Plasma 6 - KDE Plasma Desktop version 6

Contents

  1. Plasma 6 - KDE Plasma Desktop version 6
    1. Intro
    2. Upgrade Strategy for KDE 5 users
    3. Default Graphical Session
    4. Upgrade Quirks
    5. Package Changes
      1. Packages removed or replaced upstream
      2. Third party packages lacking a Plasma 6
    6. Debugging
      1. PlasmaShell

Intro

DebianTrixie will release with Plasma 6.

Upgrade Strategy for KDE 5 users

A major upgrade like KDE 6 brings a lot of changes. Configs and settings for your default user might NOT or partially work. Create a new user for first tests.

Install an alternative Desktop-Environment for rescue scenarios, e.g. Xfce is a lightweight DE.

Default Graphical Session

Plasma/Wayland is default. In graphical login-manager like SDDM you can select Plasma/X11 if desired.

Upgrade Quirks

Q: After the upgrade, the start menu is completely empty and no icons are displayed on the status panel.

Running kbuildsycoca6 --noincremental should restore all icons.

Q: After the upgrade a lot of icons are missing.

Please make sure that qt6-svg-plugins is installed, it is just mared a recommend for libqt6svg6.

Q: Apps with a built-in terminal such as Dolphin and Kate complain that Konsole is not found despite konsole being installed.

The application and konsole must be based on the same Qt version. Unstable currently features konsole 24.08 which is Qt 6-based. To get a terminal in dolphin or kate etc., you hence need those applications in version 24.05 or higher. Some of these packages might not have been uploaded to unstable yet and are only available in experimental.

Q: Apps in Plasma 6 cannot open web-links with the default web-browser.

Please make sure that xdg-utils has been updated to version 1.2.1.

Q: Icons-Only Task Manager and/or Icons-and-Text Task Manager don't show anything

Log out and log back in

Q: Window List just shows a single Entry "Plasma Desktop"

Please add answer here

Q: Virtual Desktop Pager doesn't show Window Outlines and/or icons even if configured that way

Please add answer here

Q: Scrollbars behave differently than before, clicks above or below the scroll thumb move the thumb to the positoin of the thumb and not scroll pagewise any more.

That's a new default setting, that can be changed back to the old behavior in System Settings in "Workspace / General Behavior / Clicking in scrollback track".

Q: Touchpad is not working in Plasma/X11

If you're using X11, make sure that xserver-xorg-input-synaptics is not installed and xserver-xorg-input-libinput is installed.

Q: Dolphin does not support SMB protocol

Please, see Debian-bug #1088117.

Q: Keyboard backlight brightness can't be changed

This is a known bug (Debian-bug #1089680, KDE bug #486067). As a workaround, log out and log back in.

Q: After upgrade, network services no longer reachable by other hosts

plasma-firewall is a new Recommends of plasma-desktop, and will pull in firewalld with a default ruleset if you were not already using either firewalld or ufw. Open required ports in system settings, or remove plasma-firewall and firewalld.

Package Changes

Packages removed or replaced upstream

Third party packages lacking a Plasma 6

Debugging

PlasmaShell

When you have issues with plasmashell like a crash, check its status and (re)start if needed:

You can get Plasma 6 logs like follows: