[SOLVED] HDMI from Laptop to TV doesn't work like I expected. Please help.

[Poifix]

Hello.
Obviously I'm very new to Linux in general. And will usually stick to Windows if possible.
I recently fixed my brothers old laptop which when new ran Windows 7. Later ran Windows 10.
Slow as it was running Windows 10. I decided I'd give Linux Mint 20.2 (mate) a try. All was well. Gave some new life to that piece of old garbage. And no longer needed to come to the rescue as often.

Specs:
APU/CPU: AMD A6-3420M
RAM: 4GB
Everything is updated to latest everything. Drivers, software, kernals etc.
Fresh install of Mint 20.2 or whatever.

Now to my question or problem. He frequently uses the laptop for streaming videos. And will every now and then plug the laptop into a TV with an HDMI cable.
When running Windows this was never an issue. The laptop screen was mirrored on to the TV automatically and the sound came from the TV but was disabled on the laptop. Everything just working as you wanted it too. You could unplug and plug it in anytime and it would "just work".

Now when trying the same thing on Linux Mint 20.2 (mate) things are not really working as expected. Pluging in the HDMI cable works and is detected, but insted of mirroring the laptop screen it is just a blank wallpaper, no taskbar, no nothing. Except the mouse I think. What I know, this is just an extended screen. Which is not really what my brother wants or what I expect to happen.
And all solutions I've found wants me to fiddle with the settings back and forth every time I want to plug or unplug it. He does not want it plugged in like that always. So leaving the settings like that is not an option, neither is me having to fiddle with the settings back and forth every time.

Now I'm looking for possible one time solutions that fixes this and makes it work more seemless like in Windows. (Please no hate, I just like Windows better)
I don't mind if it is a one time fiddle and then be done with it. As long as the plugin and unplug works the same every time. I need the laptop to be able to work separately when not plugged to the TV. And work like I described above when plugging it into the TV.

I was very surprised how well things worked and how well it ran. I was looking to give my moms laptop some new life too. But it is things like these, all the fiddling and things not working like you expect it too that makes Linux just not worth it alot of the time. Please help!

[Pierre]

Hi Poifix,
welcome to our forum.


this is an fairly common scenario and it is all about the external screen,
is not displaying the actual screen, that is currently being viewed on the Laptop itself.

you should be able to fix this, by going to :
- Menu
- Control Center
- Displays
and check the Box called same image in all monitors
then click on Apply system-wide to fix the solution in place.

sometimes, you do have to plug in the HDMI cable, before starting the Laptop,
as it is not as Plug & Play as it could be.

[Poifix]

Hi Poifix,
welcome to our forum.


this is an fairly common scenario and it is all about the external screen,
is not displaying the actual screen, that is currently being viewed on the Laptop itself.

you should be able to fix this, by going to :
- Menu
- Control Center
- Displays
and check the Box called same image in all monitors
then click on Apply system-wide to fix the solution in place.

sometimes, you do have to plug in the HDMI cable, before starting the Laptop,
as it is not as Plug & Play as it could be.

Wow thanks for the fast reply. What about the audio then? How do I make sure it just comes out of the TV when plugged into the TV?
Would be great if all forms of fiddling could be brought down to a minimum, zero if possible.

[Pierre]

sometimes the video will switch okay,
but not the sound, for some reason:
- R/click the speaker icon on the Taskbar itself
- sound preferences
- Hardware
- Profile - - select the HDMI output.

then re-check both the sound & video works okay.

[Poifix]

sometimes the video will switch okay,
but not the sound, for some reason:
- R/click the speaker icon on the Taskbar itself
- sound preferences
- Hardware
- Profile - - select the HDMI output.

then re-check both the sound & video works okay.

Okay, I will check and try all these things later.
Don't quite have the time right now. If it solves the issues I will change the subject to solved.
Otherwise I might come with more questions.
Thanks for your help this far.