Problem scaling login screen - Solved !

[mhenriday]

While desktop scaling is no problem on Mint 19.1 om my 4k monitor - Settings → General → Desktop scaling, set the UI to Double (Hi-DPI) - I've never been able find a way to scale the login screen, which means that text and icons there are minuscule. I'd be most grateful for any suggestions which would enable me to double their size....

Henri

[cool]

Hi, is monitor set to 96 dpi?

Code: Select all

 xdpyinfo | grep resolution

[mhenriday]

Hi, is monitor set to 96 dpi?

Code: Select all

 xdpyinfo | grep resolution

Thanks for your speedy response, cool ! Answer yes. Any suggestion as to where I can go from there ?...

Henri

[roblm]

Open the Login Window app. Click Settings. Next to HiDPI support, change the setting from Auto to Enable.

[mhenriday]

After searching fairly extensively for a solution online, I've gained the impression that the solution most probably lies in editing one of the

org.cinnamon.desktop.~

scripts under

/usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas

such as

/usr/share/glib-2.0/schemas/org.cinnamon.desktop.interface.gschema.xml

Alas, this is well beyond my pay grade ; are there any knowledgeable fellow-users here who could lend a helping hand ?...

Henri

[mhenriday]

Open the Login Window app. Click Settings. Next to HiDPI support, change the setting from Auto to Enable.

Thanks so much for your response, roblm ; that did the trick ! As we say here, allt är enkelt om man kan det (everything is easy if one knows how). Strange that this simple - and post festum, obvious - solution doesn't turn up immediately via an online search ; at least I was unable to find it....

If you don't mind, I'd like to extend my question further : it was not only the login screen, but even that which, in cases like my own, precedes it that I'd like to adjust. I usually have at least two Linux kernels installed on my Linux machines, which I generally configure so that the GRUB menu appears for a few seconds before the machine automatically loads the kernel I last used. I had hoped that scaling up the login screen would also scale up the screen on which the GRUB menu appears, but alas, this is not the case, which means that on my 4k monitor, the menu is so small as to be nearly unintelligible. Do you - or any other user here - have any suggestions as to how this menu can be scaled up ?...

Henri

[roblm]

Use this command in the Terminal to open the grub file for editing: xed admin:///etc/default/grub

Uncomment this line (remove the pound sign) and change the resolution to 800x600:
#GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480

So it will look like this: GRUB_GFXMODE=800x600

Update grub: sudo update-grub

[mhenriday]

Use this command in the Terminal to open the grub file for editing: xed admin:///etc/default/grub

Uncomment this line (remove the pound sign) and change the resolution to 800x600:
#GRUB_GFXMODE=640x480

So it will look like this: GRUB_GFXMODE=800x600

Update grub: sudo update-grub

Many thanks again, roblm ! This intervention made the GRUB menu legible, which was the most important thing for me....

Just out of curiousity : generally speaking I use sudo xed /etc/default/grub to edit this file ; in that case I only need to authenticate once. If, however, I use xed admin:///etc/default/grub as you suggest, I have to authenticate twice in a row. Do you have any information about this matter ?...

Henri

[roblm]

Just out of curiousity : generally speaking I use sudo xed /etc/default/grub to edit this file ; in that case I only need to authenticate once. If, however, I use xed admin:///etc/default/grub as you suggest, I have to authenticate twice in a row. Do you have any information about this matter ?...

You should never use sudo to start graphical programs like xed as root, because files from your Home directory may become owned by root. Prior to Mint 19, gksudo could be used.
Or you can use this command in the Terminal, which doesn’t open a graphical interface:
sudo nano /etc/default/grub

The file recently-used.xbel in /.local/share is usually owned by the user but is probably now owned by root. This may cause an error message in the future and other operation problems. To check if this has happened, use this command:
ls -l ~/.local/share/recently-used.xbel

You will probably see root listed instead of your user name. Or you can go dircectly to /.local/share. That file will have a padlock on it if it is owned by root and right clicking it and selecting Properties > Permissions will list root as owner.

To change ownership back to yourself, use this command, substituting your-user-name with your actual user name:
sudo chown your-user-name ~/.local/share/recently-used.xbel


In this post, Pjotr says when using admin:// the first time in each session, the password must be used twice. I’ve found that to be true:
viewtopic.php?t=268140&start=40#p1477744

If you think that’s annoying, I was doing some testing recently where I had to input my password three times. This is one of the many reasons I’m staying with Mint 18.3 as long as possible.

[mhenriday]

Just out of curiousity : generally speaking I use sudo xed /etc/default/grub to edit this file ; in that case I only need to authenticate once. If, however, I use xed admin:///etc/default/grub as you suggest, I have to authenticate twice in a row. Do you have any information about this matter ?...

You should never use sudo to start graphical programs like xed as root, because files from your Home directory may become owned by root. Prior to Mint 19, gksudo could be used.
Or you can use this command in the Terminal, which doesn’t open a graphical interface:
sudo nano /etc/default/grub

The file recently-used.xbel in /.local/share is usually owned by the user but is probably now owned by root. This may cause an error message in the future and other operation problems. To check if this has happened, use this command:
ls -l ~/.local/share/recently-used.xbel

You will probably see root listed instead of your user name. Or you can go dircectly to /.local/share. That file will have a padlock on it if it is owned by root and right clicking it and selecting Properties > Permissions will list root as owner.

To change ownership back to yourself, use this command, substituting your-user-name with your actual user name:
sudo chown your-user-name ~/.local/share/recently-used.xbel


In this post, Pjotr says when using admin:// the first time in each session, the password must be used twice. I’ve found that to be true:
viewtopic.php?t=268140&start=40#p1477744

If you think that’s annoying, I was doing some testing recently where I had to input my password three times. This is one of the many reasons I’m staying with Mint 18.3 as long as possible.

Thanks, roblm, for your detailed response. Enteringls -l ~/.local/share/recently-used.xbelinforms me that I, rather than root, continue to be the owner of recently-used.xbel I then tried to confirm via the file manager, but to my great surprise a search for /.local/share/recently-used.xbel gave no results !...

I try to stay away from nano for editing purposes, as I've never been able to successfully manipulate it to edit anything. Perhaps it's time I learned....

Henri

[Pjotr]

Good hat it's solved. As you've wrongly used sudo for launching a graphical application (Xed), I advise to make sure that the permissions are correct for all files in your home directory:

Code: Select all

sudo chown -R -v $USER:$USER $HOME

[mhenriday]

Good hat it's solved. As you've wrongly used sudo for launching a graphical application (Xed), I advise to make sure that the permissions are correct for all files in your home directory:

Code: Select all

sudo chown -R -v $USER:$USER $HOME

Thanks for your input, Pjotr ; I have followed your advice. When the long list of home directory files was scrolling past, I noticed that in every case the action displayed was «ägare av [the given file] bevarad som [my name: my name]» (owner confirmed as [my name: my name], so it would seem that no permissions were changed. But at least I've learned that usíng sudo with Xed is a no-no ; on the other hand, if I simply enter

Code: Select all

xed /etc/default/grub

the file is marked «read only» and thus cannot be edited. What is the correct procedure if I not only wish to view a file of this type, but also edit it ?...

Henri

[Pjotr]

What is the correct procedure if I not only wish to view a file of this type, but also edit it ?...

Code: Select all

xed admin:///etc/default/grub

(the three consecutive slashes are intentional and no mistake)

You'll need to enter your password twice, at least the first time that you use admin:// in a session.

More about this:
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... -root.html

[mhenriday]

What is the correct procedure if I not only wish to view a file of this type, but also edit it ?...

Code: Select all

xed admin:///etc/default/grub

(the three consecutive slashes are intentional and no mistake)

You'll need to enter your password twice, at least the first time that you use admin:// in a session.

More about this:
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... -root.html

Many thanks, Pjotr, for your speedy response and not least for the Easy Tips Linux link, which I have bookmarked !...

Since posting my first enquiry here more than seven years ago, I've found this forum to be a thesaurus of tips and ideas for us Linux users without formal IT education. Many thanks, too, to all who devote a portion of their valuable time to helping their fellow users !...

Henri

[n0madsoul]

Open the Login Window app. Click Settings. Next to HiDPI support, change the setting from Auto to Enable.

Thanks so much for your response, roblm ; that did the trick ! As we say here, allt är enkelt om man kan det (everything is easy if one knows how). Strange that this simple - and post festum, obvious - solution doesn't turn up immediately via an online search ; at least I was unable to find it....

If you don't mind, I'd like to extend my question further : it was not only the login screen, but even that which, in cases like my own, precedes it that I'd like to adjust. I usually have at least two Linux kernels installed on my Linux machines, which I generally configure so that the GRUB menu appears for a few seconds before the machine automatically loads the kernel I last used. I had hoped that scaling up the login screen would also scale up the screen on which the GRUB menu appears, but alas, this is not the case, which means that on my 4k monitor, the menu is so small as to be nearly unintelligible. Do you - or any other user here - have any suggestions as to how this menu can be scaled up ?...

Henri

Sorry to dig this up but I was searching for a solution to a similar problem and this option didn't change anything sadly. Booting on dual screens, right one (no 4k) displays exactly a quarter, left one (4k) displays 75 percent of full screen, everything is fine when logging in.

Graphics card is GeForce GTX 1050Ti
Driver is 455
Linux Mint 20 x86_64

Any tips would be appreciated.

[mikeflan]

Please start a new post. You can include things from this post and/or reference it.