KDE Plasma on RPI-4B Fresh Install Issues

[sradjoker]

I was able to successfully install KDE plasma on Raspberry Pi 4B but I am having these issues:

1. I am connecting the Pi to a 4k TV as the monitor. I am using a ~Bluetooth~ wireless mouse and keyboard that connects through a USB dongle. The keyboard works fine but the mouse travels very slow. The issue is solved if I use Barrier (KVM software) to use a mouse from another computer.
   Clarification: It is not a bluetooth mouse and keyboard but a wireless mouse and keyboard that connects through a USB-dongle

2. I am trying to either log off or restart in the Application Launcher and it takes a very long time. Using sudo systemctl reboot works pretty fast.

3. I am unable to set a wallpaper either using EndeavourOS welcome assistant or KDE Desktop settings.

Does anyone else have these issues?
Also, what is the desktop environment experience on RPI 4B in your opinion?

Hardware Info

System:
Kernel: 5.15.30-4-rpi-ARCH arch: aarch64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.24.4 tk: Qt v: 5.15.3 wm: kwin_x11 dm: SDDM
Distro: EndeavourOS base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: ARM System: Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Rev 1.5 details: BCM2835
rev: d03115 serial:
CPU:
Info: quad core model: ARMv8 v8l variant: cortex-a72 bits: 64 type: MCP
arch: v8l rev: 3
Speed (MHz): avg: 600 min/max: 600/1800 cores: 1: 600 2: 600 3: 600
4: 600 bogomips: 432
Features: Use -f option to see features
Graphics:
Device-1: bcm2711-vc5 driver: vc4_drm v: N/A bus-ID: N/A chip-ID: brcm:gpu
Device-2: bcm2711-hdmi0 driver: N/A bus-ID: N/A chip-ID: brcm:soc
Device-3: bcm2711-hdmi1 driver: N/A bus-ID: N/A chip-ID: brcm:soc
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.3 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
loaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev
gpu: vc4-drm,vc4_crtc,vc4_dpi,vc4_dsi,vc4_firmware_kms,vc4_hdmi,vc4_hvs,vc4_txp,vc4_v3d,vc4_vec
display-ID: :0 screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 3840x2160 s-dpi: 96
Monitor-1: HDMI-A-1 mapped: HDMI-1 model: 49S405 res: 3840x2160 dpi: 122
diag: 1240mm (48.8")
OpenGL: renderer: V3D 4.2 v: 2.1 Mesa 22.0.0 direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: bcm2835-audio driver: bcm2835_audio bus-ID: N/A
chip-ID: brcm:bcm2835_audio
Device-2: bcm2711-hdmi0 driver: N/A bus-ID: N/A chip-ID: brcm:soc
Device-3: bcm2711-hdmi1 driver: N/A bus-ID: N/A chip-ID: brcm:soc
Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.30-4-rpi-ARCH running: yes
Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.0 running: no
Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.49 running: yes
Network:
Device-1: bcm2835-mmc driver: mmc_bcm2835 v: N/A port: N/A bus-ID: N/A
chip-ID: brcm:fe300000
IF: wlan0 state: up mac:
Device-2: bcm2711-genet-v5 driver: bcmgenet v: N/A port: N/A bus-ID: N/A
chip-ID: brcm:fd580000
IF: eth0 state: down mac:
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 238.75 GiB used: 6.07 GiB (2.5%)
ID-1: /dev/mmcblk0 model: GE4S5 size: 238.75 GiB serial:
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 233.75 GiB used: 6.02 GiB (2.6%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/mmcblk0p2
ID-2: /boot size: 199.8 MiB used: 51.5 MiB (25.8%) fs: vfat
dev: /dev/mmcblk0p1
Swap:
Alert: No swap data was found.
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 49.7 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
Processes: 174 Uptime: 5m Memory: 7.21 GiB used: 1.1 GiB (15.2%)
Init: systemd v: 250 Compilers: gcc: 11.2.0 Packages: pacman: 842
Shell: Zsh v: 5.8.1 running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.14
System:
Kernel: 5.15.30-4-rpi-ARCH arch: aarch64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.24.4 tk: Qt v: 5.15.3 wm: kwin_x11 dm: SDDM
Distro: EndeavourOS base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: ARM System: Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Rev 1.5 details: BCM2835
rev: d03115 serial:
CPU:
Info: quad core model: ARMv8 v8l variant: cortex-a72 bits: 64 type: MCP
arch: v8l rev: 3
Speed (MHz): avg: 600 min/max: 600/1800 cores: 1: 600 2: 600 3: 600
4: 600 bogomips: 432
Features: Use -f option to see features
Graphics:
Device-1: bcm2711-vc5 driver: vc4_drm v: N/A bus-ID: N/A chip-ID: brcm:gpu
Device-2: bcm2711-hdmi0 driver: N/A bus-ID: N/A chip-ID: brcm:soc
Device-3: bcm2711-hdmi1 driver: N/A bus-ID: N/A chip-ID: brcm:soc
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.3 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
loaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev
gpu: vc4-drm,vc4_crtc,vc4_dpi,vc4_dsi,vc4_firmware_kms,vc4_hdmi,vc4_hvs,vc4_txp,vc4_v3d,vc4_vec
display-ID: :0 screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 3840x2160 s-dpi: 96
Monitor-1: HDMI-A-1 mapped: HDMI-1 model: 49S405 res: 3840x2160 dpi: 122
diag: 1240mm (48.8")
OpenGL: renderer: V3D 4.2 v: 2.1 Mesa 22.0.0 direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: bcm2835-audio driver: bcm2835_audio bus-ID: N/A
chip-ID: brcm:bcm2835_audio
Device-2: bcm2711-hdmi0 driver: N/A bus-ID: N/A chip-ID: brcm:soc
Device-3: bcm2711-hdmi1 driver: N/A bus-ID: N/A chip-ID: brcm:soc
Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.15.30-4-rpi-ARCH running: yes
Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.0 running: no
Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.49 running: yes
Network:
Device-1: bcm2835-mmc driver: mmc_bcm2835 v: N/A port: N/A bus-ID: N/A
chip-ID: brcm:fe300000
IF: wlan0 state: up mac:
Device-2: bcm2711-genet-v5 driver: bcmgenet v: N/A port: N/A bus-ID: N/A
chip-ID: brcm:fd580000
IF: eth0 state: down mac:
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 238.75 GiB used: 6.07 GiB (2.5%)
ID-1: /dev/mmcblk0 model: GE4S5 size: 238.75 GiB serial:
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 233.75 GiB used: 6.02 GiB (2.6%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/mmcblk0p2
ID-2: /boot size: 199.8 MiB used: 51.5 MiB (25.8%) fs: vfat
dev: /dev/mmcblk0p1
Swap:
Alert: No swap data was found.
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 49.7 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
Processes: 174 Uptime: 5m Memory: 7.21 GiB used: 1.1 GiB (15.2%)
Init: systemd v: 250 Compilers: gcc: 11.2.0 Packages: pacman: 842
Shell: Zsh v: 5.8.1 running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.14

Let me know if you need any more info from me.

[Pudge]

@sradjoker

I am connecting the Pi to a 4k TV as the monitor.

That is fine. That is what I do also, except my TV is not 4K it is 1920x1080.

@sradjoker

I am using a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard. The keyboard works fine but the mouse travels very slow

You are the first person I know of that has used Bluetooth for the keyboard and mouse. You are now a pioneer. Since bluetooth works, I assume you must have enabled bluetooth in
/boot/config.txt as per post one of this topic:

[ARM] Raspberry Pi 4b tips and tricks

RPi 4b Upon logging into a TTY console or terminal, enter: $ sudo dmesg -n 1 and this will eliminate a lot of the system message clutter from the screen. #################################################################### Another quick tip to enable bluetooth, enter dtparam=krnbt=on to the /boot/config.txt file install blueberry sudo pacman -S blueberry Reboot ############################################################## Yet another tip. RPi 4b hardware Ver 1.2 has old eeprom fir…

The Arch Linux WiKi suggests installing bluez and bluez-utils
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Bluetooth
^^ good resource BTW

I would start by removing the bluetooth mouse and hooking up a USB keyboard & USB mouse for testing purposes. If the USB mouse works fine then you know what the problem is.

I tried using a wireless Microsoft keyboard and mouse with a single dongle and got the exact same symptoms. Keyboard OK, Mouse slow. Left the wireless keyboard as is, but used a USB mouse. Same, keyboard OK, mouse slow. Installed both a USB keyboard and USB mouse, worked perfectly. The wireless keyboard and mouse are now sitting in the spare parts closet. I use a USB keyboard & USB mouse hooked to a powered 4 port USB 3 hub. Works great and only uses one port on the RPi 4b.

@sradjoker

Also, what is the desktop environment experience on RPI 4B in your opinion?

I use a RPi 4b with 4GB RAM Hardware Ver 1.2 with KDE Plasma every day while during ARM development, and updating the EndeavourOS package repositories. Works great. The only thing I have noticed is after logging in with sddm and when the desktop appears the delay is noticeable between x86_64 KDE and Arm KDE. After that, it runs very acceptably.

@sradjoker

I am trying to either log off or restart in the Application Launcher and it takes a very long time. Using sudo systemctl reboot works pretty fast.

I always poweroff / reboot by right clicking on the desktop, the selecting what I want to do. No delays doing that. I don’t know if I have even used the Application Launcher to poweroff or reboot.

I also have never had a wallpaper issue either. Here is a test install on my RPi 4b with 8GB RAM with the same setup.

Share Your Desktop

Raspberry Pi 4b - 8GB RAM - 64 Bit OS - Plasma - USB SSD Samsung T7 500GB SDDM image [sddm] Splash screen ( appears between sddm log-in and the desktop) [Splash] Desktop [desktop] Neofetch [neofetch] Kind of an eclectic assortment of images, but it suits me. Pudge

Finally, you are also a pioneer in another area. The first person I know with a RPi 4b Hardware Rev 1.5

Pudge

[lxnauta]

Maybe you can solve mouse slowness by appending to /boot/cmdline.txt the following:

usbhid.mousepoll=8

The lower the number, the smoother the mouse, but also the higher the load on the CPU, but 8 works fine for my wireless mouse.

[sradjoker]

@Pudge

You are the first person I know of that has used Bluetooth for the keyboard and mouse. You are now a pioneer. Since bluetooth works, I assume you must have enabled bluetooth in
/boot/config.txt as per post one of this topic:

There is a small clarification regarding this from my side: It is not a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard but a wireless mouse and keyboard that connects through a USB-dongle.

@Pudge

I tried using a wireless Microsoft keyboard and mouse with a single dongle and got the exact same symptoms. Keyboard OK, Mouse slow.

This issue exactly.

@Pudge

Finally, you are also a pioneer in another area. The first person I know with a RPi 4b Hardware Rev 1.5

Being a pioneer is an exciting experience for me. Let me know if you need me to do any testing. What revision is your RPI?

Also, I have issues with the lock screen. When the system goes to sleep or when I lock the screen, the screen goes blank with just the mouse pointer and I can’t do anything else other than go to tty and reboot the computer.
Based on these issues, I have decided to give xfce a try. Lets see how that goes.

[sradjoker]

@lxnauta

usbhid.mousepoll=8

The lower the number, the smother the mouse, but also the higher the load on the CPU, but 8 works fine for my wireless mouse.

This worked like a charm. Didn’t solve the issue entirely though. Should I try a lower value to improve mouse response?

[Pudge]

@sradjoker

What revision is your RPI?

RPi 4b with 4 GB RAM hardware REV 1.2
RPi 4b with 8 GB RAM hareware Rev 1.4
RPi 400 hardware Rev 1.0

Pudge

[sradjoker]

I have reinstalled the OS with xfce desktop and I’ve had a really good experience using it. Certainly better than my KDE experience. I will stick with xfce for now but would prefer a KDE experience without bugs.

[Pudge]

I am working on a new Step 3 install-script. If you are interested in testing some different DEs I can fix you up tomorrow.

Right now, it’s off to bed.

Pudge

[lxnauta]

Good to hear it had some effect. Yes, I’d try lowering it. I think I never had to go lower than 5. Then if it’s good you could try increasing again until you feel it’s a good compromise. 6 or 7 should work ok.

[sradjoker]

@sradjoker

• I am trying to either log off or restart in the Application Launcher and it takes a very long time. Using sudo systemctl reboot works pretty fast.
• I am unable to set a wallpaper either using EndeavourOS welcome assistant or KDE Desktop settings.

All these issues are solved in the latest install @Pudge.