scaling and flailing
Posted: Wed Jan 07, 2026 7:09 am
Hi,
My daughter recently got a new laptop, on which I have installed Debian Linux ('sid' / 'unstable' forward rolling release); and then RnD from the Debian repository. And there are issues. I'll get to the install issues later, but...
The new laptop is a Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 6 with a 16" 3840x2400 screen. This means that most elements of Linux are, or would be, absurdly small on-screen, unless she enables scaling.
The installed desktop is Gnome, using all utter Debian defaults; so Gnome 49, 'Mutter' window manager, a Wayland session. Oh, and 'nouveau' video driver, for the moment -- machine has an NVIDIA GeForce 4080(laptop) GPU, and we will install the proprietary drivers eventually, but haven't tackled that tangle yet. The CPU also has built-in Intel 'Xe' graphics, and as far as I can tell, that is what's currently being used.
Anyway. For app scaling, there are actually two usable control 'knobs'. One is the actual screen resolution: she can tell it to 'be' 1920x1200 instead of 3840x2400 (presumably the hardware does pixel-doubling); or she can use software scaling at ratios like 125%, 200%, etc. Or both at once.
I was watching, not driving, when this stuff happened:
(1) with some combination of resolution & scaling, RnD's response to mouse clicks was 'off', as if it were receiving coordinates at the wrong scale. I think this had to do with scaling. This was reproducible on closing and reopening the game (i.e.: not related to any dynamic changes). For instance, in the level editor, clicks intended to operate various widgets in the lower right corner were instead seen as clicks in the middle of the edited playfield, drawing elements.
I suspect you could reproduce this on any Linux system with Gnome 49, Wayland session, 'Mutter' (default) window manager -- on which you configured scaling. It wouldn't have to be a 'high DPI' system or anything like that, just enable scaling and observe wrong click destinations.
(2) dynamic changes: when she actively changed the resolution or scaling (or maybe both) -- anyway, some such change -- WHILE an instance of RnD was running -- the RnD window lost its window decorations. No more top bar, not draggable or closeable with close box widget. This might likely be a window manager (or SDL?) bug, but might also involve something RnD could handle better.
This should again be fairly easy to reproduce, just set up the relevant window manager, then toggle scaling while RnD is running; toggle different screen resolutions while running.
Both of these are likely to be SDL bugs or just 'interactions'; and #2 isn't of much real importance. #1 makes the game difficult to operate, though.
Package versions likely to be of any relevance: mutter 49.2-1; libsdl2-2.0-0 2.32.10+dfsg-6; rocksndiamonds 4.4.0.5+dfsg-1
My daughter recently got a new laptop, on which I have installed Debian Linux ('sid' / 'unstable' forward rolling release); and then RnD from the Debian repository. And there are issues. I'll get to the install issues later, but...
The new laptop is a Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 6 with a 16" 3840x2400 screen. This means that most elements of Linux are, or would be, absurdly small on-screen, unless she enables scaling.
The installed desktop is Gnome, using all utter Debian defaults; so Gnome 49, 'Mutter' window manager, a Wayland session. Oh, and 'nouveau' video driver, for the moment -- machine has an NVIDIA GeForce 4080(laptop) GPU, and we will install the proprietary drivers eventually, but haven't tackled that tangle yet. The CPU also has built-in Intel 'Xe' graphics, and as far as I can tell, that is what's currently being used.
Anyway. For app scaling, there are actually two usable control 'knobs'. One is the actual screen resolution: she can tell it to 'be' 1920x1200 instead of 3840x2400 (presumably the hardware does pixel-doubling); or she can use software scaling at ratios like 125%, 200%, etc. Or both at once.
I was watching, not driving, when this stuff happened:
(1) with some combination of resolution & scaling, RnD's response to mouse clicks was 'off', as if it were receiving coordinates at the wrong scale. I think this had to do with scaling. This was reproducible on closing and reopening the game (i.e.: not related to any dynamic changes). For instance, in the level editor, clicks intended to operate various widgets in the lower right corner were instead seen as clicks in the middle of the edited playfield, drawing elements.
I suspect you could reproduce this on any Linux system with Gnome 49, Wayland session, 'Mutter' (default) window manager -- on which you configured scaling. It wouldn't have to be a 'high DPI' system or anything like that, just enable scaling and observe wrong click destinations.
(2) dynamic changes: when she actively changed the resolution or scaling (or maybe both) -- anyway, some such change -- WHILE an instance of RnD was running -- the RnD window lost its window decorations. No more top bar, not draggable or closeable with close box widget. This might likely be a window manager (or SDL?) bug, but might also involve something RnD could handle better.
This should again be fairly easy to reproduce, just set up the relevant window manager, then toggle scaling while RnD is running; toggle different screen resolutions while running.
Both of these are likely to be SDL bugs or just 'interactions'; and #2 isn't of much real importance. #1 makes the game difficult to operate, though.
Package versions likely to be of any relevance: mutter 49.2-1; libsdl2-2.0-0 2.32.10+dfsg-6; rocksndiamonds 4.4.0.5+dfsg-1