When I startup Debian Jessie with KDE, the screen is magnified. I can move the cursor around to shift the screen. [Esc] will turn this off, and [Esc] will again turn on this magnification. This did not occur until recently.

I would like to turn this off. Also, for my own knowledge, I would like to know how this got turned on, without my knowledge or permission.

Thank you in advance!

This sounds as if the zoom effect is active, just that there's no shortcut to toggle it (only to zoom in, out and reset the zoom) and there's certainly no default global shortcut bound to the escape key (that's completely sick)

The zoom effect requires the compositor.
When pressing SHIFT+Alt+F12 that should toggle the compositor (windows loose shadows etc.)
=> does the weird behavior remain with the compositor suspended? (notice that it will be active with the next relogin, you'd have to disable it to prevent that, but the compositor isn't your problem)

[Shift] + [Alt] + [F12] has no effect on the problem. Have tried this multiple times. Almost feels like an accessibility "Feature" problem, but I don't use any.

Interesting as I'm on the same setup but haven't experienced that particular problem. Which video card and driver do you use? Do the logs offer anything?

Only two things can "scale" the output.
a) compositors
b) the server (resolution change + viewport)

For (a), please paste the output of "ps fax" and for (b) the output of "xrandr -q", once for the scaled and once for the unscaled display.
Though I'm not aware of any such feature bound to the escape key (which is faaaaar to commonly used to be taken by a global shortcut)

Believe me, this was NOT my idea to bind something to the Escape key!!!

I did a diff of the two commands in both states.

"xrandr -q", no difference between the states.

"ps fax":

Code: Select all

159c159
<  1005 tty7     Rs+    0:18  \_ /usr/bin/X :0 vt7 -br -nolisten tcp -auth /var/run/xauth/A:0-lCfloc
---
>  1005 tty7     Rs+    0:19  \_ /usr/bin/X :0 vt7 -br -nolisten tcp -auth /var/run/xauth/A:0-lCfloc
179c179
<  1394 ?        Sl     0:04  |   \_ kwin -session 10df696e75000144813074900000024840000_1449554176_948611
---
>  1394 ?        Sl     0:05  |   \_ kwin -session 10df696e75000144813074900000024840000_1449554176_948611
191c191
<  1404 ?        Sl     0:13 /usr/bin/plasma-desktop
---
>  1404 ?        Sl     0:14 /usr/bin/plasma-desktop
233c233
<  2479 pts/0    R+     0:00      \_ ps fax
---
>  2482 pts/0    R+     0:00      \_ ps fax


I could post the entire output from both if needed.

Thanks!

If randr doesn't change, it's unlikely the X display viewport thing - nevertheless let's have a look at it.
For the process tree, I mostly wondered whether you may be running an additional compositor (like eg. compton), so we'd actually need a complete list (minus everything where you know what it is and feel it's private, ie. you may safely scratch "mplayer ~/superhotporn.mp4" from the list

Output of "xrandr -q":

Code: Select all

Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1600 x 900, maximum 8192 x 8192
LVDS-1 connected primary 1600x900+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 345mm x 194mm
   1600x900      59.99*+  50.00 
   1152x864      59.96 
   1024x768      59.92 
   800x600       59.86 
   640x480       59.38 
   720x400       59.55 
   640x400       59.95 
   640x350       59.77 
VGA-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-3 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

Output of "ps fax"

Code: Select all

  PID TTY      STAT   TIME COMMAND
    2 ?        S      0:00 [kthreadd]
    3 ?        S      0:00  \_ [ksoftirqd/0]
    5 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [kworker/0:0H]
    7 ?        R      0:14  \_ [rcu_sched]
    8 ?        S      0:00  \_ [rcu_bh]
    9 ?        S      0:00  \_ [migration/0]
   10 ?        S      0:00  \_ [watchdog/0]
   11 ?        S      0:00  \_ [watchdog/1]
   12 ?        S      0:00  \_ [migration/1]
   13 ?        S      0:00  \_ [ksoftirqd/1]
   14 ?        S      0:01  \_ [kworker/1:0]
   15 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [kworker/1:0H]
   16 ?        S      0:00  \_ [watchdog/2]
   17 ?        S      0:00  \_ [migration/2]
   18 ?        S      0:00  \_ [ksoftirqd/2]
   20 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [kworker/2:0H]
   21 ?        S      0:00  \_ [watchdog/3]
   22 ?        S      0:00  \_ [migration/3]
   23 ?        S      0:00  \_ [ksoftirqd/3]
   25 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [kworker/3:0H]
   26 ?        S      0:00  \_ [watchdog/4]
   27 ?        S      0:00  \_ [migration/4]
   28 ?        S      0:00  \_ [ksoftirqd/4]
   30 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [kworker/4:0H]
   31 ?        S      0:00  \_ [watchdog/5]
   32 ?        S      0:00  \_ [migration/5]
   33 ?        S      0:00  \_ [ksoftirqd/5]
   35 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [kworker/5:0H]
   36 ?        S      0:00  \_ [watchdog/6]
   37 ?        S      0:00  \_ [migration/6]
   38 ?        S      0:00  \_ [ksoftirqd/6]
   40 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [kworker/6:0H]
   41 ?        S      0:00  \_ [watchdog/7]
   42 ?        S      0:00  \_ [migration/7]
   43 ?        S      0:00  \_ [ksoftirqd/7]
   45 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [kworker/7:0H]
   46 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [khelper]
   47 ?        S      0:00  \_ [kdevtmpfs]
   48 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [netns]
   49 ?        S      0:00  \_ [khungtaskd]
   50 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [writeback]
   51 ?        SN     0:00  \_ [ksmd]
   52 ?        SN     0:00  \_ [khugepaged]
   53 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [crypto]
   54 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [kintegrityd]
   55 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [bioset]
   56 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [kblockd]
   57 ?        S      0:00  \_ [kworker/0:1]
   59 ?        S      0:00  \_ [kworker/2:1]
   61 ?        S      0:03  \_ [kworker/4:1]
   62 ?        S      0:10  \_ [kworker/5:1]
   63 ?        S      0:05  \_ [kworker/6:1]
   65 ?        S      0:00  \_ [kswapd0]
   66 ?        S      0:00  \_ [fsnotify_mark]
   72 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [kthrotld]
   73 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [ipv6_addrconf]
   75 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [deferwq]
  115 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [acpi_thermal_pm]
  116 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [firewire]
  117 ?        S      0:00  \_ [khubd]
  118 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [firewire_ohci]
  119 ?        S      0:00  \_ [irq/16-mmc0]
  120 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [ata_sff]
  124 ?        S      0:00  \_ [irq/19-mmc1]
  125 ?        S      0:00  \_ [scsi_eh_0]
  126 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [scsi_tmf_0]
  127 ?        S      0:00  \_ [scsi_eh_1]
  128 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [scsi_tmf_1]
  129 ?        S      0:00  \_ [scsi_eh_2]
  130 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [scsi_tmf_2]
  131 ?        S      0:00  \_ [scsi_eh_3]
  132 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [scsi_tmf_3]
  133 ?        S      0:00  \_ [scsi_eh_4]
  134 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [scsi_tmf_4]
  135 ?        S      0:00  \_ [scsi_eh_5]
  136 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [scsi_tmf_5]
  152 ?        S      0:00  \_ [kworker/5:2]
  155 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [kworker/5:1H]
  182 ?        S      0:00  \_ [jbd2/sda1-8]
  183 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [ext4-rsv-conver]
  207 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [kworker/3:1H]
  209 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [kworker/6:1H]
  220 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [kworker/4:1H]
  223 ?        S      0:00  \_ [kauditd]
  233 ?        S      0:00  \_ [kworker/6:2]
  245 ?        S      0:00  \_ [kworker/3:2]
  251 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [kworker/1:1H]
  269 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [kworker/0:1H]
  333 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [kworker/7:1H]
  339 ?        S      0:00  \_ [irq/55-mei_me]
  341 ?        S      0:00  \_ [kworker/4:3]
  342 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [edac-poller]
  343 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [ktpacpid]
  347 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [kworker/2:1H]
  348 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [kworker/u17:0]
  349 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [hci0]
  350 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [hci0]
  359 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [kworker/u17:1]
  365 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [kpsmoused]
  370 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [cfg80211]
  372 ?        S      0:14  \_ [irq/56-iwlwifi]
  375 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [iwlwifi]
  395 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [ttm_swap]
  400 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [hd-audio0]
  415 ?        S      0:00  \_ [kworker/7:2]
  418 ?        S      0:00  \_ [jbd2/sda6-8]
  419 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [ext4-rsv-conver]
  434 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [hd-audio1]
  642 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [rpciod]
  645 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [nfsiod]
 1342 ?        S<     0:00  \_ [krfcommd]
 2273 ?        S      0:00  \_ [kworker/7:0]
 2360 ?        S      0:02  \_ [kworker/2:0]
 3375 ?        S      0:01  \_ [kworker/0:2]
 3652 ?        S      0:00  \_ [kworker/3:0]
 4101 ?        S      0:03  \_ [kworker/u16:0]
 4297 ?        S      0:00  \_ [kworker/u16:2]
 4359 ?        S      0:00  \_ [kworker/1:2]
 4537 ?        S      0:01  \_ [kworker/u16:1]
    1 ?        Ss     0:01 /sbin/init
  231 ?        Ss     0:00 /lib/systemd/systemd-udevd
  240 ?        Ss     0:00 /lib/systemd/systemd-journald
  627 ?        Ss     0:00 /sbin/rpcbind -w
  637 ?        Ss     0:00 /sbin/rpc.statd
  652 ?        Ss     0:00 /usr/sbin/rpc.idmapd
  654 ?        Ss     0:00 /usr/lib/bluetooth/bluetoothd
  655 ?        Ssl    0:00 /usr/lib/accountsservice/accounts-daemon
  657 ?        Ss     0:00 /usr/sbin/cron -f
  658 ?        Ssl    0:01 /usr/sbin/NetworkManager --no-daemon
 1119 ?        S      0:00  \_ /sbin/dhclient -d -q -sf /usr/lib/NetworkManager/nm-dhcp-helper -pf /var/run/dhclient-eth0.pid -lf /var/lib/NetworkManager/dhclient-0b16d0ee-0655-474c-b567-17bb132e43b5-eth0.lease -cf /var/lib/NetworkManager/dhclient-eth0.conf eth0
  659 ?        Ss     0:00 /usr/sbin/atd -f
  660 ?        Ss     0:00 /bin/sh /usr/bin/svscanboot /etc/service/
  700 ?        S      0:00  \_ svscan /etc/service
  722 ?        S      0:00  |   \_ supervise dnscache
  747 ?        S      0:02  |   |   \_ /usr/local/bin/dnscache
  723 ?        S      0:00  |   \_ supervise log
  748 ?        S      0:01  |       \_ multilog t ./main
  701 ?        S      0:00  \_ readproctitle service errors: ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
  661 ?        Ssl    0:00 /usr/sbin/ModemManager
  664 ?        Ss     0:06 /usr/bin/freshclam -d --foreground=true
  665 ?        Ss     0:00 /usr/sbin/sshd -D
  668 ?        Ss     0:00 /lib/systemd/systemd-logind
  676 ?        Ss     0:00 avahi-daemon: running [linus.local]
  755 ?        S      0:00  \_ avahi-daemon: chroot helper
  677 ?        Ss     0:01 /usr/bin/dbus-daemon --system --address=systemd: --nofork --nopidfile --systemd-activation
  743 ?        Ss     0:00 /usr/sbin/ntpd -p /var/run/ntpd.pid -g -u 123:128
  754 ?        Ss     0:00 /usr/sbin/irqbalance --pid=/var/run/irqbalance.pid
  969 ?        Ssl    0:00 /usr/sbin/rsyslogd -n
  974 ?        Ss     0:00 /usr/sbin/acpid
  982 ?        Ss     0:00 /usr/sbin/cups-browsed
  984 ?        Ssl    0:00 /usr/lib/policykit-1/polkitd --no-debug
  987 tty1     Ss+    0:00 /sbin/agetty --noclear tty1 linux
 1017 ?        Ss     0:00 /usr/sbin/exim4 -bd -q30m
 1021 ?        Ss     0:00 /usr/bin/kdm -config /var/run/kdm/kdmrc
 1025 tty7     Ss+    2:38  \_ /usr/bin/X :0 vt7 -br -nolisten tcp -auth /var/run/xauth/A:0-SqnDZb
 1116 ?        S      0:00  \_ -:0
 1249 ?        Ss     0:00      \_ /bin/sh /usr/bin/startkde
 1285 ?        Ss     0:00          \_ /usr/bin/ssh-agent /usr/bin/dbus-launch --exit-with-session /usr/bin/startkde
 1405 ?        S      0:00          \_ kwrapper4 ksmserver
 1024 ?        Ss     0:00 /sbin/wpa_supplicant -u -s -O /run/wpa_supplicant
 1026 ?        Ssl    0:00 /usr/lib/colord/colord
 1049 ?        Ss     0:00 /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
 2275 ?        S      0:00  \_ /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
 2276 ?        Sl     0:01  \_ /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
 2277 ?        Sl     0:01  \_ /usr/sbin/apache2 -k start
 1246 ?        Ss     0:00 /lib/systemd/systemd --user
 1247 ?        S      0:00  \_ (sd-pam)
 1288 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/dbus-launch --exit-with-session /usr/bin/startkde
 1289 ?        Ss     0:03 /usr/bin/dbus-daemon --fork --print-pid 5 --print-address 7 --session
 1329 ?        S      0:00 /usr/lib/kde4/libexec/start_kdeinit +kcminit_startup
 1330 ?        Ss     0:00 kdeinit4: kdeinit4 Running...
 1331 ?        S      0:00  \_ kdeinit4: klauncher [kdeinit] --fd=9
 1408 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ kdeinit4: ksmserver [kdeinit]
 1411 ?        Sl     0:29  |   \_ kwin -session 10df696e75000144813074900000024840000_1449637740_892947
 1485 ?        Sl     0:01  \_ /usr/bin/dolphin -session 10df696e75000144813106100000024840039_1449637740_785393
 1540 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ /usr/bin/python /usr/bin/blueman-applet
 1575 ?        Sl     5:20  \_ iceweasel
 3217 ?        Sl     1:22  |   \_ /usr/lib/iceweasel/plugin-container /usr/lib/flashplugin-nonfree/libflashplayer.so -greomni /usr/lib/iceweasel/omni.ja -appomni /usr/lib/iceweasel/browser/omni.ja -appdir /usr/lib/iceweasel/browser 1575 plugin
 1576 ?        Sl     1:13  \_ evolution
 1333 ?        Sl     0:01 kdeinit4: kded4 [kdeinit]
 1336 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/kglobalaccel
 1338 ?        S      0:00 /usr/lib/bluetooth/obexd
 1344 ?        Ssl    0:00 /usr/lib/upower/upowerd
 1371 ?        Ssl    0:00 /usr/lib/udisks2/udisksd --no-debug
 1382 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/bluedevil-monolithic
 1401 ?        Sl     0:00 /usr/bin/kactivitymanagerd
 1422 ?        Sl     0:29 /usr/bin/plasma-desktop
 1430 ?        S      0:01  \_ ksysguardd
 1433 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/kuiserver
 1435 ?        Sl     0:01 /usr/bin/akonadi_control
 1437 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ akonadiserver
 1439 ?        Sl     0:04  |   \_ /usr/sbin/mysqld --defaults-file=/home/rick/.local/share/akonadi/mysql.conf --datadir=/home/rick/.local/share/akonadi/db_data/ --socket=/tmp/akonadi-rick.erJmXt/mysql.socket
 1601 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_akonotes_resource akonadi_akonotes_resource_0
 1602 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_akonotes_resource akonadi_akonotes_resource_1
 1603 ?        S      0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_archivemail_agent --identifier akonadi_archivemail_agent
 1610 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_contacts_resource akonadi_contacts_resource_0
 1611 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_contacts_resource akonadi_contacts_resource_1
 1612 ?        S      0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_followupreminder_agent --identifier akonadi_followupreminder_agent
 1620 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_ical_resource akonadi_ical_resource_0
 1621 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_ical_resource akonadi_ical_resource_1
 1622 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_ical_resource akonadi_ical_resource_2
 1623 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_ical_resource akonadi_ical_resource_3
 1624 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_ical_resource akonadi_ical_resource_4
 1625 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_ical_resource akonadi_ical_resource_5
 1626 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_ical_resource akonadi_ical_resource_6
 1627 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_ical_resource akonadi_ical_resource_7
 1628 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_ical_resource akonadi_ical_resource_8
 1629 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_maildir_resource akonadi_maildir_resource_0
 1630 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_maildir_resource akonadi_maildir_resource_1
 1631 ?        S      0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_maildispatcher_agent --identifier akonadi_maildispatcher_agent
 1657 ?        S      0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_mailfilter_agent --identifier akonadi_mailfilter_agent
 1658 ?        S      0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_migration_agent --identifier akonadi_migration_agent
 1659 ?        S      0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_newmailnotifier_agent --identifier akonadi_newmailnotifier_agent
 1660 ?        S      0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_notes_agent --identifier akonadi_notes_agent
 1681 ?        S      0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_sendlater_agent --identifier akonadi_sendlater_agent
 1690 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_vcard_resource akonadi_vcard_resource_0
 1691 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_vcard_resource akonadi_vcard_resource_1
 1692 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_vcard_resource akonadi_vcard_resource_2
 1693 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_vcard_resource akonadi_vcard_resource_3
 1694 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_vcard_resource akonadi_vcard_resource_4
 1695 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_vcard_resource akonadi_vcard_resource_5
 1696 ?        Sl     0:00  \_ /usr/bin/akonadi_agent_launcher akonadi_vcard_resource akonadi_vcard_resource_6
 1472 ?        Sl     0:01 /usr/bin/krunner
 1473 ?        Sl     0:00 /usr/bin/kmix -session 10df696e75000140201322600000224780010_1449637740_785385
 1476 ?        Rl     0:04 yakuake -session 10df696e75000143585709300000012550039_1449637740_785452
 4603 pts/0    Ss     0:00  \_ /bin/bash
 4683 pts/0    R+     0:00      \_ ps fax
 1482 ?        S<l    0:29 /usr/bin/pulseaudio --start --log-target=syslog
 1483 ?        SNsl   0:00 /usr/lib/rtkit/rtkit-daemon
 1501 ?        Sl     0:00 /usr/bin/knotify4
 1552 ?        Sl     0:00 /usr/lib/kde4/libexec/polkit-kde-authentication-agent-1
 1568 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/korgac --icon korgac
 1570 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/klipper
 1584 ?        Sl     0:00 /usr/lib/at-spi2-core/at-spi-bus-launcher
 1588 ?        S      0:00  \_ /usr/bin/dbus-daemon --config-file=/etc/at-spi2/accessibility.conf --nofork --print-address 3
 1591 ?        Sl     0:00 /usr/lib/at-spi2-core/at-spi2-registryd --use-gnome-session
 1594 ?        Ssl    0:02 /usr/lib/packagekit/packagekitd
 1677 ?        Sl     0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfsd
 1687 ?        SLl    0:12 /usr/lib/evolution/evolution-source-registry
 1689 ?        S      0:00 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/gconf/gconfd-2
 1729 ?        Sl     0:00 /usr/lib/gnome-online-accounts/goa-daemon
 1831 ?        S      0:00 /usr/bin/obex-data-server --no-daemon
 1835 ?        Sl     0:00 /usr/lib/dconf/dconf-service
 1873 ?        Sl     0:00 /usr/lib/evolution/3.12/evolution-alarm-notify
 1903 ?        Sl     0:00 /usr/lib/evolution/evolution-calendar-factory
 1914 ?        SLl    0:00 /usr/bin/gnome-keyring-daemon --start --foreground --components=secrets
 2356 ?        Ss     0:00 /usr/sbin/cupsd -f


at-spi2 looks suspicious (a11y feature) - notably with the gnome session key - and is likely started with evolution.
Can you try to shut it down (you'll probably have to close evolution and then kill the daemon) and see whether it's still happening?

--
OT and ooc only: are you running a GUI on a server??

"at-spi2" killed and evolution down.

Problem still exists.

This is running as a workstation on a laptop.

Ok, trigger the scaled mode and call (in konsole)

Code: Select all

qdbus org.kde.KWin /KWin supportInformation


Please paste the output in code tags (if it says the zoom effect is active, it's the compositor - despite all oddities)

Output from the "qdbus" command:

Code: Select all

KWin Support Information:
The following information should be used when requesting support on e.g. http://forum.kde.org.
It provides information about the currently running instance, which options are used,
what OpenGL driver and which effects are running.
Please post the information provided underneath this introductory text to a paste bin service
like http://paste.kde.org instead of pasting into support threads.

==========================

Version
=======
KWin version: 4.11.13
KDE SC version (runtime): 4.14.2
KDE SC version (compile): 4.14.2
Qt Version: 4.8.6

Options
=======
focusPolicy: 0
nextFocusPrefersMouse: false
clickRaise: true
autoRaise: false
autoRaiseInterval: 0
delayFocusInterval: 0
shadeHover: false
shadeHoverInterval: 250
separateScreenFocus: false
placement: 4
focusPolicyIsReasonable: true
borderSnapZone: 10
windowSnapZone: 10
centerSnapZone: 0
snapOnlyWhenOverlapping: false
showDesktopIsMinimizeAll: false
rollOverDesktops: true
focusStealingPreventionLevel: 1
legacyFullscreenSupport: false
operationTitlebarDblClick:
commandActiveTitlebar1: 0
commandActiveTitlebar2: 30
commandActiveTitlebar3: 2
commandInactiveTitlebar1: 4
commandInactiveTitlebar2: 30
commandInactiveTitlebar3: 2
commandWindow1: 7
commandWindow2: 8
commandWindow3: 8
commandWindowWheel: 31
commandAll1: 10
commandAll2: 3
commandAll3: 14
keyCmdAllModKey: 16777251
showGeometryTip: false
condensedTitle: false
electricBorderMaximize: true
electricBorderTiling: true
electricBorderCornerRatio: 0.25
borderlessMaximizedWindows: false
killPingTimeout: 5000
hideUtilityWindowsForInactive: true
inactiveTabsSkipTaskbar: false
autogroupSimilarWindows: false
autogroupInForeground: true
compositingMode: 2
useCompositing: true
compositingInitialized: true
hiddenPreviews: 1
unredirectFullscreen: false
glSmoothScale: 2
colorCorrected: false
xrenderSmoothScale: false
maxFpsInterval: 16666666
refreshRate: 0
vBlankTime: 6000000
glDirect: true
glStrictBinding: true
glStrictBindingFollowsDriver: true
glLegacy: false
glCoreProfile: false
glPreferBufferSwap: 97

Screen Edges
============
desktopSwitching: false
desktopSwitchingMovingClients: false
cursorPushBackDistance:
timeThreshold: 150
reActivateThreshold: 350
actionTopLeft: 0
actionTop: 0
actionTopRight: 0
actionRight: 0
actionBottomRight: 0
actionBottom: 0
actionBottomLeft: 0
actionLeft: 0

Screens
=======
Multi-Head: no
Active screen follows mouse:  no
Number of Screens: 1
Screen 0 Geometry: 0,0,1600x900

Decoration
==========
Current Plugin: kwin3_oxygen
Shadows: yes
Alpha: yes
Announces Alpha: yes
Tabbing: yes
Frame Overlap: no
Blur Behind: no

Compositing
===========
Qt Graphics System: native
Compositing is active
Compositing Type: XRender

Loaded Effects:
---------------
kwin4_effect_zoom
kwin4_effect_slidingpopups
kwin4_effect_login
kwin4_effect_minimizeanimation
kwin4_effect_screenshot
kwin4_effect_slide
kwin4_effect_desktopgrid
kwin4_effect_translucency
kwin4_effect_maximize
kwin4_effect_fade
kwin4_effect_highlightwindow
kwin4_effect_taskbarthumbnail
kwin4_effect_dialogparent
kwin4_effect_presentwindows
kwin4_effect_logout
kwin4_effect_dashboard
kwin4_effect_screenedge
kwin4_effect_kscreen

Currently Active Effects:
-------------------------
kwin4_effect_zoom

Effect Settings:
----------------
kwin4_effect_zoom:
zoomFactor: 1.2
mousePointer: 0
mouseTracking: 0
enableFocusTracking: false
followFocus: true
focusDelay: 350
moveFactor: 20
targetZoom: 1.44

kwin4_effect_slidingpopups:
fadeInTime: 250
fadeOutTime: 250

kwin4_effect_login:

kwin4_effect_minimizeanimation:

kwin4_effect_screenshot:

kwin4_effect_slide:

kwin4_effect_desktopgrid:
zoomDuration: 300
border: 10
desktopNameAlignment: 0
layoutMode: 0
customLayoutRows: 2
usePresentWindows: true

kwin4_effect_translucency:

kwin4_effect_maximize:

kwin4_effect_fade:

kwin4_effect_highlightwindow:

kwin4_effect_taskbarthumbnail:

kwin4_effect_dialogparent:

kwin4_effect_presentwindows:
layoutMode: 0
showCaptions: true
showIcons: true
doNotCloseWindows: false
ignoreMinimized: false
accuracy: 20
fillGaps: true
fadeDuration: 150
showPanel: false
leftButtonWindow: 1
rightButtonWindow: 2
middleButtonWindow: 0
leftButtonDesktop: 2
middleButtonDesktop: 0
rightButtonDesktop: 0
dragToClose: false

kwin4_effect_logout:
useBlur: true

kwin4_effect_dashboard:
brightness: 0.5
saturation: 0.5
blur: false

kwin4_effect_screenedge:

kwin4_effect_kscreen:


It's apparently the zoom effect, but please don't ask me why or how it toggles on especially the escape key.
run "kcmshell kwineffects" and configure the zoom effect, you should find some shortcut config there. If the escape key isn't even mentioned there, I'm unfortunately out of ideas, sorry.

Thanks for all the help!

On my system, Debian Jessie, I needed to run, "kcmshell4 kwincompositing". ("kcmshell kwineffects" would not run)

On the first tab, "General", I unset the shortcut key, set as [Esc]. Still not sure how this was set.

On the second tab, "All-Effects", in the "Accessibility" section, I unchecked the "Zoom" option. (Set by default?)

Again, thank you all for your assistance!

Cheers!

> I unset the shortcut key, set as [Esc]
WTF? This means escape was assigned to toggle the compositor (which preserves the zoom state)

That fully explains the behavior, but I've no idea how that shortcut would have been assigned - other than you trying to escape setting a shortcut this way, I mean ;-P