Desktop icons out of place when on multiple monitors?
I have two monitors set up, one is my laptop monitor and the other is an external display. The external display is on the right side of my laptop and levitated with a stand, so I set the display positions in the 'Displays' settings to reflect their physical position.
The following is a screen shot of my workspace switcher, the bottom left one is my laptop display and the top right is my external display.
So there are two main problems:
The desktop background reflects the display position that I set up in 'Displays' settings, and you can notice that all my desktop icons are in the top right corner which I have no access to, it's not in my display! If I move the laptop display to the top then they show up.
The workspace display is not correct on the big screen, it's missing the left part.
Does any Ubuntu expert know how to fix this? P.S. The system is 12.04 64bit.
This problem is still present in Ubuntu 14.04. After all this years nothing has been fixed, but at least I have an easier workaround for this problem.
I open a Files window (nautilus, nemo, etc.) and navigate to the Desktop folder. I select all my files and just drag and drop them anywhere I want in the visible (and accessible) desktop. No files get copied or cut since it's just a rearrange inside the same folder from two different interfaces. This way you don't have to be constantly changing the Monitor's configuration.
The problem still persist if you want to save or create new files on your desktop, because they all get created and/or saved in the inaccessible part of the desktop.
Similar problem here. But as Ubuntu remembers the icon position (it seems even depending on monitor setup), there is a (ugly) workaround.
I use my laptop at home (single-monitor setup, enternainment purposes, soft work) and at work (dual monitor, one taller than the other). When i stick an USB memory, ubuntu creates an icon on desktop, perfectly visible. But when i go to work and try to use it, i know the icon is there (using keyboard arrows to navigate I can reach it, and intro does open it), but out of view (as ubuntu never seen it in this monitor setup, it uses the last known position... the one in the other setup, out of current view.
In these cases, i use to change (temporarily) my desktop setup, moving the laptop's desktop position to one the icon is in, then moving the icon to a visible area in the other monitor, then return to my favourite setup, then moving te icon where i really want it to be. It's a tedious manner, but it works, without changing files, or scripting, nor nothing.
Or you can try to automate: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1472774