With dual monitors (TwinView), maximized windows start up in wrong screen

[Bogdan Harjoc]

I am using two displays, after I added these relevant changes to the default xorg.conf (and enabled the restricted nvidia driver):

        Option "TwinView"
        Option "MetaModes" "1280x1024 1280x1024"
        Option "TwinViewOrientation" "LeftOf"

If I close gedit (or firefox or thunderbird, ...) while it's in a maximized state, the next time it will start in my left virtual screen every time. No matter if I start it from a gnome panel on either monitor, or via Alt-F2, or from a console.

The main window does actually get created on the virtual screen where the mouse pointer is. But after 1/10 of a second it invariably gets moved to the left screen.

If I leave the main window unmaximized before closing it, the next time I start gedit , it will start on the correct screen.

Perhaps related to this: I've initially seen this on Firefox, so I tried the mozilla.org 3.0b5 linux binary and got the same behaivour. But if I try with Firefox 2.0.0.14 from mozilla.org, the window gets created on the correct screen when starting maximized. Unfortunately as soon as I click anywhere on the window, it jumps to the left screen.

Tested with (fresh ubuntu 8.04 install):

- firefox 3.0~b5+nobinonly-0ubuntu3
- gedit 2.22.1-0ubuntu1
- metacity 1:2.22.0-0ubuntu4
- nvidia-glx-new 169.12+2.6.24.12-16.34
- xserver-xorg 1:7.3+10ubuntu10

[Ste (ilpillo)]

I have the same problem with a slight different xorg configuration, my xorg.conf has two different Monitor, Device and Screen sections, the first is for the CRT monitor the second is for the TV out.
Nvidia 6600gt and proprietary drivers as yours and I'm using hardy (upgraded from gutsy).
I have noticed that if I start a second gnome-panel by pressing Alt+f2 from the TV monitor, and run a Thunar file manager from there all the applications that I run clicking on a file inside thunar are correctly displayed in the TV.
If I run an icon Launcher form the desktop of the TV the application is displayed in the wrong monitor.
So I think this is a nautilus related bug

[Ted Percival (tedp)]

I think this is Gnome bug #504692 - certainly this is the behaviour I wrote the attached [upstream] patch for. http://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=504692

[Pedro Villavicencio (pedro)]

thanks for the report.

[Pedro Villavicencio (pedro)]

fixed upstream now, thanks for reporting.

[BassKozz (basskozz+ubuntu)]

What does "fixed upstream" mean?

I am having a similar problem (see: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=831460), but my problem happens when I try and open launchers from the desktop on a dual-monitor display. For some reason the applications (launched from the launchers) always load on the primary (LEFT) monitor, even if I've clicked a launcher on the desktop or in a panel on the secondary (RIGHT) monitor. Is this the same issue?

[BassKozz (basskozz+ubuntu)]

Also I forgot to mention, when I am watching a video (VLC) on my secondary (RIGHT) monitor, and I make it full screen, it moves the screen to the primary (LEFT) monitor. This also happens with Firefox, if I am watching a video (i.e. YouTube) and I maximize the video to fullscreen it moves the video to the primary (LEFT) monitor, even if Firefox is in the seconary (RIGHT) monitor.

[Ted Percival (tedp)]

BassKozz, what you described sounds like this bug. It has been fixed in Gnome 2.24 which was released a few days ago and will be in the next Ubuntu release (8.10?).

[BassKozz (basskozz+ubuntu)]

Thanks Ted,

Just so I am clear, this issue is resolved as of Ubuntu 8.10, which will be released next month (October) ?

[Michael Nagel (nailor)]

i think i am hit by this bug, too. it hits me with thunderbird every so often.

i'd also like to know if this bug has been fixed in intrepid and if it is going to be fixed in hardy.

[revgazza (jagdriver)]

Using Intrepid RC, separate X screen, opening a place on 2nd screen results in folder opening on 1st. Also, attempting to open any application from the top panel results in an error display, but no message content.

[BassKozz (basskozz+ubuntu)]

I can confirm, this issue is STILL broken in Intrepid Ibex (8.10), I just installed and I am experiencing the same exact issues :(

[BassKozz (basskozz+ubuntu)]

Still Broken in Intrepid Ibex (8.10)

[themuddler (mike-udall)]

Experiencing the same as revgazza above with Intrepid 8.10. Note I'm still using version 173 of the Nvidia driver due to a problem with screen resolution on xscreen 1 with the new driver. A summary of the behaviour I'm experiencing:

Application launched from top panel in xscreen 1 opens in xscreen 0 - bad
Application launched by association with a file-type in nautilus does the same - bad
Launching using the console or Alt-F2 on screen 1 does open the app on screen 1 - good

Nautilus started from places menu starts on wrong screen - bad
Nautilus started from link on desktop starts on correct screen - good

VLC and Flash fullscreen mode does stay on the correct screen - good

[Martin Mai (mrkanister-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

This is fixed in Jaunty now. Thanks for reporting.

[Pasi Savolainen (pasi.savolainen)]

NACK on fixed in jaunty.
Issues as described by themuddler on 2008-12-14 still apply.

[revgazza (jagdriver)]

Still happening in jaunty

[Myra Nelson (myra-nelson)]

This still occurs in Jaunty amd64 with the 180 driver and seems to be associated with gnome. Firefox, googleearth, monodevelop, prism, foomatic gui all open on the screen I attempt to open them on. Everything else opens on screen 0 only. I've attached my xorg.conf file. This all worked great in Hardy amd64 with the 173 driver.

[Brenton_Pynch (aslans-how9)]

Just updated to 9.04 and started having this issue.

did not have this in 8.04 at all

I try to open a file in my right monitor and it opens on my main one.

really looking for a fix on this one

attaching my xorg.conf to see if this can get resolved

[ChrisKelley (ckelley)]

I'm having this problem, too... Just found out I've got 2 video outputs on my Dell D630's docking station. Had been using DVI at 1920x1200 on 24" and 15" monitor at 800x600 on pc hd15 output. use "Monitor preferences" to locate the monitors and then menus move to the small secondary screen. I'm using ubuntu 10.04 x86_64

[ChrisKelley (ckelley)]

Use xrandr to find your monitor names then xrandr --output MONITORNAME --primary

Then add that as a command to your System->preferences->Startup menu.

Reference: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=9489366

There should be a tickbox on the Monitor Preferences dialog along with the monitors to set the primary monitor.

[Bogdan Harjoc (harjoc-gmail)]

Thanks for the suggestion. But I'm not convinced this has to do with
'default monitor' settings. If a process's window is on one monitor,
any new windows (or processes) started by it should show up on the
same monitor (be it default or not).

On Mon, Jun 21, 2010 at 6:24 AM, ChrisKelley <email address hidden> wrote:
> Use xrandr to find your monitor names then xrandr --output MONITORNAME
> --primary
>
> Then add that as a command to your System->preferences->Startup menu.
>
> Reference: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=9489366
>
> There should be a tickbox on the Monitor Preferences dialog along with
> the monitors to set the primary monitor.
>
> --
> With dual monitors (TwinView), maximized windows start up in wrong screen
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/224845
> You received this bug notification because you are a direct subscriber
> of the bug.
>
> Status in The Metacity Window Manager: Fix Released
> Status in “metacity” package in Ubuntu: Fix Released
>
> Bug description:
> I am using two displays, after I added these relevant changes to the default xorg.conf (and enabled the restricted nvidia driver):
>
>        Option          "TwinView"
>        Option          "MetaModes" "1280x1024 1280x1024"
>        Option          "TwinViewOrientation" "LeftOf"
>
> If I close gedit (or firefox or thunderbird, ...) while it's in a maximized state, the next time it will start in my left virtual screen every time. No matter if I start it from a gnome panel on either monitor, or via Alt-F2, or from a console.
>
> The main window does actually get created on the virtual screen where the mouse pointer is. But after 1/10 of a second it invariably gets moved to the left screen.
>
> If I leave the main window unmaximized before closing it, the next time I start gedit , it will start on the correct screen.
>
> Perhaps related to this: I've initially seen this on Firefox, so I tried the mozilla.org 3.0b5 linux binary and got the same behaivour. But if I try with Firefox 2.0.0.14 from mozilla.org, the window gets created on the correct screen when starting maximized. Unfortunately as soon as I click anywhere on the window, it jumps to the left screen.
>
> Tested with (fresh ubuntu 8.04 install):
>
> - firefox 3.0~b5+nobinonly-0ubuntu3
> - gedit 2.22.1-0ubuntu1
> - metacity 1:2.22.0-0ubuntu4
> - nvidia-glx-new 169.12+2.6.24.12-16.34
> - xserver-xorg 1:7.3+10ubuntu10
>
> To unsubscribe from this bug, go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/metacity/+bug/224845/+subscribe
>

[Ubeer (berendbotjeginguitvaren)]

I updated from Karmic to Lucid and now I have this problem as well. Do I need to attach the xorg.conf file? I noticed there were some changes between the versions of Karmic and Lucid, made by the update-manager.

[Peter Saffrey (pzs)]

Same problem here. I launch Firefox from the media keys on my keyboard and expect the browser window to appear on the monitor where my mouse pointer is. This worked on Karmic, but has stopped working in Lucid - they all launch on the first monitor. Nautilus (also bound to media key) seems to do the right thing. On a third hand, some applications (synaptic) seem to always launch on the second monitor .

[tdeering (tomdeering7)]

Same issue for me with Lucid. I have a HDMI twinview display set up to the right of my laptop screen, and all fullscreen video by default is maximized to my laptop screen rather than HDTV. I can work around this with VLC but not for sites like YouTube.

[benny6669 (benny6669)]

is this bug still being looked at in Natty Narwhal? I get this same behavior with Ubuntu 11.04/Gnome 2.32.1/NVIDIA driver 280.13/Compiz 0.9.4.0 on a 7600 GT AGP card.

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