1 of 2 users can't login

jimbo2150 · April 6, 2026, 11:01pm

After the latest update, now only 1 of the 2 users I have can login. Whenever I try to login with the other user, it just errors with an incorrect password error (though it is correct). I have to click Other… and enter the username and password manually. Anyone know how to fix this?

deano_ferrari · April 6, 2026, 11:51pm

Which display manager is in use here?
systemctl status display-manager

jimbo2150 · April 6, 2026, 11:56pm

It says X for some reason but I’m using Wayland.

deano_ferrari · April 7, 2026, 12:01am

No, I’m interested in the display manager (login manager) not the desktop environment. Run the command as given, and share the output here please.

jimbo2150 · April 7, 2026, 11:06am

display-manager-legacy.service - X Display Manager
     Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/display-manager-legacy.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Mon 2026-04-06 16:35:02 EDT; 14h ago
 Invocation: ffe1d7cf76c64350b0f1392665423580
    Process: 1768 ExecStart=/usr/lib/X11/display-manager start (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
   Main PID: 1803 (sddm)
      Tasks: 8 (limit: 37643)
        CPU: 5.934s
     CGroup: /system.slice/display-manager-legacy.service
             ├─1803 /usr/bin/sddm
             └─3945 /usr/bin/Xorg.bin -nolisten tcp -background none -seat seat0 vt2 -auth /run/sddm/xauth_xJcygY -noreset -displayfd 18

hcvv · April 7, 2026, 11:13am

@jimbo2150 ,
Please always include the command when you show output. It is only one line more at the begin. Now we have to guess what you did (or trace back several posts to see if somebody maybe suggested something).

deano_ferrari · April 7, 2026, 9:01pm

Thanks, that confirms SDDM in use. You’re still using the display-manager-legacy.service (Xorg-based), which provides compatibility wrapper that reads /etc/sysconfig/displaymanager and starts whatever DM is configured (in your case SDDM). Not related to the issue here I think, but I do recommend just enabling sddm.service instead and disabling the display-manager-legacy.service.

Anyway, examine sudo journalctl -b | grep -i sddm for errors when trying to launch a session affecting the user of concern. The timestamps will be of help with identifying the attempt.

Also, check ls -ld /home/<username> ownership/permissions for the affected user, and report back.

jimbo2150 · April 9, 2026, 10:21am

I ran this and found something interesting…

Apr 08 08:04:52 btop sddm-helper[3851]: pam_unix(sddm:auth): authentication failure; logname= uid=0 euid=0 tty= ruser= rhost=  user=jim
Apr 08 08:04:55 btop sddm-helper[3851]: [PAM] authenticate: Authentication failure
Apr 08 08:04:55 btop sddm-helper[3851]: [PAM] returning.
Apr 08 08:04:55 btop sddm-helper[3851]: Failed to write utmpx:  No such file or directory
Apr 08 08:04:55 btop sddm-helper[3851]: [PAM] Asked to close the session but it wasn't previously open
Apr 08 08:04:55 btop sddm[1811]: Authentication error: SDDM::Auth::ERROR_AUTHENTICATION "Authentication failure"
Apr 08 08:04:55 btop sddm[1811]: Authentication for user  ""  failed
Apr 08 08:04:55 btop sddm-greeter-qt6[3787]: Information Message received from daemon:  "Authentication failure"
Apr 08 08:04:55 btop sddm-greeter-qt6[3787]: Message received from daemon: LoginFailed
Apr 08 08:04:55 btop sddm-helper[3851]: [PAM] Ended.
Apr 08 08:04:55 btop sddm[1811]: Auth: sddm-helper exited with 1
Apr 08 08:04:55 btop sddm-greeter-qt6[3787]: Message received from daemon: LoginFailed
Apr 08 08:05:02 btop sddm-greeter-qt6[3787]: qrc:/qt/qml/org/kde/breeze/components/UserList.qml:57:15: QML Component: Cannot create delegate
Apr 08 08:05:02 btop sddm-greeter-qt6[3787]: qrc:/qt/qml/org/kde/breeze/components/UserList.qml:61:9: Required property realName was not initialized
Apr 08 08:05:02 btop sddm-greeter-qt6[3787]: <Unknown File>: Can't assign to existing role 'icon' of different type [Url -> String]
Apr 08 08:05:02 btop sddm-greeter-qt6[3787]: qrc:/qt/qml/org/kde/breeze/components/UserList.qml:32: TypeError: Cannot read property 'userName' of null
Apr 08 08:05:07 btop sddm-greeter-qt6[3787]: file:///usr/share/sddm/themes/breeze-openSUSE/Main.qml:348:17 Parameter "username" is not declared. Injection of parameters into signal handlers is deprecated. Use JavaScript functions with formal parameters instead.
Apr 08 08:05:07 btop sddm-greeter-qt6[3787]: Reading from "/usr/share/wayland-sessions/plasmawayland.desktop"
Apr 08 08:05:07 btop sddm[1811]: Message received from greeter: Login
Apr 08 08:05:07 btop sddm[1811]: Reading from "/usr/share/wayland-sessions/plasmawayland.desktop"
Apr 08 08:05:07 btop sddm[1811]: Session "/usr/share/wayland-sessions/plasmawayland.desktop" selected, command: "/usr/libexec/plasma-dbus-run-session-if-needed /usr/bin/startplasma-wayland" for VT 3
Apr 08 08:05:07 btop sddm-helper[3864]: [PAM] Starting...
Apr 08 08:05:07 btop sddm-helper[3864]: pam_kwallet5(sddm:auth): pam_kwallet5: pam_sm_authenticate
Apr 08 08:05:07 btop sddm-helper[3864]: [PAM] Authenticating...
Apr 08 08:05:07 btop sddm-helper[3864]: pam_kwallet5(sddm:auth): pam_kwallet5: Couldn't get password (it is empty)
Apr 08 08:05:07 btop sddm-helper[3864]: [PAM] Preparing to converse...
Apr 08 08:05:07 btop sddm-helper[3864]: [PAM] Conversation with 1 messages
Apr 08 08:05:07 btop sddm-helper[3864]: [PAM] returning.
Apr 08 08:05:07 btop sddm[1811]: Authentication for user  "jim-work"  successful

The relevant part…

Apr 08 08:04:52 btop sddm-helper[3851]: pam_unix(sddm:auth): authentication failure; logname= uid=0 euid=0 tty= ruser= rhost=  user=jim
Apr 08 08:04:55 btop sddm-helper[3851]: [PAM] authenticate: Authentication failure
Apr 08 08:04:55 btop sddm-helper[3851]: [PAM] returning.
Apr 08 08:04:55 btop sddm-helper[3851]: Failed to write utmpx:  No such file or directory
Apr 08 08:04:55 btop sddm-helper[3851]: [PAM] Asked to close the session but it wasn't previously open
Apr 08 08:04:55 btop sddm[1811]: Authentication error: SDDM::Auth::ERROR_AUTHENTICATION "Authentication failure"
Apr 08 08:04:55 btop sddm[1811]: Authentication for user  ""  failed

Not sure if that temporary write has anything to do with it, but it appears to be using an empty string (“”) for the username which is likely the issue. It only happens when I select certain user(s). When I choose “Other” and enter the username and password manually, it works. What would cause that?

ccc-dev · April 9, 2026, 4:56pm

I’m having the same issue. Can’t login some users, unless with the option “others”, manually typing the user/password. I also have this log with sudo journalctl -b | grep -i sddm after the failed attempts

Authentication for user  ""  failed

Any news or debugging suggestions?

marel · April 9, 2026, 7:18pm

For the user “” issue:

Can you check if there is a .dmrc file in the user home dir. If so rename or delete it.
Please share the output of sudo cat /etc/sddm.conf.d/kde_settings.conf and sudo cat /etc/sddm.conf(blur our user names)
The utmpx lines can be ignored, see Y2038: /run/utmp, /var/log/wtmp and /var/log/lastlog are gone
See https://github.com/dev-sec/pam-tester, download/install it and run:

./pam-tester --user USERNAME --password PASSWORD --stack sddm

jimbo2150 · April 9, 2026, 9:11pm

~/.dmrc
/ect/sddm.conf.d/kde_settings.conf
/etc/sddm.conf

None of those files exist.

> ./pam-tester --user jim --password xyz --stack sddm
authenticating user jim in PAM stack sddm, status: PAM code 0, PAM reason Success

> ./pam-tester --user jim-work --password xyz --stack sddm
authenticating user jim-work in PAM stack sddm, status: PAM code 0, PAM reason Success

deano_ferrari · April 9, 2026, 11:07pm

Yes, not a password issue as such.

The QML errors

Required property realName was not initialized
Cannot read property 'userName' of null

suggests it’s failing to build the user entry properly?

Check what is returned by

getent passwd jim
getent passwd jim-work

Any missing or malformed fields? Report back with the output.

marel · April 10, 2026, 5:44am

For me:

> sudo cat /etc/sddm.conf.d/kde_settings.conf 
[Autologin]
Relogin=false
Session=kde-plasma
User=marel

[General]
HaltCommand=
RebootCommand=

[Theme]
Current=breeze-openSUSE

[Users]
MaximumUid=60000
MinimumUid=1000

Can you check using the id command what are the uid of jim and jim-work?

bitti · April 10, 2026, 7:54am

After updating my Tumbleweed I now have similar problems. I haven’t been yet able to debug properly, but one observation that I didn’t see here earlier:
My laptop is connected to an external monitor, and naturally sddm login screen shows on both screens. If I login using the external display’s screen, choosing the user to log in results in correct login. However, if I use the laptop screen to choose the user, I get problems. I have two user accounts with the same password, and choosing a user graphically on the laptop screen always results in the latest logged in user being logged in, regardless of which user I choose. Using the Other option and entering the username manually works.

jimbo2150 · April 10, 2026, 10:03am

> getent passwd jim
jim:x:1000:1000:Jim Lastname:/home/jim:/bin/bash

> getent passwd jim-work
jim-work:x:1002:1002:Jim Work:/home/jim-work:/bin/bash

> id jim
uid=1000(jim) gid=1000(jim) groups=1000(jim),460(www)

> id jim-work
uid=1002(jim-work) gid=1002(jim-work) groups=1002(jim-work),460(www),458(docker)