Font issues [Solved]

[ostrog]

Hello, I've used MX Linux years ago. Back then there was an MX Tool called Menu Editor. When used with the buildin KDE Menu Editor it created a mess. Also VPNs created issues because of the lack of systemd.

Nowadays these problems are gone. I'm impressed to see how fast MX Linux boots up and shut down. I tested a lot of distros and they are all slow, maybe because of systemd. Also MX Linux is one of the few Debian based that comes preinstalled with basic packages like "command-not found" (Debian is basically like a skeleton, designed to the point were it barely works). The only distro I've found that is better in this regard is LMDE. I would suggest to look at the packages that comes preinstalled there because some important packages like "gamemode" are missing.

The problem I have now is that the font is coarse, like there is no font smoothing. I never had such an issue before. I installed the nvdida driver, but the problem persists.

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 6.1.0-29-amd64 [6.1.123-1] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-29-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.27.5 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 7 dm: SDDM Distro: MX-23.5_KDE_x64 Libretto Jan
    12 2025 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: Desktop System: FUJITSU product: ESPRIMO P400 v: N/A serial: <superuser required> Chassis:
    type: 6 v: C$PHW3 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: FUJITSU model: D2990-A2 v: S26361-D2990-A2 serial: <superuser required> UEFI: FUJITSU //
    American Megatrends v: 4.6.5.3 R1.30.0 for D2990-A2x date: 04/22/2015
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i5-3470 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Ivy Bridge gen: core 3 level: v2
    built: 2012-15 process: Intel 22nm family: 6 model-id: 0x3A (58) stepping: 9 microcode: 0x21
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 smt: <unsupported> cache: L1: 256 KiB desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB
    L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB L3: 6 MiB desc: 1x6 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 2022 high: 2275 min/max: 1600/3600 scaling: driver: intel_cpufreq
    governor: ondemand cores: 1: 2029 2: 1803 3: 1984 4: 2275 bogomips: 25541
  Flags: avx ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
  Type: l1tf mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT disabled
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT disabled
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Unknown: No mitigations
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow status: Not affected
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; IBPB: conditional; IBRS_FW; STIBP: disabled; RSB
    filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not affected
  Type: srbds status: Vulnerable: No microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Xeon E3-1200 v2/3rd Gen Core processor Graphics vendor: Fujitsu Solutions
    driver: i915 v: kernel arch: Gen-7 process: Intel 22nm built: 2012-13 ports: active: none
    empty: DP-1,HDMI-A-1,VGA-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0152 class-ID: 0380
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP107 [GeForce GTX 1050] vendor: PC Partner / Sapphire driver: nvidia
    v: 535.216.03 non-free: 530.xx+ status: current (as of 2023-03) arch: Pascal code: GP10x
    process: TSMC 16nm built: 2016-21 pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:1c81 class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.9 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting,nvidia unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa alternate: nv dri: crocus
    gpu: i915,nvidia display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 81 s-size: 602x343mm (23.70x13.50") s-diag: 693mm (27.28")
  Monitor-1: DP-0 res: 1920x1080 dpi: 82 size: 598x336mm (23.54x13.23") diag: 686mm (27.01")
    modes: N/A
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 535.216.03 renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050/PCIe/SSE2
    direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio vendor: Fujitsu Solutions 6
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:1c20 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP107GL High Definition Audio vendor: PC Partner / Sapphire
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.1
    chip-ID: 10de:0fb9 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-29-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.0 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
    2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: Fujitsu Solutions
    driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: d000 bus-ID: 03:00.0
    chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 4.55 TiB used: 1.23 TiB (27.1%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Hitachi model: HDS5C3030ALA630 size: 2.73 TiB block-size:
    physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s type: HDD rpm: 5700 serial: <filter> rev: A5C0
    scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Western Digital model: WD20EZRX-00D8PB0 size: 1.82 TiB
    block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s type: HDD rpm: 5400 serial: <filter>
    rev: 0A80 scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 100.65 GiB size: 98.51 GiB (97.87%) used: 20.18 GiB (20.5%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/sdb6 maj-min: 8:22
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 500 MiB size: 499 MiB (99.80%) used: 40.4 MiB (8.1%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/sdb5 maj-min: 8:21
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 1.35 TiB size: 1.33 TiB (98.35%) used: 1.21 TiB (91.1%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/sdb4 maj-min: 8:20
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 8.04 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2 dev: /dev/sdb2
    maj-min: 8:18
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 45.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 38 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: nvidia fan: 48%
Repos:
  Packages: 3412 pm: dpkg pkgs: 3346 libs: 1662 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala,synaptic pm: rpm
    pkgs: 0 pm: flatpak pkgs: 66
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
    1: deb http://mirror.i3d.net/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
    1: deb http://mirror.i3d.net/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/home:tumic:GPXSee.list
    1: deb http://download.opensuse.org/repositories/home:/tumic:/GPXSee/Debian_12/ /
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list
    1: deb https://mirror.23m.com/mx-packages/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
    2: deb https://mirror.23m.com/mx-packages/mx/repo/ bookworm ahs
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/protonvpn-stable.sources
    1: deb https://repo.protonvpn.com/debian stable main
Info:
  Processes: 231 Uptime: 8h 16m wakeups: 25 Memory: 15.54 GiB used: 3.89 GiB (25.0%) Init: SysVinit
  v: 3.06 runlevel: 5 default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 12
  Client: shell wrapper v: 5.2.15-release inxi: 3.3.26
Boot Mode: UEFI

One thing I dodn't understand is why isn't the Synaptic Package Manager installed by default anymore. The MX Tools are still pretty messy. For example when using the MX Time tool and clicking apply it duplicates the NTP adress entry. Also I had some Flatpak issues. The MX Package Installer tool installs Flatpaks as system and not as user. In the settings when I choose "flathub -- user" it reverts back to "flathub -- system" when I open it again.

I'd love to donate via Bitcoin.

Thank you for reading my post.

[CharlesV]

Welcome in!

Not sure how much of a difference it will make in KDE, but in XFCE adding stem darkening made a serious difference in my systems, and I believe I got that tip from a KDE user.

Create the following file: /etc/environment.d/90font-stem-darkening.conf
with contents of:

Code: Select all

FREETYPE_PROPERTIES="cff:no-stem-darkening=0 autofitter:no-stem-darkening=0"

And reboot. You should see very noticeable difference in fonts.

[CharlesV]

Additionally, you can adjust the fonts Anti-aliasing and Hinting in KDE easily too (Along with changing everything to other / better fonts. )

From the menu - Settings | System Settings. Search for Fonts
bottom of the dialog has ANti-Aliasing ( check that ) , then Sub-Pixel Rendering and Hinting.

On ALL my machines I change from Noto Sans to DejaVu Sans ( or Book ) and anything mono font goes to DejaVu Mono

[txm0523]

I have one genealogy software app ( MS based ) that I use on a daily basis with the assistance of Wine. In order for it to display correctly, I had to install ttf-mscorefonts-installer and change all my fonts to use Arial TTF. I use that Arial TTF system wide. I am all about using free software, but I need MS TTF for one app to work properly. And besides, it's a nice font. My two cents worth.

[ostrog]

Thank you for your replies. I tried it out.

The stem darkening config file didn't changed anything.
In the KDE settings Antialising and Hinting were already on, I activated Sub-Pixel Rendering but this also didn't worked.
I also changed the fonts, but the fonts like as coarse as before.

I think it's a flatpak issue. Some dependencies might be missing.

Here is it looks like:

[j2mcgreg]

I don't use KDE, but you could use MX Package Installer (MXPI) to install the Microsoft True Type fonts. Search for this package:

Code: Select all

ttf-mscorefonts-installer

under the Enabled Repos tab of MXPI. I know that some people find them more attractive than our default set.

[ostrog]

You ignored my inquiry about flatpak. As I said the MX Package Installer doesn't let me install/maintain my user flatpaks because it insists on using system flatpaks. To circumvent this I used Discover which uses the user flatpak repo. So why doesn't the MX Package Installer allow that?

[Dearth]

Not sure how much of a difference it will make in KDE, but in XFCE adding stem darkening made a serious difference in my systems, and I believe I got that tip from a KDE user.

Create the following file: /etc/environment.d/90font-stem-darkening.conf
with contents of:

Code: Select all

FREETYPE_PROPERTIES="cff:no-stem-darkening=0 autofitter:no-stem-darkening=0"

I suppose this should be enabled by default in MX Linux in new installs.

[j2mcgreg]

You ignored my inquiry about flatpak. As I said the MX Package Installer doesn't let me install/maintain my user flatpaks because it insists on using system flatpaks. To circumvent this I used Discover which uses the user flatpak repo. So why doesn't the MX Package Installer allow that?

Who is 'you' in the above context?

[ostrog]

You ignored my inquiry about flatpak. As I said the MX Package Installer doesn't let me install/maintain my user flatpaks because it insists on using system flatpaks. To circumvent this I used Discover which uses the user flatpak repo. So why doesn't the MX Package Installer allow that?

Who is 'you' in the above context?

You of course. When it's not mentioned who it's referred to, it's always refereed to the last post.