TTY Text Going Off Screen Left

FOSSyourteeth · 2015-10-13 23:27:14

Background: I'm currently running Arch Linux, as I overwrote my Linux Mint installation on a test system. The installation is using GRUB 2 and dual booting with Windows 10. I got everything working after hours of work (I had to remove and re-create the partitions on my drive) and installing and configuring various other packages.

I installed IceWM and its group packages (I can dig up the names if necessary), and a few days later (maybe a few hours of the system running) I noticed the text in my TTY sessions had moved over a little to the left, so the edge of the character was off the screen, i.e. I logged in and the text was partially off the screen. Logging in again a few hours later, I noticed the text was further off the left side of the screen, so that only half of the first character in a line is showing.

I've done hours of research and can't find any reports of this happening before. The closest thing I've found to any information about what controls the position of text in TTY sessions is that GRUB is somehow responsible for TTY, but that doesn't seem to be backed up by options in the configuration files, and changing the terminal settings and remaking the grub.cfg file doesn't do anything to TTY. As far as I can tell, GRUB handles only its own terminal (which makes sense), no matter what the internet says. I've also dug around in my system files and I can't find anything related to TTY. My only guess is that it's a bug in either IceWM or xorg that was activated by IceWM, since this has only happened with IceWM installed (I have other installs in virtual machines without IceWM, and this is the only broken install). I'm suspicious of IceWM because I've run into other issues with it, but that's a whole other forum post.

I put this in the Applications & Desktop Environments section because it seems that TTY-related posts are mostly going here.

Last edited by FOSSyourteeth (2015-10-13 23:56:59)

jasonwryan · 2015-10-13 23:35:24

Please ask on the Linux Mint boards, we only support Arch: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Fo … pport_ONLY
Closing -- for deletion

# edit: reopened on appeal: OP is referring to Arch install...

jasonwryan · 2015-10-13 23:56:22

Please include details of your video card and driver.

FOSSyourteeth · 2015-10-14 00:23:00

Oh, yes! Of course! The GPU is an on board Intel 4 Series Integrated Graphics Controller (GMA 4500). The drivers are the "xf86-video-intel" and "libva-intel-driver" ones the wiki says to install for Intel graphics.

Last edited by FOSSyourteeth (2015-10-14 00:25:40)

karol · 2015-10-14 23:44:33

X drivers don't do much in the tty, except for KMS.
Have you tried fixing it via the buttons on the monitor?

FOSSyourteeth · 2015-10-15 12:59:04

karol wrote:

Have you tried fixing it via the buttons on the monitor?

Yes, unfortunately you can't move the picture left or right on the monitor, so that can't be it, and I can't fix it that way .

FOSSyourteeth · 2015-10-16 13:03:11

OK, I dug deeper into the monitor settings and there is a way to move the picture, but it was set to the default which should be OK (I have a KVM switch hooked to my main rig and the Linux box, and the picture on the main rig is fine). Unfortunately, when I reboot, the monitor settings reset and the text is offset again... . I'll try bypassing the KVM switch, but it shouldn't be the problem, as I hadn't messed with it at all before this started happening.

Seems to me like the OS is sending the monitor instructions on where to place the image, not just what to display, so if I can find and change whatever's sending those instructions, it should be fixed. Unfortunately, it's not fixed right now, and fixing it with the monitor controls is only sort of a half solution, because I've been rebooting often and I keep the system off when I'm not using it.

I appreciate the help, and I would have thought the monitor controls would fix it, but they reset on startup.

#EDIT: I'm going to start putting these as edits from now on - less clutter and easier to follow. Sorry, I'm new to forums.

#EDIT 2: I bypassed the KVM switch and it fixed the problem. I need the KVM switch, so I manually offset the picture right back to where it should be. I reinstalled IceWM, and now my monitor fix stays on warm and cold boots. I think it's probably some type of bug with IceWM that means it doesn't play nice with KVM switches and resets monitor settings sometimes (I have no idea how that's even possible, but that's what the evidence points to). I'm guessing this is as fixed as it's getting, at least until they patch IceWM. I can live with it. I don't care if it's not technically running properly as long as it works and it's stable (not my first work-around).

Case isn't closed, but the thread is as far as I'm concerned.

Last edited by FOSSyourteeth (2015-10-16 13:56:32)

Arch Linux

#1 2015-10-13 23:27:14

TTY Text Going Off Screen Left

#2 2015-10-13 23:35:24

Re: TTY Text Going Off Screen Left

#3 2015-10-13 23:56:22

Re: TTY Text Going Off Screen Left

#4 2015-10-14 00:23:00

Re: TTY Text Going Off Screen Left

#5 2015-10-14 23:44:33

Re: TTY Text Going Off Screen Left

#6 2015-10-15 12:59:04

Re: TTY Text Going Off Screen Left

#7 2015-10-16 13:03:11

Re: TTY Text Going Off Screen Left

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