Bug 514899 - Disabling display in Display Configuration fails with "Position of output eDP-1 is negative"
Summary: Disabling display in Display Configuration fails with "Position of output eDP...
Status: CONFIRMED
Alias: None
Product: systemsettings
Classification: Applications
Component: kcm_kscreen (other bugs)
Version First Reported In: 6.5.5
Platform: Other Linux
: NOR major
Target Milestone: ---
Assignee: kscreen-bugs-null@kde.org
URL:
Keywords:
Depends on:
Blocks:
 
Reported: 2026-01-21 13:25 UTC by Patrik
Modified: 2026-01-27 08:39 UTC (History)
6 users (show)

See Also:
Latest Commit:
Version Fixed/Implemented In:
Sentry Crash Report:


Attachments
Screenshot of Display Configuration - after attempting to disable the screen, showing the error. (233.84 KB, image/png)
2026-01-21 13:25 UTC, Patrik
Details

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Description Patrik 2026-01-21 13:25:48 UTC
Created attachment 188750 [details]
Screenshot of Display Configuration - after attempting to disable the screen, showing the error.

SUMMARY
On a laptop with built-in screen + external monitor connected and set to primary, System Settings - Display Configuration UI fails to disable built-in screen when unchecking "Device Enabled" and clicking on [Apply]. An error is displayed instead.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE
1. Boot into Plasma Desktop on a laptop with an external screen connected and set to Primary. 
2. Right click on Desktop -> Display Configuration
3. Select "Bult-in Screen"
4. Uncheck "Device: [x] Enabled"
5. Click [Apply]

OBSERVED RESULT
1. Error message is displayed:
    "Couldn’t apply display configuration: Position of output eDP-1 is negative, that is not supported"
2. Screen disappears from the arrangement, but displays stays on.

EXPECTED RESULT
Screen is disabled.

SOFTWARE/OS VERSIONS
Operating System: Arch Linux 
KDE Plasma Version: 6.5.5
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.22.0
Qt Version: 6.10.1
Kernel Version: 6.18.6-arch1-1 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 22 × Intel® Core™ Ultra 9 185H
Memory: 32 GiB of RAM (31.0 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor: Mesa Intel® Arc
Manufacturer: LENOVO
Product Name: 83D2
System Version: IdeaPad Pro 5 14IMH9
Comment 1 Patrik 2026-01-21 16:03:23 UTC
The issue only seems to occurr when the built-in screen (the one to be disabled) is positioned to the left of the primary (external) display.
Thus workaround here is to rearrange the built-in screen to the right of the primary display and then disable it.
Comment 2 Prajna Sariputra 2026-01-22 06:16:48 UTC
A workaround for this issue is to use the "Switch Display" keyboard shortcut, disabling the leftmost display from there works for me as well as also using that menu to place the external display to the left or right of the laptop display.

In my case the laptop display is the primary display and the external display is the one on the left though, so disabling the external through System Settings is where I get the problem.

Disabling the leftmost display using the terminal (with the `kscreen-doctor output.DP-1.disable` command in my case for the external display) also works, although reenabling that display using the terminal places it on top of the already enabled screen so I have to rearrange it manually that way.

Operating System: Arch Linux 
KDE Plasma Version: 6.5.5
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.22.0
Qt Version: 6.10.1
Kernel Version: 6.18.6-arch1-1 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 18 × Intel® Core™ Ultra 5 125H
Memory: 32 GiB of RAM (30.8 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor: Intel® Arc
Manufacturer: Framework
Product Name: Laptop 13 (Intel Core Ultra Series 1)
System Version: A2
Comment 3 madness742 2026-01-23 21:19:45 UTC
I can confirm.

It used to work fine in the past, if I'm not mistaken. Only the left-most monitor is affected. 

Operating System: Fedora Linux 43
KDE Plasma Version: 6.5.5
KDE Frameworks Version: 6.22.0
Qt Version: 6.10.1
Kernel Version: 6.18.5-200.fc43.x86_64 (64-bit)
Graphics Platform: Wayland
Processors: 32 × AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D 16-Core Processor
Memory: 64 GiB of RAM (62,4 GiB usable)
Graphics Processor: AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX
Manufacturer: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd.
Product Name: MS-7D75
System Version: 1.0
Comment 4 Rafal 2026-01-26 18:31:57 UTC
I also confirm.
My layout has 3 screens. 1 DP 1 HDMI replicated horizontal. 1 DP left align vertical. All of displays are 1920x1080. Turning on third display working, but when trying to turn it off error occurs.
Comment 5 Prajna Sariputra 2026-01-27 08:39:41 UTC
KWin 6.5.5-2 on Arch appears to have fixed this issue for me, when looking into what that package version changed it appears that the difference is this commit: https://invent.kde.org/plasma/kwin/-/commit/f79af348ed9f18bc30417df4bfe539383fd9fa77