XFCE - multiple monitors going to sleep wake as mirrored

https://gitlab.xfce.org/xfce/xfce4-settings/-/issues/158

Submitted by jordan pisaniello @jorp

Assigned to Ali Abdallah @ali Link to original bug (#16430)

Description Hello, I’m not exactly sure if this is the proper classification for this bug, but it seems to fit best. [xfce4-power-manager 1.6.5] Currently I’m running the Xfce spin of Fedora 31. I have three identical monitors (ASUS VS239) and it seems that whenever they either are put to sleep or switched off (manually, or via the setting in xfce4-power-manager) when they wake, all displays are mirrored. This is noticeable from the lock screen (lightdm-gtk-greeter? using xfce4-screensaver 0.1.8-2 and other screensavers) and persists after logging in. Right now I have a keyboard shortcut set to run an xrandr script as my temporary workaround. After executing this script, windows are unfortunately appearing on whichever display they feel like, along with sometimes being out of ranger (I’ve been using right-click on the window button for a window and clicking ‘move’ to bring them back). I also have a profile set in xfce4-settings [4.14.1-2] display that seems to be ignored after unlock. Locking/unlocking my workstation immediately or in short intervals does not cause a problem. This only happens after enough time passes when the screens actually go to sleep. Please let me know if I can provide any additional information. Version: 4.14.3

💬 jordan pisaniello @jorp said:

more information: I found the following after searching around: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/kscreen/+bug/1573345?comments=all Maybe this is an xorg issue? Also, here’s a related forum post: https://forum.xfce.org/viewtopic.php?pid=56538#p56538

💬 jordan pisaniello @jorp said:

Add more (maybe) relevant information: https://github.com/linuxmint/Cinnamon/issues/5487

💬 jordan pisaniello @jorp said:

and another related forum post: https://forum.xfce.org/viewtopic.php?id=10951

💬 jordan pisaniello @jorp said:

Update: It doesn’t seem to matter if the display is locked first before powering off the monitors in order to encounter this issue. I just set these setting to on (both previously off) while having my current configuration saved to a profile: xfce4-settings > Display > Advanced > Configure new displays > on xfce4-settings > Display > Advanced > Automatically enable profiles when new display is connected > on After powering the monitors back on, it looks like all the displays were in fact in the expected/correct position. However, most open windows seem to converge to one of three displays. When windows shift, they also seem to not respect the actual boundary of their newly assigned display, sometimes resulting in them being ‘off-screen’. I tried playing around with the order that monitors were powered on/off and along with which display was set as the primary, and was unable to figure out why windows were ‘choosing’ to converge to a particular display. I’m also not sure why some windows seem to stand their ground and remain on the original display assigned before powering off.

💬 xax..@..il.com said:

Also see: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xfce4-settings/+bug/1716172 (it has a patch, easily 1-line-able, that provides an option to disable automatic changes that could be adapted for the current XFCE version) My rant, with a few more links: https://forum.xfce.org/viewtopic.php?id=13784

💬 xax..@..il.com said:

Maybe change product to xfsettingsd as the relevant code is in xfsettingsd/displays.c (can I do this?) Also maybe raise priority and/or severity as this affects many people, has been around for ages, is very annoying and time-wasting, and has a very simple fix.

💬 jordan pisaniello @jorp said:

(In reply to xaxazak from comment 6)

Maybe change product to xfsettingsd as the relevant code is in xfsettingsd/displays.c (can I do this?) Also maybe raise priority and/or severity as this affects many people, has been around for ages, is very annoying and time-wasting, and has a very simple fix.

Thanks for that, I’ve moved it to xfce4-settings.

💬 Simon Steinbeiß @ochosi said:

Have you tried saving a display profile? This feature should restore the configuration. (https://docs.xfce.org/xfce/xfce4-settings/display)

Yes I have. It seems after all monitors go to sleep, they will now usually appear in the correct position. However, windows did not appear the same displays they did prior to screen going to sleep / locking.

If the display configuration is restored correctly and this bug is about window placement it may actually be with xfwm4…

I just thought that maybe I should note that behaviour because it has only started after I started to use the display profile. I can open a new issue under xfwm4 though and reference this.

Just wanted to add to and bump this issue. I’m experiencing the same thing on Fedora 36 XFCE spin as well, but the issue is only present depending on the ports the monitors are connected to. Using DP and HDMI, it works fine after waking up, but both on DP and it’ll mirror them. I have set the layout in nvidia-settings and saved + overwritten the old configuration. It still seems to favour what the setup was on the original video interfaces when deciding which to let work. I would think that setting and saving the config in the nvidia settings would be enough to have it remember on reboot but apparently it isn’t such a PnP solution.

Setting the layout from XFCE settings rather than nvidia-settings seems to fix the issue, if anyone is looking for a fix. I personally didn’t need to setup a profile, just was able to apply from the display pane. It was my understanding that nvidia-settings and XFCE settings would both use a common layout, when one is set in one it would apply to the other, but that doesn’t seem to be the case like it is on Windows.

[Retracted original complaint that XFCE settings did not help… my apologies!] Fix from @skylerspaeth works if, under “Advanced” in XFCE Display settings, you:

Save the current settings as a profile matching the currently connected displays Select both “Configure new displays when connected” and “Automatically enable profiles when new display is connected”.

This fixes my two main complains about XFCE when power cycling my monitors attached to my recently upgraded graphics card: layout wrong (ends up mirroring) and font sizes change (they are greatly increased). My one remaining complaint is that if I power cycle my monitors, all application windows appear on only one monitor when power is restored. Would be nice not to have to move them back, but that’s a small inconvenience compared to the other two problems that have gone away thanks to @skylerspaeth.

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