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I am using the i3 window manager on a laptop with a broken internal LCD display. It will not fill the dimensions of the external monitor. I have so far tried using xrandr auto-detection:

xrandr --output HDMI1 --auto

and specifying my monitor's resolution in xrandr:

xrandr --output HDMI1 --mode 1680x1050

Neither works. Any solution would be much appreciated.

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I managed to find a solution for this issue. I included an xrandr command to turn off output from the broken LCD at the end of my i3 config (~/.config/i3/config):

exec xrandr --output LVDS1 --off

This works perfectly. For use with external monitors i3 works with total resolution for an entire workspace. Non functioning LCD displays may thus lead to incorrect monitor resolution and thus dimensions of the workspace.

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  • I thought that the problem was that i3 windows manager would not fill the dimensions of the external monitor, so I don’t understand how turning off the LCD is a solution. Can you explain how your question and your answer go together? … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … Please do not respond in comments; edit your question and/or your answer to make them clearer and more complete. Jan 11 at 7:59
  • It's simple: in X by default one monitor is primary, and additional monitors mirror the primary one (when attached). It seems that his issue was this: his internal monitor was functioning correctly, and when i3 queried display dimensions, it got it's sizes, which were smaller than his secondary external monitor, which, at the moment, was mirroring. Turning the internal monitor to off, made the next monitor in chain (external) a primary monitor (ie his actual monitor), and that made i3 query proper monitor for proper sizes - thus fixing his issue.
    – etosan
    Jan 27 at 18:07

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