Testers with multiple monitors needed

[kovidgoyal]

Hi all,

Given all the recent issues with Qt and restoring windows on multi-monitor setups I have added code to calibre to manage the restoration manually, bypassing Qt. It works great on single monitor setups, unfortunately I dont currently have the hardware to test multi-monitor setups. So I need some assistance from the community with testing.

Download the beta builds with the code from: https://download.calibre-ebook.com/betas/


See if things work as expected for you with multi-monitors. If not restart calibre in debug mode and there should be lots of debug output printed about what calibre is doing to restore windows. Post the log and hopefully that will allow me to improve the algorithm. Right click the preferences button and choose "Restart in debug mode"

Note that if you run from source, the new code will be used automatically, no need to install the betas.

Thanks.

Reference to the underlying Qt bug necessitating this: https://bugreports.qt.io/browse/QTBUG-69104

[kacir]

Downloaded and installed Portable version on Windows 10, later I will try Linux version.
What should I test?

I have started Calibre, imported book, moved main window to third monitor, opened book on main monitor, opened preferences window on second monitor.
The only thing I can report is that I have selected "English" as the interface language during installation (so that I could report bugs easier) and when I open Preferences dialog I am getting icon labels in my native language (windows main language). When I click on an item, the next window is English only except title.
Edit metadata dialog and other dialog windows are in English again, as expected.

[chaley]

I have been running it for a few days now (from source) on my 2-monitor system. As far as I can tell it works -- I haven't seen any problems. I have used it a lot because the template debugger window saves and reloads the geometry & position on every breakpoint. Win10, both monitors are 1280 w x 1024 h.

And yes, there is *lots* of debugging info. If you intend to leave it, which I expect you do, it would be nice to have a hidden (plugin) tweak to turn it off so output from print statements isn't lost in the chatter.

[theducks]

I will give it a whirl (W10 x64) and report any issues (if I find any)

[kovidgoyal]

Just move windows around and close and re-open them, see if they re-open where they were last closed. If your operating system supports the concept of "virtual desktop" (where windows can stretch between two or more screens) try doing that and see if closing/re-opening still works.

@kacir: I am am going to ignore the language issue for the moment as I want to focus on this.

@chaley: yes we can add some kind of setting to configure debug logging, but also I will table that for later, as I want to make sure this functionality is stable for the next release.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

If your operating system supports the concept of "virtual desktop" (where windows can stretch between two or more screens) try doing that and see if closing/re-opening still works.

I positioned a dialog half on one monitor and half on the other. Worked fine.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Just move windows around and close and re-open them, see if they re-open where they were last closed. If your operating system supports the concept of "virtual desktop" (where windows can stretch between two or more screens) try doing that and see if closing/re-opening still works.

@kacir: I am am going to ignore the language issue for the moment as I want to focus on this.

@chaley: yes we can add some kind of setting to configure debug logging, but also I will table that for later, as I want to make sure this functionality is stable for the next release.

Should it be tested closing windows on monitor 2 and then disconnecting monitor 2 and trying Calibre with just monitor1?

[chaley]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Should it be tested closing windows on monitor 2 and then disconnecting monitor 2 and trying Calibre with just monitor1?

That works for me. I had calibre on monitor 2, along with an edit metadata dialog. I closed calibre, disconnected monitor 2, then opened calibre. It appeared on monitor 1 with the same geometry it had before.

I can't test what happens if the two monitors have different sizes.

[Leseratte_10]

I'm running the beta on Linux, not sure what I should be looking for.

Some windows remember their position, some always open on the 1st screen, some always open on the same screen as the main window.

Remembers screen:
- Calibre itself
- Book metadata editor
- Metadata download screen
- Cover download screen
- Book convert dialog
- Custom plugin settings screens ("ACSM Input" preferences, "Count Pages" preferences, "Quality Check" preferences)
- The "Get books" screen
- Add a new saved search
- Show book details
- Bulk convert
- "N plugin updates available" window
- Edit book


Always opens on the 1st screen:
- Calibre splash screen
- "Add books" file selection dialog / "Add new format to existing book" file selection dialog
- Preferences


Always opens on the screen the main Calibre window is on:
- Book reader
- The info window when clicking "Get books" ("calibre helps you find the e-books you want" ...)
- The "choose formats" dialog when clicking "Save to disk" -> "Save single format to disk"

Not sure if this is helpful or if I missed a bunch of dialogs; let me know if you need a logfile for any of these.

[kovidgoyal]

@Leseratte_10: Not all dialogs remember their positions. The splash screen does not and the file dialogs are native dialogs from the system by default so calibre does not control their placement. The preferences dialog had a linux specific issue, fixed by https://github.com/kovidgoyal/calibr...c166ac2cb5be92

The book reader by default does not remember its position/size. You need to enable it in the preferences of the reader (int he miscellaneous section). The Get books confirm/info dialog (and all such dialog really) are also not position remembering.

@JSWolf: If you disconnect a monitor, the size will only be remembered if the remaining monitor is the same size as the previous monitor the windo appeared in. Otherwise it will either be default size or it will try to fit the old geometry in the new screen as well as possible, making sure the entire window fits in the available space.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by chaley

That works for me. I had calibre on monitor 2, along with an edit metadata dialog. I closed calibre, disconnected monitor 2, then opened calibre. It appeared on monitor 1 with the same geometry it had before.

I can't test what happens if the two monitors have different sizes.

Can't you change the resolution of monitor 1 and 2 so monitor 2 is larger then monitor 1?

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Can't you change the resolution of monitor 1 and 2 so monitor 2 is larger then monitor 1?

That's what I would think too, though this may depend on the video chip/drivers. Until faulty caps killed the first GPU and I had to replace it, one of my old computers acted really weirdly at anything other than the monitor's native resolution - made playing some fullscreen games a pain.

This was a decade ago, so hopefully things have improved.

[chaley]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Can't you change the resolution of monitor 1 and 2 so monitor 2 is larger then monitor 1?

Perhaps I could, but I wont. To many things can go weird when using non-native resolutions.

[ownedbycats]

Originally Posted by chaley

Perhaps I could, but I wont. To many things can go weird when using non-native resolutions.

If you're on NVIDIA, look for an option in the control panel called "scaling mode." Setting that to anything other than full-screen may help.

[alumoi]

Sorry, no multiple monitors here, but THANK YOU VERY MUCH for making the edit metadata window remember size and position. Now I can finally update from 6.5.0.