UI scaling inconsistent when using new display scaling option

[A-beingessner]

Just installed Ubuntu 14.04 on a Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro, which has a 3200x1800 display. Consequently, I need to scale up everything in the system to have anything render at a reasonable size. I found the new "Scale for menu and title bars" option in the Display Settings, and set it it 2.25. This, for the most part, did what I wanted.

* Unity interface is scaled
* Text is scaled
* Many builtin applications seem to scale correctly

However, there's some funky inconsistencies as to what has scaled:

* Depending on what the mouse is over, it either renders at the larger (correct) size, or a smaller (incorrect) size. Examples of things which render the mouse incorrectly include the global/window bars, unity application selector, most applications (firefox and most of software center are notable exceptions), and sometimes right-click menus.
* Some (GTK provided?) widgets (most notably checkboxes, radio buttons, scroll bars, and ) render too small. This is visible in most third-party applications, which are otherwise correctly sized. Firefox and CompizConfig are examples of this, even after layout.css.devPixelsPerPx was changed in Firefox to match the display setting.
* The change occasionally doesn't correctly register with some or all applications (regardless of whether they were open at the time). Adjusting the slider always changes the unity global ui correctly, but sometimes the settings manager or nautillus would not actually render at an increased size, even after a reboot. Other times it would register fine even without a reboot.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: xorg 1:7.7+1ubuntu8
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-24.46-generic 3.13.9
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-24-generic x86_64
.tmp.unity.support.test.0:

ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: No value set for `/apps/compiz-1/general/screen0/options/active_plugins'
CompositorRunning: compiz
CompositorUnredirectDriverBlacklist: '(nouveau|Intel).*Mesa 8.0'
CompositorUnredirectFSW: true
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Wed Apr 23 22:30:31 2014
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: trusty
DistroVariant: ubuntu
ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes, including running git bisection searches
GraphicsCard:
 Intel Corporation Haswell-ULT Integrated Graphics Controller [8086:0a16] (rev 09) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Lenovo Device [17aa:3978]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-04-24 (0 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140417)
MachineType: LENOVO 20266
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-24-generic.efi.signed root=UUID=22977ed7-bb41-4448-98c8-bcf44422165e ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: xorg
Symptom: display
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 10/31/2013
dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.bios.version: 76CN31WW
dmi.board.asset.tag: No Asset Tag
dmi.board.name: Yoga2
dmi.board.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.board.version: 31900058STD
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Tag
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.chassis.version: Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvr76CN31WW:bd10/31/2013:svnLENOVO:pn20266:pvrLenovoYoga2Pro:rvnLENOVO:rnYoga2:rvr31900058STD:cvnLENOVO:ct10:cvrLenovoYoga2Pro:
dmi.product.name: 20266
dmi.product.version: Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro
dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO
version.compiz: compiz 1:0.9.11+14.04.20140409-0ubuntu1
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.52-1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 10.1.0-4ubuntu5
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 10.1.0-4ubuntu5
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.15.1-0ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.8.2-1ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:7.3.0-1ubuntu3
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.910-0ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.10-1ubuntu2
xserver.bootTime: Wed Apr 23 22:00:49 2014
xserver.configfile: default
xserver.errors:

xserver.logfile: /var/log/Xorg.0.log
xserver.outputs:
 product id 16970
 vendor SDC
xserver.version: 2:1.15.1-0ubuntu2

[A-beingessner (a-beingessner)]

Actually, after some more testing it's probably more accurate to say the mouse is too small basically *everywhere* except for when hovering over the interior of some applications like terminal, firefox, and parts of software center.

[A-beingessner (a-beingessner)]

Eratic mouse behaviour seems to have disappeared after a reboot.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[A-beingessner (a-beingessner)]

Hmm... after experiencing this a few more times, it seems like this is potentially a few different bugs. The tiny widgets is always happening, and seems to just be a flaw with older GTK programs (explaining why it occurs in Firefox).

As for the windows not registering the scaling factor, it looks like something under the control of lightdm is breaking. "restart lightdm" seems to solve the problem whenever it occurs. Another piece of evidence for this is that Firefox's tabs regress to an old unstyled form whenever the issue occurs.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Paul White (paulw2u)]

We are sorry that we do not always have the capacity to review all reported bugs in a timely manner. You reported this bug some time ago and there have been many changes in Ubuntu since that time.

Ubuntu 14.04 (trusty) reached end-of-standard-support on April 25, 2019.

Do you still see a problem related to the one that you reported when using a currently supported version of Ubuntu? Please let us know if you do otherwise this report can be left to expire in approximately 60 days time.

Thank you for helping make Ubuntu better.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for xorg (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]