Playing games on Linux with a unique display configuration.
Playing games on Linux with a unique display configuration.
I've become increasingly frustrated with Windows on my gaming PC. It functions fine for gaming, but whenever I try other tasks—like working on development, AI projects, or anything beyond browsing or playing—I face unexpected issues. Notably, it won't let Docker run smoothly. After flipping through several configurations and even installing Linux, everything except gaming works perfectly. The only hiccup is with gaming: I have four monitors connected, but the game always launches on the wrong one—usually the top or left display. It never lands on the main screen. This inconsistency is really annoying. Most of the time it's using the wrong resolution, shrinking the game window and messing up button placement. Occasionally, the input area shifts unpredictably across displays. If I disable everything except the main monitor, things work, but that doesn't feel right. I'm not sure what else to try since none of the usual fixes seem to help.
I'm running a Linux distribution, but Ubuntu isn't the best choice for gaming.
I'm searching for more details on a concept referred to as a "desktop hint." As someone using KDE, I'm familiar with the interface tools for managing such settings, but I haven't delved deeply into this topic. I've only encountered it briefly and seen it mentioned in documentation related to other software. When trying to look it up directly online, results are limited, so I might need to ask someone who's more experienced to clarify.
I was looking for options I hadn’t explored before, and I’m okay with revisiting what I’ve already tried. Having worked in IT long enough, I’m a bit modest about possibly overlooking something. I have faint recollections of resolving this problem once by somehow making one screen visible to games or similar, which is somewhat like what you’re proposing. But I can’t recall the exact steps, so I’m stuck now. Maybe setting up a VM with GPU access and a single display would work, but it feels excessive and not what I’m aiming for. I also avoid running things in Docker whenever possible.
I thought turning off and turning on the unwanted monitors was too much effort. ^^ This really shows how frustrated you are right now. Avoid doing this—there are more complex but still simpler ways to handle your game screen. I found what I needed: EWMH, but the steps are deeper than what you need. For practical solutions, consider using kwin instead. The random input mapping feels more like a WM problem than an X; try xdotool to locate, switch to full-screen, then move your game window. Are you using TwinView or Xinerama?
Locating and adjusting the windows isn't too complicated, I handle that easily. The issue with the display input mapping remains unresolved. I considered mapping the TV surface onto the other three screens, using it as the primary input area—similar to how touchscreen input was adapted for external displays on an older laptop. Unplugging the TV seemed to clear the odd mapping problems. For example, the Cyberpunk launcher stopped accepting mouse events, and the cursor disappeared when hovering over it. This new challenge appears connected to the shims used by Proton, though it's a minor win. The TV continues to behave unexpectedly even when powered off or disabled in xrandr.
Ugh, it looks like the weird input mapping keeps happening in some games but not others. Likely because the system isn't fully grasping the unusual layout then.