Odd login issue

When I run ether tumbleweed or Leap 15.6 on my laptop it does not present a Opensuse login screen when docked on my docking station with the lid closed, but leap 15.5 does.

The laptop is a Lenovo T50 with the appropriate Lenovo docking station.

As a test I formatted the disk each time and did a stock install of 15.5 ,15.6 and Tumbleweed from a usb stick. No customisations just let the software install what it wanted to. KDE desktop each time.

I did force a full format of the disk each time however to make sure nothing was left over from a previous install.

So with the lid closed Leap 15.5 presents a Opensuse login screen Tumbleweed and Leap 15.6 do not. This is before the desktop has loaded and using Wayland each time.

The only difference I can see is that leap 15.6 and tumbleweed are running a 6.x kernel whereas leap 15.5 is a 5.x

Do you see BIOS, grub and usual kernel boot messages?

See: sddm doesn't use external monitors when laptop lid is closed · Issue #1148 · sddm/sddm · GitHub

Note the respective logind.conf is, at least in my tumbleweed, placed here: /usr/lib/systemd/logind.conf

So, you uncomment the line you want to change an change the value. Judging by the information from the link above you should try an set

HandleLidSwitch=ignore
HandleLidSwitchExternalPower=ignore
LidSwitchIgnoreInhibited=no

On my system HandleLidSwitchDocked already defaults to

HandleLidSwitchDocked=ignore

You should check if it’s the same for you.

Thanks tried what you suggested and changed my /usr/lib/systemd/logind.conf to match yours but no change.

When the laptop boots up I see the Lenovo splash screen Initially on my attached monitor it then goes blank and stays that way.

After a short while If I move my mouse around I see the pointer on my attached monitor. I then type my password and the attached monitor becomes usable. I am using it to type this.

Any ideas

No just the initial Lenovo boot screen then nothing else

Does the sddm login screen appear on the laptop screen when you open your laptop lid in that situation?

Yes it does

I have a similar problem on my Dell 5430 2-in-1, also connected to external screens through a Dell Thunderbolt 4 dock. When I boot, the Dell pre-boot screen, GRUB screen, and the initial boot messages (just some random warnings that have always been there) are visible on the external screens. But when sddm starts, its login screen is only on the closed laptop screen. When I login, all screens again work normally.
This started when I updated from 20240427 Tumbleweed snapshot to 20240503. If I rollback, everything works again. And logind.conf was not changed in that update (but systemd was).

Also, if I boot with the laptop lid open, the sddm login screen still only appears on the laptop screen, not on external screens. So it’s not about the lid switch, at least in my case.

Seems like it’s handed to the wrong screen then, even though it’s actually deactivated…

I tried to reproduce the bahviour you see (I don’t have a docking station though) withought success. I see the complete bootup process including sddm on the external screen no matter if my laptop (Acer) lid is closed or not and no matter when I switch on the external screen.

Do you see the issue as well without the docking station?

I think you could try this solution (3.12), but I don’t have my hopes up for it to be the solution…:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/SDDM#Login_session_appears_on_an_unexpected_display

of course you have to alter the script to your own settings and can leave out rotate and such.
And: If that works it would just affect sddm and you would still not see grub and your boot on the external screen.

I’ve read about UEFI menus that actually have an option to set a primary display (never saw it myself). You could check that since not even grub is showing on your external screen.

I’ve read some threads in other forums. There were apparently some nvidia connected problems as well and some solutions suggest to change parameters in /etc/default/grub. None of the solutions seemed to work universally.
So, can you give some more information about your hardware especially the GPU?
I think @arvidjaar is generally really knowledgable, maybe he has some idea how to make the boot process/sddm show on your external screen.

Do you see the issue as well without the docking station? Yes I do

The lenovo T50 laptop has intel graphics

We are on the right track but we have not yet found the correct solution

Did you try this?

Did you check your UEFI/BIOS for options?

I tried to google the Lenovo T50. I can’t find it. Could you please post the output of
inxi -Fz?
Just copy the conplete output in preformatted text here in a post.

ystem:
Kernel: 6.8.8-1-default arch: x86_64 bits: 64
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.0.4 Distro: openSUSE Tumbleweed 20240509
Machine:
Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 20EQS0VV0C v: ThinkPad P50
serial:
Mobo: LENOVO model: 20EQS0VV0C serial: UEFI: LENOVO
v: N1EETA1W (1.74 ) date: 11/07/2023
Battery:
ID-1: BAT0 charge: 83.3 Wh (98.5%) condition: 84.6/90.0 Wh (94.0%)
CPU:
Info: quad core model: Intel Core i7-6820HQ bits: 64 type: MT MCP cache:
L2: 1024 KiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 800 min/max: 800/3600 cores: 1: 800 2: 800 3: 800 4: 800
5: 800 6: 800 7: 800 8: 800
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel HD Graphics 530 driver: i915 v: kernel
Device-2: NVIDIA GM107GLM [Quadro M1000M] driver: nouveau v: kernel
Device-3: Logitech HD Webcam C615 driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo type: USB
Device-4: Chicony Integrated Camera driver: uvcvideo type: USB
Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.12 with: Xwayland v: 23.2.6
compositor: kwin_wayland driver: X: loaded: modesetting unloaded: fbdev,vesa
dri: iris gpu: i915,nouveau resolution: 1: 1920x1080 2: 1920x1080
API: EGL v: 1.5 drivers: iris,swrast
platforms: wayland,x11,surfaceless,device
API: OpenGL v: 4.6 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: intel mesa v: 24.0.5
renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 530 (SKL GT2)
API: Vulkan v: 1.3.280 drivers: N/A surfaces: xcb,xlib,wayland
Audio:
Device-1: Intel 100 Series/C230 Series Family HD Audio driver: snd_hda_intel
Device-2: NVIDIA GM107 High Definition Audio [GeForce 940MX]
driver: snd_hda_intel
Device-3: Logitech HD Webcam C615 driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo type: USB
API: ALSA v: k6.8.8-1-default status: kernel-api
Server-1: PulseAudio v: 17.0 status: active
Network:
Device-1: Intel Ethernet I219-LM driver: e1000e
IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac:
Device-2: Intel Wireless 8260 driver: iwlwifi
IF: wlan0 state: up mac:
Bluetooth:
Device-1: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface driver: btusb type: USB
Report: btmgmt ID: hci0 state: up address: bt-v: 4.2
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 931.51 GiB used: 36.34 GiB (3.9%)
ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Crucial model: CT1000P5SSD8 size: 931.51 GiB
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 319.67 GiB used: 21.62 GiB (6.8%) fs: btrfs
dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
ID-2: /boot/efi size: 511 MiB used: 5.8 MiB (1.1%) fs: vfat
dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
ID-3: /home size: 609.04 GiB used: 14.72 GiB (2.4%) fs: xfs
dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3
ID-4: /opt size: 319.67 GiB used: 21.62 GiB (6.8%) fs: btrfs
dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
ID-5: /tmp size: 319.67 GiB used: 21.62 GiB (6.8%) fs: btrfs
dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
ID-6: /var size: 319.67 GiB used: 21.62 GiB (6.8%) fs: btrfs
dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
Swap:
ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 2 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%)
dev: /dev/nvme0n1p4
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 42.0 C pch: 49.5 C mobo: N/A gpu: nouveau
temp: 43.0 C
Fan Speeds (rpm): fan-1: 0 fan-2: 0
Info:
Memory: total: 8 GiB note: est. available: 7.59 GiB used: 1.52 GiB (20.0%)
Processes: 382 Uptime: 0h 5m Shell: Bash inxi: 3.3.34

I tried allowing TW to install the Nvidia packages it wanted to. That completely broke the system I could not use the external monitor until I uninstalled them.

According to the Lenovo homepage there is a newer UEFI version available for the ThinkPad P50:

Can you update your UEFI and check for an option to set a primary screen? If you didn’t do it yet you can also check for such an option before you do an update.

Make sure you have updated all of your data before you do the UEFI update.

Besides that: Did you try the described solution from the Arch wiki?

Seems like you have a Nvidia GPU besides your Intel graphics. Is that status that you posted (using nouveau) the current status? What are the nvidia packages TW “wants”?

That should have been “backed up” instead of “updated”

One of the first things I tried was the UEFI and set the primary screen changing the default option to external, made no difference.

The latest bios firmware is Version 1.75 released on the 4/4/24 I’m on 1.74.

Tried the Arch wiki and that also made no difference so removed the entry.

Tried the lid switch file edit as well ,no change. Left the edit in place though.

As I said before Leap 15.5 just works no issues . A fresh install of either leap 15.6 beta or the latest tumbleweed does not . I formatted the disk between of the installs . Tumbleweed was working then after a particular update it stopped. I cant remember which one unfortunately.

The only obvious difference is the kernel, leap 15.6 beta and tumbleweed are on 6.x…x leap 15.5 is 5.x.x

The Windows firmware update ISO only works on a CD/DVD not USB as the laptop does not have an optical drive that is an issue.

~> fwupdmgr update
Devices with no available firmware updates:
• UEFI Device Firmware
• CT1000P5SSD8
Devices with the latest available firmware version:
• Intel Management Engine
• VMM2322

I am sure there are plenty differences between leap 15.5, 15.6 and tumbleweed.
But if you want to try another kernel you could install the lts kernel that is available at least in tumbleweed (6.6.xx).
The name for the package that you would have to install is kernel-longterm.
After installing and restarting your machine you can choose the lts kernel in grub.

I’ll add my new findings on my case (on the Dell 5340 2-in-1 and Dell Thunderbolt4 docking station):
This problems seems to only affect sddm login screens. When I boot, I get the pre-grub screens on external displays (and I’ve set external screens to be primary in bios). I get grub on external displays. I get the console messages on external displays. It’s only when sddm starts that it only shows the login screen on the (closed) laptop screen. If I use ctrl-alt-f1 to switch to console login, it shows on external screens (and switching back to sddm shuts them down). After I login, I get all screens.
But this I find most interesting: When I login (to Wayland, but X11 seemed to work the same) and then logout, then suddenly sddm shows the login on external screens also!

Linux I 6.8.9-1-default #1 SMP PREEMPT_DYNAMIC Fri May 10 08:51:14 UTC 2024 (d3445e0) x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux