GDM (Login Screen) Resolution Too Big to Fit Screen? Try this…

For the longest time after installing KDE in Ubuntu, my login screen became too big to fit my screen. The resolution was permanently set to 1600×1200. I tried everything to change it back to 1280×1024 and nothing worked. I searched the Ubuntu Forums, Googled my head off, and eventually gave up.

Today, I decided to try again with different keywords and found the solution on the Ubuntu Forums.

Edit your /etc/X11/xorg.conf file:
sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf …and remove all 1600×1200 references (or the offending resolution) under the Section “Screen”. Perfect!

UPDATE (2008.01.29): Only remove all the offending resolutions if you do not plan on ever using them. I removed them all because I never change resolutions. And as Anne suggests in the comments below, changing your “Virtual” line to the correct resolution may also fix your problem. I say “may” because this had no effect in Ubuntu 7.10. It should work in Ubuntu 6.04 and 6.10. Anne suggests:

Choose the resolution you want for the login (say, 1280 x 1024)
edit your xorg.conf file.

In the Section “Screen”, SubSection “Display”, you have two entries:
Modes and Virtual.

For the login, X will default to the first resolution defined in the “mode” entry. Thus, you must select the resolution you want (say, “1280×1024@60″) and move it at the first position.

Next, the “Virtual” entry is used to have a larger desktop resolution than screen resolution (you can reach the zones “outside the screen” by moving your mouser pointer to the edges). Your Virtual section should have the same size you want for the login resolution (say 1280 1024).

Thank you Ubuntu Forum Users!

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Changing from Ubuntu to Kubuntu (Installing KDE to Ubuntu)

I decided to change from Gnome to KDE today. Why? The Gnome interface is too simple that it makes it very difficult to customize it the way I want. Many normal customization settings that I expect to find in a good environment – that I can easily access in KDE – are not accessible or don’t even exist (as far as I can tell) in Gnome. I find that the KDE environment is much more “geeky” and customizable than Gnome. I’m geeky that way…

Besides, I find that the Gnome GUI is “unsteady” or “unstable”. Not that it crashes all the time (cause it doesn’t), just that it seems weak in the way the windows are created. It’s just the “feel” of it, I guess. It’s kind of hard to explain. I find the KDE environment – although not as “pretty” as Gnome” – to be more robust, and that includes KDE software. I feel safer, more confident, with KDE.

I’ve used Gnome in different flavors in Linux over the years, and the Gnome environment is much better in Ubuntu than it was in previous versions, but I’m still not convinced that it is ready as the Desktop Environment to conquer Windows.

Now I just have to get used to KDE. I may have a different opinion after a few months in KDE. Who knows?

But if you are a user that only has Gnome (Ubuntu) and would like to have KDE available as a Desktop Environment option at logon, do the following command in Shell:
sudo aptitude install kubuntu-desktop
I ran into a few “issues” after. I ended up with an ugly KDE login screen. I had to do the following to get it back to normal:
sudo dpkg-reconfigure gdm
Follow the steps and choose GDM when asked.

Now that you have KDE installed, you can login to it by hitting F10 at the login screen or using the Options menu at the login screen.

The boot-up and shutdown splash screens also get changed to the blue Kubuntu splash, which I find really ugly. I like the default boot splash and shutdown splash.

To restore the original splash screens, open a terminal window and do the following commands:
sudo ln -sf /usr/lib/usplash/usplash-default.so /usr/lib/usplash/usplash-artwork.so
sudo dpkg-reconfigure linux-image-$(uname -r)
THE FIRST AND SECOND LINES ARE MEANT TO BE ONE COMMAND.  IT IS TOO LONG TO FIT ON ONE LINE IN THIS POST.

And now you are back to the normal Ubuntu splash theme, but with the option of loading the KDE Desktop Environment.

If your login screen’s resolution suddenly becomes too big to fit your screen, read this post.

Enjoy your new KDE!