Xfce Forum

nsw42

Member

Registered: 2010-01-12

Posts: 36

[Solved] Problems on screen resolution

Hi there,

I tried xfce 4.6 some months ago and quickly decided to drop it because of this problem:

My laptop (lenovo w510 with nvidia) only supports a solution of 1600x900 on the
internal display. Whereas I am running 1680x1050 on my external monitor.

With xfce I had major problems with the fact, that I am not "extending" my desktop
to two displays ... but typically clone it. What I then saw where all kind of weired effects,
like that xfce would only occupy 1600x900 pixels on my external monitor.

Just wondering: in case anyone knows what I am talking about ... could I expect
4.8 to fix such problems?

(I dont want to go through the hassle of installing xubuntu 10.10 with 4.6 on my
machine, then checking for some ppa and upgrading to 4.8 ... to then find that
this annoying problem might still be there ...)

etnlWings

Member

Registered: 2007-10-30

Posts: 218

Re: [Solved] Problems on screen resolution

If you're using Ubuntu, you can easily check Xfce's compatibility by installing the xfce4, or xubuntu-desktop meta-packages alngside your Ubuntu/Gnome desktop; you don't need to do a total reinstall. The various *buntus are currently in beta testing and one or two weeks from releasing 11.04, which has 4.8 in the repos, so no PPA should be required.

As for any dual-head setup, I'd suggest getting to know xrandr, finding what works and putting it in a script, rather than relying on your DE to handle that for you. I also don't believe you can clone and have your displays running different native resolutions; likely, your external monitor is merely receiving an upscaled clone of your 1600x900 desktop. You likely want the --scale 1680x1050 argument when setting up the cloned display.

nsw42

Member

Registered: 2010-01-12

Posts: 36

Re: [Solved] Problems on screen resolution

...two weeks from releasing 11.04, which has 4.8 in the repos, so no PPA should be required.

Well, as I am running 10.10 I do need a backport ... but well, that is what I tried yesterday evening.
And then i realized that I can deactivate my internal display when using the external monitor.
That does the trick - when running in the docking station, xfce is using the full 1680x1050;
and when I am booting up the laptop, its using the internal with 1600x900.

Only major dislike: some parts in my configuration (xubuntu 10.10 + xfce 4.8 + latest nvidia driver)
dont like eacher other. X server crashed 3 times this morning. That is of course a major problem ...
but as 4.8 looks really great - it might be the thing to go for in a few weeks when 11.04 is released.