Desktop with dual screen

[jpfleury]

Note: this is a copy of the ticket 88028 on the SourceForge tracker.

I have an external monitor (1280x1024) attached to my laptop (1440x900). The monitor 1 (external) is set to coordinates (0, 900) and the monitor 2 (laptop) is set to (1280, 0). Monitors are connected only at a corner, so I can switch my cursor from a screen to another by the top right corner (monitor 1) or the bottom left corner (monitor 2):

            |¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|
            |             |
   Unused   |      2      |
            |_____________|
|¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯|
|           |
|     1     |    Unused
|           |
|___________|

I created one big wallpaper (2720x1924px) to handle both screens.

Now, the problem is that SpaceFM fills the desktop with icons by starting to coordinates (0, 0), i.e. on an unused space (see the attached screenshot).

A way to solve this may be to automatically detect used and unused spaces. I don't know if it's easily doable.

Another way may be to manually inform SpaceFM about coordinates of usable space. For example, with my configuration, I could inform SpaceFM to display icons from coordinates (0, 900) to (1280, 1924), and from (1280, 0) to (2720, 900).

SpaceFM may also fill with icons only one desktop.

Screenshot.

[IgnorantGuru]

Apparently GDK sees your setup as having a single GDK "screen" (multiple monitors have been merged into a single GDK screen). You can see where SpaceFM gets the enumerated screens from GDK here, and from your screenshot there is only one. And the fact that you're using 'one big wallpaper' also indicates a single screen. You're not really switching screens with your mouse, you're just moving your cursor from one area of the desktop to another (and the desktop happens to be displayed on multiple merged monitors).

So as you say I don't know how this would be detected. You basically want an option to display the desktop icons twice in two different areas of the same desktop. Have you seen other desktop managers handle this automatically?

[IgnorantGuru]

Probably can be done with these functions

[precutcolours]

Nitrogen nicely manages dual-head wallpaper but not under SpaceFM desktop management, even with the wallpaper option off. I'd like SpaceFM to offer checkboxes as to which bits of the desktop it will or will not manage (wallpaper, icons, automount, etc.). Yet I do love the idea of a future SPACE DESKTOP.

I'm a bit confused whether "daemon mode" (spacefm -d) will handle automount while leaving the other desktop stuff alone. Automount is definitely one thing I would prefer that SpaceFM/udevil/udisks2/etc. handle.

[IgnorantGuru]

I'm a bit confused whether "daemon mode" (spacefm -d) will handle automount while leaving the other desktop stuff alone.

-d alone without --desktop will handle automount, depending on the automount settings available via the Devices list context menu. Nothing of the desktop is handled in this mode.

[jpfleury]

Have you seen other desktop managers handle this automatically?

I really don't know, and I'm afraid that I won't be of great help because I no longer use a dual screen configuration.

[IgnorantGuru]

Noting this forum post as possibly related.