Screen Rotation options only Counterclockwise & Clockwise

[Christopher Forster]

Hi, my Acer notebook includes an Intel Mobile 945GSE Express Integrated Graphics Controller graphics card. I can only change to "Counterclockwise" & "Clockwise".

I expect this:
To also be able to change screen rotation to "Normal" or "180 Degrees".

Steps I have to do to correct these:
N/A

Steps to reproduce:
Install Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin) Beta 2 & connect an external monitor with a notebook running Intel graphics.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.04
Package: gnome-control-center 1:3.3.92-0ubuntu4
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.2.0-20.33-generic-pae 3.2.12
Uname: Linux 3.2.0-20-generic-pae i686
ApportVersion: 1.95-0ubuntu1
Architecture: i386
CheckboxSubmission: e28f23d40ba6960d2759044b1acbd380
CheckboxSystem: c69722ecac764861be52925fa50b4dcc
Date: Mon Apr 16 19:40:42 2012
ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/gnome-control-center
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS "Precise Pangolin" - Beta i386 (20120328)
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=se_NO:nb_NO:nb:no_NO:no:nn_NO:nn:da:sv:en
 LANG=se_NO
 SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: gnome-control-center
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

Thank you for your bug report, can you use those options with the command line "xrandr" utility?

[Christopher Forster (christopherforster)]

xrandr --output LVDS --auto --output VGA1 --auto --same-as LVDS --rotate normal

Affects behavior of external displays in "Displays" and allowed me to change to "Normal", "Counterclockwise", "Clockwise" & "180 Degrees". gnome-control-center worked great after that xrandr command.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

weird, not sure if that means the bug is in the xrandr interface or in the capplet

[Christopher Forster (christopherforster)]

Amaya web editor issue using higher resolution screen resolution
Hi, I have to change resolution in "Displays" settings in order to see what I type in Amaya. I'm using Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin) Beta 2.

Downloaded from http://www.w3.org/Amaya/Distribution/amaya_11.4.4-1-ubuntu_i386.deb

Is this related the Intel Mobile 945GSE Express Integrated Graphics Controller driver?

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

I'm not sure ot understand your new comment and how it relates to the rotation issue

[Christopher Forster (christopherforster)]

Screen Rotation also affects the N10 Family Integrated Graphics Controller. When bugs occur when plugging in external monitor to VGA port, is it the Intel's drivers fault?

Is Amaya web editor issue using at higher screen resolution the Intel's drivers fault?

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Yaroslav (yaroslavzenin)]

Confirm this issue also on laptop Samsung N143

[Constantine Chuprina (k-chupryna)]

The same problem on the HP nx6310

[tranqy (tranqy)]

Is there a workaround for this? When I keep my monitors mirrored my external VGA is the right orientation, but if I try to use both it's still stuck in clockwise or counter clockwise only. EEEPC 901, and samsung VGA LCD. The xrandr command mostly worked, mirrored, when I took out the --same-as part the whole ui on both went wonky.

[Kolin S. Murray (kolinab)]

The best workaround I have found is to 'keep current settings' when the timed dialog appears (in display settings). Once the settings are applied, although the display is rotated 90 degrees, I have found that the 'normal' orientation option reappears in the orientation dropdown box. Applying 'normal' then restores the proper orientation, although it has to be reset again every time the second display is connected.

(Dell 630m with Intel graphics. )

[tranqy (tranqy)]

Thanks Kolin. Not sure why this is low importance, I switched to another distro since the external monitor didn't work.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

@tranqy: it's low importance because:

- screen rotation is not the most commonly used feature
- there is an easy workaround using the xrandr command line described there

if your external monitor didn't work that's another issue that the one described here which is about the screen rotation options

[tranqy (tranqy)]

Screen rotation isn't the most commonly used feature when the orientation is set to landscape, but if the system is forcing a monitor into portrait mode I would argue people would be forced to use it. I had never used that feature in any OS, until I was forced to.

Also the workaround did not work, that's why I was asking for clarification or another workaround.

Either way, if plugging in a monitor and seeing pixels in the correct orientation is a feature end users would like without resorting to xrandr commands, I don't think this should be low importance.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

@tranqy: sorry but that's basically what you get by "hijacking" a bug with a different issue from the originally reported one.

The bug here is about the optional screen rotation option and a low importance once, your bug is about incorrect screen configuration which is a different issue and would have classified as "High" and looked at if you reported it properly as a new ticket.

You said that you are running another distribution but if you are still interested in the issue and install Ubuntu again please report a bug using "ubuntu-bug xorg"

[tranqy (tranqy)]

Hijacking a bug? Are you kidding me?

The title of the bug :
Screen Rotation options only Counterclockwise & Clockwise Edit

I plug in a monitor and only receive Counterclockwise and Clockwise as orientation options. Not normal. The workaround described exactly what I wanted to do, but it didn't work.

Then I thought I would help by mentioning users might like the normal orientation, and this might be higher priority then it's been assigned.

But I guess we're more interested in debating semantics then user issues here.

[tranqy (tranqy)]

BTW I'm unsubscribing. Obviously I must need to find a different bug to get a non clockwise or counterclockwise orientation for my external monitor.

[Martin Escardo (m-escardo)]

Same problem here with a Dell D410. I can choose my external monitor to be rotated clockwise or anticlockwise, but I can't choose it to be normal, using display settings.

[christopherreay (christopherreay)]

Hi.

I have discovered the reason for this issue.

It is not a bug, per say, though the interface and the information given to the user are confusing and "broken"
The reason that normal and 180 degrees are not made available in the screen display settings is that UNITY (which i Hate btw) uses your graphics card's 3D rendering (lord knows why) by default.
What you will find is that the maximum horizontal size of your threeD rendering space is less than the width of your two minitors combined.
So the interface does not show that option.
This is also why the normal a rotation is available normally

IF you log out and set the session to "Ubuntu 2D" all these problems will disappear.

Secondly I think the way that tranqy was spoken to is totally outside the premise of Ubuntu and of LaunchPad and of this bug. Sebastien, you clearly did not take the time to understand this bug and were rude to a user for no reason and sent someone away from the Ubuntu community. Shame on you.

Regards,

Christopher Reay

[Generalster (generalster)]

Can confirm bug still exists in the up-to-date release version of 12.04.
Running on a Compaq nx7400.

When plugging in a VGA External monitor, at any resolution higher than 1024 x 768 the Normal and 180deg. options are not available.

xrandr --output VGA1 --auto --rotate normal --right-of LVDS1 works as I would have expected of the original interface.

Does this exclude the option of the 3D buffer maximum size bug?

Regards,

Cristian Chelu

[Gerard Schaafsma (schaafsma-gerard)]

"IF you log out and set the session to "Ubuntu 2D" all these problems will disappear."
Thanks Christopher Reay
Worked fine with MSI U-100 Wind Notebook with Ubunt 12.04
Best regards,
Gerard Schaafsma

[JC (shisosushi)]

I can confirm the same problem on ubuntu 12.10 on a Macbook 2,1.
It works when "mirroring", however.
From what I read on the internet, there is no "Ubuntu 2D" in 12.10, so that work-around will not work any more.

I see this has "low" priority, but this seems fairly fundamental to me, since I know many people who use more than one screen at work.

Regards.

[Kari Smolander (kari-smolander)]

I confirm that this bug exists in 12.10. I have only one display (a Sony TV) in my HTPC. I can select only clockwise and counterclockwise. No normal option is present. I must soon change a distro if I cannot find a solution to this.

[Kari Smolander (kari-smolander)]

I do not understan why this is "low priority". I cannot use my computer.

[Sebastien Bacher (seb128)]

@Kari: read https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Importance "Low: Bugs that affect unusual end-user configurations or uncommon hardware" ... which is your case. The issue should probably be reported upstream as well, see the instructions on https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Bugs/Upstream/GNOME.

[Dakota Schneider (dakota-5)]

Using 12.10 on an older Toshiba, I can confirm this bug and lack of workaround. The only workaround I have discovered is to decrease the resolution of one or both displays by trial and error so that their total combined width does not exceed the graphics card's capabilities.

I fully agree with Christopher Reay's comment (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gnome-control-center/+bug/983291/comments/20), both on the technical reasons for this bug and his assessment of the behavior of Sebastien Bacher.

Though this is not actually a "bug" as far as I can tell, it is certainly an issue. Somewhere along the line the software has determined that the combined width of the monitors exceeds the graphics card's maximum horizontal rendering width for 3D-accellerated rendering. This hardware limitation should not be simply hidden by the software, which completely removes the unusable dropdown items; this is a terrible user feedback situation. At the _very least_, the software should indicate that, for whatever reason, normal rotation is not available in the current configuration. Normally, this is achieved by disabling the use of dropdown items, typically indicated by greying them out. What would be best, however, would be to use that big, ugly empty space below the "Mirror displays" checkbox to display a note to the user, combined with an explanatory tooltip on the disabled orientation and resolution dropdown items. For the note, something generic like:

> Note: Ubuntu has detected that your computer's hardware may not be able to support all possible display configurations.

For the tooltips on the disabled orientation AND resolution dropdowns, something like:

> This [resoluion|orientation] at the current [resoluion|orientation] exceeds your graphics card's 3D accellerated rendering capabilities and cannot be used.
> Tip: Try decreasing the resolution of one or both displays, or changing the displays' orientation.

A little more technical and precise, but still completely clear to any user that the current configuration can't be used for a known and acceptable reason, and provides a possible workaround.

This bug also exposes another issue, which is the current inability to arrange multiple displays to accurately represent their real-world orientation. Specifically, the inability to arrange displays vertically (which, considering that most displays are used such that they are wider than they are tall, would provide another potential workaround) is extremely frustrating. I can understand the problems having an OSX-style unified menubar imposes on vertical arrangement. That said, those issues are almost completely mitigated by the utilization of sticky edges. I propose that, in vertical arrangement, sticky edges be set to always-on for the top edge of a screen which is below another screen. This would allow boader and more accurate arrangement of screens, as well as providing a potential workaround for low-end hardware and multiple displays.

Finally, @Sebastien: muliple display configuration exceeding graphics hardware 3D accellerated rendering capabilities (low-end hardware with multiple displays; lots of diplays on mid- and high-end hardware) i...

[Charlie Calvert (py-charlie)]

I have the same problem on an Ubuntu Triple EEE PC netbook. By running xandr using the command shown in the third message of this thread, I was able to get a resolution of sorts:

xrandr --output LVDS --auto --output VGA1 --auto --same-as LVDS --rotate normal

However the interface is not working right. For instance, the menu options on applications have disappeared, and I'm getting mirrored displays, even though I don't want that option, and there seems to be no way to fix that problem. In particular, the option to turn off display mirroring is not available in the Display application, and I have no idea how to use xrandr other than to paste in the text shown above.

I agree with the others who think that "Low" is a bad rating for this problem. I like Linux and I'm experienced with computers, so I will forage on. However, I know the average user well enough to know that this problem alone would turn them off to Ubuntu. And since Ubuntu is supposed to be a good distribution for newbies, it might also turn them off to Linux.

[Charlie Calvert (py-charlie)]

Correction: I can now see the menu options for applications. But I still have the mirroring issue.

[Eric Feliksik (milouny)]

Reproducible on 14.04.1. Indeed it has to do with the max total display size in 3d mode: "Requested size (2304, 800) exceeds 3D hardware limit (2048, 2048). You must either rearrange the displays so that they fit within a (2048, 2048) square."

Solution:

- Drag the extra monitor *under* the laptop monitor
- select laptop monitor and then external monitor again (this reinitializes the dropdown box for screen orientation)
- pick orientation 'normal'.