old problem with kdm_greet no posted solution

Greetings,

As far as I can tell this problem goes back at least 10 years, but despite reading 40-50 threads, there is no solution. david42 is a new user after doing a zypper update in prep for 42.3 upgrade. I have marked the problem in bold. root logs in without any problem. Old users, ditto. I see “solutions” like “copy an icon to .default.face” and “I don’t have this problem”

Dec 15 09:09:12 david-main kdm[4562]: :0[4562]: pam_unix(xdm:session): session opened for user david42 by (uid=0)
Dec 15 09:09:12 david-main systemd[1]: Created slice User Slice of david42.
Dec 15 09:09:12 david-main systemd[1]: Starting User Manager for UID 1000…
Dec 15 09:09:12 david-main systemd[4591]: pam_unix(systemd-user:session): session opened for user david42 by (uid=0)
Dec 15 09:09:12 david-main systemd[1]: Started Session 4 of user david42.
Dec 15 09:09:12 david-main systemd-logind[1111]: New session 4 of user david42.
Dec 15 09:09:12 david-main systemd[4591]: Reached target Timers.
Dec 15 09:09:12 david-main systemd[4591]: Reached target Paths.
Dec 15 09:09:12 david-main systemd[4591]: Reached target Sockets.
Dec 15 09:09:12 david-main systemd[4591]: Reached target Basic System.
Dec 15 09:09:12 david-main systemd[4591]: Reached target Default.
Dec 15 09:09:12 david-main systemd[4591]: Startup finished in 33ms.
Dec 15 09:09:12 david-main systemd[1]: Started User Manager for UID 1000.
Dec 15 09:09:12 david-main kdm[4562]: :0[4562]: pam_unix(xdm:session): session closed for user david42
Dec 15 09:09:13 david-main kdm[1344]: plymouth should quit after server startup
Dec 15 09:09:14 david-main kdm[1344]: Quitting Plymouth with transition
Dec 15 09:09:14 david-main kdm[1344]: Is Plymouth still running? no
Dec 15 09:09:14 david-main kdm_greet[4678]: Cannot load /usr/share/kde4/apps/kdm/faces/.default.face: No such file or directory
Dec 15 09:09:15 david-main systemd-logind[1111]: Removed session 4.
Dec 15 09:09:15 david-main systemd[1]: Stopping User Manager for UID 1000…
Dec 15 09:09:15 david-main systemd[4591]: Stopped target Default.
Dec 15 09:09:15 david-main systemd[4591]: Reached target Shutdown.
Dec 15 09:09:15 david-main systemd[4591]: Stopped target Basic System.
Dec 15 09:09:15 david-main systemd[4591]: Stopped target Paths.
Dec 15 09:09:15 david-main systemd[4591]: Stopped target Sockets.
Dec 15 09:09:15 david-main systemd[4591]: Stopped target Timers.
Dec 15 09:09:15 david-main systemd[4591]: Starting Exit the Session…
Dec 15 09:09:15 david-main systemd[4591]: Received SIGRTMIN+24 from PID 4697 (kill).
Dec 15 09:09:15 david-main systemd[4594]: pam_unix(systemd-user:session): session closed for user david42
Dec 15 09:09:15 david-main systemd[1]: Stopped User Manager for UID 1000.
Dec 15 09:09:15 david-main systemd[1]: Removed slice User Slice of david42.

I’ve been working with linux for a long time and this is the first time I’ve run into this specific problem.

Which openSUSE version are you currently using (and attempting to upgrade from)? Do you have a working network connection even at a console level? The output provided shows KDE4 (with kdm display manager), whereas KDE Plasma 5 (and sddm display manager) is in use for openSUSE Leap users, so assuming your system can be upgraded successfully, you should be able to leave that KDM issue behind. That said there have been so many changes with KDE, I would consider just backing up /home and proceed with a clean install.

I am currently at 42.2. I tried copying the icons from /usr/share/sddm/faces/ over and renaming one of them to .default.face The error went away, but the user still cannot log in.

So, where do I change what to get the system to use kde5 and sddm for new users? I created the user with yast2-> Security and Users -> User and Group Management

A fresh installation is not an option due to network limitations.

Thank you for the nudge. I remembered that whenever yast is updated you have to go in and change the DEFAULT_DM to sddm, since it reverts to kde4.

This can be closed.

Yes, setting the default display manager to sddm is the way to go.