Icons and font resolution

[Tridina]

Hello, I’m having a little resolution issue on my install of Garuda (I have KDE version).

I have two monitors, one has resolution of 1920x1080 and the other has resolution of 3840x2160 and the issue is in the resolution of some things displayed on the 3840x2160 monitor. For example, if I look at the top right of the screen the time displayed there has the same size on both screens, but the nearby icons (wifi, connected devices, clipboard…) they are very small on the higher resolution screen, they’re displayed in two rows one of top of the other, and only take the space that a single icon takes on the lower resolution screen (in the higher resolution monitor 4 icons take up about the same space of the nearby internet usage display).

Same thing goes to the text in the top left corner, I can barely read it on the 3840x2160 screen, while on the other is fine, it also happens with the taps that appear if a program is opened (file, settings, tools…). Also the applications menu is much smaller, it takes way less than half screen in height. This resolution problem also goes for many texts, like anything written in a document and opened in Kate, the texts inside the settings app also are all small.

It feels to me like the system is ‘scaling’ them for a resolution of 1920x1080, even if that monitor is disabled, unplugged, the higher resolution one is set as primary… Again, not all the elements are wrong sized, the time on top right of the screen looks the same on both monitors and also the bottom taskbar has no issues.

In the general FAQ I found this :

Continuing the discussion from Garuda Linux General FAQ:

@dr460nf1r3

I have a high resolution monitor and things don’t look pretty, what do I do?

Answer

We have made things easy and added a toggle for HiDPI mode in the Garuda welcome app. Find it in the settings tab!

I haven’t found where this HiDPI toggle is, could that be a fix for the issue?

I’ve also seen the thread “Display Manager multi-monitor configuration”, but I’m not sure the matters discussed there could help with my issue as it happens even if I just boot with the 3840x2160 monitor.

One final thing, under the display settings both monitors are recognized correctly in resolution and everything.

Hope someone can point me in the right direction!

[filo]

I don't have specific experience on scaling, HiDPI and multi monitor in general, but I think that providing your garuda-inxi would give a more complete picture.

[FGD]

@Tridina

the nearby icons (wifi, connected devices, clipboard…) they are very small on the higher resolution screen, they’re displayed in two rows one of top of the other, and only take the space that a single icon takes on the lower resolution screen

This could be due to the fact your System Tray is not setup to scale icons. By default Garuda has it not to scale system tray icons, which is normally fine on lower rez monitors. But on high rez, like yours and mine are 4K, it looks better if you open up the Configuration page of the System Tray and check that box that says something like “Scale icons”.

[Tridina]

Ok, thanks for the response, where can I find the system tray settings, I can just search it in the settings?

Here's my inxi, here's the result :

System:
Kernel: 6.1.1-zen1-1-zen arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
root=UUID=1b38e87f-3760-49b3-866d-731b5f0b0a33 rw rootflags=subvol=@
quiet
cryptdevice=UUID=9074fab6-463a-46ea-a0e4-f3e75f597eae:luks-9074fab6-463a-46ea-a0e4-f3e75f597eae
root=/dev/mapper/luks-9074fab6-463a-46ea-a0e4-f3e75f597eae quiet splash
rd.udev.log_priority=3 vt.global_cursor_default=0 loglevel=3 ibt=off
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.26.4 tk: Qt v: 5.15.7 info: latte-dock
wm: kwin_x11 vt: 1 dm: SDDM Distro: Garuda Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: ROG STRIX X570-E GAMING WIFI II
v: Rev X.0x serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends v: 0309
date: 08/16/2021
CPU:
Info: model: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 3 gen: 4
level: v3 note: check built: 2021-22 process: TSMC n7 (7nm)
family: 0x19 (25) model-id: 0x21 (33) stepping: 0 microcode: 0xA201016
Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 8 tpc: 2 threads: 16 smt: enabled cache:
L1: 512 KiB desc: d-8x32 KiB; i-8x32 KiB L2: 4 MiB desc: 8x512 KiB
L3: 32 MiB desc: 1x32 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 3760 high: 3800 min/max: 2200/4850 boost: enabled
scaling: driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: performance cores: 1: 3800 2: 3800
3: 3800 4: 3800 5: 3800 6: 3800 7: 3800 8: 3800 9: 3590 10: 3800 11: 3800
12: 3800 13: 3800 14: 3604 15: 3570 16: 3800 bogomips: 121371
Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
Vulnerabilities:
Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
Type: l1tf status: Not affected
Type: mds status: Not affected
Type: meltdown status: Not affected
Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
Type: retbleed status: Not affected
Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
prctl
Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
sanitization
Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW,
STIBP: always-on, RSB filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected
Type: srbds status: Not affected
Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
Device-1: NVIDIA GA102 [GeForce RTX 3080 Ti] vendor: ASUSTeK driver: nouveau
v: kernel non-free: 525.xx+ status: current (as of 2022-12) arch: Ampere
code: GAxxx process: TSMC n7 (7nm) built: 2020-22 pcie: gen: 4
speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 ports: active: DP-1,HDMI-A-1
empty: DP-2,DP-3,HDMI-A-2 bus-ID: 09:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:2208
class-ID: 0300
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.6 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.7
compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: modesetting,nouveau
alternate: fbdev,nv,vesa gpu: nouveau display-ID: :0 screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 5760x2160 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 1522x571mm (59.92x22.48")
s-diag: 1626mm (64")
Monitor-1: DP-1 pos: primary,right model: Samsung U28H75x serial: <filter>
built: 2018 res: 3840x2160 hz: 60 dpi: 161 gamma: 1.2
size: 607x345mm (23.9x13.58") diag: 698mm (27.5") ratio: 16:9 modes:
max: 3840x2160 min: 720x400
Monitor-2: HDMI-A-1 mapped: HDMI-1 pos: left model: Samsung built: 2014
res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 55 gamma: 1.2 size: 885x498mm (34.84x19.61")
diag: 801mm (31.5") ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
API: OpenGL v: 4.5 Mesa 22.3.1 renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 14.0.6 256 bits)
direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: NVIDIA GA102 High Definition Audio vendor: ASUSTeK
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16
bus-ID: 09:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:1aef class-ID: 0403
Device-2: AMD Starship/Matisse HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16
bus-ID: 0b:00.4 chip-ID: 1022:1487 class-ID: 0403
Sound API: ALSA v: k6.1.1-zen1-1-zen running: yes
Sound Server-1: PulseAudio v: 16.1 running: no
Sound Server-2: PipeWire v: 0.3.63 running: yes
Network:
Device-1: MEDIATEK MT7921K Wi-Fi 6E 80MHz driver: mt7921e v: kernel pcie:
gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 14c3:0608
class-ID: 0280
IF: wlp3s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Device-2: Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE vendor: ASUSTeK driver: r8169 v: kernel
pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: e000 bus-ID: 04:00.0
chip-ID: 10ec:8125 class-ID: 0200
IF: enp4s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Device-3: Intel I211 Gigabit Network vendor: ASUSTeK driver: igb v: kernel
pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: d000 bus-ID: 05:00.0
chip-ID: 8086:1539 class-ID: 0200
IF: enp5s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
Device-1: MediaTek Wireless_Device type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
bus-ID: 1-6:5 chip-ID: 0e8d:0608 class-ID: e001 serial: <filter>
Report: bt-adapter ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: down
bt-service: enabled,running rfk-block: hardware: no software: no
address: <filter>
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 5.74 TiB used: 15.42 GiB (0.3%)
SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Seagate model: ST2000DM008-2FR102
size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
type: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter> rev: 0001 scheme: GPT
ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Seagate model: ST2000DM008-2FR102
size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
type: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter> rev: 0001 scheme: GPT
ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 870 EVO 250GB
size: 232.89 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 1B6Q scheme: GPT
ID-4: /dev/sdd maj-min: 8:48 vendor: Seagate model: ST2000DM008-2FR102
size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
type: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter> rev: 0001 scheme: GPT
ID-5: /dev/sde maj-min: 8:64 type: USB model: USB Disk 3.0 size: 57.99 GiB
block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: N/A serial: <filter>
rev: 8.01 scheme: GPT
SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure?
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 57.68 GiB size: 57.68 GiB (100.00%)
used: 15.42 GiB (26.7%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/dm-0 maj-min: 254:0
mapped: luks-9074fab6-463a-46ea-a0e4-f3e75f597eae
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
used: 752 KiB (0.2%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sde1 maj-min: 8:65
ID-3: /home raw-size: 57.68 GiB size: 57.68 GiB (100.00%)
used: 15.42 GiB (26.7%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/dm-0 maj-min: 254:0
mapped: luks-9074fab6-463a-46ea-a0e4-f3e75f597eae
ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 57.68 GiB size: 57.68 GiB (100.00%)
used: 15.42 GiB (26.7%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/dm-0 maj-min: 254:0
mapped: luks-9074fab6-463a-46ea-a0e4-f3e75f597eae
ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 57.68 GiB size: 57.68 GiB (100.00%)
used: 15.42 GiB (26.7%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/dm-0 maj-min: 254:0
mapped: luks-9074fab6-463a-46ea-a0e4-f3e75f597eae
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 62.7 GiB used: 4.8 MiB (0.0%) priority: 100
dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 33.0 C mobo: 29.0 C
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Info:
Processes: 343 Uptime: 1m wakeups: 0 Memory: 62.7 GiB used: 2.92 GiB (4.6%)
Init: systemd v: 252 default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers:
gcc: 12.2.0 clang: 14.0.6 Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1995 libs: 563
tools: octopi,paru Shell: fish v: 3.5.1 default: Bash v: 5.1.16
running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.24
Garuda (2.6.12-1):
System install date:     2022-12-31
Last full system update: 2023-01-05
Is partially upgraded:   No
Relevant software:       NetworkManager
Windows dual boot:       Probably (Run as root to verify)
Snapshots:               Snapper
Failed units:

[FGD]

@Tridina

where can I find the system tray settings

You can follow this KDE tutorial Plasma/SystemTray - KDE UserBase Wiki
It’s old, but the first steps will bring you to the settings page, which is what you need.

[Tridina]

Thanks for that, the icons now are bigger, that issue is solved. I followed the guide without issues. It didn't change other resolutions though...

I made a picture to show the issue :

This is how the app menu looks on both screens, as you can see the one on the right (which is the 3840x2160 monitor) displays it I believe literally half the size, and the fonts are scaled down accordingly so it's very hard to read. You can also see over it the 'Garuda KDE dragonized' text how different it looks while the red dragon icon behaves as expected.

Again, this happens for every app, konsole, firedragon, VLC, octopi, kate... everything seems scaled down for some reason... Again, screen resolution is correctly recognized.

Any idea why this may be happening? It seems odd to me that it would behave like this...

[FGD]

You might need to reduce monitor resolution on your 4K to better match the other monitor, assuming that is what I understand you want to do?
For example if you scale down your 4K to 85% the tue 4K resolution, you will see quite bigger.

There are ways to do that when using multiple monitors but I am totally unfamiliar with this. I know either on youtube or other forums/reddit there are answers to that. Probably someone here on the forum as well but I have no idea who.

[mrvictory]

@Tridina

Device-1: NVIDIA GA102 [GeForce RTX 3080 Ti] vendor: ASUSTeK driver: nouveau

Running FOSS drivers for Nvidia may cause issues in the future, please install propriearty drivers and reboot:

sudo pacman -S nvidia-dkms

For small font issue, go to System Settings > Display and Monitor and set a higher scaling factor for 4K monitor.

[mrvictory]

This is also for per display scaling if system settings doesn't work:

r/kde - How to enable Per-display scaling

[Tridina]

@FGD

You might need to reduce monitor resolution on your 4K to better match the other monitor, assuming that is what I understand you want to do?

I mean, what I want to do is having both monitors displaying fonts and UI components the same dimension, like in the picture I uploaded, I would like the apps menu to be the same size on both monitors… because in the left monitor the menu takes up about half of the screen, a bit more, while in the right one it takes maybe a third of the screen? While the icons on the bar at the bottom, they look exactly the same size on both screens

@mrvictory

For small font issue, go to System Settings > Display and Monitor and set a higher scaling factor for 4K monitor.

I’ll give a try to the scaling factor and will check the pre-display scaling, thanks!

[Tridina]

@mrvictory

System Settings > Display and Monitor and set a higher scaling factor

So, I tried doing that with a scale of 150% and now the 3840x2160 looks as I had expected it to be. Being a global scale now some stuff in the lower resolution monitor became quite big, but that’s better than not being able to read. Thanks a lot for the help!