4.14 Workspaces Margins, Dual Monitor Problems [SOLVED]

jeff story · 2019-08-31 18:50:02

I can get everything working great in the 4.14 update except "workspace margins".

I need the margin set in the right side of the (primary) "left hand monitor". It seems to work only in the right side of the "right hand monitor".

My setup is Arch Linux, nvidia driver for GeForce GT 710, dual monitor. My xorg-conf will not work with 4.14 update, so I disabled it.

I've tried multiple xorg.conf hand edited configurations, and it seems the 4.14 update has made many previous settings unusable.

However, without an xorg.conf, everything is great except "workspace margins" settings.

Is there a different way to configure workspace margins to how they were before the 4.14 update?

EDIT add info & corrections:

Both monitors use 1920x1080.

Used ~~nvidia Xinerama~~ separate X screens prior to 4.14 update. After tinkering, pre-updated setup only works as described above, right margin in left monitor ~~only~~, using ~~Xinerama~~ separate X screens.

Cannot get nvidia ~~Xinerama~~ separate X screens to work in 4.14, and without it, margin only works in right hand monitor.

Last edited by jeff story (2019-09-01 02:23:54)

jeff story · 2019-09-01 02:08:43

Follow up:

It seems not using an xorg.conf file results in something ( xrandr , xfce display ?) to automatically set up what would appear to be dual displays. However, workspaces margins treat the displays as one big screen. ie: setting a top margin results in both screens having it, left margin is left hand, left side of monitor, right ... etc...

I eventually got separate X screens to run by following ToZ's instructions to turn off the compositor: https://forum.xfce.org/viewtopic.php?id=13233

This corrected the right hand margin to run in the left hand monitor, my original issue.

My right hand monitor is a large flat screen TV that I pretty much only use to play movies with Kodi player while I'm using my computer. Kodi player was already set up previously to run in DISPLAY=:0.1. So everything is good to go for what I use this setup for.

Also, X is running on the second monitors X screen with the appropriate xorg.conf settings, but nothing in xfce runs on it default, after the upgrade. I could get for example, the xfdesktop and xfce4-panel running by pointing them to the second monitor by proceeding the commands with the DISPLAY=:0.1 environment variable. But it also required running them under a dbus-run-session, which seems like a hack to me. Is there currently a proper or better way to do this I'm not aware of?

It does seem that as Gnome and GTK3 become more integrated with systemd, and as more security features are implemented over time, that possibly the multi seat/user features of Linux may not be possible with xfce in the future? Hopefully, I'm wrong about this though.
Would anyone know if xfce may possibly come up with a more user friendly and better way to run stuff on a different X screen or virtual console as the same user, in the future? It seems to me things are moving more in the opposite direction with time...

And how about a possible feature add to the desktop margins to handle displays separately? Does this sound like a reasonable feature request to try to get? I'd file one, depending on the feedback here.

Last edited by jeff story (2019-09-01 02:33:53)

Jerry3904 · 2019-09-01 10:41:53

Would anyone know if xfce may possibly come up with a more user friendly and better way to run stuff on a different X screen or virtual console as the same user, in the future? It seems to me things are moving more in the opposite direction with time...

Your experience differs from what our users are saying who are now testing the first beta of MX-19 with Xfce 4.14. There is near universal agreement here that the situation with dual monitors, as with screen tearing, has much improved in the new version.

jeff story · 2019-09-01 20:06:04

Uum... OooKaay, so... Running stuff on a different X screen or virtual console as the same user, is not really comparable to quality/ease of implementing dual monitors as far as I know. Could be wrong though and wouldn't be the first or last...

I couldn't be happier with how well my dual monitor setup was detected and set up with the 4.14 update once I got my xorg.conf out of the way and turned off the compositor. Really nice experience out of the box and as I said everything looked and worked great. For anyone content with a more mainstream, closer to default setup, great improvements.

My issues started because I have specific (more like obsessive) setup requirements for my main box. I couldn't get "workspace margins" set up out of the box. So I spent some time and effort to get it set up as it was pre-update. I had hoped I was just overlooking something simple, and asked for help. No reply kind of indicated either there was no easy solution, or who knows .......

So I reported what I encountered and what I did as more of a report followed with a few questions, again seeking a more straight forward method. Was not implying anything necessary bad, although it may have come across that way. I'm all about sharing information with passing along anything I learn. Hopefully this will possibly save someone else some time.

Unfortunately, the hacks I resorted to using, to get my "workspace margins" how I preferred, proved to create an unstable setup. I lost most of the desktop and panel settings after a reboot today. Fortunately, I had previously created an xfce downgrade script for testing the 4.13 series, and restored xfce to an earlier versioned state. If my somewhat obscure setup is of any interest to anyone, I'd be glad to provide any info or further testing to my abilities. In the mean time, I'll try it again down the road.

Last edited by jeff story (2019-09-01 20:24:26)

mouth_of_the_rat · 2020-05-24 07:14:28

Hi Jeff,

I'm experiencing the same problem and would like to thank you for posting this. I don't usually post on forums when I lack technical value to add.

--snip--

Jeff's question is technical in nature and doesn't solicit anyone's opinion about what software is better than another. He just wants his problem fixed. So do I.

Last edited by ToZ (2020-05-24 11:22:09)

ToZ · 2020-05-24 11:21:41

@mouth_of_the_rat. There is a certain etiquette that is expected when posting to online forums. Attacks of any kind against other members are not tolerated. Do no do that.

The comment made was valid - it was based on experience. Your comment was an over-reaction.
I have snipped out your inflammatory comments.

With respect to the issues itself, yes, creating a bug report is probably the best way forward.

Last edited by ToZ (2020-05-24 11:26:39)

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#1 2019-08-31 18:50:02

4.14 Workspaces Margins, Dual Monitor Problems [SOLVED]

#2 2019-09-01 02:08:43

Re: 4.14 Workspaces Margins, Dual Monitor Problems [SOLVED]

#3 2019-09-01 10:41:53

Re: 4.14 Workspaces Margins, Dual Monitor Problems [SOLVED]

#4 2019-09-01 20:06:04

Re: 4.14 Workspaces Margins, Dual Monitor Problems [SOLVED]

#5 2020-05-24 07:14:28

Re: 4.14 Workspaces Margins, Dual Monitor Problems [SOLVED]

#6 2020-05-24 11:21:41

Re: 4.14 Workspaces Margins, Dual Monitor Problems [SOLVED]

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