VLC preferences don't persist
by tnandy from LinuxQuestions.org on (#5FFFK)
I've been using VLC to watch DVDs for years. The version I'm using now is 3.0.12 which is the latest available from the Debian repository. I'm using Devuan--no systemd.
I have a 1920 X 1200 (16:10 ratio) monitor and for 16:9 (widescreen) movies, some of the screen isn't used for the movie. For a long time I had narrow black stripes at the top and bottom of the screen (ie. the video was centered up-and-down). I've recently discovered a way to force the movie to the top of the screen so there's a wide black stripe at the bottom. The point is the full screen controls don't cover up any of the picture.
This is how: Right-click for a menu, click to exit full screen, click Tools => Preferences, under Show settings select "All", scroll down to and select "Video", drag the center divider to the left so the data fields are visible, scroll down to Video alignment, select "Top", and click "Save".
My problem is I have to do this every single time. I can't understand why VLC doesn't save my choices from DVD to DVD. What's weird is most of the time the Video alignment setting remains "Top" on the preferences page but that preference is clearly being ignored. Sometimes the video is very clearly playing at the bottom--not even in the center any more. In other words, there's a wide black stripe at the top of the screen as if I had selected "Bottom".
It's almost as if--now that I've changed a preference--every time VLC starts it chooses a random setting over my preference. It almost never guesses right, either. I've looked in ~/.config/vlc/ at the two config files, but I don't see a setting for Video alignment "Top". Everything I've looked at in ~/.config/vlc/vlcrc appears to be commented out. The stuff in ~/.config/vlc/vlc-qt-interface.conf is mostly gibberish to me.
It's really only an inconvenience to reset VLC to show videos at the top, but right-click click click click click scroll click drag scroll click click every time I start a DVD is getting old real fast.
I have a 1920 X 1200 (16:10 ratio) monitor and for 16:9 (widescreen) movies, some of the screen isn't used for the movie. For a long time I had narrow black stripes at the top and bottom of the screen (ie. the video was centered up-and-down). I've recently discovered a way to force the movie to the top of the screen so there's a wide black stripe at the bottom. The point is the full screen controls don't cover up any of the picture.
This is how: Right-click for a menu, click to exit full screen, click Tools => Preferences, under Show settings select "All", scroll down to and select "Video", drag the center divider to the left so the data fields are visible, scroll down to Video alignment, select "Top", and click "Save".
My problem is I have to do this every single time. I can't understand why VLC doesn't save my choices from DVD to DVD. What's weird is most of the time the Video alignment setting remains "Top" on the preferences page but that preference is clearly being ignored. Sometimes the video is very clearly playing at the bottom--not even in the center any more. In other words, there's a wide black stripe at the top of the screen as if I had selected "Bottom".
It's almost as if--now that I've changed a preference--every time VLC starts it chooses a random setting over my preference. It almost never guesses right, either. I've looked in ~/.config/vlc/ at the two config files, but I don't see a setting for Video alignment "Top". Everything I've looked at in ~/.config/vlc/vlcrc appears to be commented out. The stuff in ~/.config/vlc/vlc-qt-interface.conf is mostly gibberish to me.
It's really only an inconvenience to reset VLC to show videos at the top, but right-click click click click click scroll click drag scroll click click every time I start a DVD is getting old real fast.