Translucency was working in OpenSUSE 13.2. Upgraded to Leap 42.2, and now it’s no longer working. I tried different compositors (currently set to XRender). I also tried different Themes. No joy.
Using KDE:
~> kwin --version
Qt: 4.8.6
KDE Development Platform: 4.14.25
KWin: 4.11.22
Leap is running in a virtual machine (VMWare Player 7.1.2) if that’s important.
I added Breeze Alpha Black theme and have nice translucency from it. The default themes don’t seem to support translucency :’(
I tried that theme, but no change. Just for clarification, when I say translucency, I mean being able to move one konsole over another and see through the one on top, partially.
Actually, other effects aren’t working either - such as the maximize effect (where you see some animation). I’ve checked all of the appropriate boxes in “Desktop Effects.”
That should work.
Although it was mentioned in a bug report that it doesn’t if konsole is restored by session management.
Actually, other effects aren’t working either - such as the maximize effect (where you see some animation).
These probably need OpenGL compositing, not all effects work with XRender.
Btw: Your kwin version is irrelevant, as you are using kwin5 (unless you did some “tricks” manually).
Your “problems” may be related to the vmware video driver though.
I noticed that KDE has been started in safemode:
/bin/sh /usr/bin/startkde --failsafe
So that could be the problem. How do I figure out why it’s starting in safe mode? I tried looking for logs but am not seeing anything useful.
WRT kwin, the reason I posted that is that it was suggested that the way to get your KDE version from the command line was to run any KDE app with the “–version” argument. Hence, that’s what I did. However, I guess that suggestion isn’t that good since it obviously fails if you pick the wrong app.
Is there a way to find your KDE version from the command line?
Definitely.
startkde has this at the beginning:
if test "x$1" = x--failsafe; then
KDE_FAILSAFE=1 # General failsafe flag
KWIN_COMPOSE=N # Disable KWin's compositing
QT_XCB_FORCE_SOFTWARE_OPENGL=1
export KWIN_COMPOSE KDE_FAILSAFE QT_XCB_FORCE_SOFTWARE_OPENGL
fi
So it disables compositing completely if it is started with “–failsafe”, which also means no translucency or desktop effects.
How do I figure out why it’s starting in safe mode?
This should normally only happen if you choose a failsafe session at the login screen I think (or maybe if you boot to recovery mode).
Be sure to select the standard kernel in the boot menu.
If that doesn’t help, logout and make sure that you choose “Plasma5” at the login screen.
Could you please also post /var/log/Xorg.0.log?
Maybe that contains a clue.
Well, but kwin is a KDE4 application and won’t tell anything about the desktop (which uses kwin5 as window manager).
Actually you could even uninstall it… (though it would be possible to use it instead of kwin5 
)
Is there a way to find your KDE version from the command line?
There is no “KDE version”.
KDE is a community.
And there also is no single version of all the software KDE provides. KDE itself releases three major products: the desktop (Plasma), the Frameworks (libraries), and the applications. And those three products are released separately, in different schedules, with different version numbers.
(currently we even still have a mixture of KDE4 and KF5 applications, because not all have been ported yet)
If you run a KDE4 application with ‘–version’, it will indeed tell you what version it has itself, and what libraries it uses.
A KDE Frameworks5/Qt5 application will only tell its own version though.
kinfocenter shows the version of some important components (the Plasma desktop, the KDE Frameworks and Qt5), or the About dialog in a KF5 application will show you its version and the version of Frameworks and Qt5.
You can get the version of the desktop with “plasmashell -v”, you can get kwin5’s version with “kwin_x11 -v” (‘-v’ is an abbreviation of ‘–version’, the latter will work as well).
You can also look at the packages (in YaST e.g.).
The version numbers are likely irrelevant here though, as we do know what versions are in Leap 42.2.
That log file was too large to insert as code, apparently. Is there a way to attach it? I’ve posted the first half or so, and you can see from the top that my boot line isn’t specifying safe mode, so something else is causing it.
21.510]
X.Org X Server 1.18.3
Release Date: 2016-04-04
21.510] X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
21.510] Build Operating System: openSUSE SUSE LINUX
21.510] Current Operating System: Linux fredster 4.4.36-8-default #1 SMP Fri Dec 9 16:18:38 UTC 2016 (3ec5648) x86_64
21.510] Kernel command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-4.4.36-8-default root=UUID=c46da521-6f33-4dfd-8f5b-374624d50d1d resume=/dev/sda1 showopts
21.510] Build Date: 15 December 2016 03:44:58PM
21.510]
21.510] Current version of pixman: 0.34.0
21.510] Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
to make sure that you have the latest version.
21.510] Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
(++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
21.510] (==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Fri Dec 23 18:12:38 2016
21.537] (==) Using config directory: "/etc/X11/xorg.conf.d"
21.537] (==) Using system config directory "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d"
21.681] (==) No Layout section. Using the first Screen section.
21.681] (==) No screen section available. Using defaults.
21.681] (**) |-->Screen "Default Screen Section" (0)
21.681] (**) | |-->Monitor "<default monitor>"
21.682] (==) No monitor specified for screen "Default Screen Section".
Using a default monitor configuration.
21.682] (==) Automatically adding devices
21.682] (==) Automatically enabling devices
21.682] (==) Automatically adding GPU devices
21.682] (==) Max clients allowed: 256, resource mask: 0x1fffff
21.745] (WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/misc/sgi" does not exist.
21.745] Entry deleted from font path.
21.752] (==) FontPath set to:
/usr/share/fonts/misc:unscaled,
/usr/share/fonts/Type1/,
/usr/share/fonts/100dpi:unscaled,
/usr/share/fonts/75dpi:unscaled,
/usr/share/fonts/ghostscript/,
/usr/share/fonts/cyrillic:unscaled,
/usr/share/fonts/truetype/,
built-ins
21.752] (==) ModulePath set to "/usr/lib64/xorg/modules"
21.752] (**) Extension "XFree86-DGA" is disabled
21.752] (II) The server relies on udev to provide the list of input devices.
If no devices become available, reconfigure udev or disable AutoAddDevices.
21.752] (II) Loader magic: 0x80fce0
21.752] (II) Module ABI versions:
21.752] X.Org ANSI C Emulation: 0.4
21.752] X.Org Video Driver: 20.0
21.752] X.Org XInput driver : 22.1
21.752] X.Org Server Extension : 9.0
21.753] (++) using VT number 7
21.753] (II) systemd-logind: logind integration requires -keeptty and -keeptty was not provided, disabling logind integration
21.755] (II) xfree86: Adding drm device (/dev/dri/card0)
21.772] (--) PCI:*(0:0:15:0) 15ad:0405:15ad:0405 rev 0, Mem @ 0xe8000000/134217728, 0xfe000000/8388608, I/O @ 0x00001070/16, BIOS @ 0x????????/32768
21.772] (II) LoadModule: "glx"
22.046] (II) Loading /usr/lib64/xorg/modules/extensions/libglx.so
22.162] (II) Module glx: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
22.162] compiled for 1.18.3, module version = 1.0.0
22.162] ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 9.0
22.162] (==) AIGLX enabled
22.162] (II) Scanning /etc/X11/xorg_pci_ids directory for additional PCI ID's supported by the drivers
22.185] (II) Scanning /etc/X11/xorg_pci_ids directory for additional PCI ID's supported by the drivers
22.185] (==) Matched vmware as autoconfigured driver 0
22.185] (==) Matched vmware as autoconfigured driver 1
22.185] (==) Matched modesetting as autoconfigured driver 2
22.185] (==) Matched fbdev as autoconfigured driver 3
22.185] (==) Matched vesa as autoconfigured driver 4
22.185] (==) Assigned the driver to the xf86ConfigLayout
22.185] (II) LoadModule: "vmware"
22.186] (II) Loading /usr/lib64/xorg/modules/drivers/vmware_drv.so
24.256] (II) Module vmware: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
24.256] compiled for 1.18.3, module version = 13.1.0
24.256] Module class: X.Org Video Driver
24.256] ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 20.0
24.256] (II) LoadModule: "modesetting"
24.256] (II) Loading /usr/lib64/xorg/modules/drivers/modesetting_drv.so
24.266] (II) Module modesetting: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
24.266] compiled for 1.18.3, module version = 1.18.3
24.266] Module class: X.Org Video Driver
24.266] ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 20.0
24.266] (II) LoadModule: "fbdev"
24.267] (II) Loading /usr/lib64/xorg/modules/drivers/fbdev_drv.so
24.283] (II) Module fbdev: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
24.283] compiled for 1.18.3, module version = 0.4.4
24.283] Module class: X.Org Video Driver
24.283] ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 20.0
24.283] (II) LoadModule: "vesa"
24.283] (II) Loading /usr/lib64/xorg/modules/drivers/vesa_drv.so
24.301] (II) Module vesa: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
24.301] compiled for 1.18.3, module version = 2.3.4
24.301] Module class: X.Org Video Driver
24.301] ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 20.0
24.301] (II) vmware: driver for VMware SVGA: vmware0405, vmware0710
24.301] (II) modesetting: Driver for Modesetting Kernel Drivers: kms
24.301] (II) FBDEV: driver for framebuffer: fbdev
24.301] (II) VESA: driver for VESA chipsets: vesa
24.302] (WW) Falling back to old probe method for modesetting
24.302] (WW) Falling back to old probe method for fbdev
24.302] (II) Loading sub module "fbdevhw"
24.302] (II) LoadModule: "fbdevhw"
24.302] (II) Loading /usr/lib64/xorg/modules/libfbdevhw.so
24.309] (II) Module fbdevhw: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
24.309] compiled for 1.18.3, module version = 0.0.2
24.309] ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 20.0
24.309] (WW) Falling back to old probe method for vesa
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Creating default Display subsection in Screen section
"Default Screen Section" for depth/fbbpp 24/32
24.309] (--) vmware(0): DRM driver version is 2.9.0
24.309] (==) vmware(0): Depth 24, (--) framebuffer bpp 32
24.309] (==) vmware(0): RGB weight 888
24.309] (==) vmware(0): Default visual is TrueColor
24.309] (--) vmware(0): Min width 1, Max Width 8192.
24.309] (--) vmware(0): Min height 1, Max Height 8192.
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Output Virtual1 has no monitor section
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Output Virtual2 has no monitor section
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Output Virtual3 has no monitor section
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Output Virtual4 has no monitor section
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Output Virtual5 has no monitor section
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Output Virtual6 has no monitor section
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Output Virtual7 has no monitor section
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Output Virtual8 has no monitor section
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "800x600"x60.0 42.75 800 850 900 950 600 650 700 750 -hsync +vsync (45.0 kHz eP)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "2560x1600"x60.0 348.50 2560 2752 3032 3504 1600 1603 1609 1658 -hsync +vsync (99.5 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1920x1440"x60.0 234.00 1920 2048 2256 2600 1440 1441 1444 1500 -hsync +vsync (90.0 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1856x1392"x60.0 218.25 1856 1952 2176 2528 1392 1393 1396 1439 -hsync +vsync (86.3 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1792x1344"x60.0 204.75 1792 1920 2120 2448 1344 1345 1348 1394 -hsync +vsync (83.6 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1920x1200"x59.9 193.25 1920 2056 2256 2592 1200 1203 1209 1245 -hsync +vsync (74.6 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1600x1200"x60.0 162.00 1600 1664 1856 2160 1200 1201 1204 1250 +hsync +vsync (75.0 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1680x1050"x60.0 146.25 1680 1784 1960 2240 1050 1053 1059 1089 -hsync +vsync (65.3 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1400x1050"x60.0 121.75 1400 1488 1632 1864 1050 1053 1057 1089 -hsync +vsync (65.3 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1280x1024"x60.0 108.00 1280 1328 1440 1688 1024 1025 1028 1066 +hsync +vsync (64.0 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1440x900"x59.9 106.50 1440 1520 1672 1904 900 903 909 934 -hsync +vsync (55.9 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1280x960"x60.0 108.00 1280 1376 1488 1800 960 961 964 1000 +hsync +vsync (60.0 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1360x768"x60.0 85.50 1360 1424 1536 1792 768 771 777 795 +hsync +vsync (47.7 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1280x800"x59.8 83.50 1280 1352 1480 1680 800 803 809 831 +hsync -vsync (49.7 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1152x864"x75.0 108.00 1152 1216 1344 1600 864 865 868 900 +hsync +vsync (67.5 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1280x768"x59.9 79.50 1280 1344 1472 1664 768 771 778 798 -hsync +vsync (47.8 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1024x768"x60.0 65.00 1024 1048 1184 1344 768 771 777 806 -hsync -vsync (48.4 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "800x600"x60.3 40.00 800 840 968 1056 600 601 605 628 +hsync +vsync (37.9 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "640x480"x59.9 25.18 640 656 752 800 480 489 492 525 -hsync -vsync (31.5 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Printing probed modes for output Virtual1
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "800x600"x60.0 42.75 800 850 900 950 600 650 700 750 -hsync +vsync (45.0 kHz eP)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "2560x1600"x60.0 348.50 2560 2752 3032 3504 1600 1603 1609 1658 -hsync +vsync (99.5 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1920x1440"x60.0 234.00 1920 2048 2256 2600 1440 1441 1444 1500 -hsync +vsync (90.0 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1856x1392"x60.0 218.25 1856 1952 2176 2528 1392 1393 1396 1439 -hsync +vsync (86.3 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1792x1344"x60.0 204.75 1792 1920 2120 2448 1344 1345 1348 1394 -hsync +vsync (83.6 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1920x1200"x59.9 193.25 1920 2056 2256 2592 1200 1203 1209 1245 -hsync +vsync (74.6 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1600x1200"x60.0 162.00 1600 1664 1856 2160 1200 1201 1204 1250 +hsync +vsync (75.0 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1680x1050"x60.0 146.25 1680 1784 1960 2240 1050 1053 1059 1089 -hsync +vsync (65.3 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1400x1050"x60.0 121.75 1400 1488 1632 1864 1050 1053 1057 1089 -hsync +vsync (65.3 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1280x1024"x60.0 108.00 1280 1328 1440 1688 1024 1025 1028 1066 +hsync +vsync (64.0 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1440x900"x59.9 106.50 1440 1520 1672 1904 900 903 909 934 -hsync +vsync (55.9 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1280x960"x60.0 108.00 1280 1376 1488 1800 960 961 964 1000 +hsync +vsync (60.0 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1360x768"x60.0 85.50 1360 1424 1536 1792 768 771 777 795 +hsync +vsync (47.7 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1280x800"x59.8 83.50 1280 1352 1480 1680 800 803 809 831 +hsync -vsync (49.7 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1152x864"x75.0 108.00 1152 1216 1344 1600 864 865 868 900 +hsync +vsync (67.5 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1280x768"x59.9 79.50 1280 1344 1472 1664 768 771 778 798 -hsync +vsync (47.8 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1024x768"x60.0 65.00 1024 1048 1184 1344 768 771 777 806 -hsync -vsync (48.4 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "800x600"x60.3 40.00 800 840 968 1056 600 601 605 628 +hsync +vsync (37.9 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "640x480"x59.9 25.18 640 656 752 800 480 489 492 525 -hsync -vsync (31.5 kHz e)
24.309] (II) vmware(0): EDID for output Virtual2
24.310] (II) vmware(0): EDID for output Virtual3
24.310] (II) vmware(0): EDID for output Virtual4
24.310] (II) vmware(0): EDID for output Virtual5
24.310] (II) vmware(0): EDID for output Virtual6
24.310] (II) vmware(0): EDID for output Virtual7
24.310] (II) vmware(0): EDID for output Virtual8
24.310] (II) vmware(0): Output Virtual1 connected
24.310] (II) vmware(0): Output Virtual2 disconnected
24.310] (II) vmware(0): Output Virtual3 disconnected
24.310] (II) vmware(0): Output Virtual4 disconnected
24.310] (II) vmware(0): Output Virtual5 disconnected
24.310] (II) vmware(0): Output Virtual6 disconnected
24.310] (II) vmware(0): Output Virtual7 disconnected
24.310] (II) vmware(0): Output Virtual8 disconnected
24.310] (II) vmware(0): Using exact sizes for initial modes
24.310] (II) vmware(0): Output Virtual1 using initial mode 800x600 +0+0
24.310] (II) vmware(0): Using default gamma of (1.0, 1.0, 1.0) unless otherwise stated.
24.310] (==) vmware(0): DPI set to (96, 96)
24.310] (II) Loading sub module "fb"
24.310] (II) LoadModule: "fb"
24.310] (II) Loading /usr/lib64/xorg/modules/libfb.so
24.315] (II) Module fb: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
24.315] compiled for 1.18.3, module version = 1.0.0
24.315] ABI class: X.Org ANSI C Emulation, version 0.4
24.315] (II) Loading sub module "dri2"
24.315] (II) LoadModule: "dri2"
24.315] (II) Module "dri2" already built-in
24.315] (II) UnloadModule: "modesetting"
24.315] (II) Unloading modesetting
24.316] (II) UnloadModule: "fbdev"
24.316] (II) Unloading fbdev
24.316] (II) UnloadSubModule: "fbdevhw"
24.316] (II) Unloading fbdevhw
24.316] (II) UnloadModule: "vesa"
24.316] (II) Unloading vesa
24.316] (==) Depth 24 pixmap format is 32 bpp
24.326] (II) vmware(0): Initialized VMWARE_CTRL extension version 0.2
24.362] (II) vmware(0): Gallium3D XA version: 2.3.0.
24.362] (II) vmware(0): Path of drm device is "/dev/dri/card0".
24.362] (II) vmware(0): [DRI2] Setup complete
24.362] (II) vmware(0): [DRI2] DRI driver: vmwgfx
24.362] (--) vmware(0): Render acceleration is enabled.
24.362] (==) vmware(0): Rendercheck mode is disabled.
The last half is below - I’ve stripped out a lot of the “modeline” entries to shorten it. Note that the last line is “no surface to present from”. Is that the error causing this?
24.310] (II) Loading sub module "fb"
24.310] (II) LoadModule: "fb"
24.310] (II) Loading /usr/lib64/xorg/modules/libfb.so
24.315] (II) Module fb: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
24.315] compiled for 1.18.3, module version = 1.0.0
24.315] ABI class: X.Org ANSI C Emulation, version 0.4
24.315] (II) Loading sub module "dri2"
24.315] (II) LoadModule: "dri2"
24.315] (II) Module "dri2" already built-in
24.315] (II) UnloadModule: "modesetting"
24.315] (II) Unloading modesetting
24.316] (II) UnloadModule: "fbdev"
24.316] (II) Unloading fbdev
24.316] (II) UnloadSubModule: "fbdevhw"
24.316] (II) Unloading fbdevhw
24.316] (II) UnloadModule: "vesa"
24.316] (II) Unloading vesa
24.316] (==) Depth 24 pixmap format is 32 bpp
24.326] (II) vmware(0): Initialized VMWARE_CTRL extension version 0.2
24.362] (II) vmware(0): Gallium3D XA version: 2.3.0.
24.362] (II) vmware(0): Path of drm device is "/dev/dri/card0".
24.362] (II) vmware(0): [DRI2] Setup complete
24.362] (II) vmware(0): [DRI2] DRI driver: vmwgfx
24.362] (--) vmware(0): Render acceleration is enabled.
24.362] (==) vmware(0): Rendercheck mode is disabled.
24.362] (--) vmware(0): Direct rendering (3D) is enabled.
24.362] (==) vmware(0): Direct presents are disabled.
24.362] (==) vmware(0): Hardware only presents are disabled.
24.362] (==) vmware(0): Backing store enabled
24.362] (==) vmware(0): Silken mouse enabled
24.362] (II) vmware(0): RandR 1.2 enabled, ignore the following RandR disabled message.
24.362] (==) vmware(0): DPMS enabled
24.362] (--) RandR disabled
24.906] (II) AIGLX: enabled GLX_MESA_copy_sub_buffer
24.906] (II) AIGLX: enabled GLX_ARB_create_context
24.906] (II) AIGLX: enabled GLX_ARB_create_context_profile
24.906] (II) AIGLX: enabled GLX_EXT_create_context_es{,2}_profile
24.906] (II) AIGLX: enabled GLX_EXT_framebuffer_sRGB
24.906] (II) AIGLX: enabled GLX_ARB_fbconfig_float
24.906] (II) AIGLX: enabled GLX_EXT_fbconfig_packed_float
24.906] (II) AIGLX: GLX_EXT_texture_from_pixmap backed by buffer objects
24.906] (II) AIGLX: Loaded and initialized vmwgfx
24.906] (II) GLX: Initialized DRI2 GL provider for screen 0
24.907] (II) vmware(0): Setting screen physical size to 211 x 158
25.995] (II) config/udev: Adding input device Power Button (/dev/input/event3)
25.995] (**) Power Button: Applying InputClass "evdev keyboard catchall"
25.995] (**) Power Button: Applying InputClass "system-keyboard"
25.995] (**) Power Button: Applying InputClass "evdev keyboard catchall"
25.995] (**) Power Button: Applying InputClass "libinput keyboard catchall"
25.995] (II) LoadModule: "libinput"
25.995] (II) Loading /usr/lib64/xorg/modules/input/libinput_drv.so
26.050] (II) Module libinput: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
26.050] compiled for 1.18.3, module version = 0.19.1
26.050] Module class: X.Org XInput Driver
26.050] ABI class: X.Org XInput driver, version 22.1
26.050] (II) Using input driver 'libinput' for 'Power Button'
26.050] (**) Power Button: always reports core events
26.050] (**) Option "Device" "/dev/input/event3"
26.050] (**) Option "_source" "server/udev"
26.050] (II) input device 'Power Button', /dev/input/event3 is tagged by udev as: Keyboard
26.050] (II) input device 'Power Button', /dev/input/event3 is a keyboard
26.060] (**) Option "config_info" "udev:/sys/devices/LNXSYSTM:00/LNXPWRBN:00/input/input4/event3"
26.060] (II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "Power Button" (type: KEYBOARD, id 6)
26.060] (**) Option "xkb_layout" "us"
26.060] (II) input device 'Power Button', /dev/input/event3 is tagged by udev as: Keyboard
26.060] (II) input device 'Power Button', /dev/input/event3 is a keyboard
26.061] (II) config/udev: Adding input device VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse (/dev/input/event5)
26.061] (**) VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse: Applying InputClass "evdev pointer catchall"
26.061] (**) VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse: Applying InputClass "evdev pointer catchall"
26.061] (**) VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse: Applying InputClass "libinput pointer catchall"
26.061] (II) Using input driver 'libinput' for 'VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse'
26.061] (**) VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse: always reports core events
26.061] (**) Option "Device" "/dev/input/event5"
26.061] (**) Option "_source" "server/udev"
26.116] (II) input device 'VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse', /dev/input/event5 is tagged by udev as: Mouse
26.116] (II) input device 'VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse', /dev/input/event5 is a pointer caps
26.256] (**) Option "config_info" "udev:/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:11.0/0000:02:00.0/usb2/2-1/2-1:1.0/0003:0E0F:0003.0001/input/input6/event5"
26.256] (II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse" (type: MOUSE, id 7)
26.256] (**) Option "AccelerationScheme" "none"
26.256] (**) VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse: (accel) selected scheme none/0
26.256] (**) VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse: (accel) acceleration factor: 2.000
26.256] (**) VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse: (accel) acceleration threshold: 4
26.316] (II) input device 'VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse', /dev/input/event5 is tagged by udev as: Mouse
26.316] (II) input device 'VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse', /dev/input/event5 is a pointer caps
26.316] (II) config/udev: Adding input device VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse (/dev/input/js0)
26.316] (II) No input driver specified, ignoring this device.
26.316] (II) This device may have been added with another device file.
26.317] (II) config/udev: Adding input device VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse (/dev/input/mouse2)
26.317] (II) No input driver specified, ignoring this device.
26.317] (II) This device may have been added with another device file.
26.317] (II) config/udev: Adding input device VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse (/dev/input/event6)
26.317] (**) VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse: Applying InputClass "evdev pointer catchall"
26.317] (**) VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse: Applying InputClass "evdev pointer catchall"
26.317] (**) VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse: Applying InputClass "libinput pointer catchall"
26.317] (II) Using input driver 'libinput' for 'VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse'
26.317] (**) VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse: always reports core events
26.317] (**) Option "Device" "/dev/input/event6"
26.317] (**) Option "_source" "server/udev"
26.376] (II) input device 'VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse', /dev/input/event6 is tagged by udev as: Mouse
26.376] (II) input device 'VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse', /dev/input/event6 is a pointer caps
26.912] (**) Option "config_info" "udev:/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:11.0/0000:02:00.0/usb2/2-1/2-1:1.1/0003:0E0F:0003.0002/input/input7/event6"
26.912] (II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse" (type: MOUSE, id 8)
26.912] (**) Option "AccelerationScheme" "none"
26.912] (**) VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse: (accel) selected scheme none/0
26.912] (**) VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse: (accel) acceleration factor: 2.000
26.912] (**) VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse: (accel) acceleration threshold: 4
26.968] (II) input device 'VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse', /dev/input/event6 is tagged by udev as: Mouse
26.968] (II) input device 'VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse', /dev/input/event6 is a pointer caps
26.969] (II) config/udev: Adding input device VMware VMware Virtual USB Mouse (/dev/input/mouse3)
26.969] (II) No input driver specified, ignoring this device.
26.969] (II) This device may have been added with another device file.
26.969] (II) config/udev: Adding input device AT Translated Set 2 keyboard (/dev/input/event0)
26.969] (**) AT Translated Set 2 keyboard: Applying InputClass "evdev keyboard catchall"
26.969] (**) AT Translated Set 2 keyboard: Applying InputClass "system-keyboard"
26.969] (**) AT Translated Set 2 keyboard: Applying InputClass "evdev keyboard catchall"
26.969] (**) AT Translated Set 2 keyboard: Applying InputClass "libinput keyboard catchall"
26.969] (II) Using input driver 'libinput' for 'AT Translated Set 2 keyboard'
26.969] (**) AT Translated Set 2 keyboard: always reports core events
26.969] (**) Option "Device" "/dev/input/event0"
26.969] (**) Option "_source" "server/udev"
26.969] (II) input device 'AT Translated Set 2 keyboard', /dev/input/event0 is tagged by udev as: Keyboard
26.969] (II) input device 'AT Translated Set 2 keyboard', /dev/input/event0 is a keyboard
27.028] (**) Option "config_info" "udev:/sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio0/input/input0/event0"
27.028] (II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "AT Translated Set 2 keyboard" (type: KEYBOARD, id 9)
27.028] (**) Option "xkb_layout" "us"
27.028] (II) input device 'AT Translated Set 2 keyboard', /dev/input/event0 is tagged by udev as: Keyboard
27.028] (II) input device 'AT Translated Set 2 keyboard', /dev/input/event0 is a keyboard
27.029] (II) config/udev: Adding input device VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse (/dev/input/event2)
27.029] (**) VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse: Applying InputClass "evdev pointer catchall"
27.029] (**) VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse: Applying InputClass "evdev pointer catchall"
27.029] (**) VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse: Applying InputClass "libinput pointer catchall"
27.029] (II) Using input driver 'libinput' for 'VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse'
27.029] (**) VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse: always reports core events
27.029] (**) Option "Device" "/dev/input/event2"
27.029] (**) Option "_source" "server/udev"
27.029] (II) input device 'VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse', /dev/input/event2 is tagged by udev as: Mouse
27.029] (II) input device 'VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse', /dev/input/event2 is a pointer caps
27.056] (**) Option "config_info" "udev:/sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio1/input/input2/event2"
27.056] (II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse" (type: MOUSE, id 10)
27.056] (**) Option "AccelerationScheme" "none"
27.056] (**) VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse: (accel) selected scheme none/0
27.056] (**) VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse: (accel) acceleration factor: 2.000
27.056] (**) VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse: (accel) acceleration threshold: 4
27.056] (II) input device 'VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse', /dev/input/event2 is tagged by udev as: Mouse
27.056] (II) input device 'VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse', /dev/input/event2 is a pointer caps
27.056] (II) config/udev: Adding input device VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse (/dev/input/mouse1)
27.056] (II) No input driver specified, ignoring this device.
27.056] (II) This device may have been added with another device file.
27.057] (II) config/udev: Adding input device VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse (/dev/input/event1)
27.057] (**) VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse: Applying InputClass "evdev pointer catchall"
27.057] (**) VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse: Applying InputClass "evdev pointer catchall"
27.057] (**) VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse: Applying InputClass "libinput pointer catchall"
27.057] (II) Using input driver 'libinput' for 'VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse'
27.057] (**) VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse: always reports core events
27.057] (**) Option "Device" "/dev/input/event1"
27.057] (**) Option "_source" "server/udev"
27.057] (II) input device 'VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse', /dev/input/event1 is tagged by udev as: Mouse
27.057] (II) input device 'VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse', /dev/input/event1 is a pointer caps
27.116] (**) Option "config_info" "udev:/sys/devices/platform/i8042/serio1/input/input3/event1"
27.116] (II) XINPUT: Adding extended input device "VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse" (type: MOUSE, id 11)
27.116] (**) Option "AccelerationScheme" "none"
27.116] (**) VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse: (accel) selected scheme none/0
27.116] (**) VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse: (accel) acceleration factor: 2.000
27.116] (**) VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse: (accel) acceleration threshold: 4
27.116] (II) input device 'VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse', /dev/input/event1 is tagged by udev as: Mouse
27.116] (II) input device 'VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse', /dev/input/event1 is a pointer caps
27.117] (II) config/udev: Adding input device VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse (/dev/input/mouse0)
27.117] (II) No input driver specified, ignoring this device.
27.117] (II) This device may have been added with another device file.
27.117] (II) config/udev: Adding input device PC Speaker (/dev/input/event4)
27.117] (II) No input driver specified, ignoring this device.
27.117] (II) This device may have been added with another device file.
38.298] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "800x600"x60.0 42.75 800 850 900 950 600 650 700 750 -hsync +vsync (45.0 kHz eP)
38.298] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "2560x1600"x60.0 348.50 2560 2752 3032 3504 1600 1603 1609 1658 -hsync +vsync (99.5 kHz e)
46.136] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1440x900"x59.9 106.50 1440 1520 1672 1904 900 903 909 934 -hsync +vsync (55.9 kHz e)
46.136] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1280x960"x60.0 108.00 1280 1376 1488 1800 960 961 964 1000 +hsync +vsync (60.0 kHz e)
46.136] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1360x768"x60.0 85.50 1360 1424 1536 1792 768 771 777 795 +hsync +vsync (47.7 kHz e)
50.345] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1400x1050"x60.0 121.75 1400 1488 1632 1864 1050 1053 1057 1089 -hsync +vsync (65.3 kHz e)
50.345] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1280x1024"x60.0 108.00 1280 1328 1440 1688 1024 1025 1028 1066 +hsync +vsync (64.0 kHz e)
50.345] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "1024x768"x60.0 65.00 1024 1048 1184 1344 768 771 777 806 -hsync -vsync (48.4 kHz e)
50.345] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "800x600"x60.3 40.00 800 840 968 1056 600 601 605 628 +hsync +vsync (37.9 kHz e)
50.345] (II) vmware(0): Modeline "640x480"x59.9 25.18 640 656 752 800 480 489 492 525 -hsync -vsync (31.5 kHz e)
50.354] (EE) No surface to present from.
No, but you could upload it susepaste.org or similar and post a link.
What you posted should be enough though, that looks ok.
Hm, I don’t find anything on my system that would add the “–failsafe” option to startkde. I’m still on 13.2 here though, and cannot currently check on a 42.2 system.
But at least it must be done by something outside the KDE/Plasma session (because startkde is the thing that is run by the login screen to start the KDE/Plasma session).
What display manager are you actually using?
grep DISPLAYMANAGER /etc/sysconfig/displaymanager
As you upgraded from 13.2, it is probably kdm, which does offer a "KDE Plasma Workspace (failsafe session) that indeed runs “/usr/bin/startkde --failsafe”, i.e. exactly what you reported.
So please, do try to logout, make sure that “Plasma5” is selected on the login screen (in kdm you’d click on the icon in the bottom left corner) and login again.
Thanks! Changing the setting to “plasma5” seems to have eliminated the safemode flag. Effects working.
>grep DISPLAYMANAGER /etc/sysconfig/displaymanager
DISPLAYMANAGER="kdm4"
DISPLAYMANAGER_REMOTE_ACCESS="no"
# that root can never login if DISPLAYMANAGER_SHUTDOWN is "auto" and
DISPLAYMANAGER_ROOT_LOGIN_REMOTE="no"
DISPLAYMANAGER_STARTS_XSERVER="yes"
DISPLAYMANAGER_XSERVER_TCP_PORT_6000_OPEN="no"
# DISPLAYMANAGER_AUTOLOGIN is empty.
DISPLAYMANAGER_PASSWORD_LESS_LOGIN="no"
DISPLAYMANAGER_AD_INTEGRATION="no"
DISPLAYMANAGER_SHUTDOWN="auto"
DISPLAYMANAGER_XSERVER="Xorg"
DISPLAYMANAGER_KDM_LOCALARGS=""
DISPLAYMANAGER_KDM_THEME="openSUSE"
# that root can never login if DISPLAYMANAGER_SHUTDOWN is "auto" and
DISPLAYMANAGER_ROOT_LOGIN_LOCAL="yes"
Good! 
grep DISPLAYMANAGER /etc/sysconfig/displaymanager
DISPLAYMANAGER=“kdm4”
So it is kdm.
Well, I don’t know why it would suddenly have started to use the failsafe option.
It should just use what the user selected before, or “Default” if the user never selected anything explicitly, which means the DEFAULT_WM specified in /etc/sysconfig/windowmanager.
I doubt that the latter one had been changed to failsafe (at least not by the upgrade, and I suppose you didn’t do it manually either…).
So if you chose “Default”, it should work too.
I suspect that may happen if the previously used session is no longer available (as kdm might pick another one “randomly” then).
But that’s actually (one of) the reason(s) why Plasma5 comes with a “KDE Plasma Workspace” session entry too (so that it works if a display manager would try to start the KDE4 session from earlier openSUSE releases).