDDM.

6

Well, sounds like an x y problem to me

The issue was that you had some obscure issue on the KDE spin.

That workaround is for sure not the right one.

You need to configure some things to make SDDM/GDM/cosmic-greeter work well.

Did you already remove the workstation package group, disable gdm and enable sddm?

8

Yes. I am having the same issue on the workstation build but I have removed that group and switched to kde.

9

Your GPU is the intel integrated graphics.

It is possible that the system config is confused about which greeter to use. If possible you could reinstall with kde plasma and side step the debugging. That assumes you can backup your home files.

10

Well I have several times, same issue with my hardware not my installation method. I have tried the KDE spin, its fine literally no difference would be made. You can enable SDDM on the workstation build too? I have the correct packages. This is something with my fingerprint sensor because I can use SDDM if I disable all the fingerprints. My fingerprint sensor doesn’t let me sign in with SDDM its that simple.

11

Yes you can. I mentioned the steps you need, which of them did you do?

  1. Disable GDM
systemctl disable gdm
sudo dnf remove -y gdm
  1. Setup the SDDM user, I have no idea if that is correct but I think it is.
sudo useradd sddm
sudo groupadd sddm
sudo usermod -aG sddm sddm
  1. Enable SDDM
systemctl set-default graphical.target
systemctl enable --now sddm
12

So I did this already as a step in troubleshooting. Whenever I log in with sddm it doesn’t have a fingerprint option(just the breeze theme). So I have to type in my password I do, and then I am met with a black screen for a minute or two then it kicks me back to the sddm screen so it won’t let me enter my plasma session without startplasma-wayland…
Then here is my most recent sudo journalctl -u sddm -b :

Feb 23 13:49:59 fedora systemd[1]: Started sddm.service - Simple Desktop Display Manager.
Feb 23 13:49:59 fedora sddm-helper[1338]: Detected locale "C" with character encoding "ANSI_X3.4-1968", which is not UTF-8.
                                          Qt depends on a UTF-8 locale, and has switched to "C.UTF-8" instead.
                                          If this causes problems, reconfigure your locale. See the locale(1) manual
                                          for more information.
Feb 23 13:49:59 fedora sddm-helper[1338]: pam_unix(sddm-greeter:session): session opened for user sddm(uid=971) by (uid=0)
Feb 23 16:16:17 fedora sddm-helper[1931]: Detected locale "C" with character encoding "ANSI_X3.4-1968", which is not UTF-8.
                                          Qt depends on a UTF-8 locale, and has switched to "C.UTF-8" instead.
                                          If this causes problems, reconfigure your locale. See the locale(1) manual
                                          for more information.
Feb 23 16:16:17 fedora sddm-helper[1931]: gkr-pam: unable to locate daemon control file
Feb 23 16:16:17 fedora sddm-helper[1931]: gkr-pam: stashed password to try later in open session
Feb 23 16:16:17 fedora sddm-helper[1931]: pam_kwallet5(sddm:auth): pam_kwallet5: pam_sm_authenticate
Feb 23 16:16:17 fedora sddm-helper[1931]: pam_kwallet5(sddm:setcred): pam_kwallet5: pam_sm_setcred
Feb 23 16:16:17 fedora sddm-helper[1931]: pam_unix(sddm:session): session opened for user leigh(uid=1000) by leigh(uid=0)
Feb 23 16:16:17 fedora sddm-helper[1931]: gkr-pam: gnome-keyring-daemon started properly and unlocked keyring
Feb 23 16:16:17 fedora sddm-helper[1931]: pam_kwallet5(sddm:session): pam_kwallet5: pam_sm_open_session
Feb 23 16:16:17 fedora sddm-helper[1931]: Starting Wayland user session: "/usr/share/sddm/scripts/wayland-session" "/usr/libexec/plasma-dbus-run-session-if-needed /usr/bin/startplasma-wayland"
Feb 23 16:16:22 fedora sddm[1310]: Auth: sddm-helper exited with 64
Feb 23 16:16:22 fedora sddm-helper[2130]: Detected locale "C" with character encoding "ANSI_X3.4-1968", which is not UTF-8.
                                          Qt depends on a UTF-8 locale, and has switched to "C.UTF-8" instead.
                                          If this causes problems, reconfigure your locale. See the locale(1) manual
                                          for more information.
Feb 23 16:16:22 fedora sddm-helper[2130]: pam_unix(sddm-greeter:session): session opened for user sddm(uid=971) by (uid=0)
1 Like
13

Check all the files listed in the first log are installed.

14

Fingerprint doesnt work I think? Not sure, I think for first unlock you need a password.

And the rest looks like you have an issue with starting plasma, not SDDM

15

Well then why can I start plasma with GDM?? This has been an issue on all my fedora machines after ~6.12.5 kernel

16

they are