KDE screen rotation broken

dr.dynamics · 2015-09-21 16:23:01

Okay, I am running KDE with a bit of an unusual monitor configuration, two 1920x1080 panels side by side, but the left one on HDMI rotated 90 clockwise and the right one on DVI rotated 90 counterclockwise (so the tops of monitors touch). All was fine until yesterday's update to latest kde/plasma packages (5.4.1-2). Now my left panel won't properly rotate 90 degrees anymore. The right one is still fine. The left one rotates the icons and mouse motions to the correct orientation, but the wallpaper doesn't rotate, so I have a black band across the bottom of the screen where I can move the mouse, but I can't use. And the wallpaper from the left monitor wraps over onto the right one. It's like KDE is trying to draw a 1920x1080 desktop on a 1080x1920 monitor. If I rotate the left panel back to the normal orientation, everything seems to work okay. I don't know if it matters, but it's intel i7, with a discrete NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 (not sure if this any better than the intel on board graphics, but I already had the card, so what the heck). I am guessing it's a KDE bug. Any one else seeing this?

esdaniel · 2015-09-23 12:51:21

I have the same issue. Also, the panel on the monitor that is rotated, sits just above the band implying there is some confusion about the dimensions in use.

This issue used to occur prior to the update though re-applying the display settings would resolve the issue. Unfortunately this workaround no longer applies.

esdaniel · 2015-09-24 17:22:31

Just sharing...

I deleted the panel on the 2nd display that rotates and then KWin (... I think) crashed and restarted and the 2nd monitor display was back to normal with the background properly applied. I guess that means there's something related to the issue with that.

tursas · 2015-09-25 08:27:52

I liked your odd configuration, so I decided to try it myself. FWIW, it works fine for me -- the backgroud on both monitors scales properly. I've also got an nvidia (GTX 460, closed driver) and kwin --version gives:

Qt: 4.8.7
KDE Development Platform: 4.14.12
KWin: 4.11.22

I realize that "it works here" might not be response you're looking for, but comparing our setups might help you track down the issue. I did have to specify the position of my second screen. By default it was being placed at +1920,+0, which left an invisible gap between the two rotation monitors (ie, the mouse would disappear for a while when moving from one monitor to the other, and any windows spanning both monitors would be missing their middle portion).

Two differences in our setup are that both my monitors are on DVI and both are rotated counter-clockwise ("left" in the KDE display control panel). Could the issue be related to the HDMI connection? Have you tried switching which monitor is using HDMI?

What does your Xorg.0.log say? grep -i rotat on mine gives:

[   103.476] (II) NVIDIA(0): Setting mode "DVI-I-2: nvidia-auto-select @1200x1920 +0+0 {ViewPortIn=1200x1920,
ViewPortOut=1920x1200+0+0, Rotation=90}, DVI-I-3: nvidia-auto-select @1200x1920 +1200+0 {ViewPortIn=1200x1920,
ViewPortOut=1920x1200+0+0, Rotation=90}"

Buddlespit · 2015-09-25 11:11:04

Have you tried disabling/removing kscreen and setting up your monitors thru nvidia-settings? That fixed a butt-load of dual monitor issues for me.

dr.dynamics · 2015-09-26 01:41:23

Okay, I can post an update. Tried a few things, first was running cinnamon desktop; it works fine, correctly displaying both monitors. Tried pulling out the nvidia card, and falling back to onboard graphics. Still, in KDE, left panel messed up. So, I was eager to try today's plasma-workspace update. (5.4.1-2 -> 5.4.1-4). After update, first logged in, and still messed up. I tried playing around with desktop a bit, e.g., adding, moving, deleting a panel. Nothing. Then plasma crashed and restarted, and voila, left screen fixed. Not sure what caused the crash, or what it did, but for time being, it's good. BTW, I am running kwin_x11, not kwin, and the version is 5.4.1. I am guessing it was the update, and it just took some time to write new settings. Solved, I guess.

Nope, spoke too soon. Logged out and back in, problem recurs. Will keep experimenting.

Last edited by dr.dynamics (2015-09-26 01:58:58)

tursas · 2015-09-26 08:55:44

Have you tried as a new user? Could be a config issue, maybe a lingering setting that plasma doesn't like.

dr.dynamics · 2015-10-01 04:05:21

Ok, I think this bug has something to do with which is the primary monitor. Just switching it back and forth will "reset" KDE and the orientation is then ok. If I set my left monitor to be primary, the problem moves to the right one after a reboot. If I set it to the right, or neither as the primary, the problem shows up on the left monitor. Workaround: every time I log in, have to switch the primary monitor.

esdaniel · 2015-10-01 14:01:09

Thanks dr.dynamics, your workaround works for me.

dr.dynamics · 2015-10-06 16:41:08

Quick note: plasma-workspace update (5.4.1-4 -> 5.4.2-1), plasma-desktop update (5.4.1-2 -> 5.4.2-1), problem persists. I suspect it was introduced in the 5.3 to 5.4 transition, but might have been 5.4.0 to 5.4.1. I haven't researched any further.

dr.dynamics · 2015-10-15 20:09:35

Okay, I have now written a small script, two lines:
xrandr --output HDMI3 --primary
xrandr --output HDMI1 --primary
The script auto executes on startup, seems to workaround the issue nicely.

esdaniel · 2015-11-02 08:00:21

Thanks dr.dynamics +1, works for me too with DVI-0 / DVI-1 as the targets.
For anyone else wanting to use the script run xrandr at the command prompt without arguments to verify your screen identifiers to use in the script.

dr.dynamics · 2015-11-12 06:44:29

Looks like upgraded plasma-workspace (5.4.2-2 -> 5.4.3-1) resolves the problem. No longer running my script, seems ok.

esdaniel · 2015-12-16 20:39:10

Seems the latest update is now working for me too as of the date of this post, fingers crossed it stays that way :-)

GelatinousSlime · 2016-02-12 14:30:47

I'm hitting what looks like exactly this issue and it is fixed with the workaround mentioned here but I'm on plasma-workspace 5.5.4-1 and plasma-desktop 5.5.4-1.

Arch Linux

#1 2015-09-21 16:23:01

KDE screen rotation broken

#2 2015-09-23 12:51:21

Re: KDE screen rotation broken

#3 2015-09-24 17:22:31

Re: KDE screen rotation broken

#4 2015-09-25 08:27:52

Re: KDE screen rotation broken

#5 2015-09-25 11:11:04

Re: KDE screen rotation broken

#6 2015-09-26 01:41:23

Re: KDE screen rotation broken

#7 2015-09-26 08:55:44

Re: KDE screen rotation broken

#8 2015-10-01 04:05:21

Re: KDE screen rotation broken

#9 2015-10-01 14:01:09

Re: KDE screen rotation broken

#10 2015-10-06 16:41:08

Re: KDE screen rotation broken

#11 2015-10-15 20:09:35

Re: KDE screen rotation broken

#12 2015-11-02 08:00:21

Re: KDE screen rotation broken

#13 2015-11-12 06:44:29

Re: KDE screen rotation broken

#14 2015-12-16 20:39:10

Re: KDE screen rotation broken

#15 2016-02-12 14:30:47

Re: KDE screen rotation broken

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