protonscr

steam notification partially hidden underneath gnome panel (gnome 3.8 classic mode)

steamclosed reviewedSteam clientWindow manager
ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux#2892 · opened 2013-09-29 by neffo · updated 2019-07-18 · 5 comments · github
Nneffo 2013-09-29 github

Cliff notes: When a notification is displayed - such as a steam friend entering a game, or a friend coming online - the notification is only actually shown underneath the gnome panel.

The notification should really be displayed higher (the bottom of the notification should be flush with the top of the panel, not flush with the bottom of the screen). I haven't tested this with any other desktops to see if it is solely a gnome classic issue. I presume this is steam not getting the correct boundaries for the screen from the window manger or whatever.

Other windows can be dragged below this panel (and they also display underneath), but it is not possible to resize a window so it's boundaries are below the top of the panel. Windows generally snap to the panel boundary when resizing or moving.

It is possible to install this panel as an extension without using gnome classic mode. The extension is available here: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/602/window-list/

A couple of points that might be important:

  • on my screen the panel is always visible (no auto-hide or anything like that)
  • use two monitors, this might complicate things if the main steam client is running on the screen without the panel (the notifications are always drawn on the first screen with the panel in my experience, regardless of the screen the steam window is located)
  • like I said, I haven't tested any other desktops to see if they do it too
  • the screenshot I have posted is cropped to just be lower middle section of the displayed area, I can upload a full screenshot if necessary

gnomeclassicsteamnotification

Bben914 2013-10-05 github

I have the same issue in Cinnamon on Linux Mint 15

Mmagcius 2013-10-29 github

Steam needs to use _NET_WORKAREA to figure out where to place the popup instead of using monitor coordinates.

Nneffo 2013-10-29 github

magcius: the popup actually appears at the bottom of the screen, not the bottom of the displayed work area as you suggest, but so does the steam client under wine (and presumably on windows also). however when using wine, it is visible above the taskbar/window list. i don't know window managers, but it might just be a z-buffer/z-depth issue, do window managers even use this sort of thing?

this issue does appear to be fixed in the latest beta. (although i updated to ubuntu 13.10 in the meantime, i presume the issue was at steam's end). i'll double check this.

Mmagcius 2013-10-29 github

If it's an override-redirect window (which it should probably be, to be honest), it should display above the panel. However, obeying the workarea is the correct thing to do regardless.

Nneffo 2013-10-29 github

Ok, I can confirm it is fixed on my Ubuntu 13.10 install. <3 valve

magcius: I think you are right when it comes to normal apps (like music players, IMs, etc), but in the case of steam those same notifications come up in the same location in fullscreen games. it's keeping things consistent, i guess? (it doesn't affect usability on gnome classic anyway, as that screen space isn't really used.

croppedfixednotifications

Nothing extracted yet.