Screen resolution does not properly restore when closing full-screen applications

Question

First time encountering this since installing Focal Fossa 20.04.1. This was not an issue with any version of Ubuntu I've used since Precise Pangolin 12.04. When exiting a full screen DOSBox game, or even the native version of Rise of the Triad, the screen does not return to the 1280x1024 resolution I'm normally running but remains in 640x480 unless I open the Settings application and reset the display. I think this has to do with the Gnome desktop, as until now I've always used Unity.

This occurs on my all-AMD desktop PC and my all-Intel laptop. No proprietary drivers are in use. Any suggestions welcome.

Answer 1

I came up with a solution that works for me. Since I don't know how to write shell scripts but I'm VERY well versed in REXX, I've created a REXX script to record the current display resolution, then invoke the game. Once the game exits, the script restores the original screen resolution. Hokey, but the only thing that seems to work.

Answer 2

Log out and in again. That's the only solution I've found.

Answer 3

Try restarting your desktop manager. For example in Cinnamon (Linux Mint) running either:

1. CTRL+ALT+ESC
2. Alt+F2, type r, and press Enter

restores the resolution without closing any opened windows. As far as I know, option (2) works with Gnome desktop, but I can't test it since I'm not running Gnome.