Arch Linux

kentkentkent

Member

Registered: 2015-09-22

Posts: 12

[SOLVED] Force certain applications to open on a specified display?

Hello Arch forums!

I have a desktop connected to a computer monitor (my primary display) and my television (my secondary display). Is there a way for me to force certain programs to open on my TV rather than my desktop display?

Last edited by kentkentkent (2015-10-03 19:52:24)

progandy

Member

Registered: 2012-05-17

Posts: 5,202

Re: [SOLVED] Force certain applications to open on a specified display?

Your desktop environment  or window manager might allow you to configure that. If you have Gnome3, you might find an addon.
If your chosen wm does not support it, you can try devilspie or devilspie2 (in aur)

Last edited by progandy (2015-09-22 15:33:34)

---

| alias CUTF='LANG=en_XX.UTF-8@POSIX ' |

kentkentkent

Member

Registered: 2015-09-22

Posts: 12

Re: [SOLVED] Force certain applications to open on a specified display?

I'm not finding any plugins for gnome that can do this. As for devilspie, I'll give that a look. I hear it's pretty complex.
Is devilspie what lets me set display variables? I think that could be the problem.

Last edited by kentkentkent (2015-09-22 17:51:28)

progandy

Member

Registered: 2012-05-17

Posts: 5,202

Re: [SOLVED] Force certain applications to open on a specified display?

I'm not finding any plugins for gnome that can do this.

I quickly found these two:
https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/ … e-windows/
https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/39/put-windows/

As for devilspie, I'll give that a look. I hear it's pretty complex.

Yes, it can be quite complex, especially if you aren't familiar with lisp. You might fare better with devilspie2 and its lua configuration.
Still, if you take some time to learn the language, you might like it.
http://foosel.org/linux/devilspie#examples

Is devilspie what lets me set display variables? I think that could be the problem.

In most common setups, multiple monitors are managed with xrandr. In that case you cannot use the $DISPLAY variable to select a screen.

Last edited by progandy (2015-09-22 19:13:15)

---

| alias CUTF='LANG=en_XX.UTF-8@POSIX ' |

kentkentkent

Member

Registered: 2015-09-22

Posts: 12

Re: [SOLVED] Force certain applications to open on a specified display?

I quickly found these two:
https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/ … e-windows/
https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/39/put-windows/

I installed both and neither worked for me They're for placing applications on virtual desktops by default, not displays.

devilspie looked a little tough, so I haven't tried that yet, but I did find something in my Nvidia settings: I can set the DISPLAY variable for each monitor there. That fixed my issue.

for example, I can now enter

DISPLAY=:1.1 nautilus

and have my file browser open on my second monitor.

I'm marking this as solved.