Niri two config locations and crashes when enabling numlock

cark

Hello,

I recently installed KaOS for the first time and started using the Niri setup that comes with it. After configuring my system I ran into an issue that I cannot fully understand.

Inside my home directory I have two Niri configuration directories:

~/niri/ and ~/.config/niri/

Both of them contain the following files:

config.kdl
noctalia.kdl

Both directories appear to have been created at the same time during installation.

However, the contents differ slightly:

~/.config/niri/noctalia.kdl contains a small theme-like configuration block.

~/niri/noctalia.kdl contains almost the same content as config.kdl.

This confused me because I was not sure which configuration is actually used by Niri.

The actual problem

I wanted NumLock to stay enabled when the desktop session starts.
According to the Niri documentation I added:

input {
keyboard {
numlock
}
}

When numlock is enabled in the configuration, my session becomes unstable.

Observed behavior:

Login works normally.
The desktop appears briefly.
Then the session crashes and I am returned to the login screen.
After logging in again I often only get a black screen.
The system becomes unresponsive and I sometimes need to power off the PC manually.

When I comment out numlock, the system becomes completely stable again.

What I tested:

I tried multiple combinations:

Editing only ~/.config/niri/config.kdl

Editing only ~/niri/config.kdl

Editing both config files to contain identical content

Editing only noctalia.kdl

Editing both noctalia.kdl files

All combinations where numlock is active eventually lead to crashes or a login loop.

Questions:

Which configuration directory is actually used by the KaOS Niri session?

Is ~/niri/ just an example/preset configuration directory?

Should users only modify ~/.config/niri/?

Could the numlock option be causing a crash in the KaOS Niri setup?

Thank you for any clarification.

demm

A niri folder in the user home directory is a mistake (I will check the installer, seems an error is made there with all these new files).
All changes need to be made to ~/.config/niri/config.kdl. noctalia.kdl is ONLY there to set a theme.
To help debugging with stability issues, logs will be needed. A good start is with Octopi > SysInfo, see:
https://kaosx.us/docs/
https://kaosx.us/docs/#sysinfo-tool-in-octopi

To check the edit itself (what you posted above has a } too many), it never hurts to check if the niri config file is still correct: niri validate

cark

I removed the mistakenly created ~/niri folder as you suggested.

Now I only have:
~/.config/niri/config.kdl

I validated the config:

niri validate
→ config is valid

I uncommented the numlock option in config.kdl.

First logout:
After login I briefly see a black screen with a blinking "_" in the top left corner, then the desktop appears and NumLock is enabled.

Second logout immediately after that:
After login I only get a completely black screen (no cursor, no blinking underscore).

The system is unresponsive and I have to power off the PC manually.

Here the sysinfo: [https://0x0.st/PjS_.log](https://)

demm

There is nothing in the logs about any crash, so black screen is not registered as a systemd error, more refined log creation will be needed.
You state editing config.kdl after running niri validate, make sure to run the command AFTER editing.
Try running sudo journactl after the first (still working) login, that full log should show why it is hanging for a bit (black screen, blinking underscore) before actually moving on to the desktop.

cark

After checking the logs (journalctl), I noticed repeated messages like:

Unable to find autologin session entry "plasma.desktop"
Autologin failed!

When I checked my available sessions in /usr/share/wayland-sessions/, I only have:

niri.desktop

and niri validate is still valid after editing the config.kdl.

demm

SDDM is known (and fixed in packaging) nothing to do with numlock issue, so that full log is still needed.

cark

Ah okay thanks. Here is the full log from journalctl -b

[https://0x0.st/PjjX.txt
](https://)

After several reboots and shutdowns of my PC, the problem seemed to become less frequent.

I also tried to reproduce it manually by logging out from the desktop and logging back in multiple times. The issue did not appear at first, but after the sixth logout/login cycle something strange happened.

When I opened my web browser, I was suddenly sent back to the login screen automatically. After logging in again, I only got a black screen and the system did not recover. I had to shut the PC down using the power button.

So the issue still occurs, but it seems somewhat inconsistent and harder to reproduce now.

demm

Still not in the log, any trace of numlock, but better fix SDDM, that is causing a lot of entries.
Please open /etc.sddm.conf with your preferred editor (kate is default).
Line 6 > Session > remove plasma.desktop and line 96 > make the line CompositorCommand=niri and save. Now the startup will just use wayland in SDDM.
If you do get a log with some numlock entries, or error messages after a compositor crash (send back to the login screen), please post it here.

demm

Could https://github.com/niri-wm/niri/issues/2599 be related?

cark

I followed your instructions and edited /etc/sddm.conf as you suggested.

I removed the plasma.desktop session entry

and changed
CompositorCommand=kwin_wayland --no-lockscreen --no-global-shortcuts
to
CompositorCommand=niri

After a reboot the behavior of the system changed immediately.

The system now boots noticeably faster and the login process feels much smoother.
Previously, after entering the password, I would briefly see an empty background for a few seconds before the wallpaper appeared. Now the desktop loads instantly and everything feels much more responsive.

Autologin, which I selected during installation, is also now working correctly and takes me directly to the desktop.

So your suggestion clearly fixed the issue.

Thank you very much for taking the time to help and for identifying the problem so quickly.

I also want to say that I really appreciate the design philosophy behind KaOS.
The decision to keep the repositories focused and avoid maintaining large numbers of legacy 32-bit packages makes a lot of sense to me. After so many years of 64-bit hardware being standard, it seems reasonable to focus on modern software instead of carrying around hundreds of support packages for only a handful of applications.

I like this approach because it keeps the system clean, focused and easier to maintain.

Will this fix be included in the next ISO release?

Thanks again for your help.

edit:

I don't think that issue is related in my case.

I am using a normal German keyboard layout and I am not using the "neo" or "koy" variants in my config.kdl.

My current configuration only specifies the standard German layout.

demm

cark Will this fix be included in the next ISO release?

Yes, with so many changes on the first niri/noctalia ISO, it was bound to have a lot of new bugs. This is not the only much-needed fix already found.....