[Ubuntu] Cannot Create Proper Starter File

[Rabenschwinge]

Plan

Premium

Country

Germany

Device

Lenovo Legion T530 w/ LG 27UD58P-B display

Operating System

Ubuntu Linux 20.04

Version

$ spotify --version
Spotify version 1.1.26.501.gbe11e53b, Copyright (c) 2020, Spotify Ltd

Spotfiy was installed using Ubuntu's built-in store, it has no own package sources, it comes from Canonical's repository.

Desktop Environment

Gnome 3.36.3

My Question or Issue

I desperately need to pass a command line parameter to spotify, in order to force UI scaling; on my 4k display all fonts are so small that I cannot read anything otherwise.

I am unable to replace Spotify's "spotify.desktop" file, the starter file which is used to integrate spotify into the Gnome Desktop.

I've tried:

cp /snap/spotify/current/usr/share/spotify/spotify.desktop \

~/.local/share/applications/spotify2.desktop

chmod +x ~/.local/share/applications/spotify2.desktop

And then edited the file, changing the lines:

Name=My Spotify

TryExec=spotify --force-device-scale-factor=1.5
Exec=spotify --force-device-scale-factor=1.5 %U

... but the starter for "My Spotfiy" does not show up. I cannot edit the original file because it's mounted read only and even if I could the change would not last. So I am at a loss on how to create a proper starter file, in order to start with a scale in which I can actually read anything.

The only way to properly start spotify for me at the moment without a lingering terminal window is to use ALT+F2 and type in "spotify --force-device-scale-factor=1.5" manually.

[Rabenschwinge · Accepted solution]

I've found a solution for my problem.

If spotify is installed via snap (as it is by default under Ubuntu 20.04 and 20.10 if you used Ubuntu's "Software" application), you can override snap's executable link. Do not try create an own starter file, that's possible (I had a mistake in the "TryExec" line above), but will make a mess of things.

To make sure this solution applies to you try:

$ which spotify
/snap/bin/spotify # that would be the proper answer
$ ls -hl /snap/bin/spotify
# this should be a link to /usr/bin/snap

The solution works as follows:

sudo rm /snap/bin/spotify # remove symbolic link to /usr/bin/snap
echo '#!/bin/sh
/usr/bin/snap run spotify --force-device-scale-factor=1.5 "$@"
' > /var/tmp/spotify
sudo mv /var/tmp/spotify /snap/bin/
sudo chown root:root /snap/bin/spotify
sudo chmod +x /snap/bin/spotify