Screen Rotation and Distorted Display Issue After Installing Ubuntu 20.04 on Steam Deck

[shyun12]

I encountered an issue after installing Ubuntu 20.04 on the Steam Deck where the screen was displaying vertically. At that time, the 'resolution' value in the 'refind.conf' file was initially set to 3. To change the screen to a 90-degree rotation, I modified the 'resolution' value to 0, 1, and 2.

The screen did rotate horizontally, but as shown in the picture below, the entire screen was distorted. Subsequently, even after changing the 'resolution' value back to 3, the display issue persisted on Ubuntu when running on the Steam Deck.

When I connect an external monitor to the Steam Deck, it displays correctly on that monitor, but the Steam Deck's screen remains blank.

I have attached the /esp/efi/refind/refind.conf file and images of the Ubuntu display output (including a photo of the distorted screen issue on the Steam Deck and an external monitor).

refind.txt

[jlobue10]

So I guess I'm confused as to what you want or expect me to fix here. The setting resolution 3 is the proper setting in rEFInd for the Steam Deck, especially when connected to an external display. What you are witnessing and discovering is that the Steam Deck display is actually a repurposed portrait tablet display. SteamOS and KDE Plasma init actually take care of the 90 degree rotation, mostly in a transparent way to the user.

So for Ubuntu 20.04 (why not try newer LTS 22.04?), is the GDM login screen coming in with the portrait setting as I'd expect? If so, this is not a rEFInd configuration or problem to address.

My suggestions would be to search about how to solve the GDM login screen rotation issue, if this is the root of your complaint. Once you're logged in to a graphical session, taking care of the rotation there is just a matter of adjusting display settings.

So again, I don't know what you expect me to do or 'fix' here.

[shyun12]

I am aware that there is Ubuntu 22.04 available, but due to internal reasons, I need to use 20.04.
The issue I'm facing is very similar to the one mentioned in this link:
#68.
In conclusion, what I want to achieve is to have Ubuntu 20.04 display correctly (horizontally) on the Steam Deck.
I tried changing the resolution from 3 to 1, but it resulted in a screen distortion error.
I would like to inquire about alternative solutions.

[jlobue10]

So resolution 3 is still distorted now on the Steam Deck screen? Is this during start-up or while in the Gnome desktop session or both? Is Gnome using Wayland or X11?

[shyun12]

As shown in the first picture below, the initial startup screen is displayed horizontally. After selecting the Ubuntu OS, all screens are displayed broken. And it uses the X11.

[jlobue10]

Okay, so this confirms my suspicion that rEFInd is doing its job properly since your GRUB screen (the first picture) is oriented properly. So that leaves us with this being a GDM and/ or other Ubuntu display problem. Monitor rotation seems to have been a problem with older Ubuntu versions. When I had used Kubuntu 22.04 on my Steam Deck, I did not witness similar behavior, but that could also be SDDM differences from GDM or KDE Plasma versus Gnome.

In any case, please try some of the proposed things from here. This seems to really be an Ubuntu settings problem. Since your docked larger monitor displays properly, you should be able to tinker and experiment with settings from there. Please let me know how it goes. Thanks.