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    [DESKTOP] Display settings mess up when switching monitor inputs

    I have a dual 4k monitor setup, bottom one is primary going through a KVM and top one is secondary. Top one has a secondary input going to my work PC to act as a secondary monitor for work, this uses displayport to the work PC, while HDMI is used straight to my PC. Bottom one on the KVM is HDMI too and work PC is also hooked up to KVM for another monitor as well. There is a separate monitor for primary for work that is separate from the Linux one.

    For working from home I just switch the input of the top monitor to work PC, then I can KVM for the bottom one to go between personal and work PC. For some reason when I switch the input on the top monitor it starts screwing with my display settings in Linux, it acts like the monitor is not there basically. It's very random though. It will duplicate the displays, and put them one on top of each other, like literally, both screens on top, I need to drag them up then get the order right and basically mess around until everything is back to normal. I need to do this every time I simply switch the input. Very annoying.

    To be fair Windows is HORRIBLE for this and will do it even if you simply turn off a monitor, and people have been complaining about that since like 2010 and they refuse to fix it. It seems to be a displayport thing, but in this case the Linux one is hooked up via HDMI so I don't know why it's doing it. I'm hoping it's not the same in Linux and that there is actually a fix. So is there a setting somewhere for this? I just want it to not change my display settings no matter what input the monitor is set to.

    #2
    Well, you can hope for a fix, but let's be fair, you aren't exactly using a "standard" setup. I've had a similar issue in the past because Plasma/xorg wasn't handling 4K very well (might actually be part of your problem). In my case, it would pick a default refresh rate that wouldn't display on my monitor so I'd end up with a black screen.

    It sounds like your monitor deactivates the second port when you switch it to the other port, thus Plasma and Windows detect the monitor being removed. BTW, I can promise you - turning off a monitor will force a re-arrangement of display setting on just about every OS. What would be the point of a desktop manager if it left open windows on a monitor that was gone?

    Rather than just waiting for a fix that may never come, you can probably force your setup using xorg and turn off your auto-rearrange functionality. That's what I did on my laptop, I have the log in process run a small script that sets my monitor correctly. IIRC, that's all I had to do. If you want to enjoy more than one configuration, build a fancier script that detects current setup or even allows you to choose what you want. All very doable and not very difficult.

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      #3
      KSCREEN2 is the culprit. I found this that might be helpful:

      https://www.reddit.com/r/kde/comment..._screen_setup/

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