Problem with icon fills entire screen- unusable (V 10.9)

Posts: 7 · EigenFunctions 20 Feb 2019, 13:56

I have been using FreeFileSync for a few weeks and it's great. However, all of the sudden the icons got so big, only one fits on the screen. It makes the program useless.
I then installed (manually) v 10.9 and the same problem exists. When I run it from a command line, I get the following error messages.

(

FreeFileSync_x86_64:6928): Gtk-CRITICAL **: 08:35:38.634: IA__gtk_widget_set_size_request: assertion 'width >= -1' failed



(FreeFileSync_x86_64:6928): Gdk-WARNING **: 08:35:39.093: gdk_window_set_icon_list: icons too large

Can anyone help?

Running Ubuntu 18.04, Acer laptop

Posts: 7285 · Zenju 20 Feb 2019, 17:41

Is this the same problem? viewtopic.php?t=6084

Posts: 7 · EigenFunctions 20 Feb 2019, 19:22

: FreeFileSync_Screenshot from 2019-02-20.png (84.56 KiB) Viewed 1677 times

Just to give an idea of the problem, see screen shot above. Can not use the program as is.

It appears the problem is not the one someone just posted.

Can anyone help?

Posts: 7285 · Zenju 21 Feb 2019, 09:58

What have you changed in your system setup when the above problems occurred?

Posts: 7 · EigenFunctions 21 Feb 2019, 11:30

If there were changes, I don't remember what was changed. I'm moving from windoz to Ubuntu and am customizing etc. to fit my needs.

What system level changes could cause this problem?

Posts: 7285 · Zenju 21 Feb 2019, 11:49

Probably something related to display resolution and DPI.

Posts: 7 · EigenFunctions 21 Feb 2019, 13:44

Probably something related to display resolution and DPI. Zenju, 21 Feb 2019, 11:49

Thank-you for your help.

I plugged in a second monitor (laptop + external HDMI monitor). There was a problem with the monitor where some of the display was off-screen. So I tried to change resolutions to fix it, but I could not.

So what changed and do you have an idea of how to fix the FreeFileSync problem?

Posts: 2 · Martin 23 Feb 2019, 22:09

Hi EigenFunctions,

I was looking for a solution to a similar problem and found your request which had no solving answers yet, so I had to find it myself.

First:

When I run it from a command line, I get the following error messages.

This is usual. You will get it on a bunch of progs which you start from command line. Just ignore it.

Second:

However, all of the sudden the icons got so big, only one fits on the screen. It makes the program useless.

This also happened to me since 10.7. But icons were not that big, in cause of a bigger resolution of my screen. So I could still work with FreeFileSync.

I fixed this problem by renaming \home\$user\.config\FreeFileSync\GlobalSettings.xml to GlobalSettings.xml.old.

However, this whole folder only exists at one device where I'm using FreeFileSync, not at the others.

Btw: I'm using Debian Stretch not Ubuntu. But Ubuntu is based on Debian. You might find the folder in the same place.

Greetings
Martin

Posts: 7 · EigenFunctions 23 Feb 2019, 23:33

Martin,

The messages output from the command line were just to see if there were error messages that would help solve the problem.

In any event, The VGA to HDMI convert just arrived and I started to use it. Well once the hi-res monitor started, the problem disappeared or at least got better. It turns out there is a menu entry "Tools"->"Reset Layout" that I never noticed before. It probably would have helped if I had know about it, but it did help in this case anyway. When I first executed the program, the layout was screwie with some of the panels vertical instead of horizontal. I pressed the "Reset Layout" button and it straightened it out.

I just hope that someone else can benefit from my experience.

Thanks for all the comments, they are appreciated.

Posts: 7285 · Zenju 24 Feb 2019, 09:40

Just to clarify: Increased icon sizes are not a bug in general, but a feature to compensate for high-DPI monitors. For example a 192 DPI monitor should receive icon sizes twice as large as a standard 96 DPI monitor: For the observer the icons would not become larger, but just sharper.

In EigenFunctions' first screenshot the icon sizes are larger than what can be explained by high DPI, so I suspect the system is returning nonsensical DPI information for the monitor.

This also happened to me since 10.7. But icons were not that big, in cause of a bigger resolution of my screen. So I could still work with FreeFileSync. Martin, 23 Feb 2019, 22:09

I'm wondering if the icon sizes are according to the expected behavior outlined above, or if there is a problem with incorrect DPI information returned by the system, too.

Posts: 2 · Martin 24 Feb 2019, 21:21

Hi EigenFunctions,
hi Zenju,

Sounds logically what you write about resolution and / or converting VGA to HDMI.

Funnily renaming \home\$user\.config\FreeFileSync\GlobalSettings.xml at my notebook (14'', FullHD) did the job, while on my desktop (32'', 2560x1440) not even the folder exists and there was never a prob. On my notebook images got 4x size (double height and length).

What about this file?

Greetz
Martin

Posts: 7285 · Zenju 25 Feb 2019, 09:18

Funnily renaming \home\$user\.config\FreeFileSync\GlobalSettings.xml at my notebook (14'', FullHD) did the job, Martin, 24 Feb 2019, 21:21

This implicitly resets the dialog layout, just like the "Reset layout" opion in FFS would have done.

images got 4x size (double height and length). Martin, 24 Feb 2019, 21:21

With 2x the height/width I'd expect your screen resolution to be 192 DPI.

did the job, Martin, 24 Feb 2019, 21:21

Icon sizes and panel layout are two separate issues that are a bit conflated in this thread. You can't change icon sizes by doing a layout reset, former are only dependent on first monitor's DPI.

Posts: 6 · jhbau3 3 Sep 2019, 05:36

I'm having the same problem on a fresh installation of Ubuntu-MATE. It looks just like the image above, from the first time I ran it on this computer. Renaming the settings file did nothing, and I don't have a high DPI display. I didn't change anything in the display or DPI settings, and everything looks normal except FreeFileSync and GIMP. GIMP had very large icons (not as big as FreeFileSync) and the window wouldn't maximize or resize. In the GIMP settings, I changed "Guess icon size from resolution" to "Custom icon size" and chose "Medium" as the custom size. Now it looks normal and the window behaves properly. I only relate that story in the hope that it helps diagnose the problem with FreeFileSync. I can't find any problems with any other program I have installed. I have FreeFileSync (and GIMP) running on another computer with the same version of Ubuntu-MATE with no problems. When I start it from a terminal on the other computer, it looks fine and the terminal window is empty, no error messages. When I do that on this computer I get the following line four times and the next one once:

(FreeFileSync_x86_64:3835): Gtk-CRITICAL **: 00:23:16.455: IA__gtk_widget_set_size_request: assertion 'width >= -1' failed

(FreeFileSync_x86_64:3835): Gdk-WARNING **: 00:23:17.222: gdk_window_set_icon_list: icons too large

Thanks for any ideas!

Posts: 7 · EigenFunctions 3 Sep 2019, 12:26

Try the solution from my 23 Feb 2019, 23:33 post. It worked for me.

Posts: 6 · jhbau3 3 Sep 2019, 12:56

Thanks for you help, but I don't see how either of the things in that post would apply to my situation.

I don't have a hi-res monitor or two monitors and I don't know what you mean by "The VGA to HDMI convert" anyway.

I did try "Reset Layout" before posting but it had no effect, and Zenju already said it wouldn't change the icon size.

Posts: 7 · EigenFunctions 3 Sep 2019, 14:18

Sorry it didn't work.

Just for completeness, the "VGA to HDMI converter" is a piece of electronics that has an HDMI cable and connector on one side and a VGA socket on the other. I use it to connect my laptop (HDMI) to an old LCD monitor (VGA).

For some reason, when I first plugged it in, it caused the problem with FreeFileSync.

Just to let you know, I am a user, not an IT person. I have no interest in spending my time learning more than is absolutely needed to fix broken software. However, I am more than happy to help by letting people know of solutions that worked for me. Sorry I couldn't help in your case.

In any case, best of luck to you.

Posts: 7285 · Zenju 5 Sep 2019, 15:32

@jhbau3: Can you make a quick test? I suspect this issue is somehow related to GTK2 lacking proper high DPI support. Therefore I've compiled two test versions:

1. FFS compiled against GTK2, but with DPI hard-coded to 96:
https://www.mediafire.com/file/f2j5ecytwytcsj4/FreeFileSync_10.16_beta_Linux_GTK2.tar.gz

2. FFS compiled against GTK3 (with implied DIP support):
https://www.mediafire.com/file/tp46323x2kpl1yb/FreeFileSync_10.16_beta_Linux_GTK3.tar.gz

What are your results with these two versions?

Posts: 6 · jhbau3 5 Sep 2019, 16:12

Hello and thank you, Zenju!

The GTK2 one looked different, and when I reset the layout it looked a little better. It was still all out of whack though, with vertically stretched and compressed elements, and a big space I couldn't fill. I could make it usable by dragging resize-handles, but I couldn't make it look normal. I can send a screenshot if it will help. The GTK3 one, after resetting the layout from the previous test, looks normal. Does that reveal anything?

Posts: 7285 · Zenju 5 Sep 2019, 17:43

I can send a screenshot if it will help. jhbau3, 05 Sep 2019, 16:12

Definitively! A screenshot after "menu->tools: reset layout" will help. Unfortunately this issue cannot simply be solved by using GTK3 (which has other unrelated problems that need to be addressed first, before FFS+GTK3 is ready for production).

The problem seems to be that FFS is currently compiling against GTK2, while also using the latest wxWidgets code. wxWidgets however has broken high DPI support for GTK2 lately, but I don't know when exactly. So older FFS versions (with older wxWidgets code) don't have these high-DPI issues when compiled against GTK2. Latest wxWidgets + GTK3 OTOH seems to be working fine with regards to high DPI, but: GTK3 has nasty multithreading limitations that are currently unaddressed by FFS and lead to application crashes.

Posts: 6 · jhbau3 5 Sep 2019, 18:08

I see. It's never easy!

Okay, this is with GTK2, right after "Reset Layout" (scaled down from 1920 wide). I can, from the point shown, drag grab handles on several of the elements to improve it somewhat, but this is what you asked for.

: FFS GTK2 after reset layout.jpg (64.59 KiB) Viewed 1365 times

Posts: 7285 · Zenju 5 Sep 2019, 18:37

As I suspected, the wxWidgets code inside wxAui is also broken. Let's make one more test: I've hacked wxWidgets to disable high DPI support even for GTK2. How does the following version look? (after layout reset)
https://www.mediafire.com/file/zwy4szqmcmjbvuf/FreeFileSync_10.16_beta_Linux_GTK2_No_High_DPI.tar.gz

Posts: 6 · jhbau3 5 Sep 2019, 18:58

Thanks again. That looks perfect!

This wxWidgets code problem doesn't show up for everybody though, including my laptop with the same version of Ubuntu-Mate. I guess the video card/driver matters? Anyway, now what? That doesn't sound like something I can do (or is it?) when compiling (which I don't usually do). I don't think you're going to disable high DPI support in release binaries. I guess I better backup my copy of this bespoke test version?

Posts: 7285 · Zenju 5 Sep 2019, 21:17

I'm not sure if someone is actually using the wxWidgets/GTK2 FFS build on a high DPI monitor successfully currently, so I'll disable high DPI support for the next release. At least this build will be usable on all Linux devices until FFS is ready to migrate to GTK3.

Posts: 6 · jhbau3 5 Sep 2019, 22:09

I'm going to ding your inbox again just to thank you.

Thanks for all your help! :-)