KDE Plasma 5.13 Getting Friendlier Monitor Hot-Plug Handling

[phoronix]

Phoronix: KDE Plasma 5.13 Getting Friendlier Monitor Hot-Plug Handling

KDE's KScreen screen configuration tool is getting some nice improvements as part of the Plasma 5.13 development cycle...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=KDE-Plasma-5.13-Better-KScreen

[pete910]

Hope they add things like screen scaling ect, PIA if using a TV that doesn't adjust the picture automatically.

Never actually found the existing screen configuration bad though.

[bitman]

KDE 5.13 is also getting global menu support for gtk applications https://cgit.kde.org/plasma-workspac...dbusmenu-proxy

[andreano]

What about turning a screen on/off?

I have this funny problem with my dual monitor KDE desktop: All windows move to the left screen when turning both screens off and on again. And the right screen's task manager thinks it's on the left screen, showing only the wrong screen's windows.

[agd5f]

What about turning a screen on/off?

I have this funny problem with my dual monitor KDE desktop: All windows move to the left screen when turning both screens off and on again. And the right screen's task manager thinks it's on the left screen, showing only the wrong screen's windows.

What do you mean by turning a screen on/off? You you mean DPMS (e.g., blanking the displays after idle period), or physically powering them off? If it's the latter, many monitors will generate a hot-unplug event when you turn them off which will make the desktop think the display has been removed, resulting in the desktop being resized to a single monitor, etc. which causes windows to get moved around. Then when you turn the monitor back on, it generates a hotplug event and the desktop resizes again. Best to let DPMS do it's thing rather than fiddling with power buttons.

[andreano]

Do you mean DPMS or physically powering them off?

I mean physically: Pressing the two screens' power buttons as simultaneously as I can.

I do that every lunch. Oh well, I should learn to use screen lock. Thanks for your great explanation! Indeed, it doesn't happen if they turn off by themselves after a while.

[grok]

What do you mean by turning a screen on/off? You you mean DPMS (e.g., blanking the displays after idle period), or physically powering them off? If it's the latter, many monitors will generate a hot-unplug event when you turn them off which will make the desktop think the display has been removed, resulting in the desktop being resized to a single monitor, etc. which causes windows to get moved around. Then when you turn the monitor back on, it generates a hotplug event and the desktop resizes again. Best to let DPMS do it's thing rather than fiddling with power buttons.

It would be great to be able to manually (by the user clicking something) go into DPMS suspend - no matter the desktop environment.

Or a password-less screen lock - I know that's the silliest suggestion I ever made but here it is. If it's a machine with auto-login anyway..
The worst that could happen if I somehow leaves something like "# rm -rf /" in focus and someone (perhaps myself) wakes it up with the enter key. So a lock screen without password would protect from even that!
If the idle period can drop to 1 min on the lock screen, while I like it long otherwise, there's a somewhat considerable energy saving.

[Luke_Wolf]

It would be great to be able to manually (by the user clicking something) go into DPMS suspend - no matter the desktop environment.

for X11 you can do:

xset dpms force suspend

but generally speaking desktops will do that if you click the associated lock desktop button, or can be configured to do so.

[grok]

Very good news about that new monitor handling by the way. This will make KDE a drop-in replacement for Windows 7.
i.e., some people use a Windows laptop and a TV. This dialog is the only "advanced" OS feature they ever need. To get asked what to do every single time is useful, so as to choose clone mode vs disabled laptop screen (e.g.)

I might do such migrations in 2020 (many people don't want their software changed no matter what) - or years later as I won't be surprised if Microsoft extends EOL by years.
Crapdows 10 laptop? I guess they'd deserve Ubuntu 18.04 version of KDE Neon as soon as it's out?
I'm usually a Gnome 2 clones guy (perhaps I'd want to use pluma, atril and eom or xed, xreader and xviewer i.e. the Mate or Mint editor, pdf/epub reader, etc.)

[Charlie68]

Sometimes I use the dual monitor for work and fortunately I have never had any problems with Plasma 5. But every improvement is welcome! Hi