[focal] [nvidia] Patch causes small text in Pop!OS: x11-Add-support-for-fractional-scaling-using-Randr.patch

[Michael Aaron Murphy]

With the package currently proposed for 20.04, NVIDIA systems are experiencing very small text in GDM and GNOME Shell. Removing x11-Add-support-for-fractional-scaling-using-Randr.patch fixes it.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Please attach a screenshot/photo of the problem and also run this command to collect more system information:

  apport-collect 1889686

[Michael Aaron Murphy (mmstick76)]

We (System76) were able to replicate the issue on most of our NVIDIA laptops in NVIDIA mode, with the exception of the addw1. We've therefore repackaged mutter in Pop without the patch, so it's no longer a problem for us.

You can find screenshots of the problem in this issue: https://github.com/pop-os/pop/issues/1170

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Sorry I still can't see what the issue is/was from that link.

Worth noting that @3v1n0 continues to fix bugs in that patch with every update, including in 3.36.4-0ubuntu0.20.04.1 which is in focal-proposed.

But if you don't need a fix anymore and don't need to discuss it further then this bug can be closed. Feel free to add comments and additional info if you're interested...

[Michael Aaron Murphy (mmstick76)]

The issue is super small text in all GDM and GNOME Shell elements when the display is being driven by NVIDIA graphics. The problem is caused by the patch in the title. If you switch to Intel graphics, the text is back to normal. If you switch to NVIDIA, the text shrinks down to what looks like 50% its original size. Some people experienced the opposite, with text appearing to be at 200% scale.

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

I see now. It's hard to judge by screenshots because the shrinkage is not dramatic.

And in case anyone is wondering the affected version was mutter 3.36.3-0ubuntu0.20.04.1pop1~1594405059~20.04~8e2b857

Obviously we would like to fix this but it might be difficult if there is no way to reproduce it in regular Ubuntu. Looks like some kind of interaction between Pop!OS patches and the Ubuntu patch.

[Michael Aaron Murphy (mmstick76)]

For what it's worth, the only difference between Ubuntu and Pop regarding Mutter is that we've removed the xrandr patching causing this issue. We tested the most recent version of the patch in proposed for Focal at this time, and the issue still occurs there. Given that it's an experimental feature, it's been more important for us to release 3.36.4 without the patch, than to stick to 3.36.3 until it's fixed.

[Cristiano Fraga G. Nunes (cfgnunes)]

New this bug occur in Ubuntu 20.04 with mutter version (3.36.4-0ubuntu0.20.04.2) as reported in #1892440.

I'm waiting a fix for this bug.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Daniel van Vugt (vanvugt)]

Thanks. We will use bug 1892440 then.