Bug 467529

Summary: Invalid ScreenMapping= setting in appletsrc file that degrades Plasma UX with specific sequence of events at startup
Product: [Plasma] plasmashell Reporter: php4fan
Component: Desktop ContainmentAssignee: Plasma Bugs List <plasma-bugs>
Status: RESOLVED DUPLICATE    
Severity: major CC: duha.bugs, kde, nate, notmart
Priority: NOR Keywords: multiscreen
Version: 5.26.5   
Target Milestone: 1.0   
Platform: Manjaro   
OS: Linux   
Latest Commit: Version Fixed In: 5.27
Sentry Crash Report:
Attachments: output of journalctl
Contents of [ScreenMapping] in config file
Pamac updater
pamac updater
pamac updater

Description php4fan 2023-03-18 15:49:07 UTC
STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. on Manjaro Linux...
2. install latest system updates from the system tray whatever thingie
3. reboot

OBSERVED RESULT
My desktop is completely empty, with the usual background image but no icons.
I can't launch any application.
When I try to launch anything, like Google Chrome, Konsole, Dolphine, Kate, etc., the loading icon shows up for a few seconds and then nothing, not even an error message.

By going to Ctrl+Alt+F2 and logging into the virtual tty, I ran
```
DISPLAY=:0 konsole
DISPLAY=:0 dolphin
DISPLAY=:0 google-chrome-stable
```
and that succesfully runs the applications in the first screen (I see them open when I go back to ctrl+Alt+F1). All with no error message.

This is the output of:
```
journalctl --boot=-1 --priority=4 --no-pager
```
Wait, seriously I cannot copy and paste images here? Oh FFS (going to attach it).

EXPECTED RESULT

well I don't think I need to explain it.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS

Launching System Settings / About this system doesn't work, and I don't know the command to launch it from the tty (tried a few guesses).
Comment 1 php4fan 2023-03-18 16:01:52 UTC
Created attachment 157390 [details]
output of journalctl
Comment 2 php4fan 2023-03-18 16:15:09 UTC
This fixed it for me:

https://forum.manjaro.org/t/programs-only-open-with-krunner-desktop-icons-missing-after-2-12-2023-update/133957/31

> The issue seems to be within the file .config/plasma-org.kde.plasma.desktop-appletsrc, 
> specifically within this section:
>  
> [ScreenMapping]
> itemsOnDisabledScreens=
> 
> After deleting the section (best to use vim or something that works on ~20 MB file), and rebooting, everything is back to normal.
Comment 3 php4fan 2023-03-18 16:24:06 UTC
Created attachment 157391 [details]
Contents of [ScreenMapping] in config file

This was the contents of the [ScreenMapping] section in the abovementioned config file.
Comment 4 php4fan 2023-03-23 22:34:53 UTC
In what version of KDE is it fixed?
Comment 5 duha.bugs 2023-03-24 15:09:11 UTC
Please reopen if this if this is still an issue. I assumed this was a downstream issue and its also fixed (following your link).

If this is not fixed and not a downstream (Manjaro) issue:
with "install latest system updates from the system tray whatever thingie" do you mean installing updates via Discover?
Could you please confirm that you are running the master version?
Comment 6 php4fan 2023-03-24 16:25:10 UTC
> I assumed this was a downstream issue and its also fixed (following your link).

I see no indication in my link that the bug is fixed. I might be missing it.
When they say "this fixes the issue" (and when I say "this fixed it for me") that means that the workaround described there fixes the user's inability to use the system.
But the bug being reported here is the fact that, after an update, the system is found in that unusable state. Fixing the bug would mean making sure that doesn't happen.

Whether the issue is downstream I don't know.

> Could you please confirm that you are running the master version?

No, sorry, I am using 5.26.5 (and I don't know what version it was before the update). I was unable to check what version I had because when I reported the bug I was unable to open the System Settings to see the versions.

> do you mean installing updates via Discover?

I think it's called Pamac (will attach screenshots).


Operating System: Manjaro Linux
KDE Plasma Version: 5.26.5
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.103.0
Qt Version: 5.15.8
Kernel Version: 6.1.19-1-MANJARO (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: X11
Processors: 8 × Intel® Core™ i7-1065G7 CPU @ 1.30GHz
Memory: 7.3 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: Mesa Intel® Iris® Plus Graphics
Manufacturer: LENOVO
Product Name: 81WE
System Version: IdeaPad 3 15IIL05
Comment 7 php4fan 2023-03-24 16:25:37 UTC
Created attachment 157549 [details]
Pamac updater
Comment 8 php4fan 2023-03-24 16:25:49 UTC
Created attachment 157550 [details]
pamac updater
Comment 9 php4fan 2023-03-24 16:27:10 UTC
Created attachment 157551 [details]
pamac updater

It's bad enough that I cannot just paste images here. But having to upload each individual file one by one, as opposed to being able to select multiple files to upload, is absolutely ridiculous.
Comment 10 Nate Graham 2023-04-04 22:25:38 UTC
The issue should have been already fixed for users of Plasma 5.27, but I notice you're still on 5.26.5.
Comment 11 php4fan 2023-06-19 14:36:10 UTC
I have 5.27.4 now and this keeps happening to me from time to time.

It seems to happen every time I fully turn off my laptop (which is not something I usually do, I usually only restart, and not often), disconnect the external screen (and everything else, with the intention to bring my laptop with me and use it without the external screen and keyboard, which crucially, in this occasion I didn't even do), and then turn it on again and reconnect the external monitor at some random time while it's booting (you can't expect me to be careful about when exactly I plug in the external screen, it has to work smoothly regardless).

In this occasion, and a few other occurrences since the first one, I don't think there was any update involved, unless I had installed something at some point and hadn't rebooted since.

Here's the sequence of events as exactly as I can reconstruct it:
- my laptop was turned off (not hibernated or suspended or anything, turned off, or at least that's what I had asked it to do) and nothing was plugged to it
- I turned it on, not really because I intended to just yet, but because my laptop is stupid and it turns on as soon as I open the lid (unless it's Manjaro that when I explicitly tell it to shut down, does something else like hibernate or sleep - but I seriously hope that's not what happens).
- so while it was already booting I closed the lid and plugged in the following stuff: external monitor, usb-to-ethernet adapter, (with the ethernet cable already attached), usb keyboard, usb wireless mouse receiver. Not sure in which order (including closing the lid).
- The login screen appeared but wouldn't allow me to type in the password, there was no cursor, and after a few seconds or a minute or so, it crashed (to a black screen with an error that I didn't have the time to read) and the system rebooted on its own.

And then I had the issue, which almost systematically happens when I do more or less all of the above.

I have no idea whether the crash at the login screen was related to the issue at hand.

I fixed it the usual way, by deleting the [ScreenMapping] section from ~/.config/plasma-org.kde.plasma.desktop-appletsrc
Comment 12 Nate Graham 2023-07-25 19:09:57 UTC
Ahh, I think this is Bug 469445, then.

*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of bug 469445 ***