Turning off display doubles idle power consumption (KDE Plasma)

English Applications
1

I’ve been having an issue I’d like to get to the bottom of. Any insight would be welcome.

I have a system I sometimes leave running, since the idle power consumption is reasonable. There is however an issue with (apparently KDE), where the system will be unable to idle properly after some time.

This seems to be related to KDE creating a placeholder screen after about two hours of the main display being turned off.

How can I prevent this? Or if it can’t be prevented, why on earth is the placeholder so much more resource intensive than the actual GPU output. I know the marginal CPU usage doesn’t seem like much, but going from 40-50W at idle to 100W at idle is a considerable issue (no active programs running in KDE).

The only thing to reach this issue was to close all programs, and activate to lock screen and turn off the display.

Currently running the latest tumbleweed snapshot and nvidia 580.126.18 with the open driver modules. The issue, however, has been ongoing for a longer while (started to pay attention to it last fall)

Mostly active processes:

kuva
kuva1312×113 88.7 KB

Timeframe of consumption (system in use before 1:30AM and idling correctly from about 1:30AM to 3:15AM):

kuva
kuva641×346 22.4 KB

Standout section of journalctl -f (before and after this there is nothing related - no errors or lost output, this just comes out from nowhere)

Feb 25 03:14:00 intel ksecretd[5917]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:14:00 intel kalendarac[12030]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:14:00 intel kactivitymanagerd[7491]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:14:00 intel xdg-desktop-portal-kde[7497]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:14:00 intel baloorunner[27468]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:14:00 intel akonadi_archivemail_agent[12376]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:14:00 intel akonadi_migration_agent[12398]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:14:00 intel akonadi_sendlater_agent[12401]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:14:00 intel akonadi_mailmerge_agent[12395]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:14:00 intel akonadi_followupreminder_agent[12379]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:14:00 intel akonadi_mailfilter_agent[12394]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:14:00 intel kscreenlocker_greet[71866]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:14:00 intel kwalletd6[12686]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:14:00 intel akonadi_unifiedmailbox_agent[12404]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:14:00 intel kded6[71304]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:14:00 intel polkit-kde-authentication-agent-1[7495]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:14:00 intel DiscoverNotifier[12020]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:14:00 intel plasmashell[7199]: requesting unexisting screen available rect -1
Feb 25 03:14:01 intel akonadi_control[12229]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:14:01 intel akonadi_maildispatcher_agent[12391]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:14:01 intel akonadi_newmailnotifier_agent[12399]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:14:01 intel kcminit[72137]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:14:01 intel plasmashell[7199]: requesting unexisting screen available rect -1
Feb 25 03:14:01 intel org_kde_powerdevil[7496]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:14:01 intel plasmashell[7199]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:14:01 intel systemd[5892]: Started dbus-:1.2-org.kde.KSplash@3.service.
Feb 25 03:14:01 intel kded6[71364]: xsettingsd: Reloading configuration
Feb 25 03:14:01 intel kded6[71364]: xsettingsd: Loaded 16 settings from /home/user/.config/xsettingsd/xsettingsd.conf
Feb 25 03:14:02 intel kded6[71364]: xsettingsd: Reloading configuration
Feb 25 03:14:02 intel kded6[71364]: xsettingsd: Loaded 16 settings from /home/user/.config/xsettingsd/xsettingsd.conf
Feb 25 03:14:02 intel kded6[71304]: No object for name "auto_null"
Feb 25 03:14:02 intel kded6[71304]: No object for name "auto_null.monitor"
Feb 25 03:14:02 intel kded6[71304]: No object for name "@DEFAULT_SINK@"
Feb 25 03:14:02 intel kded6[71304]: No object for name "@DEFAULT_SOURCE@"
Feb 25 03:14:02 intel kded6[71304]: No object for name "@DEFAULT_SINK@"
Feb 25 03:14:02 intel kded6[71304]: No object for name "@DEFAULT_SOURCE@"
Feb 25 03:14:02 intel kded6[71304]: No object for name "alsa_output.pci-0000_02_00.1.hdmi-stereo.monitor"
Feb 25 03:14:02 intel plasmashell[7199]: No object for name "auto_null"
Feb 25 03:14:02 intel plasmashell[7199]: No object for name "auto_null.monitor"
Feb 25 03:14:02 intel plasmashell[7199]: No object for name "alsa_output.pci-0000_02_00.1.hdmi-stereo"
Feb 25 03:14:02 intel plasmashell[7199]: No object for name "alsa_output.pci-0000_02_00.1.hdmi-stereo.monitor"
Feb 25 03:14:02 intel plasmashell[7199]: No object for name "alsa_output.pci-0000_02_00.1.hdmi-stereo.monitor"
Feb 25 03:14:02 intel plasmashell[7199]: No object for name "alsa_output.pci-0000_02_00.1.hdmi-stereo.monitor"
Feb 25 03:14:03 intel plasmashell[7199]: error creating screencast "Ikkunaa, jonka tunniste = {f7330ca7-4568-4bf2-b02e-1baf11b65c53}, ei l<C3><B6>ytynyt"
Feb 25 03:15:01 intel plasma_waitforname[72145]: WaitForName: Service was not registered within timeout
Feb 25 03:15:01 intel systemd[5892]: dbus-:1.2-org.kde.KSplash@3.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Feb 25 03:15:01 intel systemd[5892]: dbus-:1.2-org.kde.KSplash@3.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel kactivitymanagerd[7491]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel baloorunner[27468]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel ksecretd[5917]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel akonadi_mailmerge_agent[12395]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel polkit-kde-authentication-agent-1[7495]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel akonadi_unifiedmailbox_agent[12404]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel akonadi_control[12229]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel akonadi_migration_agent[12398]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel akonadi_mailfilter_agent[12394]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel akonadi_newmailnotifier_agent[12399]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel kscreenlocker_greet[71866]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel kwalletd6[12686]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel akonadi_maildispatcher_agent[12391]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel kalendarac[12030]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel akonadi_followupreminder_agent[12379]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel akonadi_archivemail_agent[12376]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel kded6[71304]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel plasmashell[7199]: requesting unexisting screen available rect -1
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel akonadi_sendlater_agent[12401]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel DiscoverNotifier[12020]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel xdg-desktop-portal-kde[7497]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel plasmashell[7199]: requesting unexisting screen available rect -1
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel org_kde_powerdevil[7496]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel plasmashell[7199]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:17:01 intel systemd[5892]: Started dbus-:1.2-org.kde.KSplash@4.service.
Feb 25 03:17:03 intel kded6[71304]: Failed to notify "Created too many similar notifications in quick succession"
Feb 25 03:17:03 intel plasmashell[7199]: error creating screencast "Ikkunaa, jonka tunniste = {f7330ca7-4568-4bf2-b02e-1baf11b65c53}, ei l<C3><B6>ytynyt"
Feb 25 03:18:01 intel plasma_waitforname[72214]: WaitForName: Service was not registered within timeout
Feb 25 03:18:01 intel systemd[5892]: dbus-:1.2-org.kde.KSplash@4.service: Main process exited, code=exited, status=1/FAILURE
Feb 25 03:18:01 intel systemd[5892]: dbus-:1.2-org.kde.KSplash@4.service: Failed with result 'exit-code'.
2

Noticed there was a timed job running exactly at this time when checked journalctl -f as root:

Feb 25 03:13:59 intel systemd[1]: Started Daily Cleanup of Snapper Snapshots.
Feb 25 03:13:59 intel systemd[1]: Starting DBus interface for snapper...
Feb 25 03:13:59 intel systemd[1]: Started DBus interface for snapper.
Feb 25 03:13:59 intel systemd-helper[72130]: Running cleanup for 'root'.
Feb 25 03:13:59 intel systemd-helper[72130]: Running number cleanup for 'root'.
Feb 25 03:14:00 intel ksecretd[5917]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen
Feb 25 03:14:00 intel kalendarac[12030]: There are no outputs - creating placeholder screen

The only timer I can find at that point in time is the snapper-cleanup.service, which shouldn’t have anything to do with this. But everything happens at the same exact moment.

3

Post

inxi -aFz
4

Here it is:

inxi -aFz printout 
System:
  Kernel: 6.19.3-1-default arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 15.2.1 clocksource: tsc
    avail: acpi_pm parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.19.3-1-default
    root=UUID=238dddb7-9e57-4d10-8ea0-c362935dc9a3 splash=silent nomodeset mitigations=auto quiet
    security=selinux selinux=1 rd.driver.blacklist=nouveau nvidia-drm.modeset=1
  Console: pty pts/2 DM: SDDM Distro: openSUSE Tumbleweed 20260223
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: Gigabyte product: Z890I AORUS ULTRA v: -CF-WCP-IDO serial: N/A
  Mobo: Gigabyte model: Z890I AORUS ULTRA v: x.x serial: N/A
    uuid: 72966e00-ff00-6ee0-9672-00ffe06e9672 Firmware: UEFI vendor: American Megatrends LLC.
    v: F17b date: 04/18/2025
Battery:
  ID-1: hidpp_battery_0 charge: 22% condition: N/A volts: 3.72 min: N/A model: Logitech G502
    LIGHTSPEED Wireless Gaming Mouse type: N/A serial: <filter> charging: status: discharging
    cycles: N/A
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core Ultra 7 265K socket: LGA1851 (U3E1) note: check bits: 64 type: MCP
    arch: Arrow Lake level: v3 note: check built: 2024+ process: Intel 20a (2nm) family: 6
    model-id: 0xC6 (198) stepping: 2 microcode: 0x11B
  Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 11 cores: 20 smt: <unsupported> cache: L1: 2 MiB
    desc: d-12x32 KiB, 8x48 KiB; i-20x64 KiB L2: 36 MiB desc: 8x3 MiB, 3x4 MiB L3: 30 MiB
    desc: 1x30 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1004 min/max: 800/5500:5400:4600:6500 base/boost: 3861/8500 scaling:
    driver: intel_pstate governor: powersave volts: 0.9 V ext-clock: 100 MHz cores: 1: 1004 2: 1004
    3: 1004 4: 1004 5: 1004 6: 1004 7: 1004 8: 1004 9: 1004 10: 1004 11: 1004 12: 1004 13: 1004
    14: 1004 15: 1004 16: 1004 17: 1004 18: 1004 19: 1004 20: 1004 bogomips: 155136
  Flags-basic: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: ghostwrite status: Not affected
  Type: indirect_target_selection status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
  Type: old_microcode status: Not affected
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Enhanced / Automatic IBRS; IBPB: conditional; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not
    affected; BHI: BHI_DIS_S
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsa status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
  Type: vmscape mitigation: IBPB before exit to userspace
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Arrow Lake-S [Intel Graphics] vendor: Gigabyte driver: N/A alternate: i915, xe
    arch: Xe2-LPG process: TSMC n3 (3nm) built: 2025+ bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:7d67
    class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: NVIDIA GB203 [GeForce RTX 5070 Ti] vendor: ASUSTeK driver: nvidia v: 580.126.18
    alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 550-580.xx+ status: current (as of 2025-11)
    arch: Lovelace code: AD1xx process: TSMC n4 (5nm) built: 2022+ pcie: gen: 5 speed: 32 GT/s
    lanes: 16 ports: active: HDMI-A-2 empty: DP-1, DP-2, DP-3, HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 02:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:2c05 class-ID: 0300
  Display: unspecified server: X.org v: 1.21.1.21 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.9
    compositor: kwin_wayland driver: X: loaded: nvidia unloaded: modesetting,vesa
    alternate: fbdev,nouveau,nv gpu: nv_platform,nvidia,nvidia-nvswitch tty: 146x29
  Monitor-1: HDMI-A-2 model: Samsung QBQ95 serial: <filter> built: 2022 res: 3840x2160 dpi: 59
    gamma: 1.2 size: 1872x1053mm (73.7x41.46") diag: 1894mm (74.6") ratio: 16:9 modes:
    max: 3840x2160 min: 640x480
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: nvidia platforms: device: 0 drv: nvidia device: 2 drv: swrast gbm:
    drv: nvidia surfaceless: drv: nvidia inactive: wayland,x11,device-1
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: mesa v: 26.0.0 note: console (EGL sourced)
    renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti/PCIe/SSE2, llvmpipe (LLVM 21.1.8 256 bits)
  API: Vulkan v: 1.4.341 layers: 3 device: 0 type: discrete-gpu name: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti
    driver: nvidia v: 580.126.18 device-ID: 10de:2c05 surfaces: N/A device: 1 type: cpu
    name: llvmpipe (LLVM 21.1.8 256 bits) driver: mesa llvmpipe v: 26.0.0 (LLVM 21.1.8)
    device-ID: 10005:0000 surfaces: N/A
  Info: Tools: api: clinfo, eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo de: kscreen-console,kscreen-doctor
    gpu: nvidia-settings,nvidia-smi wl: wayland-info x11: xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
Audio:
  Device-1: NVIDIA driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 5 speed: 32 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 02:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:22e9 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: Intel vendor: Gigabyte driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    alternate: snd_sof_pci_intel_mtl bus-ID: 80:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:7f50 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.19.3-1-default status: kernel-api with: aoss type: oss-emulator
    tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.6.0 status: n/a (root, process) with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
    2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Wi-Fi 7 AX1775 /AX1790 /BE20 /BE401/BE1750 2x2 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel
    modules: wl pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 83:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:272b
    class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp131s0f0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE vendor: Gigabyte driver: r8125 v: 9.016.01-NAPI
    modules: r8169 pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: 3000 bus-ID: 84:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8125
    class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp132s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  Device-3: Microsoft Xbox Wireless Adapter for Windows driver: xone-dongle type: USB rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 3-3.4.1:8 chip-ID: 045e:02fe class-ID: 0000
    serial: <filter>
  Info: services: NetworkManager, sshd, wpa_supplicant
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 1.1
    bus-ID: 3-14:7 chip-ID: 8087:0038 class-ID: e001
  Report: btmgmt ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 5.4 lmp-v: 13 status:
    discoverable: no pairing: no class-ID: 7c0104
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 2.29 TiB used: 1.14 TiB (49.7%)
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:1 vendor: Western Digital model: WDS100T3X0C-00SJG0
    size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 tech: SSD
    serial: <filter> fw-rev: 102000WD temp: 42.9 C
  SMART: yes health: PASSED on: 161d 14h cycles: 1,424 read-units: 1,470,800 [753 GB]
    written-units: 4,320,209 [2.21 TB]
  ID-2: /dev/nvme1n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Intel model: SSDPEKKW256G8 size: 238.47 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 tech: SSD serial: <filter>
    fw-rev: 001C temp: 28.9 C scheme: GPT
  SMART: yes health: PASSED on: 372d 22h cycles: 1,182 read-units: 6,853,862 [3.50 TB]
    written-units: 15,255,878 [7.81 TB]
  ID-3: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Crucial model: CT1000MX500SSD1 family: Micron Client SSDs
    size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B sata: 3.3 speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: SSD
    serial: <filter> fw-rev: 020 temp: 39 C scheme: GPT
  SMART: yes state: enabled health: PASSED on: 2y 1d 21h cycles: 1075 written: 3.51 TiB
  ID-4: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Samsung model: SSD SM841 2.5 7mm 256GB family: based SSDs
    size: 238.47 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B sata: 3.1 speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: SSD
    serial: <filter> fw-rev: 1D0Q scheme: GPT
  SMART: yes state: enabled health: PASSED cycles: 1425 read: 6.22 TiB written: 14.09 TiB
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 233.99 GiB size: 233.99 GiB (100.00%) used: 187.51 GiB (80.1%) fs: btrfs
    block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme1n1p3 maj-min: 259:4
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 498 MiB size: 497 MiB (99.80%) used: 293.7 MiB (59.1%) fs: vfat
    block-size: 512 B dev: /dev/nvme1n1p1 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 931.51 GiB size: 915.82 GiB (98.32%) used: 757.3 GiB (82.7%) fs: ext4
    block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
  ID-4: /opt raw-size: 233.99 GiB size: 233.99 GiB (100.00%) used: 187.51 GiB (80.1%) fs: btrfs
    block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme1n1p3 maj-min: 259:4
  ID-5: /var raw-size: 233.99 GiB size: 233.99 GiB (100.00%) used: 187.51 GiB (80.1%) fs: btrfs
    block-size: 4096 B dev: /dev/nvme1n1p3 maj-min: 259:4
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
  ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 30.8 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100 comp: zstd
    avail: lzo-rle,lzo,lz4,lz4hc,deflate,842 dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 41.0 C mobo: 38.8 C gpu: nvidia temp: 44 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): cpu: 0 fan-1: 964 fan-5: 1005
  Power: 12v: N/A 5v: N/A 3.3v: N/A vbat: 3.12
Info:
  Memory: total: 32 GiB note: est. available: 30.8 GiB used: 8.71 GiB (28.3%)
  Processes: 489 Power: uptime: 1d 2h 17m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep avail: s2idle
    wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot, suspend, test_resume image: 12.26 GiB
    services: org_kde_powerdevil, power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 258
    default: graphical tool: systemctl
  Packages: pm: rpm pkgs: N/A note: see --rpm tools: yast,zypper pm: flatpak pkgs: 19 Compilers:
    gcc: 15.2.1 alt: 14 Shell: Sudo (sudo) v: 1.9.17p2 default: Bash v: 5.3.9 running-in: pty pts/2
    inxi: 3.3.40
5

OK, this seemed to be a well timed coincidence. Last night the cleanup service didn’t run at the same time as the placeholder screen was created.

Otherwise, the same issue seems to keep repeating. About two hours after locking the system, the same messages about placeholder screen appear in journalctl logs and the cpu usage/power consumption goes up and stays up.