[gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Daniel Frey]

After cursing KDE for a while with three monitors, does anyone have any 
idea why KDE is so bad at managing multiple monitors?

All I'm trying to do is get it to remember *where* my monitors are (I 
have two side-by-side and one above the right monitor.) I go into System 
Settings, set it up and it works perfectly... until I log out. Then it 
resets everything and I have to set it up again.

Anyone have any clue why it refuses to save settings?

-Dan

Re: [gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Dale]

Daniel Frey wrote:
> After cursing KDE for a while with three monitors, does anyone have
> any idea why KDE is so bad at managing multiple monitors?
>
> All I'm trying to do is get it to remember *where* my monitors are (I
> have two side-by-side and one above the right monitor.) I go into
> System Settings, set it up and it works perfectly... until I log out.
> Then it resets everything and I have to set it up again.
>
> Anyone have any clue why it refuses to save settings?
>
> -Dan


I have two monitors too, sort of.  One monitor is for computer stuff,
checking email, surfing the net etc etc etc.  The other monitor I use to
watch TV with.  The output from the video card second output goes to a
splitter so I can have the same video in both my bedroom and the living
room.  I use Nvidia settings to manage mine but I run into the same
problem you do.  Sometimes when I login, the second monitor output is
dead.  TV shows the dreaded "No signal" thing floating around.  I have
to open Nvidia settings, disable the second monitor output, hit apply,
click that I can see the screen still, re-enable the second monitor,
click apply, click I can see the monitor and then the second monitor
works again.  It's annoying as heck.  I'm on the 470 series of Nvidia
drivers.  Best my old card can do.  LOL 

I looked in the KDE System Settings display settings screen and it shows
the same as Nvidia.  Maybe one copies the other???  There's really
nothing for me to change there so I can't hit apply.  :/   I've always
wondered if I can set this up in xorg.conf file instead of the GUI. 
Maybe it would work better.  Thing is, everything says it should "just
work" and the file shouldn't be needed. 

This may not be a KDE problem.  It could be a Nvidia problem.  It may be
KDE but I'm not sure which to blame.  I don't let my screen go off
except for the once a week trip to town to get shots so I just put up
with it.  The rest of the time, my monitors and TVs tend to stay on. 

You are not alone.  I'm just not real sure this is a KDE problem.  It's
possible tho.  Mostly, you are not alone. 

Dale

:-)  :-) 

Re: [gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Michael]

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On Sunday, 25 February 2024 05:52:20 GMT Dale wrote:
> Daniel Frey wrote:
> > After cursing KDE for a while with three monitors, does anyone have
> > any idea why KDE is so bad at managing multiple monitors?
> > 
> > All I'm trying to do is get it to remember *where* my monitors are (I
> > have two side-by-side and one above the right monitor.) I go into
> > System Settings, set it up and it works perfectly... until I log out.
> > Then it resets everything and I have to set it up again.
> > 
> > Anyone have any clue why it refuses to save settings?
> > 
> > -Dan
> 
> I have two monitors too, sort of.  One monitor is for computer stuff,
> checking email, surfing the net etc etc etc.  The other monitor I use to
> watch TV with.  The output from the video card second output goes to a
> splitter so I can have the same video in both my bedroom and the living
> room.  I use Nvidia settings to manage mine but I run into the same
> problem you do.  Sometimes when I login, the second monitor output is
> dead.  TV shows the dreaded "No signal" thing floating around.  I have
> to open Nvidia settings, disable the second monitor output, hit apply,
> click that I can see the screen still, re-enable the second monitor,
> click apply, click I can see the monitor and then the second monitor
> works again.  It's annoying as heck.  I'm on the 470 series of Nvidia
> drivers.  Best my old card can do.  LOL 
> 
> I looked in the KDE System Settings display settings screen and it shows
> the same as Nvidia.  Maybe one copies the other???  There's really
> nothing for me to change there so I can't hit apply.  :/   I've always
> wondered if I can set this up in xorg.conf file instead of the GUI. 
> Maybe it would work better.  Thing is, everything says it should "just
> work" and the file shouldn't be needed. 
> 
> This may not be a KDE problem.  It could be a Nvidia problem.  It may be
> KDE but I'm not sure which to blame.  I don't let my screen go off
> except for the once a week trip to town to get shots so I just put up
> with it.  The rest of the time, my monitors and TVs tend to stay on. 
> 
> You are not alone.  I'm just not real sure this is a KDE problem.  It's
> possible tho.  Mostly, you are not alone. 
> 
> Dale
> 
> :-)  :-) 

I used to experience the same when using Xorg with AMD-Radeon graphics instead 
of Nvidia, but since I moved to Wayland the problem of losing screen settings 
has gone.  One monitor is using the DVI port of the card and the other HDMI.  
It should be worth trying Wayland instead of Xorg to see if it works out 
better for your setup.

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Re: [gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Dale]

Michael wrote:
> On Sunday, 25 February 2024 05:52:20 GMT Dale wrote:
>> Daniel Frey wrote:
>>> After cursing KDE for a while with three monitors, does anyone have
>>> any idea why KDE is so bad at managing multiple monitors?
>>>
>>> All I'm trying to do is get it to remember *where* my monitors are (I
>>> have two side-by-side and one above the right monitor.) I go into
>>> System Settings, set it up and it works perfectly... until I log out.
>>> Then it resets everything and I have to set it up again.
>>>
>>> Anyone have any clue why it refuses to save settings?
>>>
>>> -Dan
>> I have two monitors too, sort of.  One monitor is for computer stuff,
>> checking email, surfing the net etc etc etc.  The other monitor I use to
>> watch TV with.  The output from the video card second output goes to a
>> splitter so I can have the same video in both my bedroom and the living
>> room.  I use Nvidia settings to manage mine but I run into the same
>> problem you do.  Sometimes when I login, the second monitor output is
>> dead.  TV shows the dreaded "No signal" thing floating around.  I have
>> to open Nvidia settings, disable the second monitor output, hit apply,
>> click that I can see the screen still, re-enable the second monitor,
>> click apply, click I can see the monitor and then the second monitor
>> works again.  It's annoying as heck.  I'm on the 470 series of Nvidia
>> drivers.  Best my old card can do.  LOL 
>>
>> I looked in the KDE System Settings display settings screen and it shows
>> the same as Nvidia.  Maybe one copies the other???  There's really
>> nothing for me to change there so I can't hit apply.  :/   I've always
>> wondered if I can set this up in xorg.conf file instead of the GUI. 
>> Maybe it would work better.  Thing is, everything says it should "just
>> work" and the file shouldn't be needed. 
>>
>> This may not be a KDE problem.  It could be a Nvidia problem.  It may be
>> KDE but I'm not sure which to blame.  I don't let my screen go off
>> except for the once a week trip to town to get shots so I just put up
>> with it.  The rest of the time, my monitors and TVs tend to stay on. 
>>
>> You are not alone.  I'm just not real sure this is a KDE problem.  It's
>> possible tho.  Mostly, you are not alone. 
>>
>> Dale
>>
>> :-)  :-) 
> I used to experience the same when using Xorg with AMD-Radeon graphics instead 
> of Nvidia, but since I moved to Wayland the problem of losing screen settings 
> has gone.  One monitor is using the DVI port of the card and the other HDMI.  
> It should be worth trying Wayland instead of Xorg to see if it works out 
> better for your setup.


I've read where Wayland still has a few other issues.  I'm sure at some
point, Xorg is going to end and the switch will be the only option. 
When that time comes, likely most all issues will be fixed.  That said,
I've also read where some people really like it.  I think it is
installed here and even used by some things.  I've seen the USE flag on
a lot of packages. 

Given this only affects me once a week, I'll stay where I am at the
moment.  It is nice to know there is another option tho.  One that might
even work better.  ;-)

Dale

:-)  :-) 

Re: [gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Daniel Frey]

On 2/25/24 01:01, Michael wrote:
> 
> I used to experience the same when using Xorg with AMD-Radeon graphics instead
> of Nvidia, but since I moved to Wayland the problem of losing screen settings
> has gone.  One monitor is using the DVI port of the card and the other HDMI.
> It should be worth trying Wayland instead of Xorg to see if it works out
> better for your setup.

I actually tried Wayland maybe 3 months ago to try to solve the problem. 
Wayland doesn't work at all - it just gave me a blank screen at login. I 
did check USE flags and recompiled and still login did not work at all.

At least Xorg gave me a misconfigured working login (better than no 
login at all.)

-Dan

Re: [gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Michael]

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On Sunday, 25 February 2024 17:36:25 GMT Daniel Frey wrote:
> On 2/25/24 01:01, Michael wrote:
> > I used to experience the same when using Xorg with AMD-Radeon graphics
> > instead of Nvidia, but since I moved to Wayland the problem of losing
> > screen settings has gone.  One monitor is using the DVI port of the card
> > and the other HDMI. It should be worth trying Wayland instead of Xorg to
> > see if it works out better for your setup.
> 
> I actually tried Wayland maybe 3 months ago to try to solve the problem.
> Wayland doesn't work at all - it just gave me a blank screen at login. I
> did check USE flags and recompiled and still login did not work at all.
> 
> At least Xorg gave me a misconfigured working login (better than no
> login at all.)
> 
> -Dan

From the little I know about Nividia nuances the symptom of a black screen 
points to KMS mode setting missing in the kernel.  Also nvidia_drm.modeset 
should be able to load without errors, or the wayland compositor will not 
work.  Also, I recall reading somewhere Nvidia does not like monitors with 
different resolutions and refresh rates, but I don't know if there is any 
workaround to this.  TBH I moved away from Xorg because it was getting worse 
and worse over time with my graphics.  Wayland was a bit unstable on my 
systems in the beginning, but over time it has improved significantly.

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Re: [gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Daniel Frey]

On 2/24/24 21:52, Dale wrote:
> I have two monitors too, sort of.  One monitor is for computer stuff,
> checking email, surfing the net etc etc etc.  The other monitor I use to
> watch TV with.  The output from the video card second output goes to a
> splitter so I can have the same video in both my bedroom and the living
> room.  I use Nvidia settings to manage mine but I run into the same
> problem you do.  Sometimes when I login, the second monitor output is
> dead.  TV shows the dreaded "No signal" thing floating around.  I have
> to open Nvidia settings, disable the second monitor output, hit apply,
> click that I can see the screen still, re-enable the second monitor,
> click apply, click I can see the monitor and then the second monitor
> works again.  It's annoying as heck.  I'm on the 470 series of Nvidia
> drivers.  Best my old card can do.  LOL
> 
> I looked in the KDE System Settings display settings screen and it shows
> the same as Nvidia.  Maybe one copies the other???  There's really
> nothing for me to change there so I can't hit apply.  :/   I've always
> wondered if I can set this up in xorg.conf file instead of the GUI.
> Maybe it would work better.  Thing is, everything says it should "just
> work" and the file shouldn't be needed.
> 
> This may not be a KDE problem.  It could be a Nvidia problem.  It may be
> KDE but I'm not sure which to blame.  I don't let my screen go off
> except for the once a week trip to town to get shots so I just put up
> with it.  The rest of the time, my monitors and TVs tend to stay on.
> 
> You are not alone.  I'm just not real sure this is a KDE problem.  It's
> possible tho.  Mostly, you are not alone.
> 
> Dale
> 
> :-)  :-)
> 

I probably should have added more details... I do have an nvidia card - 
RTX 3070Ti. Monitors use 2x DP ports and 1x HDMI port.

KDE behaves very strangely. Like, it crashes often when using multiple 
monitors and I've never been able to figure that out.

nvidia-settings (which I plain forgot about) can generate an Xorg.conf 
file from what I remember, maybe I'll try that.

I currently don't have an Xorg.conf (as everything I've read says it 
should autodetect...) so maybe I'll try overriding it.

Dan

Re: [gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Mark Knecht]

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On Sun, Feb 25, 2024 at 10:35 AM Daniel Frey <djqfrey@gmail.com> wrote:
<SNIP>
> I probably should have added more details... I do have an nvidia card -
> RTX 3070Ti. Monitors use 2x DP ports and 1x HDMI port.
>
> KDE behaves very strangely. Like, it crashes often when using multiple
> monitors and I've never been able to figure that out.
>
> nvidia-settings (which I plain forgot about) can generate an Xorg.conf
> file from what I remember, maybe I'll try that.
>
> I currently don't have an Xorg.conf (as everything I've read says it
> should autodetect...) so maybe I'll try overriding it.
>
> Dan

I'm not Gentoo-based but have a similar setup. 3080ti, 2 Asus
monitors, 1 Samsung, all running 1920x1080, all in landscape.

I have absolutely no problems at all with KDE remembering where
everything goes, all 3 monitors, all taskbars, for multiple users
with different configurations. I use 1 HDMI cable and 2 HDMI->DVI
cables. Everything just works.

I have no xorg.conf file.

I tried Wayland for a while but there were too many weird artifacts
so I'm back to basics.

I'd suggest you look carefully at every flag you are using to
build your software. I've used 3 distros here recently, as well
as Win 10 & 11 and none of them have had problems like
you are describing.

Best of luck,
Mark

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Re: [gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Daniel Frey]

On 2/25/24 10:17, Mark Knecht wrote:
> 
> 
> On Sun, Feb 25, 2024 at 10:35 AM Daniel Frey <djqfrey@gmail.com 
> <mailto:djqfrey@gmail.com>> wrote:
> <SNIP>
>  > I probably should have added more details... I do have an nvidia card -
>  > RTX 3070Ti. Monitors use 2x DP ports and 1x HDMI port.
>  >
>  > KDE behaves very strangely. Like, it crashes often when using multiple
>  > monitors and I've never been able to figure that out.
>  >
>  > nvidia-settings (which I plain forgot about) can generate an Xorg.conf
>  > file from what I remember, maybe I'll try that.
>  >
>  > I currently don't have an Xorg.conf (as everything I've read says it
>  > should autodetect...) so maybe I'll try overriding it.
>  >
>  > Dan
> 
> I'm not Gentoo-based but have a similar setup. 3080ti, 2 Asus
> monitors, 1 Samsung, all running 1920x1080, all in landscape.
> 
> I have absolutely no problems at all with KDE remembering where
> everything goes, all 3 monitors, all taskbars, for multiple users
> with different configurations. I use 1 HDMI cable and 2 HDMI->DVI
> cables. Everything just works.
> 
> I have no xorg.conf file.
> 
> I tried Wayland for a while but there were too many weird artifacts
> so I'm back to basics.
> 
> I'd suggest you look carefully at every flag you are using to
> build your software. I've used 3 distros here recently, as well
> as Win 10 & 11 and none of them have had problems like
> you are describing.
> 
> Best of luck,
> Mark

I've never had much luck with these displayport connections. My card is 
3x DP and 1x hdmi.

I am considering "starting fresh" on the weekend. The problem is there's 
so much config blended in with KDE now, it's not a simple "remove the 
.kde" folder to wipe the config any more. :/

I don't recall when I last did a fresh install, probably when I built 
this rig in 2018/19. But, I figure with a fresh slate it should be 
easier to get things like wayland to work - at least to give it a try. 
As I know KDE is going more systemd-like I may even try that... although 
systemd gave hits and fisses last time I tried it.


Dan

Re: [gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Paul Colquhoun]

On Sunday, February 25, 2024 3:53:37 P.M. AEDT Daniel Frey wrote:
> After cursing KDE for a while with three monitors, does anyone have any
> idea why KDE is so bad at managing multiple monitors?
> 
> All I'm trying to do is get it to remember *where* my monitors are (I
> have two side-by-side and one above the right monitor.) I go into System
> Settings, set it up and it works perfectly... until I log out. Then it
> resets everything and I have to set it up again.
> 
> Anyone have any clue why it refuses to save settings?
> 
> -Dan

Have a look in /etc/Xorg/xorg.conf

Mine has this section, which I think I edited by hand. My monitor config does 
survive reboots.

Section "ServerLayout"
        Identifier     "X.org Configured"
        Screen      0  "Screen0" 0 0
        Screen      1  "Screen1" RightOf "Screen0"
        InputDevice    "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
        InputDevice    "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection


"man xorg.conf" gives the syntax. Here is the section for the "Screen" part of 
"ServerLayout"

Screen  screen-num "screen-id" position-information
	One  of  these  entries must be given for each screen being used in
	a session.  The screen-id field is mandatory, and specifies the Screen 
	section  being  referenced.
	The  screen-num  field is optional, and may be used to specify the
	screen number in multi-head configurations.  When this field is
	omitted, the screens  will  be  numbered  in the order that they are
	listed in.  The numbering starts from 0, and must be consecutive. 
	The position-information field describes the way multiple  screens
	are  positioned.  There are a number of different ways that this
	information can be provided:

              x y

              Absolute  x y
                  These both specify that the upper left corner’s coordinates
                  are (x,y).  The Absolute keyword is optional.  Some older
                  versions of XFree86 (4.2  and  earlier) don’t  recognise the
                  Absolute keyword, so it’s safest to just specify the
                  coordinates without it.

              RightOf   "screen-id"

              LeftOf    "screen-id"

              Above     "screen-id"

              Below     "screen-id"

              Relative  "screen-id" x y
                  These give the screen’s location relative to another screen.
                  The  first  four position  the  screen immediately to the
                  right, left, above or below the other screen. When
                  positioning to the right or left, the top edges  are
                  aligned. When positioning above or below, the left edges are
                  aligned. The Relative form specifies the offset of the
                  screen’s origin (upper left corner) relative to the
                  origin of another screen.


-- 
Reverend Paul Colquhoun, ULC.     http://andor.dropbear.id.au/
  Asking for technical help in newsgroups?  Read this first:
     http://catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html#intro

Re: [gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Paul B. Henson]

On Sat, Feb 24, 2024 at 08:53:37PM -0800, Daniel Frey wrote:
> After cursing KDE for a while with three monitors, does anyone have any 
> idea why KDE is so bad at managing multiple monitors?

<shrug>. I ended up adding this to /usr/share/sddm/scripts/Xsetup:

xrandr --output DVI-D-0 --primary --output HDMI-A-0 --left-of DVI-D-0
--output DisplayPort-0 --right-of DVI-D-0

Always perfect since then :).

Re: [gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Dale]

Paul B. Henson wrote:
> On Sat, Feb 24, 2024 at 08:53:37PM -0800, Daniel Frey wrote:
>> After cursing KDE for a while with three monitors, does anyone have any 
>> idea why KDE is so bad at managing multiple monitors?
> <shrug>. I ended up adding this to /usr/share/sddm/scripts/Xsetup:
>
> xrandr --output DVI-D-0 --primary --output HDMI-A-0 --left-of DVI-D-0
> --output DisplayPort-0 --right-of DVI-D-0
>
> Always perfect since then :).

I have two questions.  Does a upgrade change it back to defaults?  If
so, there may be a file in /etc somewhere that is more permanent.  If
not, cool.  :-) 

How did you get the info to match the hardware you have?  My main
display is on a DB15HD port.  My second display in on a HDMI port.  I
figure you ran a command to gather that info or there is a source of all
the possibilities. 

I'd like to give that a shot.  Might help with my occasional issue. 

Dale

:-)  :-) 

Re: [gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Mark Knecht]

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On Wed, Feb 28, 2024 at 3:24 PM Dale <rdalek1967@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Paul B. Henson wrote:
> > On Sat, Feb 24, 2024 at 08:53:37PM -0800, Daniel Frey wrote:
> >> After cursing KDE for a while with three monitors, does anyone have any
> >> idea why KDE is so bad at managing multiple monitors?
> > <shrug>. I ended up adding this to /usr/share/sddm/scripts/Xsetup:
> >
> > xrandr --output DVI-D-0 --primary --output HDMI-A-0 --left-of DVI-D-0
> > --output DisplayPort-0 --right-of DVI-D-0
> >
> > Always perfect since then :).
>
> I have two questions.  Does a upgrade change it back to defaults?  If
> so, there may be a file in /etc somewhere that is more permanent.  If
> not, cool.  :-)
>
> How did you get the info to match the hardware you have?  My main
> display is on a DB15HD port.  My second display in on a HDMI port.  I
> figure you ran a command to gather that info or there is a source of all
> the possibilities.
>
> I'd like to give that a shot.  Might help with my occasional issue.
>
> Dale
>
> :-)  :-)

If you're just looking for what's connected to what port then xrandr will
tell you that.

To get to Paul's equation you would need to figure out the ordering
yourself I think

HTH,
Mark

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Re: [gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Dale]

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Mark Knecht wrote:
>
>
> On Wed, Feb 28, 2024 at 3:24 PM Dale <rdalek1967@gmail.com
> <mailto:rdalek1967@gmail.com>> wrote:
> >
> > Paul B. Henson wrote:
> > > On Sat, Feb 24, 2024 at 08:53:37PM -0800, Daniel Frey wrote:
> > >> After cursing KDE for a while with three monitors, does anyone
> have any
> > >> idea why KDE is so bad at managing multiple monitors?
> > > <shrug>. I ended up adding this to /usr/share/sddm/scripts/Xsetup:
> > >
> > > xrandr --output DVI-D-0 --primary --output HDMI-A-0 --left-of DVI-D-0
> > > --output DisplayPort-0 --right-of DVI-D-0
> > >
> > > Always perfect since then :).
> >
> > I have two questions.  Does a upgrade change it back to defaults?  If
> > so, there may be a file in /etc somewhere that is more permanent.  If
> > not, cool.  :-)
> >
> > How did you get the info to match the hardware you have?  My main
> > display is on a DB15HD port.  My second display in on a HDMI port.  I
> > figure you ran a command to gather that info or there is a source of all
> > the possibilities.
> >
> > I'd like to give that a shot.  Might help with my occasional issue.
> >
> > Dale
> >
> > :-)  :-)
>
> If you're just looking for what's connected to what port then xrandr
> will tell you that.
>
> To get to Paul's equation you would need to figure out the ordering
> yourself I think
>
> HTH,
> Mark


To provide a little more info on how this works.  This is how I did it. 
It helps a LOT to have tab completion with this.  It will fill in a lot
of the info and when unsure, list the available options.  First, I had
to install the package xrandr.  My first problem is the command isn't
available since it wasn't installed.  So, if you don't have it, install
it. It's tiny.  This is what I have for my setup.  You can ignore that I
watch TV and just pretend you have two monitors side by side or whatever
and get the same results.  I have a DB15HD connector, referred to as VGA
within xrandr.  That is my main monitor.  The second monitor is is
connected to a HDMI port, seen as same in xrandr, and what I watch TV
with.  This is the output I started with to get good clues. 


root@fireball / # xrandr --listmonitors
Monitors: 2
 0: +*VGA-0 1920/598x1080/336+0+0  VGA-0
 1: +HDMI-0 1920/1150x1080/650+1920+0  HDMI-0
root@fireball / #


Since I have different ports, it is easy to see which is which.  The
last bit is what you use in the command, not the first bits.  If all
your ports are the same, mini HDMI for example, I think the port lowest
to the bottom of the video card is number 0, or the first port.  Anyway,
mine is easy.  I then typed in xrandr --output and hit tab twice.  It
will list all the available monitors.  Pick the one you want to be the
first output or main monitor.  In my case, VGA-0 as shown on the end of
line one.  Once you type enough, tab completion will fill it in.  Then
add --primary to that to make it the primary display. 

For the second monitor, continue on with the command and tab
completion.  Type in --output and hit tab twice again to list options. 
Pick the second monitor and type enough in for tab completion to fill in
the rest.  Then add --right-of, --left-of, --above or --below and then
the output device for the main monitor.  For me, this is what my command
looks like. 


root@fireball / # xrandr --output VGA-0 --primary --output HDMI-0
--right-of VGA-0
root@fireball / #


That makes VGA the primary, HDMI-0 second and to the right of VGA-0.  If
you have more than two monitors, just keep adding --output and list and
place the other monitors.  I don't have the means to test but that
should work.  I'd think setting the primary is key in this so I wouldn't
forget to include that. 

Once you get that command, you can test it by going to a Konsole if
using KDE or some other similar tool you can type commands in as root
and run the command manually.  If it works correctly, add the command to
the file in this path.  /usr/share/sddm/scripts/Xsetup  I haven't logged
out and back in again yet so we will see when that happens if it really
works and my little quirk goes away. 

There is a man page for this.  It may have other options that you may
need to add.  Just keep in mind, what is between each --output is what
it applies too.  One could have different resolutions, image flipped or
something and lots of other options.  Just keep the options in the right
section of the command. 

I hope this helps someone and makes decent sense.  I also hope it works
after I logout and back in again.  :/   I'm making a note of the
location in case I need to comment it out.  Better to be safe than
sorry.  LOL 

Dale

:-)  :-) 

[-- Attachment #2: Type: text/html, Size: 6348 bytes --]

Re: [gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Daniel Frey]

On 2/29/24 03:27, Dale wrote:
> To provide a little more info on how this works.  This is how I did it.  
> It helps a LOT to have tab completion with this.  It will fill in a lot 
> of the info and when unsure, list the available options. First, I had to 
> install the package xrandr.  My first problem is the command isn't 
> available since it wasn't installed.  So, if you don't have it, install 
> it. It's tiny.  This is what I have for my setup. You can ignore that I 
> watch TV and just pretend you have two monitors side by side or whatever 
> and get the same results.  I have a DB15HD connector, referred to as VGA 
> within xrandr.  That is my main monitor.  The second monitor is is 
> connected to a HDMI port, seen as same in xrandr, and what I watch TV 
> with.  This is the output I started with to get good clues.
> 
> 
> root@fireball / # xrandr --listmonitors
> Monitors: 2
>   0: +*VGA-0 1920/598x1080/336+0+0  VGA-0
>   1: +HDMI-0 1920/1150x1080/650+1920+0  HDMI-0
> root@fireball / #
> 
> 
> Since I have different ports, it is easy to see which is which.  The 
> last bit is what you use in the command, not the first bits.  If all 
> your ports are the same, mini HDMI for example, I think the port lowest 
> to the bottom of the video card is number 0, or the first port.  Anyway, 
> mine is easy.  I then typed in xrandr --output and hit tab twice.  It 
> will list all the available monitors.  Pick the one you want to be the 
> first output or main monitor.  In my case, VGA-0 as shown on the end of 
> line one.  Once you type enough, tab completion will fill it in.  Then 
> add --primary to that to make it the primary display.
> 
> For the second monitor, continue on with the command and tab 
> completion.  Type in --output and hit tab twice again to list options.  
> Pick the second monitor and type enough in for tab completion to fill in 
> the rest.  Then add --right-of, --left-of, --above or --below and then 
> the output device for the main monitor. For me, this is what my command 
> looks like.
> 
> 
> root@fireball / # xrandr --output VGA-0 --primary --output HDMI-0 
> --right-of VGA-0
> root@fireball / #
> 
> 
> That makes VGA the primary, HDMI-0 second and to the right of VGA-0.  If 
> you have more than two monitors, just keep adding --output and list and 
> place the other monitors.  I don't have the means to test but that 
> should work.  I'd think setting the primary is key in this so I wouldn't 
> forget to include that.
> 
> Once you get that command, you can test it by going to a Konsole if 
> using KDE or some other similar tool you can type commands in as root 
> and run the command manually.  If it works correctly, add the command to 
> the file in this path.  /usr/share/sddm/scripts/Xsetup  I haven't logged 
> out and back in again yet so we will see when that happens if it really 
> works and my little quirk goes away.
> 
> There is a man page for this.  It may have other options that you may 
> need to add.  Just keep in mind, what is between each --output is what 
> it applies too.  One could have different resolutions, image flipped or 
> something and lots of other options.  Just keep the options in the right 
> section of the command.
> 
> I hope this helps someone and makes decent sense.  I also hope it works 
> after I logout and back in again.  :/   I'm making a note of the 
> location in case I need to comment it out.  Better to be safe than 
> sorry.  LOL
> 
> Dale
> 
> :-)  :-)

I've been gone for a few days as I was rebuilding my main PC.

I thought I'd provide an update: it was xorg-server causing all the issues.

I figured as I had to redo everything anyway to switch to systemd and 
wayland as that's what the bigger DE's tend to be supporting nowadays.

After fiddling around with systemd for a day (I'd tried it once before 
converting a system from openrc->systemd and failed miserably - nothing 
worked) I've reconfigured most things the "systemd" way.

I guess starting fresh solves all sorts of issues. :o)

Some things I like about systemd:
   - It is capable of automounting NFS shares out of the box; I just
     configured fstab so systemd automatically generated the automount
     configured it required. No extra steps needed;
   - It provides a scrollable list by default showing all the items you
     have access to in order to change how your machines behaves;
   - It isolates services in logs. This was helpful when sddm didn't want
     to behave.

Some things I don't like:
   - It has nutty network configuration. It was applying an APIPA network
     address as the primary for my interface which broke all sorts of
     tools. Took me a while to figure out how to stop that.
   - It doesn't update resolv.conf even though I'd specified a DNS
     server! So literally nothing worked. For now I manually removed
     resolv.conf and put the DNS server there. Plan to use something
     else for network management that sets resolv.conf properly. I have
     no desire to use networkd-resolved.

But, back to the original problem...

I don't know what was broken in my original system. I always had to 
reconfigure monitors every time I logged in.

As I mentioned I switched to wayland and on the fresh install it 
actually gave me a desktop. I set the monitor orientation and location, 
and I can log out and back in and it remembers the monitor orientation 
and location now. Which is what I was trying to solve.

However, sddm was still quite broken and the monitors were in some 
default strange configuration that made no sense. I fought with this 
with xrandr trying to solve it and nothing I did would make it stick. I 
then found in KDE's sccm settings you can apply the wayland desktop 
settings to sccm - I did that but was disappointed when I rebooted that 
it didn't work. What did work was reading the docs and switching sddm to 
use wayland and kwin instead of X11! Once I did that, now the monitor 
layouts are the same between the desktop and sddm. So I'm happy about that.

Other issues I came across were forgetting the kernel config for nvidia 
cards and tty output. It took me a lot of head scratching and searching 
to realize I had enabled something in the kernel that was doing this.

The sound server also dramatically changed as I had no sound at all from 
KDE but I could see, use and get sound from the shell. Some new pipewire 
thing. I really wish that devs would fix existing things that have 
issues instead of making a new thing that doesn't work.

Other than that, I really had no issues. Was able to mount encrypted 
volumes with no fuss.

I'm now working on the important bits - customizing KDE again and 
restoring my backups.

I did have an odd issue (well, still have actually - it's not resolved) 
with microcode but I'll create a new thread for that.

So, wayland and systemd actually fixed something for me. Who would've 
thought...

Dan

Re: [gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Dale]

Daniel Frey wrote:
> On 2/29/24 03:27, Dale wrote:
>> To provide a little more info on how this works.  This is how I did
>> it.  It helps a LOT to have tab completion with this.  It will fill
>> in a lot of the info and when unsure, list the available options.
>> First, I had to install the package xrandr.  My first problem is the
>> command isn't available since it wasn't installed.  So, if you don't
>> have it, install it. It's tiny.  This is what I have for my setup.
>> You can ignore that I watch TV and just pretend you have two monitors
>> side by side or whatever and get the same results.  I have a DB15HD
>> connector, referred to as VGA within xrandr.  That is my main
>> monitor.  The second monitor is is connected to a HDMI port, seen as
>> same in xrandr, and what I watch TV with.  This is the output I
>> started with to get good clues.
>>
>>
>> root@fireball / # xrandr --listmonitors
>> Monitors: 2
>>   0: +*VGA-0 1920/598x1080/336+0+0  VGA-0
>>   1: +HDMI-0 1920/1150x1080/650+1920+0  HDMI-0
>> root@fireball / #
>>
>>
>> Since I have different ports, it is easy to see which is which.  The
>> last bit is what you use in the command, not the first bits.  If all
>> your ports are the same, mini HDMI for example, I think the port
>> lowest to the bottom of the video card is number 0, or the first
>> port.  Anyway, mine is easy.  I then typed in xrandr --output and hit
>> tab twice.  It will list all the available monitors.  Pick the one
>> you want to be the first output or main monitor.  In my case, VGA-0
>> as shown on the end of line one.  Once you type enough, tab
>> completion will fill it in.  Then add --primary to that to make it
>> the primary display.
>>
>> For the second monitor, continue on with the command and tab
>> completion.  Type in --output and hit tab twice again to list
>> options.  Pick the second monitor and type enough in for tab
>> completion to fill in the rest.  Then add --right-of, --left-of,
>> --above or --below and then the output device for the main monitor.
>> For me, this is what my command looks like.
>>
>>
>> root@fireball / # xrandr --output VGA-0 --primary --output HDMI-0
>> --right-of VGA-0
>> root@fireball / #
>>
>>
>> That makes VGA the primary, HDMI-0 second and to the right of VGA-0. 
>> If you have more than two monitors, just keep adding --output and
>> list and place the other monitors.  I don't have the means to test
>> but that should work.  I'd think setting the primary is key in this
>> so I wouldn't forget to include that.
>>
>> Once you get that command, you can test it by going to a Konsole if
>> using KDE or some other similar tool you can type commands in as root
>> and run the command manually.  If it works correctly, add the command
>> to the file in this path.  /usr/share/sddm/scripts/Xsetup  I haven't
>> logged out and back in again yet so we will see when that happens if
>> it really works and my little quirk goes away.
>>
>> There is a man page for this.  It may have other options that you may
>> need to add.  Just keep in mind, what is between each --output is
>> what it applies too.  One could have different resolutions, image
>> flipped or something and lots of other options.  Just keep the
>> options in the right section of the command.
>>
>> I hope this helps someone and makes decent sense.  I also hope it
>> works after I logout and back in again.  :/   I'm making a note of
>> the location in case I need to comment it out.  Better to be safe
>> than sorry.  LOL
>>
>> Dale
>>
>> :-)  :-)
>
> I've been gone for a few days as I was rebuilding my main PC.
>
> I thought I'd provide an update: it was xorg-server causing all the
> issues.
>
> I figured as I had to redo everything anyway to switch to systemd and
> wayland as that's what the bigger DE's tend to be supporting nowadays.
>
> After fiddling around with systemd for a day (I'd tried it once before
> converting a system from openrc->systemd and failed miserably -
> nothing worked) I've reconfigured most things the "systemd" way.
>
> I guess starting fresh solves all sorts of issues. :o)
>
> Some things I like about systemd:
>   - It is capable of automounting NFS shares out of the box; I just
>     configured fstab so systemd automatically generated the automount
>     configured it required. No extra steps needed;
>   - It provides a scrollable list by default showing all the items you
>     have access to in order to change how your machines behaves;
>   - It isolates services in logs. This was helpful when sddm didn't want
>     to behave.
>
> Some things I don't like:
>   - It has nutty network configuration. It was applying an APIPA network
>     address as the primary for my interface which broke all sorts of
>     tools. Took me a while to figure out how to stop that.
>   - It doesn't update resolv.conf even though I'd specified a DNS
>     server! So literally nothing worked. For now I manually removed
>     resolv.conf and put the DNS server there. Plan to use something
>     else for network management that sets resolv.conf properly. I have
>     no desire to use networkd-resolved.
>
> But, back to the original problem...
>
> I don't know what was broken in my original system. I always had to
> reconfigure monitors every time I logged in.
>
> As I mentioned I switched to wayland and on the fresh install it
> actually gave me a desktop. I set the monitor orientation and
> location, and I can log out and back in and it remembers the monitor
> orientation and location now. Which is what I was trying to solve.
>
> However, sddm was still quite broken and the monitors were in some
> default strange configuration that made no sense. I fought with this
> with xrandr trying to solve it and nothing I did would make it stick.
> I then found in KDE's sccm settings you can apply the wayland desktop
> settings to sccm - I did that but was disappointed when I rebooted
> that it didn't work. What did work was reading the docs and switching
> sddm to use wayland and kwin instead of X11! Once I did that, now the
> monitor layouts are the same between the desktop and sddm. So I'm
> happy about that.
>
> Other issues I came across were forgetting the kernel config for
> nvidia cards and tty output. It took me a lot of head scratching and
> searching to realize I had enabled something in the kernel that was
> doing this.
>
> The sound server also dramatically changed as I had no sound at all
> from KDE but I could see, use and get sound from the shell. Some new
> pipewire thing. I really wish that devs would fix existing things that
> have issues instead of making a new thing that doesn't work.
>
> Other than that, I really had no issues. Was able to mount encrypted
> volumes with no fuss.
>
> I'm now working on the important bits - customizing KDE again and
> restoring my backups.
>
> I did have an odd issue (well, still have actually - it's not
> resolved) with microcode but I'll create a new thread for that.
>
> So, wayland and systemd actually fixed something for me. Who would've
> thought...
>
> Dan
>
>


Since my last post, I did my weekly updates.  During that, I log out,
switch to boot runlevel, restart anything that checkrestart says needs
it, then back to default runlevel and log back in.  With the config file
change, my monitors came up just like they should.  I didn't have to
adjust anything. 

I guess it goes to show, one thing fixes one person's system while yet
another fixes someone else's system.  Go figure.  ROFL 

Dale

:-)  :-) 

Re: [gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Daniel Frey]

On 3/3/24 11:31, Dale wrote:
> Since my last post, I did my weekly updates.  During that, I log out,
> switch to boot runlevel, restart anything that checkrestart says needs
> it, then back to default runlevel and log back in.  With the config file
> change, my monitors came up just like they should.  I didn't have to
> adjust anything.
> 
> I guess it goes to show, one thing fixes one person's system while yet
> another fixes someone else's system.  Go figure.  ROFL
> 
> Dale
> 
> :-)  :-)
> 

I strongly suspect that it was a kde setting somewhere in ~. The problem 
is that config is littered all over the place now instead of one place 
(I recall zapping the .kde[4] directory from the user home folder in the 
past, can't do that now...)

Although, that doesn't explain the problem I have with X11 and displays. 
Had those same issues on the fresh install.

Dan

Re: [gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Dale]

Daniel Frey wrote:
> On 3/3/24 11:31, Dale wrote:
>> Since my last post, I did my weekly updates.  During that, I log out,
>> switch to boot runlevel, restart anything that checkrestart says needs
>> it, then back to default runlevel and log back in.  With the config file
>> change, my monitors came up just like they should.  I didn't have to
>> adjust anything.
>>
>> I guess it goes to show, one thing fixes one person's system while yet
>> another fixes someone else's system.  Go figure.  ROFL
>>
>> Dale
>>
>> :-)  :-)
>>
>
> I strongly suspect that it was a kde setting somewhere in ~. The
> problem is that config is littered all over the place now instead of
> one place (I recall zapping the .kde[4] directory from the user home
> folder in the past, can't do that now...)
>
> Although, that doesn't explain the problem I have with X11 and
> displays. Had those same issues on the fresh install.
>
> Dan
>
>


I think most is in the .config directory now.  I have to say tho, I used
to zap that thing about once a year, sometimes two, to correct some
things that were weird but couldn't fix otherwise.  I think the devs try
to make things forward compatible but no one is perfect.  Sometimes, you
just have to start fresh.  I do hate resetting everything tho.  It takes
a while to get everything back to at least close to the old way. 

Dale

:-)  :-) 

Re: [gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Daniel Frey]

On 3/3/24 13:57, Dale wrote:
> I think most is in the .config directory now.  I have to say tho, I used
> to zap that thing about once a year, sometimes two, to correct some
> things that were weird but couldn't fix otherwise.  I think the devs try
> to make things forward compatible but no one is perfect.  Sometimes, you
> just have to start fresh.  I do hate resetting everything tho.  It takes
> a while to get everything back to at least close to the old way.
> 
> Dale
> 
> :-)  :-)
> 

So many programs store config in there now it's hard to just zap it so I 
generally won't try that. It's not just setting up kde again, it's 
dozens of other programs too. :o(

Dan

Re: [gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Dale]

Daniel Frey wrote:
> On 3/3/24 13:57, Dale wrote:
>> I think most is in the .config directory now.  I have to say tho, I used
>> to zap that thing about once a year, sometimes two, to correct some
>> things that were weird but couldn't fix otherwise.  I think the devs try
>> to make things forward compatible but no one is perfect.  Sometimes, you
>> just have to start fresh.  I do hate resetting everything tho.  It takes
>> a while to get everything back to at least close to the old way.
>>
>> Dale
>>
>> :-)  :-)
>>
>
> So many programs store config in there now it's hard to just zap it so
> I generally won't try that. It's not just setting up kde again, it's
> dozens of other programs too. :o(
>
> Dan
>
>


True.  Inside .config is kdedefaults.  That would likely be a good
start.  The directories inside there are mostly KDE.  Here's my list. 


root@fireball / # /bin/ls /home/dale/.config/kdedefaults/
kcminputrc  kdeglobals  kscreenlockerrc  ksplashrc  kwinrc  package 
plasmarc
root@fireball / #


There's also some files in .config that start with a 'k' that may need
to be renamed or deleted if you are brave. 

It's not as easy as it used to be tho.  I wonder, can the old .kde4
directory be removed now???  I suspect everything is KDE5 now, with KDE6
right around the corner I think. 

Dale

:-)  :-) 

Re: [gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Michael]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 8460 bytes --]

On Sunday, 3 March 2024 19:31:30 GMT Dale wrote:
> Daniel Frey wrote:
> > On 2/29/24 03:27, Dale wrote:
> >> To provide a little more info on how this works.  This is how I did
> >> it.  It helps a LOT to have tab completion with this.  It will fill
> >> in a lot of the info and when unsure, list the available options.
> >> First, I had to install the package xrandr.  My first problem is the
> >> command isn't available since it wasn't installed.  So, if you don't
> >> have it, install it. It's tiny.  This is what I have for my setup.
> >> You can ignore that I watch TV and just pretend you have two monitors
> >> side by side or whatever and get the same results.  I have a DB15HD
> >> connector, referred to as VGA within xrandr.  That is my main
> >> monitor.  The second monitor is is connected to a HDMI port, seen as
> >> same in xrandr, and what I watch TV with.  This is the output I
> >> started with to get good clues.
> >> 
> >> 
> >> root@fireball / # xrandr --listmonitors
> >> Monitors: 2
> >>   0: +*VGA-0 1920/598x1080/336+0+0  VGA-0
> >>   1: +HDMI-0 1920/1150x1080/650+1920+0  HDMI-0
> >> root@fireball / #
> >> 
> >> 
> >> Since I have different ports, it is easy to see which is which.  The
> >> last bit is what you use in the command, not the first bits.  If all
> >> your ports are the same, mini HDMI for example, I think the port
> >> lowest to the bottom of the video card is number 0, or the first
> >> port.  Anyway, mine is easy.  I then typed in xrandr --output and hit
> >> tab twice.  It will list all the available monitors.  Pick the one
> >> you want to be the first output or main monitor.  In my case, VGA-0
> >> as shown on the end of line one.  Once you type enough, tab
> >> completion will fill it in.  Then add --primary to that to make it
> >> the primary display.
> >> 
> >> For the second monitor, continue on with the command and tab
> >> completion.  Type in --output and hit tab twice again to list
> >> options.  Pick the second monitor and type enough in for tab
> >> completion to fill in the rest.  Then add --right-of, --left-of,
> >> --above or --below and then the output device for the main monitor.
> >> For me, this is what my command looks like.
> >> 
> >> 
> >> root@fireball / # xrandr --output VGA-0 --primary --output HDMI-0
> >> --right-of VGA-0
> >> root@fireball / #
> >> 
> >> 
> >> That makes VGA the primary, HDMI-0 second and to the right of VGA-0. 
> >> If you have more than two monitors, just keep adding --output and
> >> list and place the other monitors.  I don't have the means to test
> >> but that should work.  I'd think setting the primary is key in this
> >> so I wouldn't forget to include that.
> >> 
> >> Once you get that command, you can test it by going to a Konsole if
> >> using KDE or some other similar tool you can type commands in as root
> >> and run the command manually.  If it works correctly, add the command
> >> to the file in this path.  /usr/share/sddm/scripts/Xsetup  I haven't
> >> logged out and back in again yet so we will see when that happens if
> >> it really works and my little quirk goes away.
> >> 
> >> There is a man page for this.  It may have other options that you may
> >> need to add.  Just keep in mind, what is between each --output is
> >> what it applies too.  One could have different resolutions, image
> >> flipped or something and lots of other options.  Just keep the
> >> options in the right section of the command.
> >> 
> >> I hope this helps someone and makes decent sense.  I also hope it
> >> works after I logout and back in again.  :/   I'm making a note of
> >> the location in case I need to comment it out.  Better to be safe
> >> than sorry.  LOL
> >> 
> >> Dale
> >> 
> >> :-)  :-)
> > 
> > I've been gone for a few days as I was rebuilding my main PC.
> > 
> > I thought I'd provide an update: it was xorg-server causing all the
> > issues.
> > 
> > I figured as I had to redo everything anyway to switch to systemd and
> > wayland as that's what the bigger DE's tend to be supporting nowadays.
> > 
> > After fiddling around with systemd for a day (I'd tried it once before
> > converting a system from openrc->systemd and failed miserably -
> > nothing worked) I've reconfigured most things the "systemd" way.
> > 
> > I guess starting fresh solves all sorts of issues. :o)
> > 
> > Some things I like about systemd:
> >   - It is capable of automounting NFS shares out of the box; I just
> >     configured fstab so systemd automatically generated the automount
> >     configured it required. No extra steps needed;
> >   - It provides a scrollable list by default showing all the items you
> >     have access to in order to change how your machines behaves;
> >   - It isolates services in logs. This was helpful when sddm didn't want
> >     to behave.
> > 
> > Some things I don't like:
> >   - It has nutty network configuration. It was applying an APIPA network
> >     address as the primary for my interface which broke all sorts of
> >     tools. Took me a while to figure out how to stop that.
> >   - It doesn't update resolv.conf even though I'd specified a DNS
> >     server! So literally nothing worked. For now I manually removed
> >     resolv.conf and put the DNS server there. Plan to use something
> >     else for network management that sets resolv.conf properly. I have
> >     no desire to use networkd-resolved.
> > 
> > But, back to the original problem...
> > 
> > I don't know what was broken in my original system. I always had to
> > reconfigure monitors every time I logged in.
> > 
> > As I mentioned I switched to wayland and on the fresh install it
> > actually gave me a desktop. I set the monitor orientation and
> > location, and I can log out and back in and it remembers the monitor
> > orientation and location now. Which is what I was trying to solve.
> > 
> > However, sddm was still quite broken and the monitors were in some
> > default strange configuration that made no sense. I fought with this
> > with xrandr trying to solve it and nothing I did would make it stick.
> > I then found in KDE's sccm settings you can apply the wayland desktop
> > settings to sccm - I did that but was disappointed when I rebooted
> > that it didn't work. What did work was reading the docs and switching
> > sddm to use wayland and kwin instead of X11! Once I did that, now the
> > monitor layouts are the same between the desktop and sddm. So I'm
> > happy about that.
> > 
> > Other issues I came across were forgetting the kernel config for
> > nvidia cards and tty output. It took me a lot of head scratching and
> > searching to realize I had enabled something in the kernel that was
> > doing this.
> > 
> > The sound server also dramatically changed as I had no sound at all
> > from KDE but I could see, use and get sound from the shell. Some new
> > pipewire thing. I really wish that devs would fix existing things that
> > have issues instead of making a new thing that doesn't work.
> > 
> > Other than that, I really had no issues. Was able to mount encrypted
> > volumes with no fuss.
> > 
> > I'm now working on the important bits - customizing KDE again and
> > restoring my backups.
> > 
> > I did have an odd issue (well, still have actually - it's not
> > resolved) with microcode but I'll create a new thread for that.
> > 
> > So, wayland and systemd actually fixed something for me. Who would've
> > thought...
> > 
> > Dan
> 
> Since my last post, I did my weekly updates.  During that, I log out,
> switch to boot runlevel, restart anything that checkrestart says needs
> it, then back to default runlevel and log back in.  With the config file
> change, my monitors came up just like they should.  I didn't have to
> adjust anything. 
> 
> I guess it goes to show, one thing fixes one person's system while yet
> another fixes someone else's system.  Go figure.  ROFL 
> 
> Dale
> 
> :-)  :-) 

You don't need to replace openrc with systemd to use Wayland.  These days I 
run all my systems' desktops on Wayland and openrc.  OpenRC will not interfere 
with or try to replace my network settings, my cron jobs, my chronyd, syslog, 
or whatever.

Pipewire is the new sound server for KDE.  Take a look here in case yours 
needs some tweaking:

https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/PipeWire

I run on my main desktop with USE="-pulseaudio", but if you have any 
applications which need pulseaudio you'll need to enable it, if you haven't 
done this already.

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Re: [gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Dale]

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Michael wrote:
> On Sunday, 3 March 2024 19:31:30 GMT Dale wrote:
>>
>> Since my last post, I did my weekly updates.  During that, I log out,
>> switch to boot runlevel, restart anything that checkrestart says needs
>> it, then back to default runlevel and log back in.  With the config file
>> change, my monitors came up just like they should.  I didn't have to
>> adjust anything. 
>>
>> I guess it goes to show, one thing fixes one person's system while yet
>> another fixes someone else's system.  Go figure.  ROFL 
>>
>> Dale
>>
>> :-)  :-) 
> You don't need to replace openrc with systemd to use Wayland.  These days I 
> run all my systems' desktops on Wayland and openrc.  OpenRC will not interfere 
> with or try to replace my network settings, my cron jobs, my chronyd, syslog, 
> or whatever.
>
> Pipewire is the new sound server for KDE.  Take a look here in case yours 
> needs some tweaking:
>
> https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/PipeWire
>
> I run on my main desktop with USE="-pulseaudio", but if you have any 
> applications which need pulseaudio you'll need to enable it, if you haven't 
> done this already.

When pipewire first showed up, I was kinda hesitant about it.  Here's
something new that is going to annoy me for a while until the bugs gets
worked out and I figure out how to use it.  Then I got Kmix cut off.  I
started using pipewire and it was like, cool.  It actually works pretty
well. 

The other day it did some strange things tho.  I would set the volume
but every time it went to the next video in my play list, it would reset
the volume to 0 or very close to it.  It was annoying since I kept
having to turn it back up.  I ended up closing everything that would
play sound and setting the volume levels where I wanted it.  I then
restarted smplayer and such.  It has worked ever since.  I guess it got
confused between some setting somewhere and what I wanted.  Doing it
with all the apps gone seems to have fixed it.  So far, that's the only
time it gave me any trouble and it could have been something I clicked
by accident or something.  I don't know that it was pipewire's fault. 
Could be, could have been me. 

Since I use smplayer to watch TV, doing that reset while everything was
closed, it also fixed the volume setting on mpv when I'm playing some
temporary video to test and make sure a file is good, and in English. 
It actually fixed two problems. 

Oh, I also figured out how to set the audio in smplayer as well.  I used
to have it set to a user setting in preferences to get sound.  Now it's
using a regular device like it should. 

Overall, I kinda like pipewire.  It does manage the sound better than
Kmix did.  It not only manages devices but also manages apps as well. 
Anyone who hasn't switched should give it a try.  Just look for both
tabs.  One is for devices and one is for apps.  Have to check them both
and adjust as needed. 

Dale

:-)  :-) 

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Re: [gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Mart Raudsepp]

On Sun, 2024-03-03 at 21:20 +0000, Michael wrote:
> Pipewire is the new sound server for KDE.  Take a look here in case
> yours 
> needs some tweaking:
> 
> https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/PipeWire
> 
> I run on my main desktop with USE="-pulseaudio", but if you have any 
> applications which need pulseaudio you'll need to enable it, if you
> haven't 
> done this already.

You are supposed to have USE="pulseaudio" enabled globally for when you
use PipeWire for audio as well. Using libpulse to talk to the PipeWire
provided compatible daemon is the main way to get audio over to
PipeWire (when ignoring JACK).
Only a few things talk to pipewire directly with it's own API and
PipeWire upstream generally doesn't recommend doing so unless needing
the extra deeply technical things it allows over libpulse API.
If you have it disabled, you are likely using ALSA API, which PipeWire
should also end up handling (like pulseaudio did), but it has much less
features.


Mart

Re: [gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Arsen Arsenović]

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Hi,

Daniel Frey <djqfrey@gmail.com> writes:

> I've been gone for a few days as I was rebuilding my main PC.
>
> I thought I'd provide an update: it was xorg-server causing all the issues.
>
> I figured as I had to redo everything anyway to switch to systemd and wayland
> as that's what the bigger DE's tend to be supporting nowadays.
>
> After fiddling around with systemd for a day (I'd tried it once before
> converting a system from openrc->systemd and failed miserably - nothing worked)
> I've reconfigured most things the "systemd" way.
>
> I guess starting fresh solves all sorts of issues. :o)
>
> Some things I like about systemd:
>   - It is capable of automounting NFS shares out of the box; I just
>     configured fstab so systemd automatically generated the automount
>     configured it required. No extra steps needed;
>   - It provides a scrollable list by default showing all the items you
>     have access to in order to change how your machines behaves;
>   - It isolates services in logs. This was helpful when sddm didn't want
>     to behave.
>
> Some things I don't like:
>   - It has nutty network configuration. It was applying an APIPA network
>     address as the primary for my interface which broke all sorts of
>     tools. Took me a while to figure out how to stop that.

IMO networkd is not worth using - I've just disabled it and use
NetworkManager instead.  KDE expects it also, fwiw, so it integrates
nicely.

>   - It doesn't update resolv.conf even though I'd specified a DNS
>     server! So literally nothing worked. For now I manually removed
>     resolv.conf and put the DNS server there. Plan to use something
>     else for network management that sets resolv.conf properly. I have
>     no desire to use networkd-resolved.

I recommend replacing /etc/resolve.conf with a stub:

  ~$ ls -l /etc/resolv.conf 
  lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 37 Nov  7  2022 /etc/resolv.conf -> /run/systemd/resolve/stub-resolv.conf

If you do that, you get DNS caching, DoT, ...

And, if you do that, DNS is configured via /etc/systemd/resolved.conf
(and possibly the network manager to configure per-interface settings
based on DHCP, for instance).

See https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Systemd/systemd-resolved for the
instructions on how to enable it (the article is still a stub, though,
sadly :/)


> But, back to the original problem...
>
> I don't know what was broken in my original system. I always had to reconfigure
> monitors every time I logged in.
>
> As I mentioned I switched to wayland and on the fresh install it actually gave
> me a desktop. I set the monitor orientation and location, and I can log out and
> back in and it remembers the monitor orientation and location now. Which is
> what I was trying to solve.
>
> However, sddm was still quite broken and the monitors were in some default
> strange configuration that made no sense. I fought with this with xrandr trying
> to solve it and nothing I did would make it stick. I then found in KDE's sccm
> settings you can apply the wayland desktop settings to sccm - I did that but
> was disappointed when I rebooted that it didn't work. What did work was reading
> the docs and switching sddm to use wayland and kwin instead of X11! Once I did
> that, now the monitor layouts are the same between the desktop and sddm. So I'm
> happy about that.
>
> Other issues I came across were forgetting the kernel config for nvidia cards
> and tty output. It took me a lot of head scratching and searching to realize I
> had enabled something in the kernel that was doing this.
>
> The sound server also dramatically changed as I had no sound at all from KDE
> but I could see, use and get sound from the shell. Some new pipewire thing. I
> really wish that devs would fix existing things that have issues instead of
> making a new thing that doesn't work.

Pipewire actually works significantly better than PulseAudio, and was
originally intended to generalize it to also handle video.  Pipewire is
Pulse-compatible, and we support it well.  I hope the article at
https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/PipeWire covers whatever issues you might
run into.

> Other than that, I really had no issues. Was able to mount encrypted volumes
> with no fuss.
>
> I'm now working on the important bits - customizing KDE again and restoring my
> backups.
>
> I did have an odd issue (well, still have actually - it's not resolved) with
> microcode but I'll create a new thread for that.
>
> So, wayland and systemd actually fixed something for me. Who would've
> thought...

They're quite nice, IMO :D

Have a lovely day :-)
-- 
Arsen Arsenović

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Re: [gentoo-user] Why is KDE so bad at multiple monitors?

[Paul B. Henson]

On Wed, Feb 28, 2024 at 04:23:37PM -0600, Dale wrote:
> 
> I have two questions.  Does a upgrade change it back to defaults?  If
> so, there may be a file in /etc somewhere that is more permanent.  If
> not, cool.  :-) 

No, it's never been overwritten, so far...

> How did you get the info to match the hardware you have?

You can get your list of monitors:

$ xrandr --listmonitors
Monitors: 3
 0: +*DVI-D-0 1920/518x1200/324+1920+0  DVI-D-0
 1: +DisplayPort-0 1920/518x1200/324+3840+0  DisplayPort-0
 2: +HDMI-A-0 1920/518x1200/324+0+0  HDMI-A-0

and then play with the locations until the mouse does the right thing
when you move it between them :). Or fix it via the GUI and note which
one is where; the description ends in +x+y with the offset for each
monitor currently, so you can see that HDMI-A-0 is on the far left, then
DVI-D-0 is in the middle, and DisplayPort-0 is on the right.