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I have a normal PC-monitor as my main monitor that I use. Additionally, I also have my TV connected via a surround receiver. When I switch on my receiver if I for instance want to listen to some music, Ubuntu thinks that the TV (receiver) is now my main monitor and moves everything over to that monitor.

I miss a button that says "this is my main screen, keep everything here unless I specifically move something myself".

Is there any way to lock things into place and stop Ubuntu making assumptions about what I want? I'm on Ubuntu 16.04, but this has been a problem throughout at least the last three versions. Would love some help with this. Eternal gratitude :)

Screenshot with receiver OFF: Screenshot with receiver off

Screenshot with receiver ON: Screenshot with receiver ON:

I'm on Ubuntu 16.04 with everything stock as out of the box. Desktop environment stock (unity). Receiver is an Onkyo TX-NR3007, but I think that is irrelevant though. It has more to do with how Ubuntu handles newly detected screens.

What happens is that if I bypass the receiver and connect my computer directly to the TV, Ubuntu will always detect it and see it as connected, whether the TV is on or off, but with my receiver it is only detected as connected when the receiver is on. If I power off my receiver, Ubuntu will regard it as disconnected.

Without the receiver, the TV is always detected whether it is on or off, which helps Ubuntu remember which screens my windows (like Chrome) have been used in.

With the receiver, no connection is detected as long as it is off. Only when I power it on will it detect the HDMI as connected and then it will move all my open windows to that screen (which is what I don't want to happen).

Other OS's have built in a setting that says "primary monitor", which helps to lock windows to that screen regardless of whether any new screens are detected. If this is missing from the GUI, maybe there are some files that can be edited or something to create the same effect in Ubuntu?

I've had this problem since I started using Ubuntu (14.04) and I can see similar questions have been asked here without a proper solution: Is there any ability to set my primary monitor?

Is this something the developers should look at in the future?

It has been suggested to me that I need to make changes at system level, probably in the xorg.conf file. Anyone with knowledge in this area is encouraged to step forward :)

Bjørnar Simonsen
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1 Answers1

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You have to define your primary monitor when Ubuntu detects a second monitor. You can do that by going into your launch menu, typing display, and then choosing your primary monitor.

Tsetair
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  • There is no such setting in the GUI that I can see (Display Settings). I can choose where to have the launch bar and the relative orientation of the monitors, but no setting to define "primary" monitor that I can see. – Bjørnar Simonsen Apr 15 '17 at 08:59
  • @BjørnarSimonsen You can arrange the monitor where the rectangles are shown by clicking and dragging them. – userDepth Apr 15 '17 at 14:45
  • @userDepth, yeah I know (relative position). I'm looking for a way to keep one monitor as the main/primary monitor even when a new one is connected so that all the windows stay the same (i.e. not move to new monitor). – Bjørnar Simonsen Apr 15 '17 at 16:15
  • @BjørnarSimonsen have you seen this thread which discusses a similar exact issue? https://askubuntu.com/questions/231631/12-04-ubuntu-configuring-laptop-to-hook-up-to-tv-using-hdmi-cable

    from that link "(FN+F8) to cycle between Laptop only, TV only, Mirrored, and Extended desktop modes. Your laptop may not have this function button so you can also launch the Displays control panel either directly or from the System Settings application. "

    If this answer didn't work, then please provide ubuntu version,deskptop environment, reciever model, and screen shot of display config.

     – Tsetair Apr 17 '17 at 02:57
  • @Tsetair: First of all, thank you for giving a damn and trying to help. Really appreciate it. Added some screens and info on OP. – Bjørnar Simonsen Apr 17 '17 at 10:48
  • @BjørnarSimonsen So I haven't been to get to the bottom of it today. I will continue tomorrow.

    Here is my current line of thinking.

    Any graphic device manager that you configure, in your ubuntu session will be generated each session. Thus you cannot define an absolute primary value that will remain fix when you plug in your TV screen.

    So I am thinking the change needs to be done in the xorg.cong files, at a system layer but how I need to read up on. So far, I am looking primary, relative, or absolute positions. see man xorg.conf for more info. Ill continue looking at it tomorrow

     – Tsetair Apr 18 '17 at 15:35
  • @Tsetair That sounds very interesting. I'll check that out as well. – Bjørnar Simonsen Apr 18 '17 at 22:01