[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Date Index] [Thread Index]

Re: Multi-display - one monitor active but blank



On Mon, 2016-03-21 at 20:55 -0400, Felix Miata wrote:
> Oliver Elphick composed on 2016-03-21 22:56 (UTC):
> > > What gfxchip powers your displays?
> > 
> > Card: Nvidia
> > 01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation GT218 [NVS
> > 300]
> > (rev a2)
> > 
> > (I hope that is an answer!)
> According to the log, you have both NVidia and Intel gfx hardware,
> which to 
> me means you're probably using a laptop, making my help available to
> you very 
> limited. AFAIK, those two together are a special hybrid that for
> optimal use 
> requires a special driver, either Bumblebee, or Prime, depending on
> whether 
> you want a FOSS solution (latter), or a proprietary one (former).
> 
> Is it actually a PC with a separate NVidia card in a PCIe slot? If
> yes, are 
> the cables actually both DisplayPort cables? Sometimes the logs
> identify 
> connections differently from the actual physics. I've often seen
> physical DVI 
> connectors identified as HDMI with Intel gfx hardware.
> 

The latter is the case. The dual-head Nvidia card has both monitors;
the Intel port on the motherboard is not in use.

...

> First, ensure the display itself is not a problem by trying two
> things if you 
> haven't already:
> 
> 1-boot the computer with the 1920x1200 display powered off

The second (problem) display came up for the boot messages, but X still
treated the powered-off display as the primary display, so I had to
turn it on to log in. However the secondary display is currently
active, which is an improvement!
> 
> 2-if the cables are twins, boot the computer with the cables
> switched, so 
> that the smaller is primary rather than the larger

Bizarre results - the swapped primary (now secondary) was clearly using
the wrong driver settings, giving a very unclear picture, but both
screens came up.

On restoring things and rebooting, both screens came up.  I'll wait to
see what happens when it blanks the screen after inactivity.

> Docs for solving such problems as yours are usually very good on
> Arch, so you 
> might wish to look at https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/PRIME if
> nothing 
> yet tried helps. Another place to look for video-focused help is:
> https://lists.x.org/mailman/listinfo/xorg

Thanks for the suggestions.


Reply to: