[resolved] Generel and advanced monitor/display setup

zacariaz · 2022-09-07 10:24:40

If hope that it is okay that I ask a couple of questions, that I haven't been able to find clear answer to, and ask general advice, in regards to what I actually want to do.

First of, the immediate problem.
XFCE, presumably, reconfigure my monitor(s), which is 32:9, but used as two separate monitors, when returning from sleep mode, or if I've just turned off the monitor and turn it on again.
the issue seem to be that one of the monitors, even though they're really the same, is too slow to wake up, so to speak.
Best solution I've been able to come up with, is a script where I grep the relevant information from xrandr, basically if the second diplay is connected, and connected correctly, and act accordingly.
This is a bad solution, and if nothing else, I'd like to, at least, be able to detects when the monitor wakes up, so I don't have to check every few seconds. Allegedly you can do this with HDMI, according to the wiki, but not really, as I recall, and I am connected via Display Port.

Secondly, I'd like to ensure that it is the right approach I'm taking. basically, I'd like to be able to change between modes, that is 32:9 behavior, and 2 side by side 16:) behavior, and to so from software, without having to change settings in the monitor. This is relevant fx when watching full screen video, while working, but also when arranging windows, which can usually be done easily in 1 by 2, 2 by 1, 2 by 2, or a combination, which is not practical in 32:9 mode.

Then there's idea of virtual displays. I don't really think I get i. Can I get a 32:9 monitor to act as 2 16:9, in software? If so, how? Or perhaps the other way around, though the first option would be ideal. One cable less, and also 120 hz in stead of 100, for some odd reason, which would also make the first problem go away.

I'd like to set things up, so they work in a specific way. I intent for example, to connect my tv, within the foreseeable future, and boot up a virtual machine when detected. This is via HDMI, and I know that there is indeed some feature to allow this detection, but if I recall, this is not really usable, with non dedicated devices, as opposed to dvd players and such. I suppose it will show up as undetected, when off, so again, it is just a matter of finding a way of setting it up, without involving an infinite loop, constantly checking.

Lastly lastly, point of interest. xrandr shows my "2" displays, as DP-0 and DP-2, where as DP-1, 3 and 4 are unconnected. This is odd, as I most certainly use DP-0 and 1, or perhaps 1 and 2 (there is not DP-4), in relation to the the dedicated graphics (3090), and the monitor, which only has 2 DP inputs, and I've been unable to figure out why, or indeed how to fix it, so that I may finally satisfy my OCD.

There are other unanswered questions as well, but none that I'm not pretty sure I can figure out myself.

Thanks.

Update:
As for virtual displays, it seems to be exactly what I need, and it works... sort of, but not really

exact procedure:

> xrandr -q
Screen 0: minimum 8 x 8, current 5120 x 1440, maximum 32767 x 32767
HDMI-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-0 connected 5120x1440+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 1mm x 1mm
   3840x1080    119.97 +  99.96    59.97  
   5120x1440    119.97*  100.00    59.98  
   2560x1440     59.95  
   2560x1080    119.88   100.00    60.00    59.94  
   1920x1080    119.88   100.00    60.00    59.94  
   1680x1050     59.95  
   1600x900      60.00  
   1440x900      59.89  
   1280x1024     75.02    60.02  
   1280x800      59.81  
   1280x720      60.00  
   1152x864      75.00  
   1024x768      75.03    70.07    60.00  
   800x600       75.00    72.19    60.32    56.25  
   640x480       75.00    72.81    59.94  
DP-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-3 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-4 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-5 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

> xrandr --setmonitor A 2560/596x1440/336+0+0 DP-0
> xrandr --setmonitor B 2560/596x1440/336+2560+0 none
> xrandr --listmonitors
Monitors: 2
 0: A 2560/596x1440/336+0+0  DP-0
 1: B 2560/596x1440/336+2560+0 

> xrandr --fb 5121x1440
> xrandr --fx 5120x1440

It seems to actually work, though not as intended.
Virtual display A, no problems
Virtual display B ... Well, the mouse cursor show up and all, but the desktop (XFCE), doesn't seem to extend.
I've tried various variations, but nothing seem to work.
I have noted that the monitor shows up as being 1mm x 1mm, when it should show up as 1193x336, which oddly enough it does, when I use the monitor functionality to split it in 2, using 2 inputs, but this doesn't seem to be the issue.
If someone has the solution to that, my troubles are over.

Update 2:
Interesting effect, and almost a solution.
when setting the connected, or monitor a, to be displaced towards the right, and monitor B with no displacement, everything works on the leftmost display, and of course the right. I can see the icons, move them around, click and open applications, but no windows will move onto the first 1680 pxiels or so, which seems to be a constant, as I tried to change resolution, which extended the border.. I even tried to move a chromium tab, as far as I could, just to press my luck, and see if I could get it to play a full screen youtube video, on the left side, and I could move that window all the way. However, the behavior was sort of off, and the fullscreen video showed up on the right side.
I think it's an XFCE issue, but frankly, I don't really have the will to test that particular hypothesis right now.

Update 3:
It is now clear, that gtk 3 has issues with virtual displays. alas I'll have to use someting else.

Last edited by zacariaz (2022-09-07 22:04:27)

twelveeighty · 2022-09-07 14:21:31

zacariaz wrote:

the issue seem to be that one of the monitors, even though they're really the same, is too slow to wake up, so to speak.

This. Not to draw too much off-topic, but I have this problem with just one external monitor, on not just Arch (Windows as well) with both HDMI and DP connections. So it has to be a hardware problem: the monitor sometimes/unpredictably takes an inordinate long time to wake up, and makes the O/S (Arch and others) believe it is a new connection. Is yours an Asus, by chance?

Last edited by twelveeighty (2022-09-07 14:22:08)

koffeinfriedhof · 2022-09-07 14:33:55

Hi!

If both are capable of DisplayPort (in and out) you could just Daisy chain them. Connect first Monitor with DP cable to the other one and this one to the computer. Only last one should use DP1.2. With this setup I had less problems with "new connections".

Could be a firmware/graphics card issue too. What graphics do you use?

seth · 2022-09-07 15:13:17

I'd like to, at least, be able to detects when the monitor wakes up

https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/x-on-resize

Can I get a 32:9 monitor to act as 2 16:9, in software? If so, how?

https://chipsenkbeil.com/notes/linux-vi … th-xrandr/

But it quite frankly sounds as if the monitor already does show up as two outputs and you'd rather combine them into one?
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Multih … al_display

Though the best way is probably to control the fullscreen behavior of your windowmanager (assuming you have two outputs inside one frame and want fullscreen windows to span both)

Please post the output of "xrandr -q" before and after a problematic S3/wake.

zacariaz · 2022-09-07 16:04:57

seth wrote:

But it quite frankly sounds as if the monitor already does show up as two outputs and you'd rather combine them into one?
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Multih … al_display
Though the best way is probably to control the fullscreen behavior of your windowmanager (assuming you have two outputs inside one frame and want fullscreen windows to span both)
Please post the output of "xrandr -q" before and after a problematic S3/wake.

I can pick and choose if I want it to show up as 1 32:9 or 2 16:9.
The first option is preferably, as the other one, for whatever reason, limits it from 120Hz to 100Hz.

There is no notable information to find in xrandr -q. as far as my investigation has in concerned, there can be little doubt that it is an XFCE issue, but I may be mistaken.
In any case, it is not an issue, for me, if I can somehow get 1 32:9 monitor, to effectively behave as two 16:9 monitors, via software.

zacariaz · 2022-09-07 16:07:39

koffeinfriedhof wrote:

Hi!
If both are capable of DisplayPort (in and out) you could just Daisy chain them. Connect first Monitor with DP cable to the other one and this one to the computer. Only last one should use DP1.2. With this setup I had less problems with "new connections".
Could be a firmware/graphics card issue too. What graphics do you use?

Interesting idea, though I don't really think it's an option, as it is actually one single 32:9 monitor, with the build in functionality, to use 2 inputs and act as two 16:9 monitors.

The gpu is an RXT 3090

seth · 2022-09-07 16:10:03

In any case, it is not an issue, for me, if I can somehow get 1 32:9 monitor, to effectively behave as two 16:9 monitors, via software.

in that case see the 2nd link I posted.

zacariaz · 2022-09-07 17:30:18

seth wrote:

In any case, it is not an issue, for me, if I can somehow get 1 32:9 monitor, to effectively behave as two 16:9 monitors, via software.
in that case see the 2nd link I posted.

Indeed, and that's for that. It is so very close to being the solution, but I can't get it to work properly. See update in OP.

Still, thanks is in order. I do hope you have the answer to the last problem.

edit:
And now there's also a second update.

Last edited by zacariaz (2022-09-07 17:50:40)

seth · 2022-09-07 19:53:41

https://bugzilla.xfce.org/show_bug.cgi?id=15555
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gtk/-/issues/2013 (seems still open…)

zacariaz · 2022-09-07 20:33:10

seth wrote:

https://bugzilla.xfce.org/show_bug.cgi?id=15555
https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gtk/-/issues/2013 (seems still open…)

Ya, I just found that as well, or rather the one leading to it. Still, people have gotten this to work, or is it just because they don't use gtk 3? It's one of those many things I really don't know anything about.

seth · 2022-09-07 21:39:58

It'll bog down to the client (window manager, desktop shell) and apparently xfce is hampered by gtk3 effectively not being randr 1.5 compatible.
Reading through that bug (***grrrr***) I'd not expect gtk3 to fix that problem, or their attitude, ever.
So if you want to continue to use xfce (or any gtk based WM, also see eg. https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-de … issues/123 ) you'll have to abandon that approach, sorry.

I'm not exactly sure what you see when overlapping the monitors, but you're probably just exploiting some bug/flaw in parts of the DE.

=> look into x-on-resize, it was made for autoconfiguring newly appearing outputs

zacariaz · 2022-09-07 22:02:51

seth wrote:

It'll bog down to the client (window manager, desktop shell) and apparently xfce is hampered by gtk3 effectively not being randr 1.5 compatible.
Reading through that bug (***grrrr***) I'd not expect gtk3 to fix that problem, or their attitude, ever.
So if you want to continue to use xfce (or any gtk based WM, also see eg. https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-de … issues/123 ) you'll have to abandon that approach, sorry.
I'm not exactly sure what you see when overlapping the monitors, but you're probably just exploiting some bug/flaw in parts of the DE.
=> look into x-on-resize, it was made for autoconfiguring newly appearing outputs

I actually just tried out gnome. I never really liked it, but as it were, obviously, since Gnome is apparently gtk3 based. whatever that means, it didn't work, at all.

The x-on-resize solves one issue. The other way, it seems to me, is better, so the question becomes, so the question becomes, what window manager shold I then use, and can I expect this solution to work, if it's nok gtk based?
I suppose I'm able to figure this out myself, but it has been a very long time since I've used anything but xfce. *sigh*

In any case, I appreciate the assistance very much indeed, and will now mark the subject resolved.

seth · 2022-09-08 07:04:28

openbox is reported to work as expected in the gnome bug and you could try it along lxqt, but you may still run into issues w/ specific gtk3 clients (apparently FF will misposition its popups because of this)
KDE (though fat… "more plus-sized" than xfce) doesn't seem to be an option either, https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 4#p2037274

zacariaz · 2022-09-08 08:52:19

seth wrote:

openbox is reported to work as expected in the gnome bug and you could try it along lxqt, but you may still run into issues w/ specific gtk3 clients (apparently FF will misposition its popups because of this)
KDE (though fat… "more plus-sized" than xfce) doesn't seem to be an option either, https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php … 4#p2037274

I always liked openbox, well, more the concept. Simple, robust, written in C, and so on, and I liked razerqt, so chances are that I'll like lxqt. I've considered trying out KDE. The do say pretty good things about it these days, but I'm not too disappointed, if it's not an option.
Then of course, what about something like JWM? Would I actually be able to get by, with that? I don't know. I guess I'll just have to try.

Arch Linux

#1 2022-09-07 10:24:40

[resolved] Generel and advanced monitor/display setup

#2 2022-09-07 14:21:31

Re: [resolved] Generel and advanced monitor/display setup

#3 2022-09-07 14:33:55

Re: [resolved] Generel and advanced monitor/display setup

#4 2022-09-07 15:13:17

Re: [resolved] Generel and advanced monitor/display setup

#5 2022-09-07 16:04:57

Re: [resolved] Generel and advanced monitor/display setup

#6 2022-09-07 16:07:39

Re: [resolved] Generel and advanced monitor/display setup

#7 2022-09-07 16:10:03

Re: [resolved] Generel and advanced monitor/display setup

#8 2022-09-07 17:30:18

Re: [resolved] Generel and advanced monitor/display setup

#9 2022-09-07 19:53:41

Re: [resolved] Generel and advanced monitor/display setup

#10 2022-09-07 20:33:10

Re: [resolved] Generel and advanced monitor/display setup

#11 2022-09-07 21:39:58

Re: [resolved] Generel and advanced monitor/display setup

#12 2022-09-07 22:02:51

Re: [resolved] Generel and advanced monitor/display setup

#13 2022-09-08 07:04:28

Re: [resolved] Generel and advanced monitor/display setup

#14 2022-09-08 08:52:19

Re: [resolved] Generel and advanced monitor/display setup

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