Session Menu Blocking Login

vinprun71 · n00b Joined: 22 Apr 2025 Posts: 1

Hi everyone,

I'm brand new to Gentoo, and I'm having an issue getting into Plasma. The install process went well, but once I rebooted I was stuck in TTY. Not an issue I figured, but I couldn't get into my DE regardless of what start command I used. After some messing around with different files, I finally got into the Plasma login window. I type in my password and this funny menu comes up. As soon as I type my password in and press enter, that menu appears. I can't get rid of it to save my life. I've Googled everything I could possibly imagine. I even searched these forums. Does anyone have any ideas? I appreciate all your help in advance.

miket · Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2025 8:03 pm Post subject:

Proposing a solution used to be more straightforward, but nowadays there are preliminary questions to answer:

What init system are you using? Typically the answers on Gentoo are either OpenRC or systemd.
What is your choice of display server? The choices here are Xorg or Wayland. (Unlike the choice of init system, it's pretty easy to change your choice later on.)
What manufacturer and model of video controller do you have? (Typical manufacturers here are Nvidia, AMD, and Intel.)
How did you get your kernel? Is it a pre-built distribution kernel, or did you configure and build it yourself?
Are we right to assume that you installed the Plasma desktop as described in the KDE article and intend to use that desktop?
Assuming that that answer is yes, are we right to assume that you intend to use SDDM to let you log in? The screenshot you gave looks at least kind of like what default-configuration SDDM shows, even if I don't recognize that prompt for a session type.
Are you able to log in as your regular user at the console? If so, did you try following the setup in startx instructions to start the desktop directly? (If you had not tried this, an easier way to try this, assuming the Plasma desktop on Xorg, is to run the command startplasma-x11 at the command prompt.)

Answering these questions helps us propose the next steps in tracking down your problem.

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Edited to add note about startplasma-x11.