GNOME Bugzilla – Bug 681124
"Help, how can I make my laptop suspend?" (with an external monitor)
Last modified: 2021-06-09 16:10:07 UTC
Many people are using their laptop like a desktop, with a huge mechanical switch (the lid). Quoting from https://live.gnome.org/GnomeOS/Design/Whiteboards/SystemStopRestart design updates: "Suspend is typically activated by closing the lid on a laptop or with a power button on a tablet". However, if you have an external monitor, the default GNOME3 policy is to _not_ suspend when you close the lid. We clearly have conflicting wishes: - "I'll take my laptop to the office, close the lid and work on the external monitor" (GNOME default) - "I'll work on both monitors, and close the lid when I stop using it. I want my laptop to suspend when I close the lid." (alternative) This has been implemented in bug 657201 and made available in gnome-tweak-tool. This is entirely satisfactory for me, because I know gnome-tweak-tool. People that didn't know gnome-tweak-tool could still both suspend and shutdown, even if with some inconvenience: suspend could be done using the user menu, shutdown could be done by first logging out of your session. However, now that suspend is not anymore part of the user menu, you CANNOT anymore suspend without knowing either Alt or gnome-tweak-tool. So, perhaps this setting could/should graduate to gnome-control-center?
Note that the key has been modified for bug 686856. Now it is using default-monitors-setup in org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.xrandr. Here is a suggestion for the user interface. When a laptop screen is detected, the right column of the Monitors settings would be replaced by the following: After attaching an external screen: (*) Work on both monitors [ ] Suspend the computer after closing the lid ( ) Disable laptop screen ( ) Mirror laptop screen Note: available resolutions could be limited corresponding to the following setting: Radio button 1, checkbox unchecked: follow-lid (default) Radio button 1, checkbox checked: do-nothing Radio button 2 (checkbox disabled): dock Radio button 3 (checkbox disabled): clone Clicking the radio buttons would also change the configuration on the fly. Finally, if an external screen is also detected, the "Default setup with external monitors" string would be replaced by "An external screen is attached to this laptop:". Sorry, I'm bad at mockups. :)
Created attachment 231890 [details] [review] patch implementing the proposal
I have no idea how the designers would want to solve that problem, but the code should at least check whether there's a lid button, otherwise this is going to be seriously confusing on tablets or desktop PCs.
Comment on attachment 231890 [details] [review] patch implementing the proposal Marking as needs-work based on the previous comment, and to get it off the patch review queue.
I'm one of those unhappy with the current default setting (no auto suspend on lid with ext. display on), espacially because it destroys my complex workspace setup (all windows are moved to the workspace of the ext. display). While I'm happy to see you're working on this, I'd prefer to not wait for it to be integrated and available in my distro's packages. Can it be done changing the value of "org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.xrandr.default-monitors-setup"? If so, which value?
Yes, I'm using "do-nothing" for that key.
Thanks, but I also have "do-nothing". Result: no suspend. Remember that I WANT suspend, even when an ext. display is attached. What value is for me?
GNOME is going to shut down bugzilla.gnome.org in favor of gitlab.gnome.org. As part of that, we are mass-closing older open tickets in bugzilla.gnome.org which have not seen updates for a longer time (resources are unfortunately quite limited so not every ticket can get handled). If you can still reproduce the situation described in this ticket in a recent and supported software version, then please follow https://wiki.gnome.org/GettingInTouch/BugReportingGuidelines and create a new bug report at https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-control-center/-/issues/ Thank you for your understanding and your help.