Ubuntu
gnome-control-center package

Hardy beta: gnome-display-properties allows switching off the only monitor

Bug #208535 reported by sz on 2008-03-28

Affects		Status	Importance	Assigned to	Milestone
	gnome-control-center (Ubuntu)	Fix Released	Low	Bryce Harrington

Bug Description

Binary package hint: gnome-control-center

If there is only one monitor in the system, the user can choose "Off" from gnome-display-properties' "Resolution" combo box, and there is nothing to prevent applying the changes, not even a warning. Moreover, the changes are stored in ~/.gnome2/monitors.xml, and will be loaded on each subsequent login, even on failsafe logins(!). The user has to delete that file (or fill in its contents appropriately, if he can) before login, to restore the display.

A solution to Bug #197673 might be considered as a workaround for this problem, as it will at least not overwrite monitors.xml with a monitorless configuration.

But the real solution is clearly to prevent choosing "Off" on all of the monitors.

ProblemType: Bug
Architecture: i386
Date: Fri Mar 28 23:27:27 2008
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 8.04
ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/gnome-display-properties
Package: gnome-control-center 1:2.22.0-0ubuntu3
PackageArchitecture: i386
ProcEnviron:
PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/games
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
SHELL=/bin/bash
SourcePackage: gnome-control-center
Uname: Linux 2.6.24-12-generic i686

Tags:

Related branches

lp:ubuntu/lucid/gnome-control-center

Revision history for this message

sz (szeder) wrote on 2008-03-28:

Dependencies.txt Edit (6.1 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
ProcMaps.txt Edit (19.2 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
ProcStatus.txt Edit (679 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")

Revision history for this message

sz (szeder) wrote on 2008-03-29:

0001-don-t-allow-to-switch-off-the-only-active-monitor.patch Edit (969 bytes, text/plain)

Maybe something like this?

Don't allow switching off the only active monitor

Currently, users can choose "Off" from gnome-display-properties'
"Resolution" combo box and apply this change, even if they have only one
active monitor, leaving them without a working display.

With this patch the "Off" entry combo box is added to the "Resolution" combo
box only when the current output is not the only active output.

Signed-off-by: SZEDER Gábor <email address hidden>
---
capplets/display/xrandr-capplet.c | 21 ++++++++++++++++++++-
1 files changed, 20 insertions(+), 1 deletions(-)

Sebastien Bacher (seb128) on 2008-03-29

Changed in gnome-control-center:
assignee:	nobody → bryceharrington
importance:	Undecided → Low

Revision history for this message

Bryce Harrington (bryce) wrote on 2008-04-02:

You're awesome Gabor!

In fact this was one case I was experimenting with the revert dialog I'm working on, to ensure it reacts appropriately. But I agree your patch to prevent the situation in the first place via UI sugar is even superior. I will include your patch in my next upload, thanks!

Changed in gnome-control-center:
status:	New → In Progress

Revision history for this message

sz (szeder) wrote on 2008-04-02:

Glad you like it.

If you would take the commit message from my previous post, please do a s/allow switching/allow to switch/ and s/"Off" entry combo box/"Off" entry/. Thanks (;

Revision history for this message

Jordan (jordanu) wrote on 2008-04-04:

I am strange, so this probably isn't worth changing anything for, but I was disappointed that there was no way to turn off my monitor ( my laptops screen, and the only active monitor ). I would prefer to just have a warning, but again, I am strange :)

Revision history for this message

Launchpad Janitor (janitor) wrote on 2008-04-04:

This bug was fixed in the package gnome-control-center - 1:2.22.0-0ubuntu4

---------------
gnome-control-center (1:2.22.0-0ubuntu4) hardy; urgency=low

  [Bryce Harrington]
  * debian/patches/110_cc-randr12-revert-dialog.patch:
    - Adds a revert dialog to confirm changes before applying them
      permanently (LP: #197673)
  * debian/control:
    - Update Build-Depends for gnome-desktop

  [Gabor Szeder]
  * debian/patches/111_cc-randr12-dont-disable-active-monitor.patch
    - Don't allow switching off the only active monitor (LP: #208535)

-- Bryce Harrington <email address hidden> Fri, 04 Apr 2008 16:24:34 -0700