Some times I have the same problem as described in
viewtopic.php?f=67&t=109603
Specifically, I try to shutdown (by either the red button on the respective plasmoid, which I have put on my panel, or by the command on KMenu) and nothing happens, i.e. the usual logout/shutdown/restart dialog does not appear at all.

Last time this happened (and after I just read the above topic), I tried the command given on that topic (viewtopic.php?f=67&t=109603#p258625), but nothing happened.
I saw no error messages with journalctl -b. Also loginctl shows that I have a 'seat'.
Sleep and hibernate worked fine using the commands on KMenu (and after wakeup, logout and shutdown did not work again).
sudo systemctl reboot (and poweroff) always work.
It is perhaps interesting that when I tried to change some options of kdmrc using SystemSettings and hit 'Apply' I got the error message "Unable to authenticate/execute the action (code 4)".

I should mention that this problem started since I updated my system (Arch 64) to KDE 4.10, and persists on 4.10.1. Unfortunately it seems to happen randomly, I have not been able to associate it with specific situations or actions on my part. It happens on both my laptop (I think more often) and my desktop PC, which run similarly configured and fully updated Arch 64.

Any more ideas on what I should check the next time it happens?

The unable to authenticate message indicates a problem with Policykit, and should not be related.

Are you using KDM as your desktop manager? Also, are you able to logout without issue?

bcooksley wrote:The unable to authenticate message indicates a problem with Policykit, and should not be related.

I think it only happened when I was unable to logout or shutdown, but I will verify.

bcooksley wrote:Are you using KDM as your desktop manager? Also, are you able to logout without issue?

Yes, I am using KDM.
When this happens, I am not able to either shutdown or logout (but I am able to lock the screen, switch user, and make the computer sleep or hibernate).

Okay, not being able to logout/shutdown/restart makes sense, as they are all controlled through the same mechanism, KSMServer.

Once it is stuck, does the following command have any impact?

Code: Select all

qdbus org.kde.ksmserver /KSMServer logout 0 0 0

Just now I am experiencing this issue on my desktop, after quite some time.

The command you suggest does not have any impact at all.

Can you check to see if there are any resident programs running which may be inhibiting logout/shutdown/reboot?
These can include applications prompting for files to be saved, disc burners, etc.

Not any visible ones. Very often I try to logout just after login, and the window does not appear. The only programs that are always open on my desktop (restored from the previous session) are konsole and dolphin (with multiple tabs). Also on my laptop, this seems to happen more often when on battery.

Try quitting applications which are running in the system tray.
Also, try seeing if it works immediately after logging in.

Right now it just happened on my desktop. I noticed the following, which I think happens when this problem occurs: Firefox appears in gtk style when it should appear in kde style (I am using gtk-kde4). Could this coincidence indicate that some kde component fails to load altogether?

This definitely could indicate that some KDE component is failing to operate properly.
Based on the behaviour you are getting here, it is probably hung rather than having crashed.

Can you check/monitor ~/.xsession-errors to see if anything relevant is mentioned when starting Firefox (or other similarly affected applications) when this occurs?

bcooksley wrote:Can you check/monitor ~/.xsession-errors to see if anything relevant is mentioned when starting Firefox (or other similarly affected applications) when this occurs?

No, .xsession-errors does not seem to get any more errors when I try to start firefox, or when I try to logout (when I try to logout it only says "plasma-desktop(663)/kdecore (KConfigSkeleton) KCoreConfigSkeleton::writeConfig:").

Hm, unfortunate. If you start Firefox from a terminal, does it work then / indicate why it is not working?

Also, if you are aware of how Gtk-KDE4 is installed and works, can you check that all required environment variables and configuration files are in place for it to function and be loaded?

Now this is very strange: Right now I am having this problem, and firefox starts in gtk look (using the shortcut on the K menu). BUT if I start firefox from a terminal, it starts in full KDE look. How can this be possible?

I checked /usr/share/applications/firefox.desktop and it seems to call "/usr/lib/firefox/firefox %u" and /usr/bin/firefox is a symlink to the same file "/usr/lib/firefox/firefox".

This indicates that the terminal and menu have quite different environment variables being set.
Has your desktop "restarted" itself for no apparent reason at any point in your session?

I am suspecting that you are experiencing crashes of Plasma Desktop or KRunner which may be causing this.
What happens when you launch it via KRunner?

bcooksley wrote:This indicates that the terminal and menu have quite different environment variables being set.
Has your desktop "restarted" itself for no apparent reason at any point in your session?

I have never (as far as I can remember) experienced this desktop "restart".

bcooksley wrote:I am suspecting that you are experiencing crashes of Plasma Desktop or KRunner which may be causing this.
What happens when you launch it via KRunner?

I have never tried this, I will next time.

I was ready to write that the problem with Firefox (or, more accurately, with gtk-kde4, since all gtk applications are affected in the same way) happens only when the logout window does not appear, but on my other computer the gtk-kde4 thing just happened but the logout window appeared!

I am suspecting some kind of race condition. I am pretty sure that the dolphin window (with 2-4 tabs usually) that is restored on login takes longer to show its content when these problems happen.

I will uninstall gtk-kde4 and install kde-gtk-config to see if there is a difference.