RDM Linux 2026.2.0.4 UI extremely small on Ubuntu 26.04 Wayland/XWayland

RDM Linux 2026.2.0.4 UI extremely small on Ubuntu 26.04 Wayland/XWayland

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Hi,
I am having a scaling issue with Remote Desktop Manager for Linux 2026.2.0.4 on Ubuntu 26.04 / GNOME Wayland.
The remote session content itself is readable, for example SSH terminal text is fine, but the RDM interface around it is extremely small:

  • top menus;
  • toolbar icons;
  • filter bar;
  • small UI controls.

This makes RDM difficult to use on my setup.
Environment
Ubuntu 26.04
GNOME Wayland session
Remote Desktop Manager 2026.2.0.4
5-monitor HiDPI / mixed scaling setup
RDM version:
apt policy remotedesktopmanager
remotedesktopmanager:
Installed: 2026.2.0.4
Candidate: 2026.2.0.4
Monitor layout:
Monitors: 5
0: +*HDMI-4 6144/700x3456/390+2160+2880 HDMI-4
1: +DP-5 2160/600x3840/340+8304+2880 DP-5
2: +DP-6 2160/600x3840/340+0+2880 DP-6
3: +DVI-D-1 3840/600x2160/340+7280+720 DVI-D-1
4: +HDMI-5 5120/610x2880/350+2160+0 HDMI-5
RDM process environment:
XDG_SESSION_TYPE=wayland
WAYLAND_DISPLAY=wayland-0
DISPLAY=:0
GDK_BACKEND=x11
XAUTHORITY=/run/user/1000/.mutter-Xwaylandauth...
So RDM appears to run under XWayland, while the desktop session is Wayland.
What I tried
I already tried the following without success:
AVALONIA_GLOBAL_SCALE_FACTOR=1.5 remotedesktopmanager
AVALONIA_GLOBAL_SCALE_FACTOR=2 remotedesktopmanager
AVALONIA_GLOBAL_SCALE_FACTOR=4 remotedesktopmanager
Also tried per-monitor scaling:
AVALONIA_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTORS='HDMI-4=1.5;DP-5=1.5;DP-6=1.5;DVI-D-1=1.5;HDMI-5=1.5' remotedesktopmanager
and also with scale factor 4.
The variable is visible inside the RDM process environment, but it has no visible effect.
I also tried:
printf 'Xft.dpi: 144\n' | xrdb -merge
printf 'Xft.dpi: 192\n' | xrdb -merge
No effect.
I tested with a clean RDM profile by moving ~/.rdm, but even the initial setup wizard starts extremely small, so it does not seem to be caused by my profile or saved layout.
I also tried gamescope. It can make the whole window larger, but it causes mouse/input and resize issues, so it is not usable as a real workaround.
Strange behavior
A couple of times RDM seemed to start with normal scaling by itself, but I could not reproduce why. Most of the time it starts with the UI extremely small.
This makes me suspect a DPI/scaling detection issue related to XWayland, monitor ordering, startup timing or initial window placement.
Questions
Is this a known issue with RDM Linux 2026.2.0.4 on Wayland/XWayland with HiDPI/fractional scaling?
Is there an official way to force RDM UI scaling on Linux?
Does RDM read any specific config file, command line option or environment variable for UI scaling?
Thanks.

All Comments (6)

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Hello AndreaB,

Can you please try to change the Avalonia scaling value in "Settings > User interface > User interface > Scaling" and let us know if that helps?

Regards,

Gabriel Dubois

217110c9-5046-4375-918e-f6da8efa2a2f.png

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Hi Gabriel,
Thanks for your reply.
I tried the scaling options but some scaling options do have an effect, but not on the problematic parts of the UI.
The generic scaling / GTK scaling options seem to work, but they mostly enlarge the parts of the application that are already displayed correctly, for example the remote session/content. This makes those areas too large, while the small menus, toolbar icons and UI controls remain difficult to use.
The Avalonia scaling option, instead, does not seem to affect any visible part of the application. I tested different values, saved the settings, fully closed RDM and restarted it, but I could not see any change.
Is there a way to check which scaling factor RDM/Avalonia is detecting at startup?
Also, are the top menus, toolbar icons and small UI controls actually rendered by Avalonia, GTK, or another layer?
Thanks.

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Hi AndreaB,

Thank you for this additional information. We have just released a new version, 2026.2.0.6, which contains some fixes for Avalonia scaling. Could you please update to this version and let us know if you can still reproduce the issue?

If you are already up to date, or if you can still reproduce the issue with the new version, could you please send us a screenshot of what it looks like?

Regards,

Gabriel Dubois

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Hi Gabriel,
I attached two screenshots to better show the issue.
It may not be immediately obvious from the screenshots because of image scaling/compression, but the icons in the top toolbar are extremely small in real use.
The same applies to the contextual menus related to those toolbar icons: they are very small and difficult to read/click accurately.
Thank you
Andrea

73224128-3c65-4850-a926-b7e43bc38e38.png

50f8e988-acb3-4e44-b11b-81fb930e98d6.png

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Hello,

Thank you for your feedback.

Maybe a short recording could give us a better idea of the issue you are describing. I'll send you a link in a private message for you to upload the video to a safe shared folder.

Thank you for your collaboration.

Best regards,

Érica Poirier

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Hello,
Thank you for your message.
I have sent you a link because the system did not allow me to upload the video directly.
Best regards,