GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 619784
GDM disables external (primary) monitor on laptop
Last modified: 2011-01-03 01:51:42 UTC
Downstream, ubuntu lucid: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/gdm/+bug/566726 GDM is set up to run both my monitors in "Same image in all monitors" mode (confirmed with gnome-control-center in the gdm session). However, my main monitor, an external display, turns off when gdm starts up. The laptop screen is not normally usable, meaning gdm is largely unaccessable. Once a user logs in, the "Same image in all monitors" mode works perfectly. It's just gdm that gets it wrong, somehow. I have no /etc/X11/xorg.conf file.
There is no "Same image in all monitors" mode in GDM as far as I know. Maybe a downstream setup tool? Thanks for taking the time to report this bug. However, this application does not track its bugs in the GNOME Bugzilla. We kindly ask you to report the bug to the application authors. For a selective list of other bug tracking systems please consult http://live.gnome.org/Bugsquad/TriageGuide/NonGnome. If the affected third party application has a bug tracking system you should investigate whether a bug for the reported issue is already filed in this system. If it has not been filed yet please do so. Also ensure that both bug reports contain a link to each other. Thanks in advance!
No, it's not a GDM option. It's a gnome-display-properties option. That controls what display settings GDM's pre-login session uses. That works fine in a full gnome session. However, in gdm's pre-login session, it just disables the external monitor completely.
You are running gnome-display-properties at the login screen?
Clarifying the title, and explaination. The external display on my laptop, which is the primary display for interaction and login purposes, is disabled whenever gdm runs. It's fine on the text console, and it's fine once a user logs in, but at gdm's login screen, the display is disabled. Running gnome-display-properties (at the login screen) was just an attempt to find a work-around to the problem. I've wiped gdm's /var/lib/gdm directory entirely to be sure that I'm operating with fresh gdm configuration (killing all gdm processes, including gconf,
GDM itself probably isn't involved here. The GDM greeter session uses gnome-settings-daemon to set up the randr monitor configuration (just like your user session). There may also be driver issues or downstream changes. Thanks for taking the time to report this bug. However, this application does not track its bugs in the GNOME Bugzilla. We kindly ask you to report the bug to the application authors. For a selective list of other bug tracking systems please consult http://live.gnome.org/Bugsquad/TriageGuide/NonGnome. If the affected third party application has a bug tracking system you should investigate whether a bug for the reported issue is already filed in this system. If it has not been filed yet please do so. Also ensure that both bug reports contain a link to each other. Thanks in advance!
It sounds like this is an issue for gnome-settings-daemon then? Downstream (Ubuntu) says it's an upstream issue somewhere...
I'm pretty sure this isn't a X server, driver, xrandr, or etc issue, since everything works correctly once the gdm session transitions to the usual user session.
Which exact version of gnome-settings-daemon are you using? You could try deactivating: /apps/gdm/simple-greeter/settings-manager-plugins/xrandr/active (right-click and "Set as default" once you disabled it in your session) And see whether the problem still happens. In any case, we won't be doing upstream support for 2.30, so you'd be better off testing with Ubuntu's 2.32, and making sure that /apps/gnome_settings_daemon/xrandr/use_xorg_monitor_settings is set to "true". That way gnome-settings-daemon will not be changing whatever setup Xorg makes for you.
Closing this bug report as no further information has been provided. Please feel free to reopen this bug if you can provide the information asked for. Thanks!