[SOLVED] Odd Resolution/scaling Issue After Recent Update

Mana · 2025-01-02 11:38:51

Since an update around Dec 24th/25th 2024 (EndeavourOS/Arch - I usually do weekly updates), I've been having an issue with my window and/or font scaling, in XFCE4.
In short, on every fresh boot everything looks "zoomed in", despite scaling correctly beign set to "1", and resolution to "1920x1080".

I can temporarily fix parts of this issue, by changing themes. However, on reboots the issue returns.

Below is an exact description of my issue. with example screenshots, that someone else is experiencing on the EndeavourOS XFCE forums.
https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/screen- … 2024/65177

Also worth noting, this issue does not persist in other desktop environments and is isolated to just XFCE4.

System info

$ inxi -G
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GM204M [GeForce GTX 980M] driver: nvidia v: 565.77
  Device-2: Bison BisonCam NB Pro driver: uvcvideo type: USB
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.15 driver: X: loaded: nvidia
    unloaded: modesetting gpu: nvidia,nvidia-nvswitch resolution: 1: N/A
    2: 1920x1080 3: 1920x1080~60Hz
  API: EGL v: 1.5 drivers: nvidia platforms: gbm,x11,surfaceless,device
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 vendor: nvidia v: 565.77 renderer: NVIDIA GeForce
    GTX 980M/PCIe/SSE2

$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 8 x 8, current 3840 x 1080, maximum 16384 x 16384
HDMI-0 connected 1920x1080+1920+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 521mm x 293mm
   1920x1080     60.00*+  60.00    59.94    50.00    29.97    25.00    23.98    60.05    60.00    50.04  
   1440x900     119.85  
   1280x1024    119.96    75.02    60.02  
   1280x720      60.00    59.94    50.00  
   1024x768     119.99    75.03    60.00  
   800x600      119.97    75.00    60.32  
   720x576       50.00  
   720x480       59.94  
   640x480      120.01    75.00    59.94    59.93  
DP-0 connected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
   1920x1080     60.02 +
DP-1 connected primary 1920x1080+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 531mm x 299mm
   1920x1080     60.00 + 144.00   119.98    99.93*   84.90    59.94    50.00  
   1680x1050     59.95  
   1440x900      59.89  
   1280x1024     75.02    60.02  
   1280x960      60.00  
   1280x800      59.81  
   1280x720      60.00    59.94    50.00  
   1152x864      75.00  
   1024x768      75.03    70.07    60.00  
   800x600       75.00    72.19    60.32    56.25  
   720x576       50.00  
   720x480       59.94  
   640x480       75.00    59.94    59.93

Curious if anyone have any ideas of what's wrong - or if it's a known issue.

Last edited by Mana (2025-01-04 06:05:05)

eriefisher · 2025-01-02 11:57:45

I had a similar experience after the initial upgrade to 4.20 and a logout/in but after rebooting things were all good and have been since. I believe there were a couple of similar reports recently. You may want to search for them.

Here is one report/fix: https://forum.xfce.org/viewtopic.php?id=17950

ToZ · 2025-01-02 13:37:04

Can you post the output of the following command:

xfconf-query -c xsettings -lv

Do you have either a gtk.css and/or settings.ini file in ~/.config/gtk-3.0? If so, can you post its content.

You could try deleting the contents of your ~/.cache/sessions folder before logging into Xfce. See if that helps.

Otherwise, log files might be helpful. Either ~/.xsession-errors or

journalctl --user -b 0 --no-pager

...after a problematic log in.

Mana · 2025-01-02 15:30:44

ToZ wrote:

Can you post the output of the following command:
xfconf-query -c xsettings -lv
Do you have either a gtk.css and/or settings.ini file in ~/.config/gtk-3.0? If so, can you post its content.
You could try deleting the contents of your ~/.cache/sessions folder before logging into Xfce. See if that helps.
Otherwise, log files might be helpful. Either ~/.xsession-errors or
journalctl --user -b 0 --no-pager
...after a problematic log in.

I just did a clean install and in the initial boot everything looked fine. After a reboot, the issue returns. Here are the logs, as requested:
Edit: I can PM you the journalctl --user -b 0 --no-pager logs. Let me know if that works for you.

$ xfconf-query -c xsettings -lv
/Gdk/WindowScalingFactor        1
/Gtk/ButtonImages               true
/Gtk/CanChangeAccels            false
/Gtk/ColorPalette               black:white:gray50:red:purple:blue:light blue:green:yellow:orange:lavender:brown:goldenrod4:dodger blue:pink:light green:gray10:gray30:gray75:gray90
/Gtk/CursorThemeName            Qogir-dark
/Gtk/CursorThemeSize            0
/Gtk/DecorationLayout           icon,menu:minimize,maximize,close
/Gtk/DialogsUseHeader           false
/Gtk/FontName                   Noto Sans 10
/Gtk/IconSizes                  
/Gtk/KeyThemeName               
/Gtk/MenuBarAccel               F10
/Gtk/MenuImages                 true
/Gtk/MonospaceFontName          Monospace 10
/Gtk/TitlebarMiddleClick        lower
/Net/CursorBlink                true
/Net/CursorBlinkTime            1200
/Net/DndDragThreshold           8
/Net/DoubleClickDistance        5
/Net/DoubleClickTime            400
/Net/EnableEventSounds          false
/Net/EnableInputFeedbackSounds  false
/Net/IconThemeName              Qogir-dark
/Net/SoundThemeName             default
/Net/ThemeName                  Arc-Dark
/Xfce/SyncThemes                true
/Xft/Antialias                  1
/Xft/DPI                        -1
/Xft/Hinting                    -1
/Xft/HintStyle                  hintfull
/Xft/RGBA                       none

gtk.css

window.xfce4-panel widget > box > button > image{
   padding: 0.2em 0.16em;  -gtk-icon-transform: scale(0.8);
}

window#whiskermenu-window treeview>* {
  padding:0.2em 0.16em;
}

#xfce4-notification-plugin image {
	-gtk-icon-transform: scale(0.85) translateY(3px);
}
#pulseaudio-button image {
	-gtk-icon-transform: scale(0.9);
}
#xfce4-power-manager-plugin image {
	-gtk-icon-transform: scale(0.75);
}

#xfce4-terminal-notebook vte-terminal {
    padding: 13px;
}

settings.ini

[Settings]
gtk-font-name=Noto Sans 10
gtk-theme-name=Arc-Dark
gtk-icon-theme-name=Qogir-dark
gtk-cursor-theme-name=Qogir-dark
gtk-cursor-theme-size=16
gtk-toolbar-style=GTK_TOOLBAR_BOTH_HORIZ
gtk-toolbar-icon-size=GTK_ICON_SIZE_LARGE_TOOLBAR
gtk-button-images=1
gtk-menu-images=1
gtk-enable-event-sounds=0
gtk-enable-input-feedback-sounds=0
gtk-xft-antialias=1
gtk-xft-hinting=1
gtk-xft-hintstyle=hintfull
gtk-xft-rgba=none

Last edited by Mana (2025-01-02 16:54:59)

ToZ · 2025-01-02 17:40:46

This is a really odd problem. When you log in and get the zoom issue, can you try restarting xfsettingsd to see if the issue resolves itself:

xfsettingsd --replace

...this should also log info to the terminal window. If the problem doesn't resolve itself, I wouldn't mind seeing the logging output.

And if you can PM your journal file I would like to have a closer look at it.

I notice from the endeavour forums post that both of you are using nvidia cards. I wonder if its somehow related to the nvidia driver, which in itself would be odd.

Mana · 2025-01-02 18:15:40

ToZ wrote:

This is a really odd problem. When you log in and get the zoom issue, can you try restarting xfsettingsd to see if the issue resolves itself:
xfsettingsd --replace
...this should also log info to the terminal window. If the problem doesn't resolve itself, I wouldn't mind seeing the logging output.
And if you can PM your journal file I would like to have a closer look at it.
I notice from the endeavour forums post that both of you are using nvidia cards. I wonder if its somehow related to the nvidia driver, which in itself would be odd.

Running the command you suggested seems to fix the problem, until the system is rebooted.
However, the command doesn't seem to output any log text, like you said. It seemingly just hangs.

I've now PMed you the logs from running the journalctl --user -b 0 --no-pager command, right after a problematic log in.

ToZ · 2025-01-02 18:47:09

Running the command you suggested seems to fix the problem,

Okay, so there is some sort of race condition in place that is over-riding the xfce settings daemon. Thanks for sending over the journal output but unfortunately there is nothing in there that helps identify the problem.

Does endeavour create an ~/.xsession-errors log file? If so, could you share that?
Can you post whats in your autostart directory:

ls -l ~/.config/autostart

A couple of ideas to try:

Clear your sessions cache by deleting the contents of ~/.cache/sessions before you log into Xfce
Rename the ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini file and reboot to see if there is a difference?

Mana · 2025-01-02 19:06:36

ToZ wrote:

Running the command you suggested seems to fix the problem,
Okay, so there is some sort of race condition in place that is over-riding the xfce settings daemon. Thanks for sending over the journal output but unfortunately there is nothing in there that helps identify the problem.
Does endeavour create an ~/.xsession-errors log file? If so, could you share that?
Can you post whats in your autostart directory:
ls -l ~/.config/autostart
A couple of ideas to try:
Clear your sessions cache by deleting the contents of ~/.cache/sessions before you log into Xfce
Rename the ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini file and reboot to see if there is a difference?

I'll try the suggested ideas tomorrow. Here is the command output:

$ ls -l ~/.config/autostart
total 12
-rw-r--r-- 1 v v 3995 14 jun  2024 firewall-applet.desktop
-rw-r--r-- 1 v v  216  2 jan 19:22 pcloud-drive-1.14.8-1.AppImage.desktop
-rw-r--r-- 1 v v  219  2 jan 19:29 vesktop.desktop

And the log contents of ~/.xsession-errors These were copied immediately after a problematic log-in.

** Message: 19:59:41.194: Failed to fetch _NET_NUMBER_OF_DESKTOPS; assuming 1
** Message: 19:59:41.195: Failed to get _NET_WORKAREA; using full screen dimensions
** Message: 19:59:41.195: Failed to fetch _NET_CURRENT_DESKTOP; assuming 0
** Message: 19:59:41.195: Failed to fetch _NET_CURRENT_DESKTOP; assuming 0
/usr/bin/iceauth:  creating new authority file /run/user/1000/ICEauthority
gpg-agent: a gpg-agent is already running - not starting a new one
** Message: 19:59:41.414: Failed to fetch _NET_CURRENT_DESKTOP; assuming 0
blueman-applet 19.59.45 WARNING  PluginManager:150 __load_plugin: Not loading PPPSupport because its conflict has>
blueman-applet 19.59.45 WARNING  PluginManager:150 __load_plugin: Not loading DhcpClient because its conflict has>
blueman-applet 19.59.45 WARNING  DiscvManager:122 update_menuitems: warning: Adapter is None
APPIMAGE env is not defined, current application is not an AppImage
Welcome app is disabled. To start it anyway, use option --enable (temporarily: --once).
src/gbm_drv_common.c:131: GBM-DRV error (get_bytes_per_component): Unknown or not supported format: 808530000

src/gbm_drv_common.c:131: GBM-DRV error (get_bytes_per_component): Unknown or not supported format: 808530000

src/gbm_drv_common.c:131: GBM-DRV error (get_bytes_per_component): Unknown or not supported format: 808530000

src/gbm_drv_common.c:131: GBM-DRV error (get_bytes_per_component): Unknown or not supported format: 808530000

src/gbm_drv_common.c:131: GBM-DRV error (get_bytes_per_component): Unknown or not supported format: 808530000

src/gbm_drv_common.c:131: GBM-DRV error (get_bytes_per_component): Unknown or not supported format: 808530000

src/gbm_drv_common.c:131: GBM-DRV error (get_bytes_per_component): Unknown or not supported format: 808530000

src/gbm_drv_common.c:131: GBM-DRV error (get_bytes_per_component): Unknown or not supported format: 808530000

src/gbm_drv_common.c:131: GBM-DRV error (get_bytes_per_component): Unknown or not supported format: 808530000

src/gbm_drv_common.c:131: GBM-DRV error (get_bytes_per_component): Unknown or not supported format: 808530000

[1831:0102/195948.409447:ERROR:ffmpeg_common.cc(970)] Unsupported pixel format: -1

eriefisher · 2025-01-02 19:28:54

I just did a curiosity search and the src/gbm_drv_common.c:131:........ error seems to be Nvidia related in every case. Can you switch to the nouveau driver to test?

Mana · 2025-01-03 06:20:21

eriefisher wrote:

I just did a curiosity search and the src/gbm_drv_common.c:131:........ error seems to be Nvidia related in every case. Can you switch to the nouveau driver to test?

A fresh OS install using just nouveau drivers (mesa and lib32-mesa) does indeed get rid of this issue.
As seen in the below ~/.xsession-errors logs, the src/gbm_drv_common.c:131 errors, also, are no longer.

What I don't understand is: This system has worked fine for years, using proprietary Nvidia drivers, until the recent XFCE4 update of Dec 2024.
The issue is also solely isolated to XFCE4, as other DEs, such as KDE Plasma or LXQt, work without a hitch using said proprietary drivers.

** Message: 07:02:13.826: Failed to fetch _NET_NUMBER_OF_DESKTOPS; assuming 1
** Message: 07:02:13.826: Failed to get _NET_WORKAREA; using full screen dimensions
** Message: 07:02:13.827: Failed to fetch _NET_CURRENT_DESKTOP; assuming 0
** Message: 07:02:13.827: Failed to fetch _NET_CURRENT_DESKTOP; assuming 0
/usr/bin/iceauth:  creating new authority file /run/user/1000/ICEauthority
gpg-agent: a gpg-agent is already running - not starting a new one
** Message: 07:02:14.226: Failed to fetch _NET_CURRENT_DESKTOP; assuming 0
blueman-applet 07.02.16 WARNING  PluginManager:150 __load_plugin: Not loading PPPSupport because its conflict has higher priority
blueman-applet 07.02.16 WARNING  PluginManager:150 __load_plugin: Not loading DhcpClient because its conflict has higher priority
blueman-applet 07.02.16 WARNING  DiscvManager:122 update_menuitems: warning: Adapter is None

And just to confirm: On that same fresh OS install, as soon as I install the proprietary Nvidia drivers and reboot, the issue returns.

After having installed Nvidia drivers in this new OS install, rebooted, and entered into a problematic log-in, the previous src/gbm_drv_common.c:131 log errors don't appear, so I don't think they are related to this issue.

** Message: 10:22:24.572: Failed to fetch _NET_NUMBER_OF_DESKTOPS; assuming 1
** Message: 10:22:24.572: Failed to get _NET_WORKAREA; using full screen dimensions
** Message: 10:22:24.572: Failed to fetch _NET_CURRENT_DESKTOP; assuming 0
** Message: 10:22:24.572: Failed to fetch _NET_CURRENT_DESKTOP; assuming 0
/usr/bin/iceauth:  creating new authority file /run/user/1000/ICEauthority
gpg-agent: a gpg-agent is already running - not starting a new one
** Message: 10:22:24.775: Failed to fetch _NET_CURRENT_DESKTOP; assuming 0
Welcome app is disabled. To start it anyway, use option --enable (temporarily: --once).
xfsettingsd: Another instance took over. Leaving...

ToZ wrote:

A couple of ideas to try:
Clear your sessions cache by deleting the contents of ~/.cache/sessions before you log into Xfce
Rename the ~/.config/gtk-3.0/settings.ini file and reboot to see if there is a difference?

1. I'm afraid I'm too inexperienced with Linux to know how this is accomplished. How do I do this, exactly?
2. No difference.

Last edited by Mana (2025-01-03 09:30:49)

ToZ · 2025-01-03 11:17:46

Mana wrote:

1. I'm afraid I'm too inexperienced with Linux to know how this is accomplished. How do I do this, exactly?

Restart your computer and wait until you get to the login screen. Instead of logging in, press Ctrl+Alt+F3 to get to another virtual terminal. Log in here to a text prompt as your user/ Run the following:

cd $HOME/.cache/sessions
rm *

Either reboot again or return back to the VT running your display manager (CtrL+Alt+F1 or Ctrl+Alt+F6 or Ctrl+Alt+F7). See if it makes a difference.

Mana · 2025-01-03 13:22:03

ToZ wrote:

Mana wrote:
1. I'm afraid I'm too inexperienced with Linux to know how this is accomplished. How do I do this, exactly?
Restart your computer and wait until you get to the login screen. Instead of logging in, press Ctrl+Alt+F3 to get to another virtual terminal. Log in here to a text prompt as your user/ Run the following:
cd $HOME/.cache/sessions
rm *
Either reboot again or return back to the VT running your display manager (CtrL+Alt+F1 or Ctrl+Alt+F6 or Ctrl+Alt+F7). See if it makes a difference.

Done. Thank you for the clarification. Sadly, this yielded no different outcome.

I've now also tested on a completely new vanilla Arch installation (XFCE4 DE), to exclude any of EndeavourOS' complementary software as possible culprits.
For this installation I followed the official ArchWiki steps, instead of using nvidia-inst which is relevant to EndeavourOS.
The exact same issue was observed.

Last edited by Mana (2025-01-03 15:02:22)

ToZ · 2025-01-03 18:00:11

I was going to suggest creating a bug report, but: https://gitlab.xfce.org/xfce/xfce4-sett … issues/572. Perhaps add your comments and a link to this thread to that one.

Mana · 2025-01-03 18:18:21

ToZ wrote:

I was going to suggest creating a bug report, but: https://gitlab.xfce.org/xfce/xfce4-sett … issues/572. Perhaps add your comments and a link to this thread to that one.

Added a comment with the essentials and a link to this topic. Thanks!

Added later 11 h 45 min 42 s:
Setting your DPI to "96", under Settings → Appearance → Fonts, has seemingly fixed this issue for me.

Credit to ajgringo619 over on the EndeavourOS forums for finding this: https://forum.endeavouros.com/t/screen- … 4/65177/13

Thank you for your help. Marking this as [SOLVED].

ToZ · 2025-01-04 12:07:54

Thanks for reporting back. It looks like on a new install the DPI is not set and defaults to -1 and somehow nvidia drivers react differently to this. Interesting.

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#1 2025-01-02 11:38:51

[SOLVED] Odd Resolution/scaling Issue After Recent Update

#2 2025-01-02 11:57:45

Re: [SOLVED] Odd Resolution/scaling Issue After Recent Update

#3 2025-01-02 13:37:04

Re: [SOLVED] Odd Resolution/scaling Issue After Recent Update

#4 2025-01-02 15:30:44

Re: [SOLVED] Odd Resolution/scaling Issue After Recent Update

#5 2025-01-02 17:40:46

Re: [SOLVED] Odd Resolution/scaling Issue After Recent Update

#6 2025-01-02 18:15:40

Re: [SOLVED] Odd Resolution/scaling Issue After Recent Update

#7 2025-01-02 18:47:09

Re: [SOLVED] Odd Resolution/scaling Issue After Recent Update

#8 2025-01-02 19:06:36

Re: [SOLVED] Odd Resolution/scaling Issue After Recent Update

#9 2025-01-02 19:28:54

Re: [SOLVED] Odd Resolution/scaling Issue After Recent Update

#10 2025-01-03 06:20:21

Re: [SOLVED] Odd Resolution/scaling Issue After Recent Update

#11 2025-01-03 11:17:46

Re: [SOLVED] Odd Resolution/scaling Issue After Recent Update

#12 2025-01-03 13:22:03

Re: [SOLVED] Odd Resolution/scaling Issue After Recent Update

#13 2025-01-03 18:00:11

Re: [SOLVED] Odd Resolution/scaling Issue After Recent Update

#14 2025-01-03 18:18:21

Re: [SOLVED] Odd Resolution/scaling Issue After Recent Update

#15 2025-01-04 12:07:54

Re: [SOLVED] Odd Resolution/scaling Issue After Recent Update

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