dual-monitor configuration:desktop wrong size & bad rendering [SOLVED]

F-104ASA · 2019-04-19 06:18:40

Hello,

thank you for the interesting distro you are offering.

I recently installed Bunsenlab on my laptop and I would like to use a second larger HDMI screen on top of my laptop screen.

I use ArandR to get the HDMI screen recognized and set properly, but when the desktop image pops out I have some problems.

The desktop gets "tiled" in four parts (also the one on the laptop screen), conky appears on the largest tile of the HDMI screen, but the tint bar goes well along the whole width of the HDMI and laptop screens.
For some windows the usable desktop area of the current workspace looks confined to the wider tile of the HDMI screen.
When I switch workspace, windows may appear through the whole HDMI screen but cut, and do not appear anymore in the laptop screen.
Finally, windows make a "wake" when dragged around the HDMI screen.

See the screenshot linked below (red area= HDMI screen, green area=laptop screen):

HDMI screen on top of laptop screen

The HDMI screen resolution is the maximum possible among those offered by ArandR.
I fiddled with some options of ArandR to solve these problems but without avail.
I am completely new to openbox, and, frankly speaking, do not want to risk trying xrandr shell commands without any guidance 8) .

Thank you in advance for your help.

Last edited by F-104ASA (2019-08-04 08:58:34)

linux_user · 2019-04-19 09:41:29

F-104ASA wrote:

The desktop gets "tiled" in four parts (also the one on the laptop screen),

That might be because you chose to tile the desktop background. You can fix that in nitrogen>bottom left corner. Try the different settings - scaled, center etc... Sorry I don't use a second monitor, so I can't tell you exactly which one will work.

F-104ASA wrote:

conky appears on the largest tile of the HDMI screen, but the tint bar goes well along the whole width of the HDMI and laptop screens.

If scaling desktop background doesn't fix it, I would suggest you to restart openbox. That should fix it. I remember I encountered something like this quite sometime back, but forgot how I fixed it.

F-104ASA wrote:

When I switch workspace, windows may appear through the whole HDMI screen but cut, and do not appear anymore in the laptop screen.

You have separate displays to both monitors (not mirrored). So each monitor will have their own workspace. In total you have 8 workspace if I have calculated correctly. All of them are unique.

F-104ASA wrote:

Finally, windows make a "wake" when dragged around the HDMI screen.

I don't know what that means, perhaps a little more elaboration of that 'wake'.

F-104ASA · 2019-04-22 09:49:29

nitrogen did solve the problem of the tiled background. Not sure whether I had the tiling option set or not, but changing the wallpaper display option to "Zoomed Fill" solved this issue
regarding conky window position: restarting openbox had no effect, but restarting conky made the window align to the top right corner of the laptop screen. And this is OK for me.
Thank you for the explanation about the layout across the two screens. It is indeed like that, and the two tint2 bars help keeping track of what window is opened in what screen for each workspace
by "wake" I meant that a window dragged around the HDMI screen would move keeping a copy of itself in all the previous positions (it is shown in the picture I included in the first post), so it makes a kind of tail. But after I solved the wallpaper issue I do not see this effect anymore...

Finally, I just noticed a last small issue: when I maximize a window open on the large screen on top of the laptop screen, it does not fill the screen as expected, but it jumps down to the bottom of it, and shows only its very top part. On the other hand, if I maximize a window open in the laptop screen, everything is OK.
This small issue will not prevent me to use my new dual-screen setup (I just have to enlarge the windows manually), but if I can fix it, it will be better.

Many thanks to linux_user for the fast and effective reply

linux_user · 2019-04-22 15:37:25

F-104ASA wrote:

regarding conky window position: restarting openbox had no effect, but restarting conky made the window align to the top right corner of the laptop screen. And this is OK for me.

Ah, pretty close. Conky doesn't replicate itself in all screens unless you're mirroring it. It's sticks to the primary screen.

F-104ASA wrote:

by "wake" I meant that a window dragged around the HDMI screen would move keeping a copy of itself in all the previous positions (it is shown in the picture I included in the first post), so it makes a kind of tail.

Alright, learnt a new jargon.

F-104ASA wrote:

Finally, I just noticed a last small issue: when I maximize a window open on the large screen on top of the laptop screen, it does not fill the screen as expected, but it jumps down to the bottom of it, and shows only its very top part. On the other hand, if I maximize a window open in the laptop screen, everything is OK.

Can you post a screenshot?

F-104ASA wrote:

Many thanks to linux_user for the fast and effective reply

You're welcome, just returning what I received when I first joined the forum with truck load of questions.

F-104ASA · 2019-04-23 09:51:12

Here is the screenshot:
maximized window in dual-screen configuration
The yellow arrows show the maximized window in the large screen on top of the laptop screen; this latter is highlighted by the blue frame.

linux_user · 2019-04-24 05:42:47

^ Not sure how to troubleshoot it. Did some searches online as well with no avail. Guess, we'll have to wait for some of the senior members of the forum. I had heard that 2 of them are little busy with something else. Let's see if others notice this. Meanwhile I'll keep searching about this as well.

ohnonot · 2019-04-25 05:05:37

This is not my area of expertise.
but.
i cannot see the screenshots posted. it would be better to post direct image links.

jp734 · 2019-05-01 20:29:15

please execute xrandr command in terminal and give us the output. This will help us know more about the native resolution of each screen.

Also, if you can give us a bit more information about the laptop and the monitor especially the max resolution for each of them - that would be great. Thanks

Last edited by jp734 (2019-05-01 21:07:05)

F-104ASA · 2019-05-18 03:08:30

Sorry for the very late reply.

This is the output of xrandr:

Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1920 x 1848, maximum 8192 x 8192
LVDS-1 connected primary 1366x768+248+1080 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 345mm x 194mm
   1366x768      59.96*+
   1360x768      59.80    59.96  
   1024x768      60.04    60.00  
   960x720       60.00  
   928x696       60.05  
   896x672       60.01  
   960x600       60.00  
   960x540       59.99  
   800x600       60.00    60.32    56.25  
   840x525       60.01    59.88  
   800x512       60.17  
   700x525       59.98  
   640x512       60.02  
   720x450       59.89  
   640x480       60.00    59.94  
   680x384       59.80    59.96  
   576x432       60.06  
   512x384       60.00  
   400x300       60.32    56.34  
   320x240       60.05  
VGA-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI-1 connected 1920x1080+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 598mm x 336mm
   1920x1080     60.00*+  50.00    59.94  
   1920x1080i    60.00    50.00    59.94  
   1680x1050     59.88  
   1280x1024     75.02    60.02  
   1440x900      59.90  
   1280x960      60.00  
   1280x800      59.91  
   1152x864      75.00  
   1280x720      60.00    50.00    59.94  
   1024x768      75.03    70.07    60.00  
   832x624       74.55  
   800x600       72.19    75.00    60.32    56.25  
   720x576       50.00  
   720x576i      50.00  
   720x480       60.00    59.94  
   720x480i      60.00    59.94  
   640x480       75.00    72.81    66.67    60.00    59.94  
   720x400       70.08  
DP-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

My laptop is a lenovo G500s with a screen maximum resolution of 1366X768 (HD 200nit).

The external monitor is an ACER KA270H with a maximum resolution of 1920X1080 (full HD 1080).

As shown in the xrandr output, I keep my laptop screen as primary.

Thank you all for your time and attention

ohnonot · 2019-05-18 15:17:15

^ technically, that output seems correct.
i wonder if you could provide direct image links or use something like imgur to show us what's wrong?

damo · 2019-05-18 19:01:36

From the resolution and graphical glitches I suspect it is a graphics card/driver issue. Perhaps booting with some esoteric boot parameters could fix it. The @OP needs to search for answers to similar symptoms on similar hardware.

jp734 · 2019-05-30 00:44:55

I'm really not familiar with ARandR and don't know difference between it and xrandr. I've only used xrandr and been using it for a very long time and have no issue.

My startup have a xrandr script that looks like this: xrandr --auto --output VGA-1 --right-of HDMI-1. Give it a shot and see how it goes.

Replace VGA-1 with LVDS-1. You can also use "--top-of" and "--left-of"

ohnonot · 2019-05-30 16:02:24

jp734 wrote:

I'm really not familiar with ARandR and don't know difference between it and xrandr.

there should be none. arandr is a gui frontend to xrandr - it saves the user's chosen layout as an xrandr command.

ViniciusPeres · 2019-06-02 15:32:56

ohnonot wrote:

i wonder if you could provide direct image links or use something like imgur to show us what's wrong?

Here is the screenshot:
Maximized window in dual-screen configuration - imgur.
The yellow arrows show the maximized window in the large screen on top of the laptop screen; this latter is highlighted by the blue frame.

I have the same problem.

ohnonot · 2019-06-03 05:12:58

ViniciusPeres wrote:

Maximized window in dual-screen configuration - imgur.
The yellow arrows show the maximized window in the large screen on top of the laptop screen; this latter is highlighted by the blue frame.

that's - confusing.
not sure what you're showing us there.

I have the same problem.

do you though?
exactly the same as:

The desktop gets "tiled" in four parts (also the one on the laptop screen), conky appears on the largest tile of the HDMI screen, but the tint bar goes well along the whole width of the HDMI and laptop screens.
For some windows the usable desktop area of the current workspace looks confined to the wider tile of the HDMI screen.
When I switch workspace, windows may appear through the whole HDMI screen but cut, and do not appear anymore in the laptop screen.
Finally, windows make a "wake" when dragged around the HDMI screen.
See the screenshot linked below (red area= HDMI screen, green area=laptop screen)

so you chose to use the same color coding as OP in your screenshots?

I feel flattered that you quote me, but it seems damo was closer to the matter:

damo wrote:

From the resolution and graphical glitches I suspect it is a graphics card/driver issue.

Please show us

lspci -k | grep -iEA5 'vga|3d|display'

just for starters.

Oh, and I suspect a two-fold issue, the simpler part: In arandr, please make sure you drag the two screens apart from each other, so they're not on top of each other.
and you do know how to save that so it gets applied each login?
after that show us the output of

xrandr

F-104ASA · 2019-06-11 03:05:15

Thank you all for the continuing support.

ohnonot wrote:

Please show us
lspci -k | grep -iEA5 'vga|3d|display'

this is it:

00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller (rev 09)
	Subsystem: Lenovo 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller
	Kernel driver in use: i915
	Kernel modules: i915
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI Host Controller (rev 04)
	Subsystem: Lenovo 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI Host Controller
--
01:00.0 3D controller: NVIDIA Corporation GF117M [GeForce 610M/710M/810M/820M / GT 620M/625M/630M/720M] (rev a1)
	Subsystem: Lenovo GeForce 720M
	Kernel driver in use: nouveau
	Kernel modules: nouveau

I do not use arandr to set the dual-monitor, but the following script launched through a CLI alias:

#!/bin/sh
xrandr --output LVDS-1 --primary --mode 1366x768 --pos 248x1080 --rotate normal --output DP-1 --off --output HDMI-1 --mode 1920x1080 --pos 0x0 --rotate normal --output VGA-1 --off

Arandr, however shows now overlapping between my two monitors.

My current output of xrandr is still the one at post #9.

Anyway, I would like to propose a workaround for this inconvenience of the weird maximized windows: just do not use the "maximize window" button, and, instead enlarge the (active) window across the whole screen with the "super+arrows" combinations. The result is practically the same as the maximize button, and you do not even have to use the mouse.
For me this is quicker and safer than tinkering with the GPU settings of my work laptop...

ohnonot · 2019-06-12 06:52:25

^ you have dual graphics, hybrid graphics, optimus technology, whatever it's called.
I suspect whatever isn't working now will work better when you set that up properly; unfortunately I have zero first-hand experience with it.
If you ever get the itch to "fix" it I suggest to start searching our forums & debian wiki.

damo · 2019-06-12 07:22:22

damo wrote:

From the resolution and graphical glitches I suspect it is a graphics card/driver issue....The @OP needs to search for answers to similar symptoms on similar hardware.

Yes The OP could try the nvidia driver (but first find out how to revert to nouveau). nvidia-settings can then be used for monitor settings instead of arandr/xrandr. https://wiki.debian.org/NvidiaGraphicsDrivers

NB Don't follow any instructions to create an xorg.conf! The infamous black screen and blinking cursor is a common outcome!

F-104ASA · 2019-06-18 11:52:26

Yes, indeed, my graphic card has the "optimus" feature.

Since my initial issues with the dual screen have been solved, and I have found the workaround suggested in post #16 for the last issue of the maximized windows, I think my post can be considered [SOLVED]...

damo · 2019-06-18 12:17:12

^ You can edit the title of your first post and add "[SOLVED]" (or "[WORKAROUND]" !)

#1 2019-04-19 06:18:40

dual-monitor configuration:desktop wrong size & bad rendering [SOLVED]

#2 2019-04-19 09:41:29

Re: dual-monitor configuration:desktop wrong size & bad rendering [SOLVED]

#3 2019-04-22 09:49:29

Re: dual-monitor configuration:desktop wrong size & bad rendering [SOLVED]

#4 2019-04-22 15:37:25

Re: dual-monitor configuration:desktop wrong size & bad rendering [SOLVED]

#5 2019-04-23 09:51:12

Re: dual-monitor configuration:desktop wrong size & bad rendering [SOLVED]

#6 2019-04-24 05:42:47

Re: dual-monitor configuration:desktop wrong size & bad rendering [SOLVED]

#7 2019-04-25 05:05:37

Re: dual-monitor configuration:desktop wrong size & bad rendering [SOLVED]

#8 2019-05-01 20:29:15

Re: dual-monitor configuration:desktop wrong size & bad rendering [SOLVED]

#9 2019-05-18 03:08:30

Re: dual-monitor configuration:desktop wrong size & bad rendering [SOLVED]

#10 2019-05-18 15:17:15

Re: dual-monitor configuration:desktop wrong size & bad rendering [SOLVED]

#11 2019-05-18 19:01:36

Re: dual-monitor configuration:desktop wrong size & bad rendering [SOLVED]

#12 2019-05-30 00:44:55

Re: dual-monitor configuration:desktop wrong size & bad rendering [SOLVED]

#13 2019-05-30 16:02:24

Re: dual-monitor configuration:desktop wrong size & bad rendering [SOLVED]

#14 2019-06-02 15:32:56

Re: dual-monitor configuration:desktop wrong size & bad rendering [SOLVED]

#15 2019-06-03 05:12:58

Re: dual-monitor configuration:desktop wrong size & bad rendering [SOLVED]

#16 2019-06-11 03:05:15

Re: dual-monitor configuration:desktop wrong size & bad rendering [SOLVED]

#17 2019-06-12 06:52:25

Re: dual-monitor configuration:desktop wrong size & bad rendering [SOLVED]

#18 2019-06-12 07:22:22

Re: dual-monitor configuration:desktop wrong size & bad rendering [SOLVED]

#19 2019-06-18 11:52:26

Re: dual-monitor configuration:desktop wrong size & bad rendering [SOLVED]

#20 2019-06-18 12:17:12

Re: dual-monitor configuration:desktop wrong size & bad rendering [SOLVED]

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