Most of you know how little time I have for kde, but as I was being bugged about the "full install" thing, I decided to try it, even if it meant installing kde.

So on a clean disk, I installed Current of 2024-04-20. I also installed the latest mate from slackware.uk. The good news is that all the polkit/elogind issues appear sorted. THE BAD NEWS is in the subject line - I'm stuck in kde. Things I tried:

• Pointing the /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc symlink at Mate instead of kde.
• Resorting to the desparate measure of reading the Slackware docs, which said to run xwmconfig. I also set that.

Now the nuclear option (removepkg kde*, rm -rf, that sort of thing) suggests itself, but if kde can be made to do what it's told and go away, I'll be happy for the moment. It must go away. Help, please.

That said, I must concede kde is not as gruesome as it has looked previously. I'll even concede it appears to have sped up a little over the days when everything seemed to be started from a 1 Meg bash script, loaded with pause & wait instructions. Maybe it's just that my box is better. But has to go - and quickly.

Do you use boot level 4 (SDDM)?

Did you run xwmconfig as root or as your regular user?

As root, xwmconfig changes the symlink in /etc/X11/xinit
As non-root, xwmconfig copies the xinitrc file from /etc/X11/xinit to the users directory - $HOME/.xinitrc.

If found, the file in $HOME is used instead of the global script. Unless you specifically made changes to your .xinitrc it is generally safe to delete it.

Or you are in runlevel 4 in which case disregard everything I said.

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And if in runlevel 4...
wait and wait for sddm to load and select in bottom panel
start xsession default.

Then your prior changes to xwmconfig/xinitrc will be honored.

From runlevel 3 startx should do the trick.

If sddm is your login screen, you should be able to choose between kde, mate and xfce and afaik your choice will be stored when you login next.

Right
The mate-session-manager package places a mate.desktop file in /usr/share/xsessions
So you have it in the drop-down menu (sddm), and it can be selected through xwmconfig as well (as unprivileged user)

T tried. I commented out the kdm session in /etc/rc.d/rc.4, but kde started. So I tried with pgrep for gdm, kdm, sddm, & xdm; Then 'pstree |more. But none of them are running! I only have sddm & xdm called, in that order. They're all I can find with 'which' too.

@DryFalls & @Pithium: Runlevel 3 now gets me Mate . I ran xwmconfig as user & root, and both had .xinitrc files, although neither were executable. They also had .xsession files (and backups).

@kgha: What you laid out is exactly how my previous install worked. But sddm is not staying running, So I don't have it as a login. sddm.bin appears to exit as soon as it starts an X session. Here's today's bit of /var/log/sddm.log
Mind you that was from runlevel 3 & startx. I was fiddling /etc/inittab, and the kde/plasma sessions were all on runlevel 4.

In summary,

• Runlevel 3 --->Mate.
• Runlevel 4 ---> kde & plasma .

but So,

1. X is not obeying the files in /etc/X11./xinit/ or at least kde doesn't.
2. sddm doesn't stay running so the session can't be chosen from there.

And my attempts to drag myself into the 21st century are going down in flames. I was attempting to use runlevel 4 & networkmanager but Protonvpn's driver requires systemd, and runlevel 4 keeps shoving kde in my face.

After the first couple of boots on a new system I don't mess with either xinitrc or xwmconfig. I just boot to runlevel 3, login as root, and launch sddm. That may be partly influenced of being an old dog and new tricks, but I find it convenient to mess around with various work and play modes. I often start sessions in multi user cli to deal with nvidia driver installs, editing configs, and sunning various slackpkg+ functions. I don't reboot but every couple of days or longer and I enjoy the options with sddm for trying out Wayland progress and alternate WM/DEs.

Besides being a fun distraction, playing with different WM/DEs is also useful. For example trying out newer versions of Enlightenment led me to use some different apps in any WM/DE and caused me to choose Enlightenment as default on ARM devices. It also has a feature to switch from typical GUI to Tiling all within the same basic layout.

So if you always use Mate as your GoTo GUI, a one time setting from xwmconfig as root should solve the issue. If you enjoy playing around with options and quick switching, runlevel 3 and sddm might be a useful, fun experience.

Edit: Just saw your latest response, business_kid, and it looks like you have "/etc/inittab" set to default to runlevel 4 or have set auto login option. Maybe try defaulting to runlevel 3 at least until you get the events you like most. If auto login is set, you can check in KDE's System Settings under Startup and Shutdown and control login behaviour from there.

Thx for reply.

xwmconfig as root didn't solve the issue. I've been jumping around with runlevels only to test things. I can live in runlevel 3.

sddm doesn't stay running, so I have no choice there. On Current of 2024-04-20, I felt this was worth looking at.

I don't enjoy distro hopping or X session hopping. I enjoy knowing one well and being productive in it. I currently have a lot of half-assed window managers I look forward to deleting.

I dare to differ. The SDDM stay running and you can chose which desktop session you want to use from its login screen (some list at bottom of the screen). Of course, this only IF your MATE put a convenient file into /usr/share/xsessions just like any other civilized Desktop Environment.

So, permit me to NOT believe that SDDM forces Plasma5 down on your throat.

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Actually, LuckyCyborg, KDE CAN cause SDDM to jump right to KDE BUT only if the User selects that option in System Settings. It defaults to User Select mode.

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I'm a supporter of the "full install" policy even if I sometimes do remove stuff that's never used in my system - but then I know I can't complain when something goes wrong. KDE, however, is the exception and in my experience a slackware setup is perfectly stable with all KDE packages removed. Plus that one can relax and smile when those changelogs with 90+ of upgraded KDE packages appear...

I tested this.
I set runlevel 4 in /etc/inittab. I edited /etc/rc.d/rc.4 & commented out the other options, so sddm starts, or it errors out. /usr/share/xsessions looks like this. It is my sad duty to inform you that this reply was written from the extreme discomfort of KDE . I'll take the appropriate files out of /usr/share/xsessions and give it one more reboot.

@kgha: I couldn't compile polkit or elogind without adding stuff - auditd for elogind. Somebody gave me the 'full install' lecture, and claimed he compiled it 'no trouble.' I never know if these are compile-time or run-time dependencies, so the kitchen sink went in this time. I left out only e/ & f/. But I've still no auditd . It's good to know that kde isn't holding hidden treasure that makes compiling possible.

@enorbet: Your comment raised another issue. I never got to 'user select' mode in sddm. It exits before that.

Going back to try one more reboot with the kde stuff out of /usr/share/xsessions which I'll mention in an edit.

EDIT: Well, still in runlevel 4, I moved the plasma desktop files out of usr/share/xsessions and rebooted. Plasma's opening screen came up, giving me that funny, familiar,sickening feeling of kde. But the mate session actually started! I'm at a loss for words. I even have the Irish keyboard layout back. KDE insisted on enforcing an en_US one. That has weird effects: @ & " are swapped, and \, #,~,|,& ¬ are all messed up. ¬ is actually gone, as is € and all the tweaks I put in the Irish setup.

In the SDDM login screen, at the left bottom corner, which 'Desktop Session' have you selected?

SDDM has an auto-login option. I think the OP himself configured SDDM for auto-login in KDE, from what he explains.

I suggest replacing /etc/sddm.conf with the stock file from the package and deleting (if it exists) the directory: /etc/sddm.conf.d