Second monitor not seen in time, doesn't receive display

[paul1149]

This has been happening maybe 25% of the time for a long time. I have a two monitor setup on my tower, and often the two displays will be gathered onto the main monitor, with the second monitor offline. The fix for this has been to go into Settings, Disable the second monitor, and then when the confirmation dialog appears Revert back to both monitors. The two-monitor display is then reinitialized correctly.

Lately though there has been a slight shift. The displays are still messed up, but conky appears on the second monitor as it should. This has led me to believe that the problem is that the second monitor, which is an older Viewsonic, is not being seen in time for KDE to acknowledge it and give it its desktop display. But several seconds later, when conky kicks in, it is there and seen so there is no problem with that.

My system is decently fast, and the Viewsonic's start up has noticeably lag, so I think this is the problem. Is there any way to delay the KDE monitor tally process to give the Viewsonic a few seconds more to get online so it is seen properly?

Thanks.

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 6.1.0-13-amd64 [6.1.55-1] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-13-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash
    init=/lib/systemd/systemd
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.27.5 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 7 dm: SDDM Distro: MX-23.2_KDE_x64 Libretto
    October 15 2023 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: Micro-Star model: MAG B550 TOMAHAWK (MS-7C91) v: 2.0
    serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends LLC. v: A.F0 date: 10/19/2023
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 3+ gen: 4 level: v3 note: check
    built: 2022 process: TSMC n6 (7nm) family: 0x19 (25) model-id: 0x21 (33) stepping: 0
    microcode: 0xA20102B
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 6 tpc: 2 threads: 12 smt: enabled cache: L1: 384 KiB
    desc: d-6x32 KiB; i-6x32 KiB L2: 3 MiB desc: 6x512 KiB L3: 32 MiB desc: 1x32 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 2199 high: 2204 min/max: 2200/4650 boost: enabled scaling:
    driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: ondemand cores: 1: 2204 2: 2200 3: 2200 4: 2199 5: 2200 6: 2200
    7: 2200 8: 2200 9: 2200 10: 2200 11: 2196 12: 2200 bogomips: 88802
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed status: Not affected
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow mitigation: safe RET
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW, STIBP: always-on, RSB
    filling, PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Lexa PRO [Radeon 540/540X/550/550X / RX 540X/550/550X] driver: amdgpu v: kernel
    arch: GCN-4 code: Arctic Islands process: GF 14nm built: 2016-20 pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s
    lanes: 8 ports: active: DVI-D-1,HDMI-A-1 empty: none bus-ID: 2b:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:699f
    class-ID: 0300 temp: 33.0 C
  Device-2: Sunplus Innovation SPCA2281 Web Camera type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo
    bus-ID: 1-5.4.3:9 chip-ID: 1bcf:2281 class-ID: 0102
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.9 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
    loaded: amdgpu unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa dri: radeonsi gpu: amdgpu display-ID: :0
    screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 2720x1024 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 717x270mm (28.23x10.63") s-diag: 766mm (30.16")
  Monitor-1: DVI-D-1 mapped: DVI-D-0 pos: top-left model: ViewSonic VP191b serial: <filter>
    built: 2004 res: 1280x1024 hz: 60 dpi: 86 gamma: 1.2 size: 376x310mm (14.8x12.2")
    diag: 487mm (19.2") ratio: 5:4 modes: max: 1280x1024 min: 720x400
  Monitor-2: HDMI-A-1 mapped: HDMI-A-0 pos: primary,bottom-r model: Dell SE198WFP
    serial: <filter> built: 2008 res: 1440x900 hz: 60 dpi: 90 gamma: 1.2
    size: 408x255mm (16.06x10.04") diag: 481mm (18.9") ratio: 16:10 modes: max: 1440x900
    min: 720x400
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 Mesa 23.1.2-1~mx23ahs renderer: AMD Radeon RX 550 / 550 Series (polaris12
    LLVM 15.0.6 DRM 3.49 6.1.0-13-amd64) direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD Baffin HDMI/DP Audio [Radeon RX 550 640SP / 560/560X] driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel bus-ID: 1-2.2:4 pcie: chip-ID: 0556:0001 gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s class-ID: 0102 lanes: 8
    bus-ID: 2b:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:aae0 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: AMD Starship/Matisse HD Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 2d:00.4 chip-ID: 1022:1487 class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: Asahi Kasei Microsystems AK5370 I/F A/D Converter type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio
  Device-4: Sunplus Innovation SPCA2281 Web Camera type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo
    bus-ID: 1-5.4.3:9 chip-ID: 1bcf:2281 class-ID: 0102
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-13-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.0 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
    2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: e000 bus-ID: 05:00.0
    chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8125 2.5GbE vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 2
    speed: 5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: d000 bus-ID: 2a:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8125 class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth1 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 2.27 TiB used: 986.47 GiB (42.4%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:2 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 980 500GB size: 465.76 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter>
    rev: 1B4QFXO7 temp: 29.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/nvme1n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 970 EVO Plus 1TB size: 931.51 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter>
    rev: 4B2QEXM7 temp: 28.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-3: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Western Digital model: WD10EZEX-00UJTA0 size: 931.51 GiB
    block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: N/A serial: <filter> rev: 1A01
    scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 38.96 GiB size: 38.06 GiB (97.67%) used: 26.12 GiB (68.6%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:4
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 500 MiB size: 499 MiB (99.80%) used: 568 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 maj-min: 259:3
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 408.16 GiB size: 400.69 GiB (98.17%) used: 34.23 GiB (8.5%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3 maj-min: 259:5
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 18.14 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p4 maj-min: 259:6
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 47.8 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 33.0 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Repos:
  Packages: 2963 pm: dpkg pkgs: 2957 libs: 1726 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala pm: rpm pkgs: 0
    pm: flatpak pkgs: 6
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64] https://brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/megasync.list
    1: deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/meganz-archive-keyring.gpg] https://mega.nz/linux/repo/Debian_12/ ./
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list
    1: deb http://mirrors.rit.edu/mxlinux/mx-packages/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
    2: deb http://mirrors.rit.edu/mxlinux/mx-packages/mx/repo/ bookworm ahs
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nextdns.list
    1: deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/nextdns.gpg] https://repo.nextdns.io/deb stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/opera-stable.list
    1: deb https://deb.opera.com/opera-stable/ stable non-free
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/softmaker.list
    1: deb http://shop.softmaker.com/repo/apt stable non-free
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vivaldi-snapshot.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.vivaldi.com/snapshot/deb/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/zulu-openJDK.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64] http://repos.azulsystems.com/debian stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/zulu-openjdk.list
    1: deb [ arch=amd64 ] https://repos.azul.com/zulu/deb/ stable main
Info:
  Processes: 317 Uptime: 23m wakeups: 0 Memory: 15.54 GiB used: 3.21 GiB (20.6%) Init: systemd
  v: 252 target: graphical (5) default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 12
  Client: shell wrapper v: 5.2.15-release inxi: 3.3.26
Boot Mode: UEFI

[j2mcgreg]

What happens if you don't turn on the Dell monitor until after the Viewsonic has launched?

[paul1149]

The Viewsonic actually should be up, since it's actually never turned off, it sits hibernating until the machine is booted up each morning. But it does take time to output the initial signal (after that it is fine). Were I to turn off the Dell primary monitor, I suppose I would have the same problem in reverse - everything would end up on the Viewsonic. I would not be able to manually time when to turn on the Dell.

[j2mcgreg]

The Viewsonic actually should be up, since it's actually never turned off, it sits hibernating until the machine is booted up each morning. But it does take time to output the initial signal (after that it is fine). Were I to turn off the Dell primary monitor, I suppose I would have the same problem in reverse - everything would end up on the Viewsonic. I would not be able to manually time when to turn on the Dell.

I had a couple of those aged Viewsonics a few years ago and the problem with them was as you described. More often than not they wouldn't wake from sleep and needed two or more power cycles to get them to function. I think that by starting up with the Dell physically turned off that you will find that the problem is with the Viewsonic and not one of timing between the HDMI and Div-D connections.

[Charlie Brown]

You can do this if you like:

Install ARandR (was ootb once, a tiny app.), then "when everything is ok, as they should be": start ARandR and "save as".

It saves as a .sh file which's already executable.

... Then we can put it in autostart with some delay :)

[paul1149]

I think that by starting up with the Dell physically turned off that you will find that the problem is with the Viewsonic and not one of timing between the HDMI and Div-D connections.

Yes, I believe the problem is in the Viewsonic itself, though it's a perfectly fine monitor otherwise. I hadn't considered video card timing.

Thanks.

Install ARandR (was ootb once, a tiny app.), then "when everything is ok, as they should be": start ARandR and "save as".

It saves as a .sh file which's already executable.

... Then we can put it in autostart with some delay :)

Actually, that has been in the back of my mind, for if I can't find a way to more organically solve the problem. It might have to be a script that toggles the display back and forth once, which is what I do manually. Or maybe toggling wouldn't be necessary.

I'm also having problems with autostarting some apps, but that's for another thread someday.

Thanks.

[paul1149]

I just had reason to try ARandR. When this problem occurs the second monitor has now been coming online, which it didn't used to do when this problem occurred before, but its wallpaper was mashed onto the first monitor, as were its icons. So I gave the ARandR script a spin. Apparently it's limited to more basic functions, such as which monitors are active and their display configurations. The wallpaper and icon problems were not touched. The only way I know of to get them where they should be is to deactivate then reactivate the second monitor.