Mint 14 KDE RC: SoftwareManager sub-titles too small to read

[taytong888]

Hello,

I just installed Mint 14 KDE RC. Is there any way to increase the font size of sub-titles in Software Manager? Their default size is too tiny to read. I did try changing the font sizes via System Settings, but this only help with Windows, Toolbars, etc.. In Mint 13 Cinnamon, I can read the sub-titles in Software Manager after changing to minimum font size =12. By the way, my video card is Geforce 6600 Nvidia.

Thanks a lot for your help.

[Orbmiser]

Yep it's a pain why I use Synaptic Package manager. Same software different front end.
And allows to adjust fonts in it.
.

[taytong888]

Hello orbmiser,

Computer > Synaptic Pkg Mgr > Settings > Preferences > Column & Fonts

I did try changing to font size 14 in either or both: "Use Custom Application Font"and "Use Custom Terminal Font", then Apply >OK.

However, the fonts in Synaptic's software titles are still quite small even though they are somewhat more readable than those in Software Manager's sub-titles.

In openSUSE which is predominantly KDE-based, changing font size in its YAST > Software Management is doable via qtconfig. In Mint 14 KDE, qtconfig does not change font sizes at all.

[Adelante]

I had the same issue in LM 14 Cinnamon with Synaptic and the menu. There came a time when it caught up with itself and did enlarge the font on Synaptic, yay, though not on the menu. On LM 14 KDE it's still teeny on Synaptic, but the menu font adjusted immediately to a settings change. There are not a lot of people who complain about it, so I wondered if it might be computer-specific, but I don't think that's it, because it doesn't happen with other distros and not with LM 14 Xfce, for me. I guess it's just one of those things that gets resolved over time. Another person did post about the tiny font on the log-in.

[Orbmiser]

Could be notice OP is using Nvidia card and proprietary driver?
As using the Open default drivers on my Ati 4350. And wonder if font size is tied to graphic drivers used?
.

[Adelante]

That's what I wondered, too, Orbmiser. But using the same graphics driver (Intel) on each system, the problem doesn't exist on Elementary Luna or the Ubuntu Gnome Remix beta I'm trying out or Voyager or a number of others. I've only seen it on Linux Mint, but unevenly as I've said. I will point out that the same situation existed on LMDE KDE unofficial, so I don't think it is stemming from the Ubuntu base, though I'm seriously no expert at any of this. I'm an old lady, so my eyesight isn't what it was, but even using accessibility features, while it certainly helps in other areas, Synaptic and the menu seem to slide by it until all of a sudden it wakes up and I can see! It's a strange one.

[BubbaBlues]

Hi guys, In a terminal type "kdesudo systemsettings" then enter your password when prompted.
Then open Application Appearance / fonts, and set your desired font. That will fix the font size issue in synaptic.

[taytong888]

Hello,

I found the solution based on a post in ubuntuforums.org: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1385593.

Basically, the cause of the problem is stated by Zorael of the same thread:

When X (the graphical environment) starts, it tries to autodetect your screen dimensions and figure out what dpi setting (dots per inch) to use for fonts. The de facto standard is 96, but someone somewhere thought it'd be nice if fonts were the same physical size on all screens everywhere, instead of being the same pixel size everywhere. Sometimes this dpi lookup doesn't really work out and you get insanely huge/tiny fonts.

What you can do is to tell kdm (the login manager) to start X with an argument telling it to specifically use a dpi of 96, or other sane value of choice. Open up /etc/kde4/kdm/kdmrc in a text editor with superuser permissions, such as by running 'kdesudo kate /etc/kde4/kdm/kdmrc' from a run box (Alt+F2) or a terminal. Find the section that has this line and add the bit in bold green (i.e. -dpi 96):

Code: Select all

ServerArgsLocal=-br -nolisten tcp -dpi 96

Instead of using the command suggested by Zorael, I selected the following:

System Settings > Fonts > Forced Fonts DPI = 120

I chose 120 instead of 96 dots per inch (DPI) so that the sub-titles in Software Manager and descriptions in Synaptic Package Manager are both legible to read.