gdm uses incorrect screen resolution

[ChristofferS]

Using gutsy beta, installed from alternate CD.

I have set my screen resolution to 1280x1024@85Hz using the Screens and Graphics utility because it was incorrectly set after installation.

The screen resolution in the desktop was wrong first (set to 2100 something), then I had to use Preferences->Screen Resolution to set it again.

After logging out, gdm did not use 1280x1024, but the bigger one I think. The effect I see, is that I get a big virtual desktop that moves around when I move the mouse around.

Desktop screen resolution is now fine, but gdm is using the wrong one.

[ChristofferS (ubuntu-curo)]

01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation NV25 [GeForce4 Ti 4600] (rev a3) (prog-if 00 [VGA])
        Subsystem: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Unknown device 8013
        Flags: bus master, 66MHz, medium devsel, latency 32, IRQ 5
        Memory at e4000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
        Memory at d0000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=128M]
        Memory at d8000000 (32-bit, prefetchable) [size=512K]
        [virtual] Expansion ROM at d8080000 [disabled] [size=128K]
        Capabilities: <access denied>

[Alex Willmer (alex-moreati)]

I have the same symptoms on a Dell M1330 with a 1280x800 screen and an Nvidia 8400GM using proprietary drivers . I set the resolution once logged in, the screen's native.

When gdm/X starts I see a cropped Nvidia logo, as though zoomed in, then a large login box and mouse pointer aslo as if zoomed in. By moving the mouse I can pan around the virtual screen.

alex@martha:~$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 Memory Controller Hub (rev 0c)
00:01.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 PCI Express Root Port (rev 0c)
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Contoller #4 (rev 02)
00:1a.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 (rev 02)
00:1a.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 02)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 1 (rev 02)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 2 (rev 02)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 4 (rev 02)
00:1c.5 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) PCI Express Port 6 (rev 02)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 02)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 02)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 02)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev f2)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801HEM (ICH8M) LPC Interface Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) IDE Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) SATA AHCI Controller (rev 02)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 02)
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GeForce 8400M GS (rev a1)
03:01.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Ricoh Co Ltd R5C832 IEEE 1394 Controller (rev 05)
03:01.1 Generic system peripheral [0805]: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C822 SD/SDIO/MMC/MS/MSPro Host Adapter (rev 22)
03:01.2 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C843 MMC Host Controller (rev 12)
03:01.3 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd R5C592 Memory Stick Bus Host Adapter (rev 12)
03:01.4 System peripheral: Ricoh Co Ltd xD-Picture Card Controller (rev 12)
09:00.0 Ethernet controller: Broadcom Corporation NetLink BCM5906M Fast Ethernet PCI Express (rev 02)
0c:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation PRO/Wireless 4965 AG or AGN Network Connection (rev 61)

alex@martha:~$ xrandr -q --verbose
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 240, current 1280 x 800, maximum 1920 x 1440
default connected 1280x800+0+0 (0x146) normal (normal) 0mm x 0mm
        Identifier: 0x140
        Timestamp: 1572990425
        Subpixel: unknown
        Clones:
        CRTC: 0
        CRTCs: 0
  640x480 (0x141) 15.4MHz
        h: width 640 start 0 e...

[Alex Willmer (alex-moreati)]

Commenting the line "virtual 1920 1440" and adding "1280x800" to the list of modes has resolved this problem for me.

[Lee.Tambiah (flossgeek)]

I have the same issue also. xorg.conf is attached. This is fully updated gutsy as of 2nd October 7:00pm UK time.

[Lee.Tambiah (flossgeek)]

I will also add to my previous post and provide the Xorg.0.log output.

[Lee.Tambiah (flossgeek)]

As a fix i used Alex Willmers suggestion except i just commented the line "virtual hres vres" where hres and vres would be some value. That worked for me.

[James (chiisu81)]

I also commented out the Virtual line and the issue was fixed. Why was this even added in the first place?

[Christian Scholz (christianscholz383)]

Same problems with the RC on my Znote 6314w with Geforce 7600Go and a native resolution of 1280x800. Im using the proprietary drivers too...
The resolution in the GDM login screen seems to be something like 800x600 and changes to the correct one after the login process.

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

It sounds like gdm is getting confused by the Virtual keyword in xorg.conf.

IIRC, Virtual was added to support xrandr. Two things need to be researched: A. What this parameter enables. B. Why gdm is getting confused by it.

Also, I suspect there are a number of dupes of this bug (like 139912 possibly) that should be duped together with this one.

[dumas33 (danas-augutis)]

I think I have same issue with kubuntu KDM (not gdm) I set resolution of screen to 1024x1270 but KDE login screen is shown in 768x1270 resolution;
Will attache xorg.cof later, writing now from different pc.

[dumas33 (danas-augutis)]

So, I attaching my xorg.conf file. Hope it help to solve issue.
Another thing I realised - weird things related to resolution are happening with font size: atfer resolution is set to 1280x1024, i set default font to 8, but after restarting pc in settings it remained 8 size, but actualy it look like 11 size.
More strange, that after creating user2 and changing resolution for it to 1280x1024, fonts there displayd corretly for both user2 and user1. After restarting x, fonts are displayed bigger than they should be again.

[PJSingh5000 (pjsingh5000)]

I am having a similar problem on Kubuntu Gusty 64 using an integrated Intel GM965 chipset.

(Note that I have run sudo dpkg-reconfigure xserver-xorg, setting the driver to intel, and the display resolution to 1680x1050 to match my hardware).

When I boot up (start my machine from a power-off state) KDM resolution is low, so the text seems large. Once I log in, The the resolution looks correct, judging from the sizes of the icons, but the fonts are very large.

If I log out at this point, KDM appears with the correct resolution and font size. Once I log back in, the desktop also appears with the correct resolution and font size.

However, If I reboot/restart, the problem returns, as described.

I do not have a "virtual" setting in my xorg.conf...

Section "Device"
 Identifier "Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller"
 Driver "intel"
 BusID "PCI:0:2:0"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
 Identifier "DCLCD"
 Option "DPMS"
 HorizSync 64.7-65.29
 VertRefresh 59.883-59.954
EndSection

Section "Screen"
 Identifier "Default Screen"
 Device "Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller"
 Monitor "DCLCD"
 DefaultDepth 24
 SubSection "Display"
  Modes "1680x1050"
 EndSubSection
EndSection

$ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation Mobile PM965/GM965/GL960 Memory Controller Hub (rev 03)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:02.1 Display controller: Intel Corporation Mobile GM965/GL960 Integrated Graphics Controller (rev 03)
00:19.0 Ethernet controller: Intel Corporation 82566MM Gigabit Network Connection (rev 03)
00:1a.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Contoller #4 (rev 03)
00:1a.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #5 (rev 03)
00:1a.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) HD Audio Controller (rev 03)
00:1d.0 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1d.1 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #2 (rev 03)
00:1d.2 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB UHCI Controller #3 (rev 03)
00:1d.7 USB Controller: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) USB2 EHCI Controller #1 (rev 03)
00:1e.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 82801 Mobile PCI Bridge (rev f3)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation 82801HEM (ICH8M) LPC Interface Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.1 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) IDE Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.2 IDE interface: Intel Corporation 82801HBM/HEM (ICH8M/ICH8M-E) SATA IDE Controller (rev 03)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 82801H (ICH8 Family) SMBus Controller (rev 03)
01:03.0 FireWire (IEEE 1394): Agere Systems FW323 (rev 70)

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

Is this still an issue for anyone with Hardy beta?

We've changed how the Screen Resolution tool works, and of course xorg.conf no longer lists explicit resolutions since the x server autodetects them, so most of the things that I think could cause this behavior should now be resolved. "Virtual" is still required for some xrandr configurations, however I don't know if it's causing issues any longer.

Fwiw, I suspect there are two independent bugs here - one for people with Virtual set to something that confused gdm, and one for people who had one resolution set in xorg.conf but used Screen Resolution to specify something different. This would probably explain why some users saw resolution from commenting out Virtual, and others did not. I could be wrong though.

Anyway, if no one can reproduce this on hardy beta before hardy ships, we can probably close it as fixed.

[ChristofferS (ubuntu-curo)]

It seems that this bug is fixed now.

However, the Screen Resolution tool seems to be very different now - I am missing the Monitor database which were in the gutsy version - this should probably be filed in another bug.

[Bryce Harrington (bryce)]

Thanks, closing as fixed as per #16.

Yes the Screen Resolution tool has been completely reworked, and displayconfig-gtk is deprecated (but still installed). If there are remaining issues with those tools, please file new bugs.

[Daniel Nelson (packetcollision)]

I'm having a similar issue with Hardy. GDM displays at 1280x1024 but when I log in, the Gnome desktop shows up at the correct 1600x1200 resolution. My monitor (Samsung SyncMaster213T) and/or video card Intel GMA33 onboard do not get autodetected properly under Hardy, so I had to manually configure them with displayconfig-gtk. I'm attaching my xorg.conf file for reference.

[Luciano Panepucci (lpanebr)]

I also had this issue after gutsy2hardy update with nvidia card. The gdm login screen had a super high virtual resolution. I remember going trough a lot of trouble getting the desktop resolution ok. Commenting the virtual line in xorg did not work for me. What worked for me was leaving just the resolution mode I use on the modes line, just as did Mariano on comment #7 of the duplicate bug: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/xorg/+bug/139912/comments/7

attached is my xorg

[Luciano Panepucci (lpanebr)]

Forgot to mention something that I dont know if has anything to do with the issue...

While trying to solve my gdm login resolution I considered using xrandr as a pre-gdm-script but while testing it on the shell as described in https://wiki.ubuntu.com/X/Config/Resolution it did not work so I never tried it.