KDE/Troubleshooting

This article contains various sections to help KDE users troubleshoot their systems.

Opening GUI programs as root when signed in as another user
KDE, along with other desktop environments, include a special command in order to start graphical programs with root privileges. For KDE the command is kdesu. It can be used in the following manner:

Be sure to substitute  in the command above with the name of the program. A pop-up window should be displayed containing a text box for the root password. Enter the password and boom: happiness.

Get rid of the KResource Migration Tool pop-up
There have been reports that the KResource Migration Tool pops up on every login. There is no proper solution yet for this, but you can see a workaround in.

Rebuilding the application database
If your KMenu lacks any application or the whole application list, you probably need to rebuild the KDE application database. It is also a possible fix for any KMenu related issues, like missing icons.

Akonadi complains about the MySQL config
Start by checking the permissions in and. If they're 700, you need to update them to 755 recursively.

If that doesn't solve the error, you need to open the akonadi configuration and change the default MySQL config. If you don't have the tray running, start akonaditray, select "Akonadi Server Configuration", activate "Use internal MySQL server" and then press the test button. If you want to use the MySQL server and not the embedded executable, you'll need to ensure that MySQL is running.

KDM fails to start
Start by checking the permissions in. If they're 700, you need to update them to 755. Check previous section. If that doesn't solve the error, check the following notice in the kdm ebuild:

Also be sure that the following services are started:

If not, enable them by replacing status with start, and use the command rc-update add dbus default for every one of them to add them to default runlevel.

Finally, KDM could fail due to errors in xorg.conf. Take a look in your logs: and  and fix xorg.conf accordingly. For additional help you can find us on IRC at on Freenode.

The battery applet or solid notifications don't show the relevant info
So that the battery applet or other solid notifications can show the relevant info, you need D-Bus and ConsoleKit running:

If not, enable them by replacing status with start, and use the command rc-update add dbus default for every one of them to add them to default runlevel.

Double-hibernate or crashes after hibernate ()
KDE 4.6 handles "sleep button" events on its own, and the system correctly hibernates. If you have manually set up any other programs to handle these events (e.g. acpid), please disable that, as you may otherwise get double hibernation and/or system instability.

Shutdown, reboot, logout does not work ()
There is some strange interaction between the sound system and the logout mechanism going on. Open systemsettings, and disable the "logout sound". Afterwards, logging out will likely work.

The desktop background covers all windows ()
In rare cases, after working with several screens the desktop settings are not cleaned up properly. The result is that the desktop background seems to cover all windows. More details plus some manual workarounds can be found in.

No login possible, hangs at splash screen (bug 365637)
If you have been playing with unstable GNOME stuff (naughty, naughty!) you may encounter a so-far unexplained incompatibility. Logging in to KDE fails as soon as is installed. Unmerge that package and you should be fine.