[SOLVED] sddm not starting. What am I missing?

[iMike]

When I enable sddm with systemd and reboot, what I see from the
console is that it gets as far as "Reached target Graphical
Interface," but X does not start. Has anyone any luck with this on an
ARM? I don't know if there is a race condition because of some aspect
of the hardware I'm not taking into account, some permission problem I
am not aware of, or just my stupidity in settting up sddm + lxqt +
openbox + X properly. The last three in the chain work, but I can't
get sddm to.

dmesg shows:
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
...
Feb 17 16:40:02 picasso systemd[1]: Started Login Service.
Feb 17 16:40:02 picasso systemd[1]: Started Permit User Sessions.
Feb 17 16:40:02 picasso systemd[1]: Started Serial Getty on ttyAMA0.
Feb 17 16:40:02 picasso systemd[1]: Reached target Login Prompts.
Feb 17 16:40:02 picasso systemd[1]: Started Simple Desktop Display Manager.
Feb 17 16:40:02 picasso systemd[1]: Reached target Multi-User System.
Feb 17 16:40:02 picasso systemd[1]: Reached target Graphical Interface.
Feb 17 16:40:03 picasso sddm[242]: Initializing...
Feb 17 16:40:03 picasso sddm[242]: Starting...
Feb 17 16:40:03 picasso sddm[242]: Logind interface found
Feb 17 16:40:03 picasso dbus-daemon[238]: [system] Activating via systemd: service name='org.freedesktop.hostname1' unit='dbus-org.freedesktop.hostname1.service' requested by ':1.1' (uid=981 pid=213 comm="/usr/>
Feb 17 16:40:04 picasso dbus-daemon[238]: [system] Successfully activated service 'org.freedesktop.hostname1'
...
')

I can run lxqt without problem by logging into my account and typing
"startx". My .xinitrc files is in accordance with
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xinit#xinitrc i.e.,
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
[mike@picasso ~]$ diff .xinitrc /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc
51c51,55
< exec startlxqt
---
> twm &
> xclock -geometry 50x50-1+1 &
> xterm -geometry 80x50+494+51 &
> xterm -geometry 80x20+494-0 &
> exec xterm -geometry 80x66+0+0 -name login
')

When I startx manually, I get an Xorg log file that has nothing that
seems particularly peculiar to me. See below. So, I'm a bit baffled.
I can also get X going via xinit -- :1 as described at
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xinit#xserverrc, i.e.,
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
[mike@picasso ~]$ cat .xserverrc
#!/bin/sh
exec /usr/bin/X -nolisten tcp "$@" vt$XDG_VTNR
')

I even tried creating an xprofile following
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xprofile i.e.,
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
[mike@picasso ~]$ cat .xprofile
lxqt-policykit &
tint2 &
')
to see if I could get something to start before the window manager,
but no luck. Additionally, I tried with and without lxqt-policykit.
No difference. So, I removed .xprofile altogether.

My goal is to rum lxqt with sddm on a p2b. I read through all the
Arch wiki pages I could on this, but have still failed.

I tried asking this question over on the regular ArchLinux forum because
I thought the problem was not architecture related, They deleted my post because
they said it had to do with the Pi. I'm saying this because otherwise you might be
wondering why I am asking a display manager question on a Pi forum.

Here is my X log.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
[mike@picasso ~]$ cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log
[ 972.143] (WW) Failed to open protocol names file lib/xorg/protocol.txt
[ 972.143]
X.Org X Server 1.20.3
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
[ 972.144] Build Operating System: Linux Arch Linux
[ 972.144] Current Operating System: Linux picasso 4.14.98-1-ARCH #1 SMP Wed Feb 13 04:29:42 UTC 2019 armv7l
[ 972.144] Kernel command line: bcm2708_fb.fbwidth=1920 bcm2708_fb.fbheight=1080 bcm2708_fb.fbswap=1 vc_mem.mem_base=0x3ec00000 vc_mem.mem_size=0x40000000 root=/dev/mmcblk0p2 rw rootwait console=ttyAMA0,115200 console=tty1 selinux=0 plymouth.enable=0 smsc95xx.turbo_mode=N dwc_otg.lpm_enable=0 kgdboc=ttyAMA0,115200 elevator=noop
[ 972.145] Build Date: 27 October 2018 04:53:30PM
[ 972.145]
[ 972.146] Current version of pixman: 0.38.0
[ 972.146] Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
to make sure that you have the latest version.
[ 972.146] Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
(++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
[ 972.147] (==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Sun Feb 17 15:49:45 2019
[ 972.148] (==) Using config directory: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d"
[ 972.148] (==) Using system config directory "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d"
[ 972.149] (==) No Layout section. Using the first Screen section.
[ 972.149] (==) No screen section available. Using defaults.
[ 972.149] (**) |-->Screen "Default Screen Section" (0)
[ 972.149] (**) | |-->Monitor "<default monitor>"
[ 972.151] (==) No device specified for screen "Default Screen Section".
Using the first device section listed.
[ 972.151] (**) | |-->Device "Allwinner A10/A13 FBDEV"
[ 972.151] (==) No monitor specified for screen "Default Screen Section".
Using a default monitor configuration.
[ 972.151] (==) Automatically adding devices
[ 972.151] (==) Automatically enabling devices
[ 972.151] (==) Automatically adding GPU devices
[ 972.151] (==) Automatically binding GPU devices
[ 972.151] (==) Max clients allowed: 256, resource mask: 0x1fffff
[ 972.151] (WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/misc" does not exist.
[ 972.151] Entry deleted from font path.
[ 972.151] (WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/OTF" does not exist.
[ 972.151] Entry deleted from font path.
[ 972.151] (WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/Type1" does not exist.
[ 972.152] Entry deleted from font path.
[ 972.152] (WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi" does not exist.
[ 972.152] Entry deleted from font path.
[ 972.152] (WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi" does not exist.
[ 972.152] Entry deleted from font path.
[ 972.152] (==) FontPath set to:
/usr/share/fonts/TTF
[ 972.152] (==) ModulePath set to "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
[ 972.152] (II) The server relies on udev to provide the list of input devices.
If no devices become available, reconfigure udev or disable AutoAddDevices.
[ 972.152] (II) Module ABI versions:
[ 972.152] X.Org ANSI C Emulation: 0.4
[ 972.152] X.Org Video Driver: 24.0
[ 972.152] X.Org XInput driver : 24.1
[ 972.152] X.Org Server Extension : 10.0
[ 972.155] (++) using VT number 1

[ 972.165] (II) systemd-logind: took control of session /org/freedesktop/login1/session/_31
[ 972.166] (II) no primary bus or device found
[ 972.166] (II) LoadModule: "glx"
[ 972.167] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libglx.so
[ 972.179] (II) Module glx: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[ 972.179] compiled for 1.20.3, module version = 1.0.0
[ 972.179] ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 10.0
[ 972.180] (II) LoadModule: "fbturbo"
[ 972.180] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/fbturbo_drv.so
[ 972.181] (II) Module fbturbo: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[ 972.181] compiled for 1.20.0, module version = 0.5.1
[ 972.181] Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[ 972.181] ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 24.0
[ 972.181] (II) FBTURBO: driver for framebuffer: fbturbo
[ 972.181] (WW) Falling back to old probe method for fbturbo
[ 972.182] (II) Loading sub module "fbdevhw"
[ 972.182] (II) LoadModule: "fbdevhw"
[ 972.182] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libfbdevhw.so
[ 972.183] (II) Module fbdevhw: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[ 972.183] compiled for 1.20.3, module version = 0.0.2
[ 972.183] ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 24.0
[ 972.183] (II) FBTURBO(0): using /dev/fb0
[ 972.183] (WW) VGA arbiter: cannot open kernel arbiter, no multi-card support
[ 972.183] (II) FBTURBO(0): Creating default Display subsection in Screen section
"Default Screen Section" for depth/fbbpp 24/32
[ 972.184] (==) FBTURBO(0): Depth 24, (==) framebuffer bpp 32
[ 972.184] (==) FBTURBO(0): RGB weight 888
[ 972.184] (==) FBTURBO(0): Default visual is TrueColor
[ 972.184] (==) FBTURBO(0): Using gamma correction (1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
[ 972.184] (II) FBTURBO(0): hardware: BCM2708 FB (video memory: 8100kB)
[ 972.184] (DB) xf86MergeOutputClassOptions unsupported bus type 0
[ 972.184] (**) FBTURBO(0): Option "fbdev" "/dev/fb0"
[ 972.184] (**) FBTURBO(0): Option "SwapbuffersWait" "true"
[ 972.185] (II) FBTURBO(0): processor: ARM Cortex-A7
[ 972.185] (II) FBTURBO(0): checking modes against framebuffer device...
[ 972.185] (II) FBTURBO(0): checking modes against monitor...
[ 972.185] (II) FBTURBO(0): Virtual size is 1920x1080 (pitch 1920)
[ 972.185] (**) FBTURBO(0): Built-in mode "current"
[ 972.185] (==) FBTURBO(0): DPI set to (96, 96)
[ 972.185] (II) Loading sub module "fb"
[ 972.185] (II) LoadModule: "fb"
[ 972.186] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libfb.so
[ 972.187] (II) Module fb: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[ 972.187] compiled for 1.20.3, module version = 1.0.0
[ 972.187] ABI class: X.Org ANSI C Emulation, version 0.4
[ 972.189] (II) FBTURBO(0): using backing store heuristics
[ 972.201] (II) FBTURBO(0): can't load 'g2d_23' kernel module
[ 972.201] (II) FBTURBO(0): failed to enable the use of sunxi display controller
[ 972.202] (II) FBTURBO(0): No sunxi-g2d hardware detected (check /dev/disp and /dev/g2d)
[ 972.202] (II) FBTURBO(0): G2D hardware acceleration can't be enabled
[ 972.202] (II) FBTURBO(0): enabled fbdev copyarea acceleration
[ 972.202] (==) FBTURBO(0): Backing store enabled
[ 972.204] (==) FBTURBO(0): DPMS enabled
[ 972.204] (II) FBTURBO(0): failed to enable hardware cursor
[ 972.204] (II) FBTURBO(0): no 3D acceleration because the driver has been compiled without libUMP
[ 972.204] (II) FBTURBO(0): if this is wrong and needs to be fixed, please check ./configure log
[ 972.204] (II) Initializing extension Generic Event Extension
[ 972.205] (II) Initializing extension SHAPE
[ 972.205] (II) Initializing extension MIT-SHM
[ 972.205] (II) Initializing extension XInputExtension
[ 972.205] (II) Initializing extension XTEST
[ 972.205] (II) Initializing extension BIG-REQUESTS
[ 972.205] (II) Initializing extension SYNC
[ 972.206] (II) Initializing extension XKEYBOARD
[ 972.206] (II) Initializing extension XC-MISC
[ 972.206] (II) Initializing extension SECURITY
[ 972.206] (II) Initializing extension XFIXES
[ 972.206] (II) Initializing extension RENDER
[ 972.206] (II) Initializing extension RANDR
[ 972.206] (II) Initializing extension COMPOSITE
[ 972.206] (II) Initializing extension DAMAGE
[ 972.206] (II) Initializing extension MIT-SCREEN-SAVER
[ 972.207] (II) Initializing extension DOUBLE-BUFFER
[ 972.207] (II) Initializing extension RECORD
[ 972.207] (II) Initializing extension DPMS
[ 972.207] (II) Initializing extension Present
[ 972.207] (II) Initializing extension DRI3
[ 972.207] (II) Initializing extension X-Resource
[ 972.207] (II) Initializing extension XVideo
[ 972.207] (II) Initializing extension XVideo-MotionCompensation
[ 972.207] (II) Initializing extension GLX
[ 972.208] (II) AIGLX: Screen 0 is not DRI2 capable
[ 972.616] (II) IGLX: Loaded and initialized swrast
[ 972.616] (II) GLX: Initialized DRISWRAST GL provider for screen 0
[ 972.616] (II) Initializing extension XFree86-VidModeExtension
[ 972.616] (II) Initializing extension XFree86-DGA
[ 972.617] (II) Initializing extension XFree86-DRI
[ 972.617] (II) Initializing extension DRI2
[ 972.844] (II) config/udev: Adding input device ATEN DVI DL KVMP (/dev/input/event0)
[ 972.844] (**) ATEN DVI DL KVMP: Applying InputClass "libinput keyboard catchall"
[ 972.844] (II) LoadModule: "libinput"
[ 972.845] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/input/libinput_drv.so
[ 972.856] (II) Module libinput: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[ 972.857] compiled for 1.20.3, module version = 0.28.2
[ 972.857] Module class: X.Org XInput Driver
[ 972.857] ABI class: X.Org XInput driver, version 24.1
[ 972.857] (II) Using input driver 'libinput' for 'ATEN DVI DL KVMP'
[ 972.861] (II) systemd-logind: got fd for /dev/input/event0 13:64 fd 13 paused 0
[ 972.862] (**) ATEN DVI DL KVMP: always reports core events
[ 972.862] (**) Option "Device" "/dev/input/event0"
[ 972.862] (**) Option "_source" "server/udev"
[ 972.882] (II) event0 - ATEN DVI DL KVMP: is tagged by udev as: Keyboard
[ 972.882] (II) event0 - ATEN DVI DL KVMP: device is a keyboard
[ 972.883] (II) event0 - ATEN DVI DL KVMP: device removed
[ 972.884] (**) Option "config_info" "udev:/sys/devices/platform/soc/3f980000.usb/usb1/1-1/1-1.2/1-1.2.4/1-1.2.4.1/1-1.2.4.1:1.0/0003:0557:2213.0001/input/input0/event0"
[ 972.884] (II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "ATEN DVI DL KVMP" (type: KEYBOARD, id 6)
[ 972.899] (II) event0 - ATEN DVI DL KVMP: is tagged by udev as: Keyboard
[ 972.899] (II) event0 - ATEN DVI DL KVMP: device is a keyboard
[ 972.907] (II) config/udev: Adding input device ATEN DVI DL KVMP (/dev/input/event1)
[ 972.907] (**) ATEN DVI DL KVMP: Applying InputClass "libinput pointer catchall"
[ 972.907] (II) Using input driver 'libinput' for 'ATEN DVI DL KVMP'
[ 972.981] (II) systemd-logind: got fd for /dev/input/event1 13:65 fd 16 paused 0
[ 972.982] (**) ATEN DVI DL KVMP: always reports core events
[ 972.982] (**) Option "Device" "/dev/input/event1"
[ 972.982] (**) Option "_source" "server/udev"
[ 973.001] (II) event1 - ATEN DVI DL KVMP: is tagged by udev as: Mouse
[ 973.003] (II) event1 - ATEN DVI DL KVMP: device is a pointer
[ 973.004] (II) event1 - ATEN DVI DL KVMP: device removed
[ 973.004] (**) Option "config_info" "udev:/sys/devices/platform/soc/3f980000.usb/usb1/1-1/1-1.2/1-1.2.4/1-1.2.4.1/1-1.2.4.1:1.1/0003:0557:2213.0002/input/input1/event1"
[ 973.004] (II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "ATEN DVI DL KVMP" (type: MOUSE, id 7)
[ 973.005] (**) Option "AccelerationScheme" "none"
[ 973.006] (**) ATEN DVI DL KVMP: (accel) selected scheme none/0
[ 973.006] (**) ATEN DVI DL KVMP: (accel) acceleration factor: 2.000
[ 973.006] (**) ATEN DVI DL KVMP: (accel) acceleration threshold: 4
[ 973.020] (II) event1 - ATEN DVI DL KVMP: is tagged by udev as: Mouse
[ 973.021] (II) event1 - ATEN DVI DL KVMP: device is a pointer
[ 973.027] (II) config/udev: Adding input device ATEN DVI DL KVMP (/dev/input/mouse0)
[ 973.028] (II) No input driver specified, ignoring this device.
[ 973.028] (II) This device may have been added with another device file.
[ 3986.747] (**) Option "fd" "13"
[ 3986.747] (II) event0 - ATEN DVI DL KVMP: device removed
[ 3986.748] (**) Option "fd" "16"
[ 3986.748] (II) event1 - ATEN DVI DL KVMP: device removed
[ 3986.757] (II) UnloadModule: "libinput"
[ 3986.758] (II) systemd-logind: releasing fd for 13:65
[ 3987.012] (II) UnloadModule: "libinput"
[ 3987.012] (II) systemd-logind: releasing fd for 13:64
[ 3987.116] (II) Server terminated successfully (0). Closing log file.
')

I currently am trying to run sddm with the default config. So
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
[mike@picasso ~]$ ls -l /etc/sddm.conf.d/
total 0
')
I have also tried putting in 10-mike.conf
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
# <mike>
[Theme]
# Current theme name
# Current=breeze
Current=maya
# Cursor theme used in the greeter
# CursorTheme=breeze_cursors
# </mike>
')
or adding to the above an auto-login section
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
[Autologin]
User=mike
Session=lxqt.desktop
')
but it hasn't helped. According to https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/SDDM
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '
')Everything should work out of the box, since Arch Linux uses systemd
and SDDM defaults to using systemd-logind for session management.

[k1801]

I'm having the same issue for a few months, and it is only now that I found this thread, and it is the only time this problem is mentioned anywhere. The Raspberry PI 3 it is installed at is used headless as a server most of the time, so it's hard to tell when exactly did it go wrong, but for some of my applications it needs a graphical session anyway.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_code('', '
k1-801@Jessie ~ $ sudo systemctl status sddm
● sddm.service - Simple Desktop Display Manager
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/sddm.service; disabled; vendor preset: disabled)
Active: active (running) since Wed 2019-02-27 00:50:19 +04; 22min ago
Docs: man:sddm(1)
man:sddm.conf(5)
Main PID: 14851 (sddm)
Tasks: 2 (limit: 1899)
CGroup: /system.slice/sddm.service
└─14851 /usr/bin/sddm

фев 27 00:50:19 Jessie systemd[1]: Started Simple Desktop Display Manager.
фев 27 00:50:20 Jessie sddm[14851]: Initializing...
фев 27 00:50:20 Jessie sddm[14851]: Starting...
фев 27 00:50:20 Jessie sddm[14851]: Logind interface found
k1-801@Jessie ~ $
')
SDDM is just stuck on "Logind interface found". I tried connecting to the process with GDB, and it always reports that it is in poll(), AND states that the stack may be corrupt. At first, I suspected some file corruption, or an SD-card malfunction, so I replaced the card and reinstalled the OS all fresh, with no luck. Some of the old bug reports said that SDDM was broken on some x86 machines with 0.17.* branch, and the common suggestion was to revert back to 0.15.0, however, the archlinux arm rollback machine is down, so I couldn't try doing that. It is clearly trying to read some info from logind before even loading the configuration, and is stuck in a poll() syscall for some reason.
Restarting the SDDM service leads to the same results (in fact, it was restarted a few times after the last reboot before I gave the output above).
GDB seems to be working fine on the very same configuration, but it doesn't start properly with the machine and is also stuck with a black screen, it needs a manual restart every time.
We ask for further investigation.

[k1801]

The Archlinux ARM Rollback is up again (I don't know for how long though). Downgrading back to version 0.15.0-2, as suggested in my post above, indeed, solved the issue (don't forget to also install the xf86-video-fbdev package, without it SDDM won't start).
I don't know if the newer versions (0.16 and above) will work or not, gonna research on that now.
Here's the direct link to the package: http://tardis.tiny-vps.com/aarm/packages/s/sddm/sddm-0.15.0-2-armv7h.pkg.tar.xz. The server seems to have some stability issues, I may copy this particular package to my own public server and post a link to that too.
UPD: 0.16.0-3 doesn't work. Just stick to the 0.15 branch.

[iMike]

I have had off and on luck with sddm. Most recently, it was working for me with AArch64. However, I've moved to lightdm which I've had a lot less trouble with. It's a few more dependencies, but I've never had it fail, so I've more or less given up on sddm, unless it's with a full KDE desktop.