X Server: The Screen Scrolls

Support knowledgebase (maddin_xfine)
Applies to

SuSE Linux: All versions

Symptom:

After having installed x, you have a perfect image and the x server runs stably. However, when you move the mouse on the screen border, the whole screen scrolls in that direction.

Cause:

In addition to the virtual desktops of the window manager, which can be activated on the lower control panel, the x server has set up an additional virtual desktop which can be accessed by scrolling as described above.

Solution:

There are two relevant sections in the file /etc/XF86Config:

First search for the following section concerning the screen (mostly located at the bottom of the file):

Section "Screen"
   Driver          "SVGA"
   ...
   SubSection "Display"
      Depth        8
      Modes        "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" "640x400"
      Virtual      1280 1024
   EndSubSection
   SubSection "Display"
      Depth        15
      Modes        "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" "640x400"
      Virtual      1280 1024
   EndSubSection
EndSection
The statement Virtual in the subsection "Display" defines the size of the virtual screen. Simply delete or disable this line with # at the beginning of the line if you do not want any virtual screen.

In old XFree86 versions (< 3.2 ), xf86config inserts automatically a virtual line.

In spite of having deleted the statement mentioned above, you can still have a virtual desktop if you are not working with the highest possible preset screen resolution.

In the screen section above, 5 different screen resolutions are available (if supported by the graphics card and the x server). These resolutions can be found in the line "modes":

Modes "1280x1024" "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" "640x400"
If you want to start the x server with a 1024x768 resolution as default setting, the modes line has to be like this:
Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" "640x400" "1280x1024"
If the x server is started with this setting, you will have a virtual screen with a 1280x1024 pixel size, even though you are working with a 1024x768 resolution "only". The reason for this is that the size of the x server screen is always the highest resolution available.

Thus, if you want to work with a 1024x768 resolution WITHOUT a virtual desktop, the modes line must be:

Modes "1024x768" "800x600" "640x480" "640x400"
That is, the rest of resolutions must be smaller than 1024x768 pixel.
Keywords: X SERVER, XF86CONFIG, INSTALLATION, VIRTUAL, SCREEN

Categories: X Server

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