Feature #14965: Persistence preset: displays configuration

Feature #14965

Persistence preset: displays configuration

Added by 110100111011 2017-11-15 03:33:58 . Updated 2018-03-22 15:10:57 .

Status:

Resolved

Priority:

Low

Assignee:

Category:

Persistence

Target version:

Tails_3.7

Start date:

2017-11-15

Due date:

% Done:

Feature Branch:

doc/14965-dotfile-for-monitors

Type of work:

End-user documentation

Blueprint:

Starter:

Affected tool:

Deliverable for:

Description

This is nothing overly important, but its something very annoying when you try to use Tails with multiple monitors.

Every time you boot Tails, you first have to go into the settings, drag your monitors around so that they fit together correctly (so that moving the mouse out of the screen on the left side doesn’t make it appear on the monitor thats on the right from the current screen).
Also, the setting for which monitor is the primary one has to be adjusted, because Tails likes to pick the wrong one all the time.

Tails should remember these settings so that its not needed to readjust these every time you boot Tails.

It should be possible that this would be saved on some non-encrypted persistent volume so that the Tails Greeter already can appear on the correct monitor, which it wouldn’t if the setting could only be read after you entered the password for the encrypted persistent volume.
Ideally it should be configurable somewhere where this is saved, so that everyone can choose if he maybe doesn’t like the monitor configuration of the PC where Tails was last started on to be stored unencrypted on the USB stick, or if the better usability is worth it. I personally don’t see an issue with it being known on what PC the Tails on some USB stick was last used with.

I guess its way easier to just store it on the encrypted persistent volume, and that would be completely fine of course, usually doesn’t hurt to see the Tails Greeter on the wrong monitor.
There are configurations though where it does indeed hurt to have the Greeter always appear on the wrong monitor: If you have monitors connected that are not powered on, and Tails decides to always consider that the primary one, you first have to power those on or disconnect them from the PC to be able to start Tails. And you have to do that every time you start Tails. Having the monitor config stored non-encrypted so that the Greeter already knows about it would be a huge usability boost for those configurations.

Subtasks

Related issues

Related to Tails - ~~Bug #14697~~: Document workaround for Tails freezing with NVIDIA GTX 1080 when HTC Vive headset is connected to HDMI	Resolved	2017-09-21
Related to Tails - ~~Feature #9716~~: Persistent preset: display settings	Confirmed	2015-07-09
Blocks Tails - ~~Feature #14758~~: Core work 2017Q4 → 2018Q1: Technical writing	Resolved	2017-09-17

History

#1 Updated by mercedes508 2017-11-18 15:10:31

Status changed from New to Confirmed
Type of work changed from Code to Discuss

#2 Updated by intrigeri 2017-11-18 16:01:15

Subject changed from Tails should remember the monitor configuration to Persistence preset: displays configuration
Category changed from Accessibility to Persistence
Type of work changed from Discuss to Code

This seems to be a valid request for the encrypted persistence.

I would argue strongly against persisting this in clear text as such config contains essentially a history of all the computers a Tails stick has been used on, which I don’t think we should support saving in clear text.

#3 Updated by sajolida 2017-11-20 11:51:47

I would also like to have this as I’m suffering from what 110100111011 is describing.

I think that at some point I had something smart in my persistence to save my configuration but I don’t know how to do this anymore. Another first step would be to document this as an “Advanced topic”.

So if anybody knows where the configuration of the monitors are saved, tell us :)

#4 Updated by 110100111011 2017-11-20 13:14:17

> I would argue strongly against persisting this in clear text as such config contains essentially a history of all the computers a Tails stick has been used on, which I don’t think we should support saving in clear text.

I think ideally it should be configurable somewhere. If someone only has 1 PC and 1 USB Stick with Tails thats always connected to the PC, there is 0 benefit to storing the monitor configuration in an encrypted way, because its completely clear that that Tails on the USB Stick is always used with that PC for anyone who would ever have access to that USB Stick.

I would argue that shipping Tails with an easily accessible unsafe browser is way more of a security risk than shipping Tails with the option to store the monitor config in clear text on the USB Stick. If one is fine, the other is fine too.

#5 Updated by intrigeri 2017-11-20 17:53:38

> So if anybody knows where the configuration of the monitors are saved, tell us :)

Probably in ~/.config/monitors.xml

#6 Updated by sajolida 2017-11-21 11:00:28

> Probably in ~/.config/monitors.xml

Thanks!

110100111011: Can you try to make this configuration file persistent
using the Dotfiles feature:

https://tails.boum.org/doc/first_steps/persistence/configure#index13h2

#7 Updated by 110100111011 2017-11-22 04:58:19

Thanks!

I have tested it with that dotfiles feature, and it “works”. The greeter appears on the wrong monitor of course, but after you entered Tails, the monitor configuration is restored correctly.