Display positions cannot be accurately set in settings

[Zoltan Kiss]

My displays are positioned in a somewhat uncommon way on my desk. I have 3 displays. 2 external monitors (same model, 16:9, 2k), and a laptop screen (1k, 16:9).

-One display is in portrait mode, on the left (#2).
-One display is in landscape mode, in the middle (#3).
-The laptop display is below the landscape monitor, in the middle (#1).

The middle of display #3 and display #1 are meant to be in the same line.
This means that there is a physical gap between display #2 and display #1.

It is extremely difficult to set the display positions up in this way in the ubuntu display settings though, because the displays snap together automatically when they are close, so when I move display #1 below the display #3, it automatically snaps to display #2 on the left, even though I don't want it. There is no way to move display #1 away just a tiny bit, the amount I need for it to be in the middle, leaving some gap from display #2, where I want it (please see attached screenshot).

Further to this, when I do manage to set up the displays this way by sheer luck, when I open the settings again, the displays are shown snapped together, so when I save again (without making any changes), the settings are lost.

As a sidenote, I think it would help if it was possible to somehow enlarge the display positioning section, as it does not fill out the space available for it - it would make it possible to make the space I need larger than the auto-snapping distance.

This was working fine in ubuntu 22 versions.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 23.04
Package: xorg 1:7.7+23ubuntu2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 6.2.0-26.26-generic 6.2.13
Uname: Linux 6.2.0-26-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.26.1-0ubuntu2
Architecture: amd64
BootLog: Error: [Errno 13] Permission denied: '/var/log/boot.log'
CasperMD5CheckResult: unknown
CompositorRunning: None
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Sat Jul 29 16:25:24 2023
DistUpgraded: 2023-06-20 22:23:50,975 DEBUG Running PostInstallScript: '/usr/lib/ubuntu-advantage/upgrade_lts_contract.py'
DistroCodename: lunar
DistroVariant: ubuntu
ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes
GraphicsCard:
 Intel Corporation HD Graphics 620 [8086:5916] (rev 02) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 5th Gen [17aa:224f]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2020-04-25 (1189 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS "Focal Fossa" - Release amd64 (20200423)
MachineType: LENOVO 20HRCTO1WW
ProcEnviron:
 LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
 LANGUAGE=en_GB:en
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 SHELL=/usr/bin/zsh
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.2.0-26-generic root=UUID=4cb26f1e-f79c-470d-9ab0-77863605f5d0 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: xorg
Symptom: display
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to lunar on 2023-06-20 (38 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 11/24/2022
dmi.bios.release: 1.57
dmi.bios.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.bios.version: N1MET72W (1.57 )
dmi.board.asset.tag: Not Available
dmi.board.name: 20HRCTO1WW
dmi.board.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.board.version: SDK0J40709 WIN
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: No Asset Information
dmi.chassis.type: 10
dmi.chassis.vendor: LENOVO
dmi.chassis.version: None
dmi.ec.firmware.release: 1.22
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnLENOVO:bvrN1MET72W(1.57):bd11/24/2022:br1.57:efr1.22:svnLENOVO:pn20HRCTO1WW:pvrThinkPadX1Carbon5th:rvnLENOVO:rn20HRCTO1WW:rvrSDK0J40709WIN:cvnLENOVO:ct10:cvrNone:skuLENOVO_MT_20HR_BU_Think_FM_ThinkPadX1Carbon5th:
dmi.product.family: ThinkPad X1 Carbon 5th
dmi.product.name: 20HRCTO1WW
dmi.product.sku: LENOVO_MT_20HR_BU_Think_FM_ThinkPad X1 Carbon 5th
dmi.product.version: ThinkPad X1 Carbon 5th
dmi.sys.vendor: LENOVO
version.compiz: compiz N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.114-1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 23.0.4-0ubuntu1~23.04.1
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 23.0.4-0ubuntu1~23.04.1
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:21.1.7-1ubuntu3
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev N/A
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:19.1.0-3
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.917+git20210115-1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.17-2build1

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

This sounds like a GUI issue with gnome-control-center. Are you able to work around it by tweaking the x/y values in ~/.config/monitors.xml instead?

[Zoltan Kiss (zoltan-kiss-jr)]

Thanks very much for editing the ticket to indicate the correct module. Yes, I have a workaround, I can set the positions up even via the GUI, but it is fiddly.