I have a line I need to run sometime before the desktop appears on a dinky computer. It's an xrandr command that rotates the screen 90 degrees to the right and sets 168 dpi. What I don't know is where to put it. Anybody know? Thanks,
dep Pictures: http://www.ipernity.com/doc/depscribe/album Column: https://ofb.biz/author/dep/
Anno domini 2025 Mon, 25 Aug 06:50:28 +0000 dep via tde-users scripsit:
I have a line I need to run sometime before the desktop appears on a dinky computer. It's an xrandr command that rotates the screen 90 degrees to the right and sets 168 dpi. What I don't know is where to put it. Anybody know? Thanks,
I'd suggest ~/.xsessionrc
Nik
dep Pictures: http://www.ipernity.com/doc/depscribe/album Column: https://ofb.biz/author/dep/ ____________________________________________________ tde-users mailing list -- users@trinitydesktop.org To unsubscribe send an email to users-leave@trinitydesktop.org Web mail archive available at https://mail.trinitydesktop.org/mailman3/hyperkitty/list/users@trinitydeskto...
On 8/25/25 03:25, Dr. Nikolaus Klepp via tde-users users@trinitydesktop.org wrote:
Anno domini 2025 Mon, 25 Aug 06:50:28 +0000 dep via tde-users scripsit:
I have a line I need to run sometime before the desktop appears on a dinky computer. It's an xrandr command that rotates the screen 90 degrees to the right and sets 168 dpi. What I don't know is where to put it. Anybody know? Thanks,
I'd suggest ~/.xsessionrc
A command will run from there? Any special syntax?
dep
Anno domini 2025 Mon, 25 Aug 07:38:21 +0000 dep via tde-users scripsit:
On 8/25/25 03:25, Dr. Nikolaus Klepp via tde-users users@trinitydesktop.org wrote:
Anno domini 2025 Mon, 25 Aug 06:50:28 +0000 dep via tde-users scripsit:
I have a line I need to run sometime before the desktop appears on a dinky computer. It's an xrandr command that rotates the screen 90 degrees to the right and sets 168 dpi. What I don't know is where to put it. Anybody know? Thanks,
I'd suggest ~/.xsessionrc
A command will run from there? Any special syntax?
Following the specs it sould be run whenb setting up the Xsession, same as /etx/X11/Xsession. It's just executed, so anything executable will do ... that said, you'll most likly make it a bash script :)
Nik
dep ____________________________________________________ tde-users mailing list -- users@trinitydesktop.org To unsubscribe send an email to users-leave@trinitydesktop.org Web mail archive available at https://mail.trinitydesktop.org/mailman3/hyperkitty/list/users@trinitydeskto...
dep composed on 2025-08-25 06:50 (UTC):
I have a line I need to run sometime before the desktop appears on a dinky computer. It's an xrandr command that rotates the screen 90 degrees to the right and sets 168 dpi. What I don't know is where to put it.
If you want it applicable to any and every user of the computer, on Debian, Ubuntu, Mint and kin, put it in /etc/X11/Xsession.d/.
On Monday 25 August 2025 10:31:39 Felix Miata via tde-users wrote:
dep composed on 2025-08-25 06:50 (UTC):
I have a line I need to run sometime before the desktop appears on a dinky computer. It's an xrandr command that rotates the screen 90 degrees to the right and sets 168 dpi. What I don't know is where to put it.
If you want it applicable to any and every user of the computer, on Debian, Ubuntu, Mint and kin, put it in /etc/X11/Xsession.d/.
I have a bash script in /etc/X11/Xsession.d that does someting like that. It reads:
#!/bin/bash xrandr --output eDP-1 --primary --mode 1920x1080
And sets this Thinkpad (that has high resolution screen) back to something usable for a desktop. DOn't remember having done something else.
On Mon, Aug 25, 2025 at 12:42 (+0200), Thierry de Coulon via tde-users wrote:
On Monday 25 August 2025 10:31:39 Felix Miata via tde-users wrote:
dep composed on 2025-08-25 06:50 (UTC):
I have a line I need to run sometime before the desktop appears on a dinky computer. It's an xrandr command that rotates the screen 90 degrees to the right and sets 168 dpi. What I don't know is where to put it.
If you want it applicable to any and every user of the computer, on Debian, Ubuntu, Mint and kin, put it in /etc/X11/Xsession.d/.
I have a bash script in /etc/X11/Xsession.d that does someting like that. It reads:
#!/bin/bash xrandr --output eDP-1 --primary --mode 1920x1080
And sets this Thinkpad (that has high resolution screen) back to something usable for a desktop. DOn't remember having done something else.
? Are you saying you use xrandr to set your screen to a lower resolution? If so, why would you do that? (I am using a 142 dpi laptop screen, and my wife's is something like 160 dpi, and neither of us are staring at hard-to-read text or teeny-tiny icons.)
Jim
On Monday 25 August 2025 20:14:29 Jim via tde-users wrote:
? Are you saying you use xrandr to set your screen to a lower resolution? If so, why would you do that? (I am using a 142 dpi laptop screen, and my wife's is something like 160 dpi, and neither of us are staring at hard-to-read text or teeny-tiny icons.)
I don't know about dpi. The laptop has a 4K screen (which is what I wanted to edit photos) but as far as I'm concerned when working with TDE 1920x1080 is perfect, so I simply set the screen to that.
said Jim via tde-users:
| ? Are you saying you use xrandr to set your screen to a lower | resolution? If so, why would you do that? (I am using a 142 dpi laptop | screen, and my wife's is something like 160 dpi, and neither of us are | staring at hard-to-read text or teeny-tiny icons.)
I am using a 168-dpi subnotebook with a 7-inch screen. TDE defaults to 92 dpi. So everything is half the size it should be. That's why.
Good to hear that your and your wife's vision are in good order, and hope that condition remains. Often it does not.
On Mon, Aug 25, 2025 at 21:25 (+0000), dep via tde-users wrote:
said Jim via tde-users:
? Are you saying you use xrandr to set your screen to a lower resolution? If so, why would you do that? (I am using a 142 dpi laptop screen, and my wife's is something like 160 dpi, and neither of us are staring at hard-to-read text or teeny-tiny icons.)
I am using a 168-dpi subnotebook with a 7-inch screen. TDE defaults to 92 dpi. So everything is half the size it should be. That's why.
Good to hear that your and your wife's vision are in good order, and hope that condition remains. Often it does not. --
Somewhere along the line I think someone/people didn't think things through, and decided to continue pretending that screens were 96 (92? really?) DPI, and then went through various contortions to cover up that lie with more lies.
For a long time I have just been telling X (I don't use wayland, don't know the situation there) the actual DPI of my screen with a command like xrandr --dpi 141.7 and letting Xft know the truth with a command like echo Xft.dpi: 141.7 | xrdb -merge and most things I use just work now.
Rather than specifying font sizes in terms of pixels (which was a bad idea from day 1), I specify my font sizes in points. Given the Xft now knows the truth (i.e., what the actual DPI of the screen is), when I ask for (say) a 12pt font, it shows up on my screen at 12pt. Not at some teeny-tiny 6 point or something, as I think you are implying when you so nicely congratulate us on our vision.
Some programs do need a bit of encouragement to get their icons and other stuff at the correct size. I have set the environment variables GDK_USE_XFT=1 GDK_DPI_SCALE=1.2 but when I start firefox, I do env GDK_DPI_SCALE=0.8 firefox to get the icon sizes to come out at about the right size.
Doing this has made my life (where I use multiple different screens with different DPIs) a lot more livable, I can use the same configs across the bourd: all I have to do is to contradict the lie that someone has promulgated to X by telling xrandr and Xft what the real DPI is.
Any time I've seen someone making their fonts bigger by saying the DPI is smaller than the actual screen, to me the fonts on their screen have looked poor. YMMV.
But for anyone interested in trying this out, I think you might find that letting the software know the true DPI has benefits, and after the initial set-up may make things easier.
Cheers. Jim
On Monday 25 August 2025 23:43:35 Jim via tde-users wrote:
Rather than specifying font sizes in terms of pixels (which was a bad idea from day 1), I specify my font sizes in points. Given the Xft now knows the truth (i.e., what the actual DPI of the screen is), when I ask for (say) a 12pt font, it shows up on my screen at 12pt. Not at some teeny-tiny 6 point or something
Sounds interresting. Where do you put these instruction so that TDE draws a usable desktop on a high DPI screen?
Anno domini 2025 Tue, 26 Aug 05:47:49 +0200 Thierry de Coulon via tde-users scripsit:
On Monday 25 August 2025 23:43:35 Jim via tde-users wrote:
Rather than specifying font sizes in terms of pixels (which was a bad idea from day 1), I specify my font sizes in points. Given the Xft now knows the truth (i.e., what the actual DPI of the screen is), when I ask for (say) a 12pt font, it shows up on my screen at 12pt. Not at some teeny-tiny 6 point or something
Sounds interresting. Where do you put these instruction so that TDE draws a usable desktop on a high DPI screen?
DPI settings are in the "fonts" section of kcontrol. You'd also need to set "Xft.dpi" in ~/.Xresources, too. And you'll need to to tweak the GTK settings with lxappearance. Also some applations need $GDK_DPI_SCALE and $QT_FONT_DPI. And at last you'll need to set a xcursor theme and size.
Nik
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said Dr. Nikolaus Klepp via tde-users:
| DPI settings are in the "fonts" section of kcontrol. You'd also need to | set "Xft.dpi" in ~/.Xresources, too. And you'll need to to tweak the GTK | settings with lxappearance. Also some applations need $GDK_DPI_SCALE and | $QT_FONT_DPI. And at last you'll need to set a xcursor theme and size.
Perhaps inspired by having owned the machine ib question -- an original GPD Pocket -- Raster has put the controls front and center in Enlightenment. The screen setting has 90, 180, 270 degrees of rotation, and a very good scaling option completely separate from fonts.
(I may end up using E on the machine. I tried TDE on it when I first got it, but for reasons I don't remember it didn't work. Might be fixed, but if not I'll have E as a fallback. It ran Plasma okay, but every time I use Plasma I dislike it more.)
On Tue, Aug 26, 2025 at 05:47 (+0200), Thierry de Coulon via tde-users wrote:
On Monday 25 August 2025 23:43:35 Jim via tde-users wrote:
Rather than specifying font sizes in terms of pixels (which was a bad idea from day 1), I specify my font sizes in points. Given the Xft now knows the truth (i.e., what the actual DPI of the screen is), when I ask for (say) a 12pt font, it shows up on my screen at 12pt. Not at some teeny-tiny 6 point or something
Sounds interresting. Where do you put these instruction so that TDE draws a usable desktop on a high DPI screen?
Hi Thierry,
It seems Nik has answered (partially or wholly, depending on your knowledge), although his answer doesn't address using xrandr to expunge the lie that the screen is 96 DPI.
I use Slackware, and the instructions are (evidently) a bit different for Slackware than for debian-based distros. I would have put some of these settings (such as the default GDK_DPI_SCALE) in ~/.xprofile, but maybe Debian doesn't play nicely with that way of doing things. (I have convinced Raspbian (based on Debian) to show everything at a reasonable size on a Hi-DPI monitor, and even though I don't have TDE on any RPi, if things work on Raspbian + fvwm than you should be able to get them to work on Debian + trinity.)
Cheers. Jim
Anno domini 2025 Tue, 26 Aug 16:15:04 -0300 Jim via tde-users scripsit:
On Tue, Aug 26, 2025 at 05:47 (+0200), Thierry de Coulon via tde-users wrote:
On Monday 25 August 2025 23:43:35 Jim via tde-users wrote:
Rather than specifying font sizes in terms of pixels (which was a bad idea from day 1), I specify my font sizes in points. Given the Xft now knows the truth (i.e., what the actual DPI of the screen is), when I ask for (say) a 12pt font, it shows up on my screen at 12pt. Not at some teeny-tiny 6 point or something
Sounds interresting. Where do you put these instruction so that TDE draws a usable desktop on a high DPI screen?
Hi Thierry,
It seems Nik has answered (partially or wholly, depending on your knowledge), although his answer doesn't address using xrandr to expunge the lie that the screen is 96 DPI.
I use Slackware, and the instructions are (evidently) a bit different for Slackware than for debian-based distros. I would have put some of these settings (such as the default GDK_DPI_SCALE) in ~/.xprofile, but maybe Debian doesn't play nicely with that way of doing things. (I have convinced Raspbian (based on Debian) to show everything at a reasonable size on a Hi-DPI monitor, and even though I don't have TDE on any RPi, if things work on Raspbian + fvwm than you should be able to get them to work on Debian + trinity.)
TDE works just fine on any RPi >= 3B (I have a RPI400 running TDE + LinuxCNC still in use). Anyway, nowadays even the RPI5 are not a sane choice - any used thinkpad has way more power an "obolete" Windows10 laptops will probably flood the market in some months .. just in case somebody need a red truck to play with :)
Nik
Cheers. Jim ____________________________________________________ tde-users mailing list -- users@trinitydesktop.org To unsubscribe send an email to users-leave@trinitydesktop.org Web mail archive available at https://mail.trinitydesktop.org/mailman3/hyperkitty/list/users@trinitydeskto...
On Thu, Aug 28, 2025 at 00:14 (+0200), Dr. Nikolaus Klepp via tde-users wrote:
Anno domini 2025 Tue, 26 Aug 16:15:04 -0300 Jim via tde-users scripsit:
On Tue, Aug 26, 2025 at 05:47 (+0200), Thierry de Coulon via tde-users wrote:
On Monday 25 August 2025 23:43:35 Jim via tde-users wrote:
It seems Nik has answered (partially or wholly, depending on your knowledge), although his answer doesn't address using xrandr to expunge the lie that the screen is 96 DPI.
I use Slackware, and the instructions are (evidently) a bit different for Slackware than for debian-based distros. I would have put some of these settings (such as the default GDK_DPI_SCALE) in ~/.xprofile, but maybe Debian doesn't play nicely with that way of doing things. (I have convinced Raspbian (based on Debian) to show everything at a reasonable size on a Hi-DPI monitor, and even though I don't have TDE on any RPi, if things work on Raspbian + fvwm than you should be able to get them to work on Debian + trinity.)
TDE works just fine on any RPi >= 3B (I have a RPI400 running TDE + LinuxCNC still in use). Anyway, nowadays even the RPI5 are not a sane choice - any used thinkpad has way more power an "obolete" Windows10 laptops will probably flood the market in some months .. just in case somebody need a red truck to play with :)
I guess you live in an area where people get rid of better laptops than where I live. The last few times I looked at used laptops all the laptops I saw were pretty ancient, and the prices for them were fairly laughable... and not in a good way.
The last time I bought a RPi I did consider a brand new Chromebook (which could be switched to Linux) which was on sale at some place like Best Buy. It was very low end, but still comparable to (at least) an RPi4, and given that it came with storage, power supply, screen, ..., it was arguably a better deal. But I know that the Pis are happy running 24/365 with very modest power needs, and since the Pis I have do run all the time, I went with another Pi in the end.
Cheers. Jim
On Wednesday 27 August 2025 17:32:27 Jim via tde-users wrote:
On Thu, Aug 28, 2025 at 00:14 (+0200), Dr. Nikolaus Klepp via tde-users
wrote:
Anno domini 2025 Tue, 26 Aug 16:15:04 -0300
Jim via tde-users scripsit:
On Tue, Aug 26, 2025 at 05:47 (+0200), Thierry de Coulon via tde-users
wrote:
On Monday 25 August 2025 23:43:35 Jim via tde-users wrote:
It seems Nik has answered (partially or wholly, depending on your knowledge), although his answer doesn't address using xrandr to expunge the lie that the screen is 96 DPI.
I use Slackware, and the instructions are (evidently) a bit different for Slackware than for debian-based distros. I would have put some of these settings (such as the default GDK_DPI_SCALE) in ~/.xprofile, but maybe Debian doesn't play nicely with that way of doing things. (I have convinced Raspbian (based on Debian) to show everything at a reasonable size on a Hi-DPI monitor, and even though I don't have TDE on any RPi, if things work on Raspbian + fvwm than you should be able to get them to work on Debian + trinity.)
TDE works just fine on any RPi >= 3B (I have a RPI400 running TDE + LinuxCNC still in use). Anyway, nowadays even the RPI5 are not a sane choice - any used thinkpad has way more power an "obolete" Windows10 laptops will probably flood the market in some months .. just in case somebody need a red truck to play with :)
I guess you live in an area where people get rid of better laptops than where I live. The last few times I looked at used laptops all the laptops I saw were pretty ancient, and the prices for them were fairly laughable... and not in a good way.
The last time I bought a RPi I did consider a brand new Chromebook (which could be switched to Linux) which was on sale at some place like Best Buy. It was very low end, but still comparable to (at least) an RPi4, and given that it came with storage, power supply, screen, ..., it was arguably a better deal. But I know that the Pis are happy running 24/365 with very modest power needs, and since the Pis I have do run all the time, I went with another Pi in the end.
Cheers. Jim
Gee, I wonder why you can't just find it in the TL? (a little San Franciso reference) Pretty much everything is for sale there ... and not is a good way.
Bill
On Wed, Sep 3, 2025 at 22:05 (-0700), William Morder via tde-users wrote:
On Wednesday 27 August 2025 17:32:27 Jim via tde-users wrote:
On Thu, Aug 28, 2025 at 00:14 (+0200), Dr. Nikolaus Klepp via tde-users wrote:
Anno domini 2025 Tue, 26 Aug 16:15:04 -0300
Jim via tde-users scripsit:
On Tue, Aug 26, 2025 at 05:47 (+0200), Thierry de Coulon via tde-users wrote:
TDE works just fine on any RPi >= 3B (I have a RPI400 running TDE + LinuxCNC still in use). Anyway, nowadays even the RPI5 are not a sane choice - any used thinkpad has way more power an "obolete" Windows10 laptops will probably flood the market in some months .. just in case somebody need a red truck to play with :)
I guess you live in an area where people get rid of better laptops than where I live. The last few times I looked at used laptops all the laptops I saw were pretty ancient, and the prices for them were fairly laughable... and not in a good way.
The last time I bought a RPi I did consider a brand new Chromebook (which could be switched to Linux) which was on sale at some place like Best Buy. It was very low end, but still comparable to (at least) an RPi4, and given that it came with storage, power supply, screen, ..., it was arguably a better deal. But I know that the Pis are happy running 24/365 with very modest power needs, and since the Pis I have do run all the time, I went with another Pi in the end.
Gee, I wonder why you can't just find it in the TL? (a little San Franciso reference) Pretty much everything is for sale there ... and not is a good way.
Possibly I could find one there. But being many thousands of kms/miles/lis I don't think it would make sense to go there to find a cheap laptop.
Jim
On Thursday 04 September 2025 04:51:01 Jim via tde-users wrote:
TDE works just fine on any RPi >= 3B (I have a RPI400 running TDE + LinuxCNC still in use). Anyway, nowadays even the RPI5 are not a sane choice - any used thinkpad has way more power an "obolete" Windows10 laptops will probably flood the market in some months .. just in case somebody need a red truck to play with :)
I guess you live in an area where people get rid of better laptops than where I live. The last few times I looked at used laptops all the laptops I saw were pretty ancient, and the prices for them were fairly laughable... and not in a good way.
The last time I bought a RPi I did consider a brand new Chromebook (which could be switched to Linux) which was on sale at some place like Best Buy. It was very low end, but still comparable to (at least) an RPi4, and given that it came with storage, power supply, screen, ..., it was arguably a better deal. But I know that the Pis are happy running 24/365 with very modest power needs, and since the Pis I have do run all the time, I went with another Pi in the end.
Gee, I wonder why you can't just find it in the TL? (a little San Franciso reference) Pretty much everything is for sale there ... and not is a good way.
Possibly I could find one there. But being many thousands of kms/miles/lis I don't think it would make sense to go there to find a cheap laptop.
Jim
Let's just say ... lots of ordinarily expensive items for sale cheap ... of very questionable provenance, sold by persons of uncertain character.
There was a period awhile back when we would see persons in stores (sometimes, in groups) brazenly just taking products off the shelves and walking straight out the door. Later they could be seen sitting out in the street, not so far away, trying to resell their haul.
I am actually smack in midst of the moving process at this moment, sitting about 200 miles north of San Francisco, haven't been online for a week, just checking email. It will be awhile before I am completely moved here; uttery different world up north in the redwood forests.
But I couldn't help but of these illegal "street vendors": anything you want, they will promise to get it for you. Scary place. Carry a big stick.
Bill
Bill
On Thu, Sep 4, 2025 at 10:10 AM William Morder via tde-users users@trinitydesktop.org wrote:
I am actually smack in midst of the moving process at this moment, sitting about 200 miles north of San Francisco, haven't been online for a week, just checking email. It will be awhile before I am completely moved here; uttery different world up north in the redwood forests.
I lived in the Trinity forest for a while. Yes, it's a very different California.
On Thursday 04 September 2025 07:12:17 Curt Howland via tde-users wrote:
On Thu, Sep 4, 2025 at 10:10 AM William Morder via tde-users
users@trinitydesktop.org wrote:
I am actually smack in midst of the moving process at this moment, sitting about 200 miles north of San Francisco, haven't been online for a week, just checking email. It will be awhile before I am completely moved here; uttery different world up north in the redwood forests.
I lived in the Trinity forest for a while. Yes, it's a very different California.
Sorry for all those typos. I actually do know how to spell.
Does anybody else notice that? Since having left the handwritten word almost entirely behind me, I started leaving out not just letters, or make typos from similar keystrokes, but nowadays drop whole words from my sentences.
It's usually something obvious, that readers can fill in, if English is their first language; but I must apologize to other readers, making them guess what I intended to say.
Bill
said Thierry de Coulon via tde-users: | On Monday 25 August 2025 10:31:39 Felix Miata via tde-users wrote: | > dep composed on 2025-08-25 06:50 (UTC): | > > I have a line I need to run sometime before the desktop appears on a | > > dinky computer. It's an xrandr command that rotates the screen 90 | > > degrees to the right and sets 168 dpi. What I don't know is where to | > > put it. | > | > If you want it applicable to any and every user of the computer, on | > Debian, Ubuntu, Mint and kin, put it in /etc/X11/Xsession.d/. | | I have a bash script in /etc/X11/Xsession.d that does someting like | that. It reads: | | #!/bin/bash | xrandr --output eDP-1 --primary --mode 1920x1080 | | And sets this Thinkpad (that has high resolution screen) back to | something usable for a desktop. DOn't remember having done something | else.
Thanks. That is probably the location I need, though due to the peculiarities of this screen -- 7 inches, 1920x1200 resolution -- I'll use dpi = 168. I'll also have to add the command to rotate it 90 degrees to the right. Do you know if the commands can go on the same line, or must they be separate?
dep composed on 2025-08-25 21:32 (UTC):
Do you know if the commands can go on the same line, or must they be separate?
I don't think there is a limit. I set up as many as 4 displays on one line, all of resolution, position, dpi, primary and more.
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Curt Howland -
dep -
Dr. Nikolaus Klepp -
Felix Miata -
Jim -
Thierry de Coulon -
William Morder