Is there any way to control how Linux uses the second monitor?

D

Deadjasper

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Oct 28, 2001
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There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to Linux's use of the second monitor. My second monitor is used for monitoring my ip cams via browser and for nothing else. I was using Opera but an update broke it so it only opens on the primary monitor. So in the garbage it went. Most all of the other browsers I tried had issues also. I finally settled on Chrome. I close it on the second monitor and the next time I start it it starts on the second monitor. But anyway, if I can get all programs and dialog boxes to open on the monitor they were las closed on that would be ideal.

Now the issue that bothers me the most is dialog boxes opening on the second monitor. All dialog boxes do this, some randomly and some all the time. For example, my main browser for internet use on my primary monitor, Vivaldi, opens it's settings window on the second monitor and nothing I do will change this.

Both monitors are running at 1920 x 1080p. Both monitors are 23". Both monitors are 60Hz refresh.

Sometimes a program, file or picture will spill over to the second monitor and dialog boxes do the same. This is annoying to say the least.

Primary monitor is a Samsung C24F390 Secondary monitor is an Asus VS247

Video Card is a Nvidia 750Ti

Linux Mint 21 Cinnamon

Any ideas?
 
How are your Linux skills? In the old days, multiple monitors ran their own X server and then Xinerama stiched things together... Maybe you could run the second montitor as its own X server, and use x2x to move mouse/keyboard. You'd have two sessions and windows couldn't move to the other one, so your ipcam stuff could be separate from your regular work.

Otoh, I don't know that you can actually run two separate servers on a multihead card? And maybe you're on Wayland, so none of the old tools work, and sometimes you can't even do things the old way.
 
At present I'm not using Wayland but it looks like I will be some time in the future. Rather than beat a dying horse I think I'll just put up with it and hope the problem disappears in the future. Thanks.
 
Damn, I'm running that distro on an nv card w/ two monitors and cinnamon. It worked for me out of the box so I'll try to help you troubleshoot in around a week (once I get back home from a thing).
 
Have you tried using a different desktop environment? Cinnamon is a nice DE, but it's old code base is going to start showing its age more and more. As I understand it, the Cinnamon team has no plans to support Wayland, and X11 is only going to get worse over time. You might want to look into running GNOME or KDE. Both have well implemented Wayland support, and switching to Wayland fixed a lot of the issues I was having. Not to say it's all sunshine and rainbows, but by and large Wayland has been a MUCH better experience than X ever was for me.

It could also not be a display server issue, but instead could be an issue with Cinnamon's compositor and window manager. Too many variables to know for sure really, but my recommendation would be to try a different DE. I haven't ran Mint in a long time, but I believe they have other DE's in their repos, so you could easily install one on your current installation and give it a go. If you don't like it you can just remove it and carry on.
 
acquacow said:
I mean, that's not a linux problem, but a problem of your application... if you are using gnome, there are extensions that can be added to it to control window positioning:
https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/16/auto-move-windows/

Gnome itself does not keep track of window positions, nor does KDE as far as I know.

-- Dave
Click to expand...

I believe you are correct sir. Chrome behaves exactly like I want it to and Opera did not. This is proof the problem lay with Opera and not Linux.

Can I change desktops without reinstalling Linux?
 
Deadjasper said:
I believe you are correct sir. Chrome behaves exactly like I want it to and Opera did not. This is proof the problem lay with Opera and not Linux.

Can I change desktops without reinstalling Linux?
Click to expand...
You can change anything without reinstalling linux... You can have both gnome, kde, xfce, etc all installed at the same time and can choose them at your login window where you pick your username/password (if you have that setup).
 
If you use a KDE variant you can specifically set Windows to open in specific locations, or set Windows to reopen wherever you closed them. You can even specify a size that the window should open at, or set the DE to remember the size of the window when it was closed.

Considering X11 see's both screens as one single large screen, this would be your best option. You're not gonna be getting Wayland under Linux Mint any time soon.
 
You sound like a good candidate for "zaphod mode", which is having the two displays as ":0" and ":1". You cannot move windows from one monitor to the other anymore, but you won't get applications in the middle or split anymore either.
 
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