Oversized Text in Kubuntu Hardy KDE4 Live CD

[Rob Valkass]

I just downloaded the KDE4 release candidate of Kubuntu Hardy, and loaded up the live CD. I was greeted with massively oversized text literally everywhere! That made the whole thing unusable, as it makes every menu impossible to navigate.

Obviously this is a bit of a shock to any new users, especially as trying to fix it is impossible with the text at its current size.

I was running the live CD on an Acer Aspire 1644WLMi laptop with Intel GMA900 graphics and a 15.4" widescreen (1280x800).

[Rob Valkass (rvalkass)]

This same bug is still present in the final release at the moment.

[gokee2 (adsarebad)]

I have this problem in the hard drive install of hardy as well

[NB (n4xxx)]

This bug is marked as a duplicate and the other one is marked as fixed, but that was about Radeon, while I'm experiencing the same problem here with Jaunty Beta on my Intel GMA 945.

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

NB, please attach your /var/log/Xorg.0.log

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

On Fri, Mar 27, 2009 at 08:12:55PM -0000, Launchpad Bug Tracker wrote:
> You have been subscribed to a public bug:
>
> I just downloaded the KDE4 release candidate of Kubuntu Hardy, and
> loaded up the live CD. I was greeted with massively oversized text
> literally everywhere! That made the whole thing unusable, as it makes
> every menu impossible to navigate.
>
> Obviously this is a bit of a shock to any new users, especially as
> trying to fix it is impossible with the text at its current size.

Nah, probably only for people with the same model of monitor as you.
Don't assume a problem you see is one that every single user sees!

Follow the directions on this link and add the details to your bug
report and we may be able to fix the issue for your monitor:

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Troubleshooting/HugeFonts

@gokee2, you did not provide any information that would let me determine
whether you have the same model monitor as Rob, so I can't say if fixing
his issue will fix yours. If you want your model monitor fixed as well,
you'll want to file a new bug, and attach the same info as specified in
the above link.

[NB (n4xxx)]

Here it is. But since Kubuntu on the LiveCD was unusable as afore mentioned, I had to copy the file in some other way. Of course it was also impossible to use the file manager to copy the file somewhere. So I switched to a text console (Ctrl+Alt+F1), because I know some basic commands (cp and such). Then I plugged in an USB flash disk, but Kubuntu doesn't automount it, differently from Ubuntu: Kubuntu LiveCD requires that you click on a dialog window, but it was impossible with these huge fonts, and I don't know how to mount it from the command line.

Eventually I started the LiveCD again, but with "safe graphic settings": this is the Xorg.0.log from there, and I hope it's OK.

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

NB, you can mount the USB stick from the command line with:
 sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt
and then copy the log there with
 sudo cp /var/log/Xorg.0.log /mnt
 sudo umount /mnt
Of course, replace sdb1 with the appropriate device name (dmesg or "sudo vol_id /dev/sdb1" etc can help to find it out).

[NB (n4xxx)]

I followed your instructions and this is the Xorg.0.log when the fonts are oversized. Thank you very much! :)

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

Thanks, this is the culprit:
(II) intel(0): Supported additional Video Mode:
(II) intel(0): clock: 71.2 MHz Image Size: 289 x 21 mm

Needed quirk: quirk_detailed_v_in_cm
(II) intel(0): EDID vendor "LPL", prod id 47360

NB, since we are not sure Rob has the same monitor, please file a new bug where you attach your log again and the above information.

Rob, do you have a chance to test Jaunty, or at least to send us your Xorg.0.log?

[NB (n4xxx)]

OK, I followed your advice and I filed a new bug report: Bug #353074

[Rob Valkass (rvalkass)]

I tried to see if the problem still exists with Jaunty. Unfortunately it spewed out a whole load of errors while booting, so I couldn't get anywhere with that. However, I have got the Xorg.0.log file from Hardy (attached).

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

Please try a Jaunty live CD. If those boot errors came from a live CD, it is probably a badly burned CD.

Then, can you please add
 Option "ModeDebug" "true"
to the Device section of /etc/X11/xorg.conf and attach the new log that you get after restarting X (logging out and in again)?

[Rob Valkass (rvalkass)]

I tried again with the same CD and it booted, must have been a one-off. Anyway, the problem is not apparent in Jaunty. All text is correctly sized and looks fine.

If you still need the log from Jaunty then let me know.

[Tormod Volden (tormodvolden)]

Great. It would still be good to have that ModeDebug log for reference, thanks.

[Rob Valkass (rvalkass)]

OK, the log from Jaunty with ModeDebug enabled.