Default window size and placement -- change it where?

[jkwilborn]

---

Hello... I have a Debian install and I have a monitor that is 1920 X 1080. The problem that I have is that when I click to have it open the window at full size, it's (the window) is bigger than the screen. Cannot get to the scroll bars so I can't easily change the screen or scroll. I have the correct information in the "Display"s GUI, so I don't know where to tell it not to open it larger than the screen.

I've had this ever since installation, and it's starting to get on my nerves, so I'd like to fix it. Anyone know how? As far as I know I'm under a Gnome display....

Thanks in advance...

Jack

[atreyu]

hi,

sounds like you don't have X configured to run at 1920x1080. what does the output of xrandr say? for example, on my box i see this:

$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 640 x 480, current 1024 x 768, maximum 1920 x 1200

my screen res is 1024x768 (it is a vnc session so i keep it small on purpose).

so you might need to force X into that resolution by defining it in the xorg.conf file. it is usually here:

/etc/X11/xorg.conf

if that file does not exist, then you can create it, but you have to make sure the syntax you enter is correct. i'd recommend googling for an xorg.conf file that matches your distro and monitor, you may luck out.

here is an example of what the section in the xorg.conf file might look like:

Section "Screen"
        Identifier "Screen0"
        Device     "Videocard0"
        Monitor    "Monitor0"
        DefaultDepth     24
        SubSection "Display"
                Viewport   0 0
                Depth     24
                Modes    "1920x1200"
        EndSubSection
EndSection

you'll need to edit it as root. i would recommend switching to run level 3 (text-mode) first. you can write it to a temp file first, like /tmp/xorg.conf. then test it like:

X -config /tmp/xorg.conf

if your version of X doesn't support the "-config" switch, then just move it into /etc/X11/xorg.conf (backing up any original first, of course). then just try starting X:

startx

check /var/log/Xorg.0.log for errors, although you should get errors in your terminal.

note that you can try to have X write a config file for you, too. try this (as root):

X -configure

it will write out a new X config file somewhere (usually /root/xorg.conf.new on my systems). then you can test it as per above. if it doesn't set the resolution right, you can just modify that portion by hand.

note that you may need to futz with the Monitor section of the config file, too. particularly, the VertRefresh, HorizSync and DisplaySize parameters. for example, i have something like this:

Section "Monitor"
        Identifier   "Monitor0"
        VendorName   "Monitor Vendor"
        ModelName    "Dell E193FP"
        DisplaySize  380        300
        HorizSync    30.0 - 83.0
        VertRefresh  56.0 - 76.0
        Option      "dpms"
EndSection

but don't use those values! those are for my monitor. get yours from the monitor specs.

[jkwilborn]

Atreyu: Thanks for the reply... When I run the code supplied I get:

root@Jacks-Debian-7:/etc/X11# xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1920 x 1080, maximum 8192 x 8192
VGA1 connected 1920x1080+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 510mm x 287mm
   1920x1080      60.0*+
   1680x1050      60.0  
   1280x1024      60.0  
   1440x900       59.9  
   1280x720       60.0  
   1024x768       60.0  
   800x600        60.3  
   640x480        60.0  
   720x400        70.1  
HDMI1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
root@Jacks-Debian-7:/etc/X11#

The 1920 X 1080 matches what the monitor shows as the size. I can even set it to whatever size is being feed and it always is a little too big. This seems to indicate I have some other problem. Thanks for sending such a complete block of information as most of it was questions that I have had for my research that is unanswered. Such as there is no xorg.conf on my system. If that being the case, I wonder where its getting the information to config itself? I can use 'locate' which is updated daily, and it doesn't return any xorg.conf files anywhere on the machine. It's interesting that I have just did an 'auto adjust' on the monitor and it seems to be working properly. I hope I don't need to do this every time I reboot... I will close this thread, as you have given me a lot of information that I will pursue. Again, thanks for everything you gave me, it is appreciated and answers the questions that I have trying to fix it myself. Also another command that I was unaware of that can be used...

Thanks

Jack

[Rubberman]

What video hardware do you have, and what Linux distribution+version+kernel+video driver are you running?

[jkwilborn]

Rubberman... Thanks for the reply..

I'm using an Intel i5-3450 CPU with internal video, as I understand it.
I have this output from "cat /var/log/Xorg.0.log | grep -i driver", selected this from the output. .

[2184605.392] X.Org Video Driver: 12.1
[2184605.392] X.Org XInput driver : 16.0

The "uname -r" returns:

3.2.0-4-amd64

Finally I have:

lspci -v | grep -i vga
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])

If you need more, specify how to collect it and I will post that information...

Thanks...

Jack

[Rubberman]

Run the command "lsmod" and post the output here inside code blocks. Thanks.
Also, list the xorg drivers for intel chip sets in your synaptic package manager.

[jkwilborn]

Here is the code/output...

root@Jacks-Debian-7:/home/jack# lsmod
Module                  Size  Used by
hid_apple              12671  0 
parport_pc             22364  1 
ppdev                  12763  0 
lp                     17149  0 
parport                31858  3 lp,ppdev,parport_pc
bnep                   17567  2 
rfcomm                 33700  0 
bluetooth             119455  10 rfcomm,bnep
binfmt_misc            12957  1 
nfsd                  216170  2 
nfs                   308313  0 
nfs_acl                12511  2 nfs,nfsd
auth_rpcgss            37143  2 nfs,nfsd
fscache                36739  1 nfs
lockd                  67306  2 nfs,nfsd
sunrpc                173730  6 lockd,auth_rpcgss,nfs_acl,nfs,nfsd
ext2                   59231  1 
loop                   22641  0 
usblp                  17343  0 
snd_hda_codec_hdmi     30824  1 
snd_hda_codec_realtek   188858  1 
joydev                 17266  0 
wacom                  43248  0 
power_supply           13475  1 wacom
ftdi_sio               38270  0 
usbserial              32061  1 ftdi_sio
coretemp               12898  0 
crc32c_intel           12747  0 
ghash_clmulni_intel    13173  0 
aesni_intel            50667  0 
acpi_cpufreq           12935  0 
snd_hda_intel          26259  2 
snd_hda_codec          78031  3 snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_codec_hdmi
i915                  378417  3 
snd_hwdep              13186  1 snd_hda_codec
drm_kms_helper         31370  1 i915
drm                   183952  4 drm_kms_helper,i915
iTCO_wdt               17081  0 
i2c_i801               16870  0 
arc4                   12458  2 
aes_x86_64             16843  1 aesni_intel
mperf                  12453  1 acpi_cpufreq
i2c_algo_bit           12841  1 i915
i2c_core               23876  5 i2c_algo_bit,i2c_i801,drm,drm_kms_helper,i915
evdev                  17562  14 
pcspkr                 12579  0 
ath9k                  73578  0 
ath9k_common           12728  1 ath9k
ath9k_hw              322112  2 ath9k_common,ath9k
snd_pcm                68083  3 snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec_hdmi
psmouse                69265  0 
snd_page_alloc         13003  2 snd_pcm,snd_hda_intel
serio_raw              12931  0 
iTCO_vendor_support    12704  1 iTCO_wdt
snd_seq                45126  0 
ath                    21370  3 ath9k_hw,ath9k_common,ath9k
snd_seq_device         13176  1 snd_seq
mac80211              192806  1 ath9k
mxm_wmi                12515  0 
aes_generic            33026  2 aes_x86_64,aesni_intel
snd_timer              22917  2 snd_seq,snd_pcm
snd                    52889  13 snd_timer,snd_seq_device,snd_seq,snd_pcm,snd_hwdep,snd_hda_codec,snd_hda_intel,snd_hda_codec_realtek,snd_hda_codec_hdmi
cfg80211              137243  3 mac80211,ath,ath9k
soundcore              13065  1 snd
cryptd                 14517  2 aesni_intel,ghash_clmulni_intel
video                  17683  1 i915
rfkill                 19012  5 cfg80211,bluetooth
button                 12937  1 i915
processor              28157  1 acpi_cpufreq
wmi                    13243  1 mxm_wmi
ext4                  350763  1 
crc16                  12343  2 ext4,bluetooth
jbd2                   62115  1 ext4
mbcache                13114  2 ext4,ext2
btrfs                 505636  0 
crc32c                 12656  1 
libcrc32c              12426  1 btrfs
zlib_deflate           25638  1 btrfs
usb_storage            43870  0 
hid_logitech_dj        17313  0 
usbhid                 36418  1 hid_logitech_dj
hid                    81328  3 usbhid,hid_logitech_dj,hid_apple
dm_mod                 63645  11 
sg                     25874  0 
sr_mod                 21899  0 
sd_mod                 36136  5 
cdrom                  35401  1 sr_mod
crc_t10dif             12348  1 sd_mod
xhci_hcd               73434  0 
fan                    12674  0 
thermal                17383  0 
thermal_sys            18040  4 thermal,fan,processor,video
ahci                   24997  3 
libahci                22860  1 ahci
ehci_hcd               40215  0 
libata                140630  2 libahci,ahci
scsi_mod              162269  5 libata,sd_mod,sr_mod,sg,usb_storage
usbcore               128741  9 ehci_hcd,xhci_hcd,usbhid,usb_storage,usbserial,ftdi_sio,wacom,usblp
usb_common             12354  1 usbcore
r8169                  46972  0 
mii                    12675  1 r8169
root@Jacks-Debian-7:/home/jack#

I know this is the loaded modules, but how do I find the video and so forth. Can I search it for some kind of keyword? Like "video", which is i915???

Thanks

Jack

[Rubberman]

Is this an Apple Mac running Linux? In any case, the module that is handling video is this one:

video 17683 1 i915

That is the Intel i915 driver. You might want to verify that this is the best (most current) hardware driver for your gear.

[atreyu]

also, what kind of monitor do you have? Did you look up the specs and put the proper values in your xorg.conf?

[jkwilborn]

From what I can tell the i915 is the current and best for my machine. It is a home built computer from Fry's Electronics generally used to boot Windows code. I have a HD with Windows 8 on it, but hate it so have it in the closet. My monitor is a new HP 2311x and will set itself to the video stream if I ask it to. This does work, but I'd prefer it to be up at the boot. It' s hard to convince the spouse to switch to Linux if you have to do a bunch of manual stuff just to get it up.... I looked on the Internet and found that the i915 driver is the latest and greatest driver, so I guess it's ok. I'll leave this up for a couple of day so you can comment, then I'll close it. Also, I don't have an 'xorg.conf' file on this machine and understand it's optional. The Intel stuff said if I have one it has to be correct for the driver to work properly.

Thanks to all...

Jack