Crazy wallpaper issues in OpenSUSE/Gnome

JaceSchin

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So I altered a picture that I took in Photoshop to make a wallpaper. I exported it as a .png file at 600ppi and file was 24.4MB. I set it as my wallpaper and then my computer froze. I restarted it and only the top left corner and the bottom right corner of the image was visible. The other areas of the screen were just black. When I moved the cursor the background flickered. I can select things but it is a really slow process. I can switch to my KDE Plasma desktop just fine and access all of my files because it has a different wallpaper. I first put this wallpaper on my MacBook Pro (Late 2014) at the exact same size and had no issues. I eventually fixed the problem by switch the wallpaper back to what it was before but that took awhile because my computer was running extremely slow, it was so slow I couldn't tell if it was actually frozen or not.

Does anyone if this problem is related to Gnome or OpenSUSE? Is there a limit to how big a wallpaper can be?

I couldn't screen capture what it looked like because it was freaking out, but I attached a recreation of what it looked like.

I don't think my computer is the problem because the specs aren't that bad.

i5 4670k
Asus Z87-Pro
4x32 DDR3 1866 G.Skill Sniper
AsRock RX570 4gb
500GB Samsung EVO Sata Boot Disc
 

Attachments

  • Deer Creek Wallpaper glitch-01.jpg
    2.6 MB · Views: 449


Something is definitely wrong with that image! 600ppi is way overkill for a JPG and perhaps, because it was done with Photoshop, the jpeg format or color palette is incompatible. Suggest using GIMP.

GIMP is free, the learning curve is not steep, and is good enough for 90% of Users. I've sworn by it for years.

Good site with downloadable manual
 
For a wallpaper, you don’t really need the image to be bigger than the maximum native resolution of the monitor.
And if you do use a larger image, its dimensions should be in the same aspect ratio as the monitor too.

As sp331yi has said, it could be some problem with the format of the file.

But also because it is so high res, your pc might be having problems scaling the entire image down on the fly. You said that setting the image as your desktop background slows your pc to a crawl. If your desktop is having to scale that image 50-60 times per second - I’m hardly surprised!

However, thinking about it, if a large desktop image causes this kind of problem - that does sound like it might be a bug with Gnomes wallpaper display mechanism, perhaps?!

Because even if the monitor is refreshed 50-60 times per second, the image should really only need be scaled once when it is initially set - and then the Pre-scaled image should be cached in a buffer somewhere. Then on each refresh, it should be a case of blasting the cached image to the monitor.

From what you have described, it definitely sounds like it could be that your desktop is scaling the source image on each refresh of the screen. Or perhaps it is the initial scaling that is causing the slowdown! Or again, it could just be something about the file format, or the palette that is slightly off! IDK - this is all just conjecture on my part!

Without looking at the original image and/or the source code for gnome, I can’t verify the cause of your problem.

But whatever is happening - scaling your wallpaper image down to the exact dimensions of your current resolution should work around the problem. Because if the image is already at the correct resolution, then no further scaling will be required by the desktops wallpaper management system and when you convert/scale your image, it should hopefully fix any inconsistencies in the file format. Unless the file is somehow completely borked!

Sp331yi’s suggestion of using Gimp to create a scaled down version of your image is a good one. Or you could Install and use imagemagick‘s convert tool. Or perhaps just re-export the original image from photoshop at the correct resolution.
 
Ok cool, thanks for your insights! The aspect ratio is the same as my monitor but the color palette is an interesting idea. By default I usually always export in CMYK, because of my history in Graphic design for print files, however the monitor is obviously RGB. I wonder if that has anything to do with it other than the enormous size. I ended up just exporting it as a .jpg at 150ppi (total of 4MB) and it looks just fine on my 1080p tv, haha. I think I’ll try exporting it in RGB, that may make the colors more accurate.
Gimp and Inkscape are cool! but I’ve been using Adobe since high school. If there is a way to get it on Linux I would completely switch over. It’s the only reason that I am still buying MacBooks.
 
I've been using GIMP for about 10 years and it works great for all of my art work.
I can resize any image I want w/o any issues.

I've never used Adobe so I can't compare and I don't think there is a way to get it on Linux.

Maybe try running Linux in a VM see if you like it and try getting to know Gimp.
You may find that you like it.
 
Yeah maybe I should switch over to using Gimp and Inkscape since it would save me $50/mo on my Creative Cloud subscription. I now there are some good options to replace Premier. I haven't looked but maybe there is an open source program that could replace After Effects.
 
Yeah maybe I should switch over to using Gimp and Inkscape since it would save me $50/mo on my Creative Cloud subscription. I now there are some good options to replace Premier. I haven't looked but maybe there is an open source program that could replace After Effects.
Good luck on whatever you decide:-
 

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