Hi Daniel, I did some testing because I seemed to be affected by this issue on Ubuntu 20.04. In fact I first used the script from bernaerts mentioned above (#4 for instance). Anyway I disabled its startup before these tests, I mentioned it to clear the ground.
So I followed your instructions in #147: everything seems to work, the two monitors.xml are identical and the configuration is correctly applied on my system. Then I tested some different real use behaviours, as I am working with a laptop attached to a TV and I not always have them connected, but most importantly I only use the TV to watch videos, while in normal use I prefer to work on my screen only. So I started with a new monitors.xml, setup the dual monitors (Join Displays) view, and then tried: 1. unconnecting the TV "on hot", then connecting it again 2. the same, but logging out and in between the two steps 3. turning off the computer as it is, unconnecting the TV, restarting, and connect the TV at some point 4. switching the configuration to Single-Display, then activating dual view again In cases 1-3 the configuration is back as expected, so everything ok. In case 4 the configuration is lost. This is because in 1-3 monitors.xml is unaffected (a monitors.xml~ is instead created and apparently used; not sure how that is handled), whereas in 4 it is overwritten and the TV is not only marked <disabled>, but its whole configuration (X,Y, scale, etc.) deleted. This might seem trivial, but I originally expected the single-display configuration not to interfere with the dual one in case 4 just as in the other ones. 4 is quite a usual behaviour of mine, and maybe not only: 1 and 2 are not recommendable (in fact, in one case the X session crashed); 3 is surely correct, but 4 might also be quite likely - a monitor/TV is physically connected, but used only at times (e.g., for watching movies or for particular tasks), so one would switch it off and want windows not to open there. Expecting the system to understand that "Off" does not mean "forget its configuration"... I think more people here fall in this kind of behaviour (surely #143 and likely #114), which is not really an issue of the configuration not being loaded, but rather a 'bad managing' of different situations -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Desktop Packages, which is subscribed to mutter in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1292398 Title: Second screen position isn't saved from one session to another Status in elementary OS: Fix Released Status in GNOME Settings Daemon: Incomplete Status in GNOME Shell: Confirmed Status in Mutter: Confirmed Status in Ubuntu GNOME: Confirmed Status in Ubuntu GNOME trusty series: Confirmed Status in Ubuntu GNOME xenial series: Confirmed Status in Ubuntu GNOME Flashback: Confirmed Status in Unity: New Status in gnome-settings-daemon package in Ubuntu: Triaged Status in gnome-shell package in Ubuntu: Confirmed Status in mutter package in Ubuntu: Confirmed Bug description: (Noticed on Ubuntu 14.04 beta 1 GNOME) At work I have a second screen, which I prefer to virtually put on the left side of my laptop screen. Using gnome-control-center I can change the position of the second without problem. But when I disconnect the second screen (to work on another place) and then connect it again OR if I just power off the laptop and turn it on again, the second screen position is set back to the default right position. ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04 Package: gnome-control-center 1:3.6.3-0ubuntu53 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-17.37-generic 3.13.6 Uname: Linux 3.13.0-17-generic x86_64 ApportVersion: 2.13.3-0ubuntu1 Architecture: amd64 CurrentDesktop: GNOME Date: Fri Mar 14 08:50:00 2014 InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-03-01 (12 days ago) InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-GNOME 14.04 "Trusty Tahr" - Alpha amd64 (20140226) ProcEnviron: TERM=xterm PATH=(custom, no user) XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set> LANG=fr_FR.UTF-8 SHELL=/bin/bash SourcePackage: gnome-control-center UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install) usr_lib_gnome-control-center: deja-dup 29.5-0ubuntu2 To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/elementaryos/+bug/1292398/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages Post to : desktop-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~desktop-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp