First time question.

When I switch users from "A" to "B" via Kickoff, the screen locks user "A" on exit, so that when I come back to user "A" I have to enter password.

Doing it this way is no quicker than just logging in and out btw users.

Is there a way to stop the screen from automatically locking on exit?

thank you.

This is probably controlled by the same setting which locks the system after a certain amount of time at the screensaver. This is located in System Settings.

Thanks for that b, but still not able to keep the "session" open, so that users can switch back and forth without passwords or unexpected screensavers.

So far I have:

1. uninstalled all screensavers for all users

2. uninstalled plasma widget fastswitchuser

3. Turned off "lock screen on resume" in power manager

4. Turned off all "power management profiles"

5. Added "Terminate-server=true" to dkmrc so that I can logout with getting a black screen.

When I "switch users" using Kickoff the last session immediately locks! To get back in to the same session, for example vt7, a small password box appears which tells me that the session is locked and needs a password.

NB Sometimes, and this is bizarre, before the Password box appears a screensaver will appear!! even though all screensavers have been uninstalled.

As far as I can see there is no documentation anywhere on how to setup users, and switch between them without passwords,at least not in Kubuntu, maybe other distros have more success I would like to know. This is a major weakness for home computer users with a family.

If you have any help and insight I would be most gratefully.

If all sessions have already been started, using the ctrl+alt+F[7-12] shortcuts to switch between them won't lock the session you just left (I would assume that each session will still be subject to that session's screensaver/timeout lock settings which of course you are disabling). The caveat is that each user has to know which vt their session is on.
It doesn't surprise me that there isn't a place to configure the behavior of the switch user function since the behavior is: lock current session and switch to other session/start new session.

I wonder if there is some command that you can issue to switch to vt[n], which you could add as a (set of) shortcut(s) to each user's desktop, which would bypass the lock-on-switch-session behavior.

Ok, I would recommend filing a feature request at bugs.kde.org in this case. The desired behaviour is completely workable of course assuming those who access the computer can be trusted.

Thanks b and airdrick,

What I'm trying to do is make the home computer as user friendly as possible for 4 people, and at the same time not have to be there when someone forgets their password or crashes X through trying to close the password box, which is what is happening at the moment.

Fortunately I don't have to worry about security,this PC is just for surfing, email and home work. I'm trying so show others that Linux is a viable alternative for everyone, families, individuals, educated, uneducated etc.

One of the great strengths of Linux is that this is the type of issue that it should thrive on: multiple users on the home computer, seamlessly switching back and forth so that if someone whats to (it's their choice) they can do it quickly with a minimum of instruction and intrusion.

Well thanks to all for their help, I'll post a suggestion as suggested, its just really annoying that "W" OS can do it easily and Linux OS is way behind this time.

Well there's an old saying, "When you open your mouth make sure your foots not in it."

Fortunately it's only partly true here. Thanks to Airdrik I looked more carefully at how the sessions lock and switch using Ctrl+Alt+Fx. and finally managed to work out how to switch users with out locking the session. But it's not straight forward if you are not shown how. Even then some aspects are hidden, like which Vt you are.

It's quite a process and has to be followed the same way by each user. Once the sequence is altered, you don't know where you are.

b, because this is not documented anywhere I can find, is there some way I can make this info available?

thanks all

You can make a posting in the Tutorials & Tips forum, or alternately add the information to a page on KDE Userbase.

I was looking for a good way to make session switching more spouse friendly, and came across the Fast User Switch Plasmoid by Castelli Flavio at http://flavio.castelli.name/2010/07/15/fast-user-switch-plasmoid/.

It was exactly what I was looking for, and perhaps, will solve your problem too.