Multiple monitors icon placement issue

Qik00 · 2019-03-31 20:21:36

I have a setup where the main screen is on the right, and the secondary is on the left, the issue is, xfce doesn't care on which monitor I make a folder or an icon, it ALWAYS jumps to my secondary display which is SUPER annoying, the same happens when any program creates icon by itself, it appears on the secondary monitor, it should appear on the main one.

How to fix this ? It's VERY, VERY annoying, and changing the monitor arrangement is out of the question unfortunately

ToZ · 2019-04-01 01:22:39

Hello and welcome.

What version of xfdesktop are you using?

xfdesktop -V

What version of xfce4-settings?

xfsettingsd -V

Also, post your display settings:

xfconf-query -c displays -lv

...and xfdesktop settings:

xfconf-query -c xfce4-desktop -lv

Qik00 · 2019-04-03 07:27:29

ToZ wrote:

Hello and welcome.
What version of xfdesktop are you using?
xfdesktop -V
What version of xfce4-settings?
xfsettingsd -V
Also, post your display settings:
xfconf-query -c displays -lv
...and xfdesktop settings:
xfconf-query -c xfce4-desktop -lv

1.
This is xfdesktop version 4.12.4, running on Xfce 4.12.
Built with GTK+ 2.24.32, linked with GTK+ 2.24.32.
Build options:
Desktop Menu: enabled
Desktop Icons: enabled
Desktop File Icons: enabled

2.
xfsettingsd 4.12.4 (Xfce 4.12)

Please report bugs to <http://bugzilla.xfce.org/>.

3.
No output

4.
/backdrop/screen0/monitor0/workspace0/color-style 0
/backdrop/screen0/monitor0/workspace0/image-style 5
/backdrop/screen0/monitor0/workspace0/last-image /usr/share/backgrounds/xfce/xfce-teal.jpg
/backdrop/screen0/monitor0/workspace1/color-style 0
/backdrop/screen0/monitor0/workspace1/image-style 5
/backdrop/screen0/monitor0/workspace1/last-image /usr/share/backgrounds/xfce/xfce-teal.jpg
/backdrop/screen0/monitor0/workspace2/color-style 0
/backdrop/screen0/monitor0/workspace2/image-style 5
/backdrop/screen0/monitor0/workspace2/last-image /usr/share/backgrounds/xfce/xfce-teal.jpg
/backdrop/screen0/monitor0/workspace3/color-style 0
/backdrop/screen0/monitor0/workspace3/image-style 5
/backdrop/screen0/monitor0/workspace3/last-image /usr/share/backgrounds/xfce/xfce-teal.jpg
/backdrop/screen0/monitor1/workspace0/color-style 0
/backdrop/screen0/monitor1/workspace0/image-style 5
/backdrop/screen0/monitor1/workspace0/last-image /usr/share/backgrounds/xfce/xfce-teal.jpg
/backdrop/screen0/monitor1/workspace1/color-style 0
/backdrop/screen0/monitor1/workspace1/image-style 5
/backdrop/screen0/monitor1/workspace1/last-image /usr/share/backgrounds/xfce/xfce-teal.jpg
/backdrop/screen0/monitor1/workspace2/color-style 0
/backdrop/screen0/monitor1/workspace2/image-style 5
/backdrop/screen0/monitor1/workspace2/last-image /usr/share/backgrounds/xfce/xfce-teal.jpg
/backdrop/screen0/monitor1/workspace3/color-style 0
/backdrop/screen0/monitor1/workspace3/image-style 5
/backdrop/screen0/monitor1/workspace3/last-image /usr/share/backgrounds/xfce/xfce-teal.jpg

ToZ · 2019-04-03 10:28:00

Can you try the third command one more time? It must produce an output.

Qik00 · 2019-04-03 19:56:56

ToZ wrote:

Can you try the third command one more time? It must produce an output.

Did it, again, no output

ToZ · 2019-04-03 20:21:09

Do you have a ~/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/displays.xml file? If so, can you paste it's contents?

And for sanity's sake:

ps -ef | grep -E 'xfdesktop|xfsettingsd'

Qik00 · 2019-04-07 20:40:43

ToZ wrote:

Do you have a ~/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/displays.xml file? If so, can you paste it's contents?
And for sanity's sake:
ps -ef | grep -E 'xfdesktop|xfsettingsd'

user 9041 8849 0 22:38 pts/0 00:00:00 grep --color=auto --exclude-dir=.bzr --exclude-dir=CVS --exclude-dir=.git --exclude-dir=.hg --exclude-dir=.svn xfdesktop|xfsettingsd

Sorry for late reply

ToZ · 2019-04-07 21:20:57

This says that neither xfsettingsd nor xfdesktop are running? Is this correct?

Qik00 · 2019-04-16 14:11:59

ToZ wrote:

This says that neither xfsettingsd nor xfdesktop are running? Is this correct?

I don't know, I am a beginner at xfce

ToZ · 2019-04-16 17:37:12

If xfsettingsd and xfdesktop are not running, then you don't have a complete Xfce environment. If something else is managing the display and desktop than the issue would sit there.

One a fresh login, can you post back all the processes that your user account is running?

ps -ef | grep $USER

Also, try creating a secondary account on your computer, logging into that account, and seeing if you can replicate the issue.

Qik00 · 2019-04-17 00:13:42

ToZ wrote:

If xfsettingsd and xfdesktop are not running, then you don't have a complete Xfce environment. If something else is managing the display and desktop than the issue would sit there.
One a fresh login, can you post back all the processes that your user account is running?
ps -ef | grep $USER
Also, try creating a secondary account on your computer, logging into that account, and seeing if you can replicate the issue.

I just checked, they are in fact running, xfdesktop and xfsettongsd are present in htop. I also asked about this on Reddit, they told me that xfce cannot distinguish between displays at all and, and I quote, 'it will take at least a decade until it does', is that true ? I have too little experience with xfce to know

ToZ · 2019-04-17 00:26:30

No. The new development version of xfsettingsd has had significant updates. Multi-monitors work fine for me, but my set up is basic. The only true way to ensure that it does handle displays properly is for people to test the newer version and report back (via bug reports) if any issues are found.

It's easy to gripe. Much harder to choose to participate and make the product better.

Which distro are you running?

Qik00 · 2019-04-17 12:16:02

ToZ wrote:

No. The new development version of xfsettingsd has had significant updates. Multi-monitors work fine for me, but my set up is basic. The only true way to ensure that it does handle displays properly is for people to test the newer version and report back (via bug reports) if any issues are found.
It's easy to gripe. Much harder to choose to participate and make the product better.
Which distro are you running?

So you don't experience the problem I am having ? Xfce does differentiate between displays and doesn't shove icons to the leftmost screen ? My secondary display is my leftmost and when I make icons on the primary right display they spawn on the secondary...

ToZ · 2019-04-17 12:53:15

There have been significant changes in the xfsettingsd application including primary monitor deisgnations as well as icon placement routines. See:
- https://simon.shimmerproject.org/2018/1 … s-release/
- https://simon.shimmerproject.org/2018/11/
- https://git.xfce.org/xfce/xfdesktop/com … 7e88951155 & the associated bug report: https://bugzilla.xfce.org/show_bug.cgi?id=14979

When I use an external monitor (not often) the laptop is to the left and the monitor to the right and I've set the laptop as my main monitor. I recall testing the last commit and switching that configuration. Aside from a small bug that's been fixed, it worked well. No issues.

Which distro do you run? Maybe there is an easy way for you to test the new versions.

Qik00 · 2019-04-17 13:27:52

ToZ wrote:

There have been significant changes in the xfsettingsd application including primary monitor deisgnations as well as icon placement routines. See:
- https://simon.shimmerproject.org/2018/1 … s-release/
- https://simon.shimmerproject.org/2018/11/
- https://git.xfce.org/xfce/xfdesktop/com … 7e88951155 & the associated bug report: https://bugzilla.xfce.org/show_bug.cgi?id=14979
When I use an external monitor (not often) the laptop is to the left and the monitor to the right and I've set the laptop as my main monitor. I recall testing the last commit and switching that configuration. Aside from a small bug that's been fixed, it worked well. No issues.
Which distro do you run? Maybe there is an easy way for you to test the new versions.

I run mint, and I would be hyper grateful if you recorded what it does in the situation you described (main display on the right) to see how it behaves exactly.

Last edited by Qik00 (2019-04-17 21:36:38)

ToZ · 2019-04-17 23:17:43

Okay, just tested it. Set external monitor as primary (panel and desktop icons move over to the secondary monitor). Created a new document and it placed itself on the external (primary) monitor. Here is a screenshot of the new settings window and desktop icons (where they were placed). Also visible is the Desktop settings and the new "Icon orientation" option that allows you to specify where to start placing icons.

Qik00 · 2019-04-19 00:56:06

ToZ wrote:

Okay, just tested it. Set external monitor as primary (panel and desktop icons move over to the secondary monitor). Created a new document and it placed itself on the external (primary) monitor. Here is a screenshot of the new settings window and desktop icons (where they were placed). Also visible is the Desktop settings and the new "Icon orientation" option that allows you to specify where to start placing icons.
https://i.ibb.co/nbg0YPM/Screenshot-2019-04-17-19-13-50.png

You just set the icons to start from the right, I would like them to start at the left, on top left, and that will result in them being misplaced to the secondary display.

ToZ · 2019-04-19 01:23:59

It doesn't matter where I put the icons, it still works for me.

I don't think Mint has a way to easily test the new version. You may need to wait until 4.14 is officially released.

Qik00 · 2019-04-19 14:01:01

ToZ wrote:

It doesn't matter where I put the icons, it still works for me.
I don't think Mint has a way to easily test the new version. You may need to wait until 4.14 is officially released.

Any ETA of when it will be out and in mint ?
The option to shiftvthe icons to diffrent direction that top left is not present on my system...

grh · 2019-06-03 15:13:09

I just want to add that I had this exact issue after upgrading to Fedora 29. With 3 monitors, this problem made my environment unusable. I was, however, able to work-around the problem by downgrading xfdesktop from 4.13.3 to 4.13.2. I just have to be careful not to upgrade until the issue is fixed.

ToZ · 2019-06-03 17:39:51

Please create a bug report so that it does get fixed before the release of 4.14.

grh · 2019-06-03 17:53:36

Timing is everything.....
I just pulled xfdesktop 4.13.4 from Fedora 30 and rebuilt it for Fedora 29.
It seems to have fixed the problem but I wanted to run for a while before
committing to anything. I also wanted to look for any other issues or side
effects.

ToZ · 2019-06-03 18:44:15

FYI: xfdesktop 4.13.4 changelog

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#1 2019-03-31 20:21:36

Multiple monitors icon placement issue

#2 2019-04-01 01:22:39

Re: Multiple monitors icon placement issue

#3 2019-04-03 07:27:29

Re: Multiple monitors icon placement issue

#4 2019-04-03 10:28:00

Re: Multiple monitors icon placement issue

#5 2019-04-03 19:56:56

Re: Multiple monitors icon placement issue

#6 2019-04-03 20:21:09

Re: Multiple monitors icon placement issue

#7 2019-04-07 20:40:43

Re: Multiple monitors icon placement issue

#8 2019-04-07 21:20:57

Re: Multiple monitors icon placement issue

#9 2019-04-16 14:11:59

Re: Multiple monitors icon placement issue

#10 2019-04-16 17:37:12

Re: Multiple monitors icon placement issue

#11 2019-04-17 00:13:42

Re: Multiple monitors icon placement issue

#12 2019-04-17 00:26:30

Re: Multiple monitors icon placement issue

#13 2019-04-17 12:16:02

Re: Multiple monitors icon placement issue

#14 2019-04-17 12:53:15

Re: Multiple monitors icon placement issue

#15 2019-04-17 13:27:52

Re: Multiple monitors icon placement issue

#16 2019-04-17 23:17:43

Re: Multiple monitors icon placement issue

#17 2019-04-19 00:56:06

Re: Multiple monitors icon placement issue

#18 2019-04-19 01:23:59

Re: Multiple monitors icon placement issue

#19 2019-04-19 14:01:01

Re: Multiple monitors icon placement issue

#20 2019-06-03 15:13:09

Re: Multiple monitors icon placement issue

#21 2019-06-03 17:39:51

Re: Multiple monitors icon placement issue

#22 2019-06-03 17:53:36

Re: Multiple monitors icon placement issue

#23 2019-06-03 18:44:15

Re: Multiple monitors icon placement issue

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