Weird wallpaper zoom bug (multi monitor)

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CaptainMark

Weird wallpaper zoom bug (multi monitor)

Post by CaptainMark »

I've recently got a second monitor and I find Cinnamon a bit hard to work with in respect to dealing with multiple monitors, mate seems better but I'm not abandoning my favorite desktop without a fight. One of the weirdest things I've found is that when I set a desktop background the picture fits to the primary monitor nicely (not so nicely on the secondary monitor because it's portrait but that's not the issue) when I log out and log back in the wallpaper has zoomed in about 200% and is over sized and pixelated, going into the wallpaper settings reveals nothing obvious that has gone wrong, if I change the wallpaper to another pic and change it back, everything is fine again until I log out and log in again, it only effect the primary monitor. I've never seen anything like this before and have no clue what would cause it.

I'm unable to upload screenshots of the before and after photos to the forums because of a filesize limit, here is a link to my google album with them in, as you can see it is significant zoom, and it happens reliably on every logout/ login cycle. https://goo.gl/photos/8vcrC8d8ee4D79in7

Any help would be appreciated.
Regards
Mark
Habitual

Re: Weird wallpaper zoom bug (multi monitor)

Post by Habitual »

CaptainMark wrote:I've recently got a second monitor and I find Cinnamon a bit hard to work with in respect to dealing with multiple monitors, mate seems better but I'm not abandoning my favorite desktop without a fight. One of the weirdest things I've found is that when I set a desktop background the picture fits to the primary monitor nicely (not so nicely on the secondary monitor because it's portrait but that's not the issue) when I log out and log back in the wallpaper has zoomed in about 200% and is over sized and pixelated, going into the wallpaper settings reveals nothing obvious that has gone wrong, if I change the wallpaper to another pic and change it back, everything is fine again until I log out and log in again, it only effect the primary monitor. I've never seen anything like this before and have no clue what would cause it.

I'm unable to upload screenshots of the before and after photos to the forums because of a filesize limit, here is a link to my google album with them in, as you can see it is significant zoom, and it happens reliably on every logout/ login cycle. https://goo.gl/photos/8vcrC8d8ee4D79in7

Any help would be appreciated.
Regards
Mark
Mark, I can't help you directly, but one of the replies will ask for a system summary.
Please open a terminal and issue:

Code: Select all

inxi -Fsz
and paste the results here?
Please use code Button for submitted text.

Thank you.
CaptainMark

Re: Weird wallpaper zoom bug (multi monitor)

Post by CaptainMark »

Here is the output

Code: Select all

System:    Host: desktop Kernel: 3.19.0-32-generic x86_64 (64 bit) Desktop: Cinnamon 2.8.8
           Distro: Linux Mint 17.3 Rosa
Machine:   System: FUJITSU product: ESPRIMO C710
           Mobo: FUJITSU model: D3164-A1 v: S26361-D3164-A1
           Bios: FUJITSU // American Megatrends v: V4.6.5.3 R1.3.0 for D3164-A1x date: 05/04/2012
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core i3-2120 (-HT-MCP-) cache: 3072 KB 
           clock speeds: max: 3300 MHz 1: 1935 MHz 2: 2064 MHz 3: 1776 MHz 4: 2276 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller
           Display Server: X.Org 1.15.1 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa)
           Resolution: 1920x1080@60.0hz, 1920x1080@60.0hz
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Sandybridge Desktop GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.1.3
Audio:     Card-1 Intel 7 Series/C210 Series Family High Definition Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel
           Card-2 Logitech Webcam Pro 9000 driver: USB Audio
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k3.19.0-32-generic
Network:   Card-1: Intel 82579V Gigabit Network Connection driver: e1000e
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
           Card-2: Ralink RT2870/RT3070 Wireless Adapter driver: rt2800usb
           IF: wlan2 state: N/A mac: N/A
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 4000.8GB (42.4% used) ID-1: /dev/sda model: WDC_WD20EZRX size: 2000.4GB
           ID-2: USB /dev/sdb model: M3_Portable size: 2000.4GB
Partition: ID-1: / size: 22G used: 17G (83%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1
           ID-2: /home size: 1.8T used: 591G (35%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5
           ID-3: swap-1 size: 2.00GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap dev: /dev/sda6
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 29.8C mobo: 27.8C
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 271 Uptime: 56 min Memory: 1980.8/7838.7MB Client: Shell (bash) inxi: 2.2.28 
DavidCBillen

Re: Weird wallpaper zoom bug (multi monitor)

Post by DavidCBillen »

Old thread, but the bug still exists. I have to use a solid color background or reset it every time I log in.

My guess is it would affect anyone with two monitors of different resolutions, but I've never verified that.
Geeklund

Re: Weird wallpaper zoom bug (multi monitor)

Post by Geeklund »

Still getting this bug in Mint 18.3. I can verify it's only when I'm playing with the input on my monitor (two computers connected to one monitor). Seems like if it loses monitor connectivity and regains it, the zoom of the background image bugs out for whatever reason.

Edit: Oh and I also noted I always get a flickering (black triangle at the bottom of the screen, flickers once every 2-3 seconds) at the same time, every time. Goes away on reboot.
The Bright Side
Level 3
Level 3
Posts: 172
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2018 3:09 pm

Re: Weird wallpaper zoom bug (multi monitor)

Post by The Bright Side »

The same issue still occurs on Linux Mint 19.2 (Cinnamon 4.2.4).

My monitor setup:

Left: 1280x1024 (DVI)
Middle: 2560x1440 (DP, Primary Screen)
Right: 1920x1080 (HDMI)

When I set a wallpaper, it looks fine on all 3 screens. After I reboot, it scales perfectly to the leftmost monitor, and the same section that appears on that small monitor is the dupliacted on the other two - stretched and scaled. Looks horrible.

This is what it looks like right after setting it:
https://pasteboard.co/Izjn7wd.jpg

This is what it looks like after rebooting:
https://pasteboard.co/Izjntk9.jpg

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
mintman

SOLUTION for Weird wallpaper zoom bug (multi monitor)

Post by mintman »

I had the same problem on Linux Mint 20 Cinnamon, and found a decent workaround.

This is what my wallpaper should look like, while using "zoom" aspect ratio.
Image

This is what my wallpaper looks like after a restart/re-login
Image

I found that, in my case, setting the Picture Aspect in System Settings -> Backgrounds -> Settings to a different value (for example, "centered") then back to the original one (in my case, "zoom") refreshes the wallpaper, and makes it look how it should.

If this works for you, all you need to do is automate this process, which is easy to do using Linux Mint's Startup Applications feature.
  1. Go to System Settings -> Startup Applications and click the + button to create a new startup command
  2. Under the command section, enter the following command:
    gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background picture-options "centered" (see NOTE 4)
    Give it a name like "fixwp1".
    Add a 25 second Startup Delay.
    Save it.
  3. Click on + again to make a new command. Enter the following command:
    gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background picture-options "zoom" (see NOTE 4)
    Give it a name like "fixwp2"
    Add a 30 second Startup Delay.
    Save it.
Within each command, instead of using "zoom" you may use whatever Picture Aspect you want to end up with.
The full list of options is:
  • "none"
  • "wallpaper"
  • "centered"
  • "scaled"
  • "stretched"
  • "zoom"
  • "spanned"
NOTE 1: the Picture Aspect option you choose for the first and second command must NOT be the same.
The option in the second command must be the one you want to use. The option in the first must be anything else (except "none").

NOTE 2: the delay for the second command MUST be longer than the delay for the first.
The reason the delay is there is because the Picture Aspect must be changed and changed back AFTER the desktop is booted in.
If your computer takes longer to boot up, you may have to increase the time. If your computer boots faster, you may decrease it.

NOTE 3: I have automatic login enabled. I am unsure how this will work with auto login disabled. My guess is it should still work.

NOTE 4: More information on the gsettings command can be found here: https://bytefreaks.net/gnulinux/bash/gn ... ound-image

Yes, this is sort of an ugly workaround.
You will have to live with the blurry wallpaper for the first 10 seconds of every session, and will have to watch the Picture Aspect be toggled every time.
But it works well and consistently. Hope this fixes your problem!
mintlover
Level 1
Level 1
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2022 4:44 am

Re: Weird wallpaper zoom bug (multi monitor)

Post by mintlover »

I am running Linux Mint 20 (ulyana) with Mate and can confirm that this bug still exists. I like my background image in the Zoom style and it's initially wrong on session launch. I can change to Center for example and then back to Zoom to make it display correctly.
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