Lost sliding windows w/ DVI Syncmaster monitor

[Felix Miata]

Paul Rogers composed on 2020-04-02 18:18 (UTC-0700):

> ...vga=791 video=1024x768 at 60 3 nouveau.modeset=0...
 
> the vga= implies framebuffers

It only affects the vttys, and then only if KMS disabled. IOW, no expected impact
on X.

> video= for VESA driver

With NVidia and AMD GPUs, this applies only the the vttys, and only when KMS is
enabled. It does pass through to X if an Intel GPU with the Intel DDX. IOW, no
expected impact on X with your GK208.

I did boot once or twice along the way with neither vga= nor video= at least in
part to ensure the lack of impact on X whilst using VESA, as I have no material
previous experience using VESA purposely.

> I don't use framebuffers, straight VESA all the way.  I did try booting with video=1024x768.  No joy.

Were you expecting it to affect X in some manner? Consequent to my comment, no
joy WRT what?

Using neither, the vttys will either be 80x25 if KMS is disabled, making text too
big for my comfort, or the display's native mode if KMS is enabled, making text too
small for my comfort. I generally use a vtty mode that makes text ~double the height
(~141% of the size) that it would be using defaults.

> nouveau.modeset=0 is equivalent to nomodeset?  If you're using the VESA driver that does nothing, right?  Tried that, no joy. 

Right, equivalent to nomodeset except limited to NVidia GPUs, so not affecting X
operation using VESA. Again, what effect were you expecting consequent to my
comment that produced no joy?

> Have you got fluxbox on those distros? Get panning with those?

On none do I have fluxbox. On most I use IceWM when I want simple for testing.

In forming my previous response I did on a KDE/Plasma installation find it was
overriding the configuration, and didn't want to dig into its settings to try to
determine how to override its settings override. So on it I found IceWM behaved as
expected (working panning), but didn't include that activity in the response.

To confirm I repeated Ubuntu 16.04/kernel 4.4.x/XServer 1.18.4 but with IceWM. As
with the others and VESA, xrandr doesn't tell the whole story when it's in use.
Again it reports 1024x768 is the resolution, when what appears on the screen is in
800x600 mode panning out in all 4 directions to 1024x768. IOW, success!
http://fm.no-ip.com/Tmp/Linux/Xorg/paulR/xorg.0.log-g5eas-u1604-icewm-paulR-panningOK.txt
# inxi -SGxxza
System:    Kernel: 4.4.0-174-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 5.4.0 
           parameters: ro root=LABEL=foobarbaz noresume plymouth.enable=0 mitigations=auto consoleblank=0 vga=791 3 nomodeset 
           Desktop: IceWM 1.3.8+githubmod+20150914+fa3fdef dm: startx 
           Distro: Ubuntu 16.04.6 LTS (Xenial Xerus) 
Graphics:  Device-1: XGI Z7/Z9 vendor: Gigabyte driver: xgifb v: kernel bus ID: 0a:03.0 
           chip ID: 18ca:0020 
           Device-2: NVIDIA G98 [GeForce 8400 GS Rev. 2] driver: N/A bus ID: 0b:00.0 
           chip ID: 10de:06e4 
           Display: server: X.Org 1.18.4 driver: vesa resolution: 1024x768~N/A 
           OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 6.0 128 bits) v: 3.3 Mesa 18.0.5 compat-v: 3.0 
           direct render: Yes 

# cat /etc/X11/xorg.conf
Section "Device"
        Identifier "VESA"
        Driver "vesa"
EndSection
Section		"Monitor"
	Identifier	"Dell"
	HorizSync	30-81
	VertRefresh	56-76
EndSection
Section	"Screen"
	Identifier	"Screen0"
	Device		"VESA"
	Monitor		"Dell"
	DefaultDepth	16
	Virtual		1024 768
	SubSection	"Display"
	Depth		24
	Modes		"800x600" "1024x768" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
	SubSection	"Display"
	Depth		16
	Modes		 "800x600" "1024x768" "640x480"
	EndSubSection
EndSection

# xrandr
xrandr: Failed to get size of gamma for output default
Screen 0: minimum 640 x 480, current 1024 x 768, maximum 1024 x 768
default connected 1024x768+0+0 0mm x 0mm
   800x600        0.00  
   1024x768       0.00* 
   640x480        0.00  

# hwinfo --monitor
30: None 00.0: 10002 LCD Monitor
  [Created at monitor.97]
  Unique ID: rdCR.8OK+7dncs2E
  Hardware Class: monitor
  Model: "DELL 1704FPT"

> ...Note the complete absence of modelines in xorg.conf. They are an anachronism.
 
> OK, I took those out.  I use them because some video cards & monitors leave me
> with a wide "front porch", but for a test...  No joy.

Again I find myself unable to grok your expectation consequent to my comment.
-- 
Evolution as taught in public schools is religion, not science.

 Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!

Felix Miata  ***  http://fm.no-ip.com/