Gnome with multiple displays - workspace only switches on primary

This document (7018840) is provided subject to the disclaimer at the end of this document.

Environment

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12
More than one display
Gnome is configured for multiple workspaces

Situation

Two displays are attached to the system and the Gnome desktop is being displayed across both as an extended monitor (xinerama).

When using multiple workspaces and switching between them, only the primary display is switched. The secondary display remains on workspace 1. The desired result is for both displays to switch.

Resolution

The setting can be changed in 2 ways. The change must be made by the logged in user.

1. Use the gsettings command to modify the setting. As the logged in user run this command:

gsettings set org.gnome.shell.extensions.classic-overrides workspaces-only-on-primary false

The change is immediate. Test switching workspaces and both monitors should now respond. Be sure to have something opened on both monitors so the switch can be seen.

2. Use the graphical tool "dconf-editor" to make the change.

As the logged in user open a terminal while in the Gnome desktop and run the command "dconf-editor".

Expand the path "org.gnome.shell.extensions.classic-overrides" and highlight the setting for "workspaces-only-on-primary".

Turn off "Use default value" then click on False in the "Custom value" setting. Click the "Apply" button at the top.

The change will be immediate. Test your workspace switching as described above.

Cause

Additional Information

There is a setting in the Gnome Tweak Tool under the "Workspaces" selection for "Workspaces only on primary display". Changing this selection will have no affect. This is due to the custom sle-classic desktop configuration done by SUSE. The entry modified by the Tweak Tool is:

org.gnome.shell.overrides workspaces-only-on-primary

However, the entry used by sle-classic is here:

org.gnome.shell.extensions.classic-overrides workspaces-only-on-primary

A bug report has been created have the Tweak Tool setting modify both entries. When corrected the fix will go out as a maintenance update to the current release (12 SP2 at the time of this writing).

Disclaimer

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