[Bug 896569] [NEW] KDE/Plasma does not start automatically anymore

[Monika Eggers]

Public bug reported:

The following problem started after upgrading this computer to Kubuntu
11.04 (from 10.10). It still persists after upgrading to 11.10.

The kdm logon screen still appears normally and logon is possible. But no matter which session type I select, either "KDE Plasma Desktop" or safe mode, KDE does not start, it always looks like safe mode (I think):
There is only a console/terminal in the top left corner. It has no window decorations. There is nothing else on the screen, e.g. no bars, menus or background with plasmoids.
When I type startkde into the console, KDE/Plasma starts completely normally. Window decorations are added to the console. I have to make sure never to close the console, otherwise KDE is killed, too.

The same happens when logging in with a newly created user, so it cannot
be a problem in any configuration in ~/.kde.

/usr/share/xsessions/kde-plasma.desktop is correct and identical to other computers with no problems:
[Desktop Entry]
 Encoding=UTF-8
 Type=XSession
 Exec=/usr/bin/startkde
 TryExec=/usr/bin/startkde
 Name=KDE Plasma Workspace
 Comment=The desktop made by KDE

The metapackage kubuntu-desktop is installed.

I have tried reconfiguring and reinstalling various packages that I or others thought might be responsible:
 sudo dpkg-reconfigure kdm
 sudo dpkg-reconfigure upstart
 sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg
 sudo apt-get install --reinstall kdm
 sudo apt-get install --reinstall plasma-desktop

GNOME was installed on the same computer, too, and caused some problems after the upgrade to 10.04: instead of KDE being the default session, it was Unity, but no menus or control bars loaded. After trying all the things mentioned above, I uninstalled all GNOME/Unity-related packages to rule out they were causing the problem (according to that list: http://wiki.ubuntuusers.de/Desktopumgebung_deinstallieren). It did not help, even though for two packages messages appeared that sounded like they might make a difference:
 sudo apt-get remove gnome-session
 [...]
 Entfernen von gnome-session ...
 update-alternatives: /usr/bin/startkde wird verwendet, um /usr/bin/x-session-manager (x-session-manager) im Auto-Modus bereitzustellen.
 [...]
  sudo apt-get remove metacity
 [...]
 Entfernen von metacity ...
 update-alternatives: /usr/bin/kwin wird verwendet, um /usr/bin/x-window-manager (x-window-manager) im Auto-Modus bereitzustellen.
 [...]

I compared with
sudo update-alternatives --config x-session-manager
sudo update-alternatives --config x-window-manager
with my other two computers that work fine after the upgrade to 11.04 and 11.10, they also use startkde and kwin.

I added debug statements to /etc/X11/Xsession:
#!/bin/sh
#
# /etc/X11/Xsession
#
# global Xsession file -- used by display managers and xinit (startx)

# $Id: Xsession 967 2005-12-27 07:20:55Z dnusinow $

set -e

echo "$(date) --- Now in Xsession" >> /tmp/startup.log #MONIKA

PROGNAME=Xsession

[...]

and some other files: /etc/X11/Xsession.d/50x11-common_determine-startup
and /etc/X11/Xsession.d/99x11-common_start

No startup.log file in /tmp is being created!

All users have writing permission to /tmp, I tried and could create
files manually with no problem and ls -la shows drwxrwxrw as it should
be.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
Package: kdm 4:4.7.2-0ubuntu2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-12.20-generic 3.0.4
Uname: Linux 3.0.0-12-generic i686
ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu4
Architecture: i386
Date: Sat Nov 26 12:58:39 2011
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=
 LANG=de_DE.utf8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: kde-workspace
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to oneiric on 2011-10-22 (34 days ago)
mtime.conffile..etc.kde4.kdm.backgroundrc: 2011-05-31T20:47:34.198997
mtime.conffile..etc.kde4.kdm.kdmrc: 2011-05-31T20:47:34.198997

** Affects: kde-workspace (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New


** Tags: apport-bug i386 oneiric ubuntu-une

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/896569

Title:
  KDE/Plasma does not start automatically anymore

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