Help, Plasmonauts!

i am on an Acer Cloudbook I converted to Ubuntu 16.04/Plasma 5.5.5. If I run any application that changes screen resolution during its runtime, like Njam or Baldur's Gate, the desktop does not retain its prior state on exit of the app. Desktop icons are rearranged and resized as though the desktop is 640x480 or something similar (presumably, whatever resolution the game or app ran at). This is maddening, as i use desktop shortcuts a lot. Plasma 4 on other machines did NOT do this. Has this been fixed, or even reported?

Richard Adams
Acer 11 Cloudbook converted to Kubuntu Linux
acer11kubuntu@gmail.com

Maybe a (not that optimal) workaround would be to create a new activity with an empty desktop, and switch to this activity before starting the game.
If I remember correctly, only the current activity's desktop-layout should be affected by resolution changes, and as there is nothing on the desktop, no problems should arise.
After exiting the game, you could switch back to the activity you used before.

sebpe wrote:Maybe a (not that optimal) workaround would be to create a new activity with an empty desktop, and switch to this activity before starting the game.
If I remember correctly, only the current activity's desktop-layout should be affected by resolution changes, and as there is nothing on the desktop, no problems should arise.
After exiting the game, you could switch back to the activity you used before.

i appreciate the offer of a work-around, but that's too much effort to just be able to play an occasional game. More importantly, it doesn't solve for apps where i don't know in advance that it will change the desktop. Thanks for the attempt, though.

Open question is still, has this been fixed or even reported?

Bug has been reported here: https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=360478

I suggested to anchor widgets relative to the closest screen edge and that would solve the problem. I too run games that change the resolution and stopped placing widget on the right hand side of the screen because of the relocation issue.

darinmiller wrote:Bug has been reported here: https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=360478

I suggested to anchor widgets relative to the closest screen edge and that would solve the problem. I too run games that change the resolution and stopped placing widget on the right hand side of the screen because of the relocation issue.

Thanks for the info, most helpful. Not familiar with the anchoring function, where do i find that?

Thanks!

radams: "Anchor" is not a function, it's a reference point. I have not reviewed the code, but from the behavior I suspect widgets are referenced (anchored) from the upper left corner of their respective monitor. The plasma code needs changed to proportionally position relative to the screen edge as resolution changes. Plasma ensures all widgets stay within view when resolution shrinks, but are not returned to the original (proportional) position when resolution expands.

darinmiller wrote:radams: "Anchor" is not a function, it's a reference point. I have not reviewed the code, but from the behavior I suspect widgets are referenced (anchored) from the upper left corner of their respective monitor. The plasma code needs changed to proportionally position relative to the screen edge as resolution changes. Plasma ensures all widgets stay within view when resolution shrinks, but are not returned to the original (proportional) position when resolution expands.

Ah, I get it after a closer reading of the bug report. Astounding that this is marked as minor, it's a fundamental desktop function. Plasma 4 behaved properly in this respect, so someone should know how it worked before and be able to apply that as a fix. It makes KDE look somewhat unprofessional, IMNSHO.