MuseScore 3 DPI wrong & terminal command line not working

• Jul 8, 2021 - 21:12

Hi,

I'm using Ubuntu 18.04.5.

Firstly, I've recently run into musescores recent DPI issue after switching PCs (my old one is broken). Secondly, the command line "[musescore/mscore] -D [dpi]" is met with "command 'musescore' not found, but can be installed with: sudo apt install musescore". I've found that this command line ("sudo apt install musescore") installs musescore 2 (which the command line fixed the DPI issue after installing, but I cannot use musescore 2 as my computer malfunction led to me backing up my musescore 3 files and not their musescore 2 equivalents).

Is there any way to bind the 'musescore' command line to musescore 3 so that I can fix the DPI issue? Or is there an alternative way of fixing the DPI issue ?(ie through the config files - though I am an amatuer so would need help doing this, hence why I haven't done it so far)

Thanks

Comments

• Jul 9, 2021 - 11:50

No, I've tried using the appimage with the alternative command line but it never seems to want to open from terminal. I'm using the version of Musescore from the Ubuntu software app, & have reinstalled it multiple times (plus set it to factory defaults). There's 2 versions on the app, one is just called Musescore (but is the latest edition), and the other is called Musescore 2 (which, when installs, does actually open via the 'musescore' and 'mscore' commands).

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• Jul 9, 2021 - 14:29

Thanks I'll start redownloading & installing proper (was trying to use the install command without actually typing the full filename). Will the 'musescore -D [dpi]' command work after this or will it be the 'cd ~/Desktop
./MuseScore*.AppImage -D [dpi]' command? (I'll likely try both when it comes to it, anyway, but just figured I'd ask for posterity's sake)

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• Jul 9, 2021 - 14:46

I've installed it successfully but have been unable to use either command line to launch it. I've tried launching it as 'musescore[rest of file name].appimage' -D [DPI] using the directory it's in instead of 'cd ~/desktop' (as it says no such pathway exists when I try to use that command).

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• Jul 9, 2021 - 16:49

You need to somehow tell your systrem where MuseScore is - that's not some strange MuseScore quirk, but basically command line principle. So you need to figure out what directory your actually downloaded the AppImage to - maybe download it again, and this time pay close attention to the folder name it defaults to, perhaps change it to something more comfortable if the default is not. Then do the "cd": to that exact folder. And on Linux, capitalization matters. Usually the desktop folder is Desktop, not desktop, although every invididual system is different

If you need further help understand the command line usage on Linux, probably best to do general web searches for that info, there are tons of tutorials out there. But once you figure out those essential basics, you should be able to run the AppImage successfully. And then you can install the APpImage as described in the online Handbook for MuseScore. You may also be able to add the "-D" to the command line that is used when starting MuseScore from the program icon, by editing the "desktop" file that gets installed (do a web search for "Linux desktop file" to learn how to find that on your particular system).

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• Jul 10, 2021 - 14:15

Thanks for the reply. I did do the first part (originally downloaded into Downloads) but did not realise capitalisation matters in Linux so will get on that today. Thank you for that, I must be bad at googling because I've been trying to search about this kind of stuff but clearly never the actual important stuff.

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• Jul 10, 2021 - 19:51

Thanks again for the help so far & the patience. I've not been able to get to the bottom of the dpi issue. I've been able to launch musescore from the terminal, but adding the '-D [dpi]' command does not fix the issue. The AppImage install led to me being able to launch musescore from "mscore-portable", but again adding the '-D [dpi]' is not changing the dpi. I've tried to add the -D [DPI] into the *.desktop file, but I'm clueless on where to put it as it also changes nothing. I've also tried launching it from the cd command (which works) but it does not change the DPI after inputting the command with the launch script.

I've no clue what the issue is really, but my terminal spews 'js: Mixed Content: The page at 'https://connect2.musescore.com/?version=3.6.2.548021370' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure image 'http://i3.ytimg.com/vi/XGo4PJd1lng/hqdefault.jpg' and variations 3 times whilst launching - this doesn't seem to be the issue as it seems like it's just not loading 3 images properly.

Additionally, the 'mscore-portable' command line seems to point to this being a portable version of musescore, could that be the issue?

I think I'm going to try and find out how to make a *.desktop file for the version of musescore that installs from the Ubuntu software app & will try and find out if using that version solves the issue (aka. if the AppImage install was for a portable version and that this is stopping me from being able to use the -D command. If anybody has any further tips it would be extremely helpful I'm very new to Ubuntu. Thank you

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• Jul 12, 2021 - 20:52

What value are you using for "[DPI]"? Hopefully you aren't literally typing those letters - you're supposed to replace them with the actual DPI value. Eg, 100 for a standard monitor, 72 for an old-school TV set, 300 or more for some modern high definition monitors.

The word "portable" is just another word for AppImage in this context.

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• Jul 13, 2021 - 19:19

Yeah, the UI that stays the same (though I've just noticed it's changing the actual size of the score which is more confusing) that's why I was wondering if the version was the issue. Might be that it's something other than dpi but it really looks like that's the issue. I've attached a screenshot of what it looks like, & what code I'm using to try and fix it.

Attachment Size
Screenshot from 2021-07-13 19-16-22.png 421.04 KB
Screenshot from 2021-07-13 19-16-30.png 146.29 KB
Screenshot from 2021-07-13 19-16-47.png 511.53 KB
Screenshot from 2021-07-13 19-16-59.png 144.73 KB

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• Jul 13, 2021 - 20:11

From what I can see, there's actually a pretty huge difference between 55 and 96, not just in the score, but in the icons. Only the labels on the palette seems off. That could have to do with any customizations you may have previously made to your workspace. Try reseting your workspace using "View / Workspaces / Reset workspace" and see if that changes anything (note you'll lose any customizations you made on purpose, though).

Another thing to try is running "export QT_AUTO_SCREEN_SCALE_FACTOR=1" before running MuseScore - or try 0 instead of 1.

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• Jul 13, 2021 - 22:16

Which fixed it? The reset of the workspace? That would indeed affect all future runs of the program. But, you'd still need the "-D" if your score and icons are too small. That/s not a subjective determination, BTW - just hold up a sheet of paper to your screen. If the score on screen is not the same size when viewed at 100%, then it means the resolution is off, and the -D option is required to make sure 100% really means 100%. The icon sizes will then follow suit, but if you then subjectively prefer them larger or smaller, you can use Edit / Preferences / General to alter them.

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