[Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

Manuel76 · 2014-12-22 23:37:56

Last week, I used an external monitor (VGA). And such monitor was turned off or unplugged (I dont know) before I could virtually disconnected it in XFCE (Xubuntu 14.04).

Since then I'm unable to get my original desktop back. See:

Screenshot

I chose my cat to be at the background, but it doesn't appear. Neither the icons I chose to the desktop. Neither the context menu when I click the right button. My XFCE is working as if it still were connected to an external monitor.

I'm a beginner, what could I do?

Last edited by Manuel76 (2014-12-23 20:06:21)

MountainDewManiac · 2014-12-23 02:22:42

Your screenshot image does not appear to have been posted.

Regards,
MDM

sixsixfive · 2014-12-23 08:08:49

install arandr and disable the your external monitor

Jerry3904 · 2014-12-23 10:27:51

I think you should be able to use the native Display (xfce4-display-settings) to switch it back.

Manuel76 · 2014-12-23 19:15:12

MountainDewManiac wrote:

Your screenshot image does not appear to have been posted.
Regards,
MDM

Here it goes

screenshot

Last edited by Manuel76 (2014-12-23 19:32:07)

MountainDewManiac · 2014-12-23 19:24:44

Manuel76 wrote:

MountainDewManiac wrote:
Your screenshot image does not appear to have been posted.
Regards,
MDM
Follow the link:
https://dl-web.dropbox.com/get/Public/s … 6V-9ggPY_Q

I did:

- - - - - - - - - -

Error (403)
It seems you don't belong here! You should probably sign in. Check out our Help Center and forums for help, or head back to home.

- - - - - - - - - -

Regards,
MDM

Manuel76 · 2014-12-23 19:35:12

MDM.

Look at the answer again, I suppose the image is there now.

Manuel76 · 2014-12-23 19:37:52

sixsixfive wrote:

install arandr and disable the your external monitor

I already tried Arandr. It doesnt show any external monitor.

Arandr-screenshot

Manuel76 · 2014-12-23 20:05:21

Jerry3904 wrote:

I think you should be able to use the native Display (xfce4-display-settings) to switch it back.

I'm trying, but...

I suppose I should use

xfce4-display-settings display=

How do I find the argument for the native display?

Above the screenshot of the minimal interface to set up an external output:

xfce4-display-settings interface

Thanx.

ToZ · 2014-12-23 20:33:43

I don't have my copy of Xubuntu 14.04 handy to check this, but does running:

xfce4-display-settings -m

...or pressing the default Super+P keyboard combination (Super is the Windows key) bring up a minimal display settings screen that allows you to choose which monitor combination to use? Something like this?

If not, you might have to reset it manually using xrandr. To do so, run:

xrandr

...to identify your displays and then:

xrandr --output <DISPLAY> --off

...to turn it off (replace <DISPLAY> with your actual display identifier).

For example, on my system:

$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 8 x 8, current 2966 x 900, maximum 32767 x 32767
LVDS1 connected 1366x768+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 309mm x 174mm
1366x768 59.99*+ 39.94
1024x768 60.00
800x600 60.32 56.25
640x480 59.94
DP1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP2 connected 1600x900+1366+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 443mm x 249mm
1600x900 60.00*+
1280x1024 60.02
1440x900 59.89
1280x720 59.97
1024x768 60.00
800x600 60.32
640x480 60.00
720x400 70.08
DP3 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI3 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
VGA1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
VIRTUAL1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

...then (DP2 is my external monitor identifier):

$ xrandr --output DP2 --off

Manuel76 · 2014-12-23 21:17:28

ToZ wrote:

I don't have my copy of Xubuntu 14.04 handy to check this, but does running:
xfce4-display-settings -m
...or pressing the default Super+P keyboard combination (Super is the Windows key) bring up a minimal display settings screen that allows you to choose which monitor combination to use? Something like this?

The minimal display settings screen that appears to me is above. The "something like this" only appears to me when there is another monitor connected.

However, I think that my problem is not disconnect some external monitor. See my "xrandr":

$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1366 x 768, maximum 32767 x 32767
LVDS1 connected 1366x768+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 309mm x 173mm
   1366x768       60.1*+
   1360x768       59.8     60.0  
   1024x768       60.0  
   800x600        60.3     56.2  
   640x480        59.9  
VGA1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
VIRTUAL1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

sixsixfive · 2014-12-23 21:18:02

Manuel76 wrote:

I'm trying, but...

It will not work with the old dialog, use arandr or use the manual way TOZ mentioned

Manuel76 · 2014-12-23 21:39:22

I'll try to explain again my problem.

I select to appear some icons at the desktop. But, where are the icons?

desktop screenshot

At the screen shot, you can see that "Início", "Lixeira" and other icons are selected to appear.

***

PS:
In Portuguese,
- "Início" means "Home",
- "Lixeira" means "trash".

sixsixfive · 2014-12-23 22:52:02

I know this issue and the only way to fix it was to either to reconnect the monitor or to use arandr (toggle enable/disable on the HDMI output)

but you can also try:

* to right click on the desktop and select rearrange desktop icons(or similar)
* delete xfdestops config files and kill/restart it

MountainDewManiac · 2014-12-23 23:26:57

Is it just those "built-in" icons that you are missing? If so, have you tried unchecking them all from the window that you showed in post #13, closing the window (however it is done when the user wishes to apply the changes), then bringing it back up, enabling them, and then closing it again?

BtW, I seem to have a different setup. I go to Menu / Settings / Desktop and the window that appears has a tab (third one) labeled "Icons." When I switch to that tab, I have the list of default desktop icons to check (or not). Are you using a version of XFCE that is older - or newer - than the current stable one, 4.10?

Regards,
MDM

Manuel76 · 2014-12-23 23:43:40

MountainDewManiac wrote:

Is it just those "built-in" icons that you are missing?

I missed the background image and the right click.

Using XFCE 4.10.

Manuel76 · 2014-12-23 23:50:39

sixsixfive wrote:

* to right click on the desktop and select rearrange desktop icons(or similar)
* delete xfdestops config files and kill/restart it

Right click is not working.

Delete xfdestops config files? How do I do this?

Manuel76 · 2014-12-23 23:54:34

Since I use Xubuntu, when I connect to an external monitor, the desktop behavior becomes different. And after disconnect everything come back to normal.

What happened to me is that nothing came back to normal at the last time.

sixsixfive · 2014-12-24 08:57:33

Manuel76 wrote:

How do I do this?

xfdesktop --quit && rm -f $HOME/.config/xfce4/desktop/*.rc && xfdesktop & exit

edit:

@arandr there is the 3rd menubaritem(saidas?) in which you can disable and enable outputs, sometimes the external screen is still enabled even if unplugged

Last edited by sixsixfive (2014-12-24 09:24:03)

Manuel76 · 2014-12-24 13:38:11

sixsixfive wrote:

xfdesktop --quit && rm -f $HOME/.config/xfce4/desktop/*.rc && xfdesktop & exit

Nothing happens.

Manuel76 · 2014-12-24 13:57:39

sixsixfive wrote:

@arandr there is the 3rd menubaritem(saidas?) in which you can disable and enable outputs, sometimes the external screen is still enabled even if unplugged

It is not the case. Only LVDS1 is enable. All other outputs are blank, I mean, disconnected and there is no dis/enable option.

By the way. I tried to connect and disconnect corretly external monitors -- perhaps a Christmas miracle could happen. As soon as disconnected, the XFCE assume the resolution of the last external monitor enabled. The problem is not the resolution, I know how to solve this. But, such behavior is not desirable.

ToZ · 2014-12-24 15:01:25

It looks like you set the external monitor as the primary monitor, which might explain whats happening.

If so, someone already created a bug report for this: https://bugzilla.xfce.org/show_bug.cgi?id=10590. Perhaps you could add to that report to give it a little bump.

I wonder if its the information in $HOME/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/displays.xml is where the hangup is. You could try deleting that file and logging out and back in again to see if it resets the display. Maybe keep a copy of that file when its setup properly for single monitor use and swap it in and out when required.

Manuel76 · 2014-12-26 23:02:09

ToZ wrote:

It looks like you set the external monitor as the primary monitor, which might explain whats happening.
If so, someone already created a bug report for this: https://bugzilla.xfce.org/show_bug.cgi?id=10590. Perhaps you could add to that report to give it a little bump.

I think so. Thanks.

At this weekend I'll follow your advice - let's try.

Manuel76 · 2014-12-27 20:16:32

ToZ wrote:

I wonder if its the information in $HOME/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/displays.xml is where the hangup is. You could try deleting that file and logging out and back in again to see if it resets the display.

Nothing happens. sad

ToZ · 2014-12-27 20:45:28

If it still exists, can you post the contents of $HOME/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/displays.xml?

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#1 2014-12-22 23:37:56

[Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

#2 2014-12-23 02:22:42

Re: [Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

#3 2014-12-23 08:08:49

Re: [Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

#4 2014-12-23 10:27:51

Re: [Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

#5 2014-12-23 19:15:12

Re: [Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

#6 2014-12-23 19:24:44

Re: [Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

#7 2014-12-23 19:35:12

Re: [Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

#8 2014-12-23 19:37:52

Re: [Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

#9 2014-12-23 20:05:21

Re: [Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

#10 2014-12-23 20:33:43

Re: [Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

#11 2014-12-23 21:17:28

Re: [Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

#12 2014-12-23 21:18:02

Re: [Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

#13 2014-12-23 21:39:22

Re: [Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

#14 2014-12-23 22:52:02

Re: [Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

#15 2014-12-23 23:26:57

Re: [Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

#16 2014-12-23 23:43:40

Re: [Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

#17 2014-12-23 23:50:39

Re: [Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

#18 2014-12-23 23:54:34

Re: [Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

#19 2014-12-24 08:57:33

Re: [Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

#20 2014-12-24 13:38:11

Re: [Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

#21 2014-12-24 13:57:39

Re: [Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

#22 2014-12-24 15:01:25

Re: [Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

#23 2014-12-26 23:02:09

Re: [Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

#24 2014-12-27 20:16:32

Re: [Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

#25 2014-12-27 20:45:28

Re: [Solved] Original desktop not detected when external monitor is unplugged

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