bent fender composed on 2024-09-02 23:03 (UTC-0400):
I had two unfounded suspicions about two possibilities one of which hit pay dirt minutes ago. Somewhere in all this struggle & strife I issued
# systemctl set-default multi-user.target
to be able to log in as root at least and then call SDDM. THAT's when logging in as UserMe died. I'm saying this because (on a hunch as I said) as soon as I reverted with
# systemctl set-default graphical.target
I could log-in again. Systemd suck like Electrolux if you ask me; of course it ain't my boat, my bridge or my watch :-)
So, your problem description was lacking. You couldn't login because nobody could login because there was no login manager auto-starting. Next time you want startup to end at multi-user.target, instead of reconfiguring the system, just append a 3 to Grub's linu line after striking E at the Grub menu. This way it only happens once, so there's nothing special that needs remembering. -- Evolution as taught in public schools is, like religion, based on faith, not based on science. Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks! Felix Miata