I recently upgraded to Trixie, and am trying to get the screen-locking to work properly. If I use the keyboard shortcut to lock the screen, everything seems to work properly (with one exception). A login window appears, and after a few seconds, the slideshow starts. The exception is if I have Never Require Password chosen, in which case, the screen merely flickers black and returns immediately to the desktop.
If I simply leave my laptop unattended, it goes to black. It won’t show the clock or any audio controls; it doesn’t show an image or a slideshow if I have those checked. I only get a plain black screen. If I have it set to require a password, then when I move the mouse, the black screen is replaced by the lock screen with login option, a picture from the slideshow folder, the clock, etc. And if I don’t touch anything now, after a few seconds, it will begin to show the slideshow. Which is what I expected it to do from the beginning.
If Never Require Password is selected, I see a picture for about a second before the desktop reappears, and never see a slideshow at all.
Also, if the laptop is shaken slightly or moved, something (?) accepts that as a wake-up signal and the screen reappears, though I have not touched the keyboard or trackpad.
I tried this on a different user account, which I have done nothing to, and the same thing happens.
yeah the never-require-password path just flickering black then bouncing back is pretty common after a trixie jump. kscreenlocker starts, sees nothing to unlock, and dumps you straight back to the session.
try this order:
1. System Settings, Screen Locking, turn lock-after on with a short delay and leave require password on once so you can confirm the greeter paints
2. System Settings, Appearance / Wallpaper, make sure the lock screen slideshow folder still exists. broken path = black idle screen for me
3. check Energy Saving turn-off-screen is not shorter than the lock timer. if screen-off wins first you only get a blank panel with no clock
shortcut lock working while idle lock is black usually means powerdevil screen-off is winning, not the locker. after the wallpaper path check, say whether require-password idle lock shows the greeter.
What @nite_route mentioned is what I would suggest also.
Just a forum courtesy thing, please don’t post images of text. They are not searchable for others trying to find solutions to the same problems. When you need to include system details (almost always), try these terminal options:
kinfo - KDE’s quick info
inxi -zv8 - this is my favorite as it is very comprehensive and redacts any potentially sensitive information like IP addresses etc.
@nite_route - Thank you very much! The screen-turn-off time was the problem. Changing it to longer made all the difference, and I can live with needing to enter my password.
@medin - I did try Wayland first after upgrading, and again after fiddling with some settings, but I didn’t like how it worked. My cursor was sluggish and I had trouble with some windows flashing on and off before I could use them, krunner wasn’t behaving, etc.
I also tried the most recent kernel that comes with Trixie, but it doesn’t install properly, and my computer won’t boot from it. I am using 6.12, because neither 6.18 nor 7.1 would work. So I didn’t think a still newer one would be likely to help.
