I have a double monitor setup. The main monitor is connected to the video card by a DVI adapter and the secondary monitor, which is on the left (east) side of the main one, is connected to the video card with a Display port. When I turn off the main monitor, everything continues to work normal. I can use the secondary monitor as intended and usual. However, if I turn off the secondary monitor that is connected via Display port, the main monitor also goes black, with no signal. After I turn on the secondary monitor again the main monitor comes alive again with an error message indicating Plasma crashed. The main monitor will not come alive again, as long as the secondary monitor is off. When I try the same thing on Windows 7, it gives an audio signal such as the one one hears when a device is unplugged and the main monitor goes black. Within seconds another audio signal is heard such as the one one hears when a device is plugged, and the main monitor comes alive, while the secondary monitor is still off. Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: See the details above. Expected Results: The video signal to the main monitor should not be lost when the secondary monitor is turned off. Or at the least, plasma should not crash, and help recover the main monitor quickly from the change in configuration.
Created attachment 96418 [details] Dialog reporting the Plasma crash This is what I get after turning on the secondary monitor again.
Let me first correct an error in the first message. Left is supposed to be west, not east :). To clarify, when you face the monitors, the main one is in front of you, and the secondary one is on the left side of the main one. I switched the main monitor connection from DVI to display cable, and the problem resolved. Now when I turn off the secondary monitor, I replicate the behavior that happens with Windows 7. The main monitor goes blank for a few seconds, and then comes back. The mouse cursor is limited to the borders of this monitor and does not go beyond. Turning off the main monitor is more smooth, it doesn't cause the secondary monitor to go blank or anything, but also the mouse cursor is NOT limited to the secondary monitor borders as it disappears from the edge of this monitor. I am lucky to have two display ports on my video card, as well as having one display port on each of my monitors, but not everybody may have this luxury. I humbly believe that it may be better to make Kscreen/Plasma prepared for those kind of scenarios.
Dear Bug Submitter, This bug has been stagnant for a long time. Could you help us out and re-test if the bug is valid in the latest version? I am setting the status to NEEDSINFO pending your response, please change the Status back to REPORTED when you respond. Thank you for helping us make KDE software even better for everyone!
Dear Bug Submitter, This bug has been in NEEDSINFO status with no change for at least 15 days. Please provide the requested information as soon as possible and set the bug status as REPORTED. Due to regular bug tracker maintenance, if the bug is still in NEEDSINFO status with no change in 30 days the bug will be closed as RESOLVED > WORKSFORME due to lack of needed information. For more information about our bug triaging procedures please read the wiki located here: https://community.kde.org/Guidelines_and_HOWTOs/Bug_triaging If you have already provided the requested information, please mark the bug as REPORTED so that the KDE team knows that the bug is ready to be confirmed. Thank you for helping us make KDE software even better for everyone!
Dear Andrew, Thank you for your response. Unfortunately, I cannot test this anymore, since I don't have a dual monitor set up anymore. However, I still notice occasional X server crashes, especially when I turn off the single monitor before I log off KDE or switch to lock screen first. I reported this bug to freedesktop bugzilla too (https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=101669). I do observe occasional system freezes as well, when I leave the system on but the monitor off at the SDDM login screen. I convinced myself that it may be related to the (nonfree) Nvidia modules I am using. I have not tried to reproduce any of the behaviors reported above using the nouveau driver. I am ready to test/experiment, but be warned, I do not have a technical background :), so I would probably need a little more hand holding than usual. Thanks!
Thank you for the crash report. As it has been a while since this was reported, can you please test and confirm if this issue is still occurring or if this bug report can be marked as resolved. I have set the bug status to "needsinfo" pending your response, please change back to "reported" or "resolved/worksforme" when you respond, thank you.
This bug has been in NEEDSINFO status with no change for at least 30 days. The bug is now closed as RESOLVED > WORKSFORME due to lack of needed information. For more information about our bug triaging procedures please read the wiki located here: https://community.kde.org/Guidelines_and_HOWTOs/Bug_triaging Thank you for helping us make KDE software even better for everyone!