Slackware 13RC1, KDE 4.2.4, hard to read fonts
 

Hi,

I have upgraded one of my Linux boxes to Slackware 13RC1 using the July 14th build from slackware.no. I'm finding the fonts are not very readable when using KDE 4.2.4, especially when connected in via VNC which is normal for me. When I compare this to KDE 3.5 on Slackware 12.x the fonts on Slackware 3.5 are much thicker and smoother than on KDE 4.2.4. I've played around using System Settings > Appearance > Fonts without much improvement. I tried turning on anti-aliasing as staircasing is very evident on letters such as W, but that didn't help.

Trying to edit text using kwrite is very hard on my eyes, and Firefox is a disaster when connected via vnc using Chicken of the VNC on a Mac. Using vncviewer under Linux is no better. I am running vnc 4.1 as the server.

Although text is better on a monitor connected to directly the computer running KDE 4.2.4, it is still not very good and much worse than what I am used to with KDE 3.5.

Any suggestions for improving the readability are greatly appreciated.

Randy

Solved
 

It turns out vncserver cannot provide legible output with KDE 4. I installed x11vnc and all is well with the exception that there seems to be more lag than with vncserver.

solution has very poor response
 

Hi,

Using x11vnc is turning out not to be practical. There is simply too much lag.

I've tried TightVNC and RealVNC and both produce results that are unreadable.

I tried remote desktop sharing, but I get a desktop that is distorted with malformed windows and blotches of random colours.

I'd really like the way vncserver works with old versions of KDE as it was very responsive and the screen rendering seemed perfect.

Any suggestions as to what else I can try???

Thanks,
Randy

How does the fonts look with X forwarding?

rwcooper , after i finish my install and boot up into the gui i have the exact same thing. Fonts are really tiny and blurry and i can barely make anything out. After i go to nvidia website and download the proper driver for my video card and install it. Things look 100% beautiful again.

I would have to assume your having a driver issue and are using the default driver.

Try turning anti-aliasing on: ->system settings ->appearance ->fonts

I did try turning on anti-aliasing, it made a noticable difference on the monitor connected to the computer running KDE 4.2.4 but only a small improvement when connected using vnc.

Thanks,
Randy

I'm not sure what you mean by there being "too much lag". Maybe you can quantify.

There is a bug with XDAMAGE in the Xorg server (e.g. when compiz is enabled) that leads to very slow updates. So supply "-noxdamage" to the x11vnc command line to see if that helps. Or disable compiz, etc.
Do a search for "x11vnc noxdamage" for more information.