Wafeform and buttons very small on screen

[Kevin127]

Hello. I just upgraded my computer recently and noticed today when using Audacity that the wafeform and buttons on the playback toolbar are extremely small. I fixed the same problem with the menu text by using the Appearance menu in Linux. But the problem with the wafeform and buttons still remains. I need to make the wafeform larger at least so that I can do a proper edit and mix of the file for my podcast. Have tried looking in the Preferences menu in Audacity. Nothing there about changing the view. The View menu itself deals explicitly with the audio. Have also tried adjusting my screen resolution. That didn't work. Last resort was reinstalling Audacity. No luck there either. None of the other programs I use are giving me trouble, just Audacity. I can't figure out how to install a stable version. At least Windows programs gave you one executable file. Audacity has so many files that come with one program, it's hard to know where to start. Thanks in advance for your suggestions and assistance.

[steve]

The button size in Audacity is not adjustable. The only way that I can think of that you have very small buttons is if you are using very high screen resolution.
This is how it should look. I've put it next to Firefox so that you can see the relative size compared to other applications: (Ubuntu 10.10)

Selection_002.png (60.86 KiB) Viewed 2359 times

I can't figure out how to install a stable version. At least Windows programs gave you one executable file. Audacity has so many files that come with one program, it's hard to know where to start.

In my experience the old "stable" version (1.2.6) has never worked well on Linux. On a modern Linux installation you would probably have a lot of trouble getting Audacity 1.2.x to run at all as it has dependencies that are now obsolete. Most Linux distributions include Audacity in their repository, so you would normally just install Audacity using your package manager (for example Synaptic or Software Centre). Modern Linux distributions are likely to use 1.3.12 or later as the default Audacity version.

For Ubuntu (and possibly other distributions) there are 2 Audacity packages: There is "audacity" (the main program) and "audacity-data" (architecture-independent data files). You should install both. If you want to be able to export MP3 files you will also need to install "Lame".

Some distributions (for example "Mint") combine these two packages so that you only need to install "Audacity" and everything that is needed is installed in one go.

[Kevin127]

Thanks Steve. I've had to make a lot of adjustments with the new Linux upgrade over the past few weeks, including screen resolution. When my friend first installed the upgrade, everything was tiny. But I've been able to work around most things. What should my actual screen resolution be? When I was running Windows it was 1024x768. Currently with Ubuntu 10.04 it is 118 dots per inch.

[Kevin127]

My screen size is a 19" monitor with 600x800 resolution.

[steve]

For a 19" screen the screen resolution would normally be 1024x768 (or greater).
To get text at a reasonable size you would want the font settings at about 96 dpi. To set that (in Ubuntu 10.10)
System > Preferences > Appearance > Fonts > "Details" button.

What I find surprising is that at 800 x 600 and 118 dpi (if that is your font setting), everything should look huge.

[Kevin127]

Thanks Steve! I did more research and found out that I actually am using a 17" screen. Looked under Preferences and Monitors. I have the resolution set at 1024x768 with 96 dpi (4:3). This is the best setting I've found in Ubuntu 10.4, even though part of the screen's right side is black. What is that all about? Every other resolution setting (there are only five total) makes the screen tiny or way too huge. The default setting for the 10.04 upgrade is 1024x1240 (5:4). Strange. But at least I can see what I'm working with now. Thanks in part to you, I posted my new episode this morning. Check it out if you want at: http://www.twominutesofrocktrivia.info. Thanks again. (If you have any idea why part of my screen is black, please let me know.)

[steve]

Is your screen "widescreen format"? Do you know what the actual aspect ratio of your screen is? (for example, traditional CRT monitor were usually 4:3 whereas many flat screen monitors are 16:9 or 16:10). Do you know what sort of video card your computer has? Have you tried checking in "System > Administration > Additional drivers" to see if proprietary drivers are available for you video card?