Ubuntu fix: Login screen too big, regular screen just right

By Steven Rosenberg on June 4, 2008 3:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) |

I've had this problem on one machine ever since I installed Ubuntu 8.04 LTS. It's a triple boot, with Ubuntu 6.06 LTS on one of the other partitions, and I never had this problem with the older LTS installation.

Basically, the Ubuntu login screen in 8.04 is too large to fit in the dimensions of the monitor. Once I'm logged in, my resolution is 1024x768, which is exactly how I want it.

But the login screen is so huge, I don't get the Options menu on the bottom, which comes in handy if I want to log in with another window manager.

And besides that, it's just not right.

Here's how I fixed the problem:

Ubuntu auto-configures /etc/X11/xorg.conf, and it puts in a lot of code that I've never seen before.

Before you start working on an xorg.conf file, it's a good idea to back up the old one:

$ sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.original

Then edit xorg.conf:

$ sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

Here's the relevant portion of xorg.conf:

Section "Screen"
       Identifier               "Default Screen"
       Monitor                 "Configured Monitor"
       Device                   "Configured Video Device"
       Defaultdepth           24
       SubSecton "Display"
              Depth   24
              Virtual 1280      960

I have never seen a "Virtual" setting in an xorg.conf before, but I knew that 1280x960 wasn't right.

The change was simple. I just made the "Virtual" setting what it needed to be, which is 1024x768:

Section "Screen"
       Identifier               "Default Screen"
       Monitor                 "Configured Monitor"
       Device                   "Configured Video Device"
       Defaultdepth           24
       SubSecton "Display"
              Depth   24
              Virtual 1024 768

I saved the file in gedit, closed the window and then logged out.

After logging out, my login screen was the proper size for my monitor.

An easy fix, to be sure, but why did the Ubuntu installer screw up this part of the X configuration in the first place?

I did start this install out when 8.04 was still in beta, so perhaps this problem has been fixed since then.

At any rate, it's an easy fix to make.

2 Comments

fstephens

said:

Virtual settings create a "virtual" desktop of a larger size than the monitor resolution. The idea is that you can pan around by moving your cursor to one side, top or bottom to see the hidden part of the screen. I hate it and always turn it off when present. I don't know why it would only apply to the login screen though.

I enjoy your blog, especially the tips, like the reseting Thunderbird passoword. Where did you find that one?

Ex LA resident and long ago Daily News reader.

June 4, 2008 4:27 PM

Steven Rosenberg

said:

I found the Thunderbird tip by Googling for it. It came up from the Mozilla site.

You'd think that being able to erase the Master Password would be a big security hole, but all the Master Password does is protect the OTHER passwords you use for the servers associated with your various e-mail accounts. All it does is allow you to log in with one password instead of several.

It's a better choice than allowing Thunderbird to remember all of your various passwords WITHOUT having a "master password" to safeguard them all.

So if you -- or anybody else -- erases your Master Password, all the other password information is erased as well, which is a very good thing.

After erasing the Master Password, I created a new one and then re-entered my e-mail account passwords.

The question I can't answer is why my Master Password got screwed up in the first place. Nobody was trying to hack into my account, as far as I can tell. It's an error of some sort in Thunderbird.

I'd love for them to fix whatever it is, but if it does happen again, it's easy enough to erase the Master Password and start all over again.

Annoying but doable.

June 4, 2008 5:26 PM