Bug 487134

Summary:	Black screen on external display (no wallpaper, no icons, can't get a context menu on right-click)
Product:	[Plasma] plasmashell	Reporter:	Oleg Gorobets <oleg.goro>
Component:	general	Assignee:	Plasma Bugs List <plasma-bugs>
Status:	RESOLVED FIXED
Severity:	normal	CC:	kde, kdedev, nate
Priority:	NOR	Keywords:	multiscreen
Version:	6.0.4
Target Milestone:	1.0
Platform:	Arch Linux
OS:	Linux
Latest Commit:		Version Fixed In:
Sentry Crash Report:

Description Oleg Gorobets 2024-05-17 07:45:52 UTC

SUMMARY

The issue description is similar to this one:
https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=353975

I run KDE on a laptop with external display connected over HDMI. Built-in display is disabled in "Display Configuration" and external display is configured as the only one enabled.

Right after booting to KDE black screen is shown on external display. No wallpaper, no icons, can't get a context menu on right-click. Only task panel is visible and usable.

It happens randomly but pretty consistently.

As a workaround I use the following command which restarts plasmashell and then everything is OK again:

kquitapp6 plasmashell && kstart plasmashell &

There are no errors in journal related to KDE, only some warnings but it is hard to tell if any of those are relevant to this issue. Let me know if any particular logs can help investigate the issue.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Have a laptop and external display
2. Connect external display over HDMI
3. Using "Display Configuration" disable built-in display and enable only external one
4. Reboot
5. KDE is started with black screen


OBSERVED RESULT
Black screen.

EXPECTED RESULT
Wallpaper and icons.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System: Arch Linux
KDE Plasma Version: 6.0.4
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.1.0
Qt Version: 6.7.0


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Kernel Version: 6.8.7-arch1-1 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: X11

Comment 1 Nate Graham 2024-07-31 23:52:49 UTC

Something pretty similar to this was fixed in Plasma 6.1. Can you upgrade to that and try again? Should be easy since you're on Arch — assuming you haven't upgraded already!

Comment 2 Oleg Gorobets 2024-08-11 15:14:24 UTC

(In reply to Nate Graham from comment #1)
> Something pretty similar to this was fixed in Plasma 6.1. Can you upgrade to
> that and try again? Should be easy since you're on Arch — assuming you
> haven't upgraded already!

I am now on Plasma 6.1.3 and it looks like "after reboot" scenario is fixed, I was not able to reproduce it anymore. However there is still a problem if I logout to console and then "startx" again -- I can easily reproduce this issue, same black screen.

Operating System: Arch Linux
KDE Plasma Version: 6.1.3
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.4.0
Qt Version: 6.7.2
Kernel Version: 6.6.42-1-lts (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: X11

Comment 3 Nate Graham 2024-08-13 21:45:12 UTC

Ok cool, then it sounds like the original issue is not fixed, so go ahead and open a new bug report for that other one. Thanks!

Comment 4 Oleg Gorobets 2024-08-18 17:19:42 UTC

I created https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=491868