Kde won't start after "routine" update to 6.8.0-52-generic

After periodic update (sudo apt-get update/upgrade) to ubuntu 24.02.2 LTS, system boots to blank screen with moveable mouse cursor. I see this is a problem with various scenarios/solutions. I have been running KDE plasma on this laptop for several years with no issues.

I got to a CLI and get a core dump when I try to get plasma version. Typing this from an image on my phone so there may be typos…

Plasmashell --version; kf5-config --version
qt.qpa.xcb: could not connect to display
qt.qpa.plugin: Could not load the Qt platform “xcb” in “” even though it was found.

This application failed to start because no Qt platform could be initialized. Reinstalling the application may fix this problem.

Then it lists the available platforms and Aborted (core dumped)

I don’t know if an update to KDE was part of this update as the Software Update gui on this laptop failed several months ago so I just run it from the CLI when i see the update notification. This happened today 18 February 2025.

Let me know if you need additional outputs. I did try renaming ~/.config/*-appletsrc file. No joy. Put it back.

Input welcome.

BTW, this is on an ASUS-E210MA-L210MA laptop.

Hi! I’d suspect some required package isn’t installed correctly - especially since you mention that another program had been failing for a while now.

You described it as Ubuntu 24.02.2 LTS (assuming that’s actually 24.04.2) - was this system installed as Ubuntu Desktop (GNOME-based with KDE Plasma installed afterward, or was it installed as Kubuntu first? I’m asking as, if it’s the former, then it might be worth double-checking with the Kubuntu folks to see what all metapackages need to be installed to setup KDE Plasma from an Ubuntu Desktop base system.

Thanks for your comments. You are correct, it is 24.04.2.

I loaded this laptop around January 2022 and it has been my primary computer here since. I don’t recall for sure, but I believe that I loaded it with Kbuntu, but not certain. I probably still have the ISO on a thumb drive and will take a look for it. I think that the Software Updater GUI worked fine for a couple of years before failing. I am retired so time is a bit of a blur. The only driver missing from the original install was for the network adapter on the laptop.

Still looking for that ISO.

you only need to go to the info setting page and copy that info to the clipboard

it will say if it’s kubuntu or just ubuntu running KDE.

this is what mine looks like

Operating System: Kubuntu 22.04
KDE Plasma Version: 5.27.11
KDE Frameworks Version: 5.104.0
Qt Version: 5.15.3
Kernel Version: 6.8.0-52-generic (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: X11
Processors: 8 × Intel® Core™ i7-2600 CPU @ 3.40GHz
Memory: 15.6 GiB of RAM
Graphics Processor: NV126
Manufacturer: Gateway
Product Name: FX6850

Thanks for your comment.

I only have access to the CLI. Is there a command that generates that output?

I also noticed that networking was not started. I haven’t tried to manually start it, yet, as I had to take a trip. I will give that a try when I get back.

neofetch is probably the closest thing to a command line version of kinfocenter

      -oyyyyyyyodMMyyyyyyyysyyyyo-         OS: Kubuntu 22.04.5 LTS x86_64 
    -syyyyyyyyyydMMyoyyyydmMMyyyyys-       Host: FX6850 
   oyyysdMysyyyydMMMMMMMMMMMMMyyyyyyyo     Kernel: 6.8.0-52-generic 
 `oyyyydMMMMysyysoooooodMMMMyyyyyyyyyo`    Uptime: 9 hours, 31 mins 
 oyyyyyydMMMMyyyyyyyyyyyysdMMysssssyyyo    Packages: 3156 (dpkg), 52 (flatpak), 34 (snap) 
-yyyyyyyydMysyyyyyyyyyyyyyysdMMMMMysyyy-   Shell: bash 5.1.16 
oyyyysoodMyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyydMMMMysyyyo   Resolution: 1920x1200, 1080x1920 
yyysdMMMMMyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyysosyyyyyyyy   DE: Plasma 5.27.11 
yyysdMMMMMyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy   WM: KWin 
oyyyyysosdyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyydMMMMysyyyo   Theme: [Plasma], Breeze [GTK2/3] 
-yyyyyyyydMysyyyyyyyyyyyyyysdMMMMMysyyy-   Icons: [Plasma], breeze [GTK2/3] 
 oyyyyyydMMMysyyyyyyyyyyysdMMyoyyyoyyyo    Terminal: konsole 
 `oyyyydMMMysyyyoooooodMMMMyoyyyyyyyyo     CPU: Intel i7-2600 (8) @ 3.800GHz 
   oyyysyyoyyyysdMMMMMMMMMMMyyyyyyyyo      GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 
    -syyyyyyyyydMMMysyyydMMMysyyyys-       Memory: 5075MiB / 15975MiB 

Thanks! If i can get networking going I will install it.