Issue when using PasswdSafe on Lenovo Chromebook with external monitor
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I'm using passwdsafe on my Lenovo Chromebook. It works fine. But if I connect an external monitor:
- the initial page looks fine
- when I try to open the safe file, it takes me to the vault's password page
- on the native Chromebook screen it looks OK, I can see the password field, I can continue
- but on the external monitor, the login page is black, so I can't even enter the password to open the vault file (see attached screenshot)
Is there something special about password safe's color scheme that somehow is not working on a regular monitor connected to chromebook?
I'm also using it on my windows PC, no issues.
I would really appreciate any help.
The external display must be treated as 'insecure'. The app sets a secure flag to prevent screenshots (intentional or malicious). If I disable the flag, then the window is showing in the second display in the emulator.
I'd have to think about whether to allow showing on the second displays. It would have to be a preference or perhaps a check box on the file open screen.
See https://developer.android.com/security/fraud-prevention/activities#flag_secure
Jeff, thanks for your reply. It does explain the issue and it does make sense from security stand point. However, I'm not sure how this would apply to using just a dumb external monitor. I don't have enough knowledge on the subject, but it seems to me that in a use case like mine, I see no difference between security when using the device's screen vs external monitor connected to the device.
I would suggest that you add this flag as an option in configuration, with default settings as most secure. I would appreciate it if you would let me know whether or not this change will be implemented and when.
thanks again for your response.
Last edit: Mark Gokman 2025-02-24
See https://github.com/jefftharris/passwdsafe/issues/23 for tracking. I'm probably going to do a small update next which likely will contain this item.
Jeff, thanks for a quick action. FYI, this will potentially save me $ and headache of buying a new computer and migrating from my old one. My current desktop is too old for Win11. I've been evaluating an option of just using my Lenovo chromebook with an external monitor, keyboard, mouse. So far, PasswdSafe has been an obstacle. With this enhancement, if it works, I won't need a new PC, nor will I need to deal with Windows at all. I'll be watching for this upgrade.
Thank you very much!
Version 6.25.0 should have a preference to enable the external monitor.
Hi Jeff,
The current version on my chromebook is 6,26.1.
Show on untrusted external displays is On.
But, i'm still having the same issue. When external monitor is connected, i only see a black window in place of a login.
Thanks
How do you connect your external device? I bought a usb-c to display port converter, and I see the password screen just fine, even without the new setting enabled. Perhaps DPI is 'secure'? I'll have to see if I can run in the debugger to list the displays and their attributes.
I'm on an Asus chromebook, fwiw.
An alternative may be to just turn off the app feature all-together with some preference or some other combination of flags. Would you be willing to try a test version with more options available?
I also noticed a setting on the external monitor in the display settings to make it the 'primary' display. Perhaps swapping will work for you?
I;m using a port replicator with USB-C plugged into my Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook. The port replicator has USB and VGA ports. So I connect it to VGA on my monitor. There is one more detail. I'm using a KVM switch. So the full connections is:
Chromebook USB-C - Replicator - VGA - KVM - Monitor
I'd like to send you a debug build that provides some info about the display to diagnose why the update isn't working with the VGA port. The easiest method is to add you as an internal tester and then push a dev build. I'll need your email address for your google account on the chromebook that you use for the play store.