Can't get UHD monitor to display

[jave]

Hi,
I'm having issues with a new Acer KG281K UHD monitor. Can't seem to get any sort of display. The monitor "tries" to display something, then goes black, and cycles through this attempt.

I have a 2nd monitor connected - an old Dell 24" 1920x1200 monitor, and I'm using it now to type this message!

System info as follows:

Code: Select all

jave@ryzen7:~$ inxi -F
System:    Host: ryzen7 Kernel: 5.4.0-51-generic x86_64 bits: 64 Desktop: Cinnamon 4.6.7 Distro: Linux Mint 20 Ulyana 
Machine:   Type: Desktop System: Gigabyte product: B450M DS3H v: N/A serial: <superuser/root required> 
           Mobo: Gigabyte model: B450M DS3H-CF v: x.x serial: <superuser/root required> UEFI [Legacy]: American Megatrends 
           v: F51 date: 07/29/2020 
CPU:       Topology: 8-Core model: AMD Ryzen 7 2700X bits: 64 type: MT MCP L2 cache: 4096 KiB 
           Speed: 3673 MHz min/max: N/A Core speeds (MHz): 1: 3673 2: 3533 3: 3684 4: 3692 5: 3689 6: 3683 7: 3682 8: 3693 
           9: 3673 10: 3533 11: 3684 12: 3692 13: 3689 14: 3683 15: 3682 16: 3693 
Graphics:  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Navi 10 [Radeon RX 5600 OEM/5600 XT / 5700/5700 XT] driver: amdgpu 
           v: kernel 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.8 driver: amdgpu,ati unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,radeon,vesa 
           resolution: 1920x1200~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (NAVI10 DRM 3.35.0 5.4.0-51-generic LLVM 11.0.0) 
           v: 4.6 Mesa 20.3.0-devel (git-0c70268 2020-10-16 focal-oibaf-ppa) 
Audio:     Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Navi 10 HDMI Audio driver: snd_hda_intel 
           Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 17h HD Audio driver: snd_hda_intel 
           Device-3: Logitech Webcam C270 type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-51-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet driver: r8169 
           IF: enp5s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: b4:2e:99:8f:82:e5 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 9.78 TiB used: 2.03 TiB (20.7%) 
           ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Silicon Power model: SPCC M.2 PCIE SSD size: 238.47 GiB 
           ID-2: /dev/sda vendor: Seagate model: ST4000DX001-1CE168 size: 3.64 TiB 
           ID-3: /dev/sdb vendor: Western Digital model: WD5000AAKX-001CA0 size: 465.76 GiB 
           ID-4: /dev/sdc vendor: Western Digital model: WD60PURX-78T0ZY1 size: 5.46 TiB 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 233.73 GiB used: 54.10 GiB (23.1%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 68.6 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 52 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: amdgpu fan: 0 
Info:      Processes: 383 Uptime: 6m Memory: 31.37 GiB used: 3.13 GiB (10.0%) Shell: bash inxi: 3.0.38

I attempted this fix here - https://randomblog.hu/setting-up-your-a ... ntu-20-04/

BUT this borked my system completely, so I ended up having to restore a Timeshift backup from the command line. Never done that before so learning as I go.

So, all is working now except the UHD monitor. I'm thinking drivers but not sure where to go next. Any help much appreciated.

[jave]

Got a display going - dodgy DP cable!

Now, the UHD resolution is great, but everything is too small. How do I scale up?

Okay, I've set HiDPI to 2x, so the main monitor looks great - very sharp. BUT my 2nd monitor the text is huge!

I think xrandr will help, but I have no idea how to set it up.

I'd like...
Main monitor - 3840x2160 @60Hz 2x scaling
2nd monitor - 1920x1200 @60Hz 1x scaling

[SMG]

Cables are often the issue.

Is Displays not letting you set the HiDPI for each monitor? I do not know if that is possible.

I wanted to point out it seems your system temp is on the high side.
System Temperatures: cpu: 68.6

While Ryzen 5's are usually fine with the 5.4 kernel, Ryzen 7's often have better system performance with higher kernels. I would think that maybe the 5.7 or higher might be a good idea to try. (Computers with Renoir graphics need the 5.7.1 kernel just to be able to get the necessary device driver.) You might also get newer amdgpu drivers with the newer kernel. People use ukuu or mainline to upgrade the kernel. You can always switch back if it does not help.

[Moonstone Man]

I wanted to point out it seems your system temp is on the high side.
System Temperatures: cpu: 68.6

There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. The CPU is an AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, so it reports Tcl temperatures, which are at 10 degrees above Tdie in order to overdrive the fans. It's by design in that CPU and if there is a problem anywhere, it's in inxi for not picking up Tdie.

In addition:

Code: Select all

           Speed: 3673 MHz min/max: N/A Core speeds (MHz): 1: 3673 2: 3533 3: 3684 4: 3692 5: 3689 6: 3683 7: 3682 8: 3693 
           9: 3673 10: 3533 11: 3684 12: 3692 13: 3689 14: 3683 15: 3682 16: 3693

The CPU is clearly under heavy load so it's more than likely that poster is busy doing something that soaks up CPU cycles.

[jave]

I wanted to point out it seems your system temp is on the high side.
System Temperatures: cpu: 68.6

There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. The CPU is an AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, so it reports Tcl temperatures, which are at 10 degrees above Tdie in order to overdrive the fans. It's by design in that CPU and if there is a problem anywhere, it's in inxi for not picking up Tdie.

Yes, system temp is high as I'm crunching applications with BOINC Manager at 100% CPU.

Also, I've managed to make a workaround. It's ugly but it works.

I add the following to my Startup Applications: "xrandr --output DisplayPort-0 --scale-from 1920x1080" with a 5 second delay.

So my main monitor is still at the UHD resolution, but scaled as a 1920x1080 monitor, and my 2nd monitor still works at 1920x1200 with no scaling as expected.

Like I said, it works!

[absque fenestris]

How are your settings in the System Settings > Display?
I have a comparable configuration with the laptop monitor in Double Hi-DPI (1500x1000) and the external monitor in native (1920x1200) resolution. The appearance of text and icons on the external monitor is as usual.

inxi -G says the following:

Code: Select all

Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics 620 driver: i915 v: kernel 
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP108M [GeForce MX150] driver: nvidia v: 450.80.02 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.8 driver: modesetting,nvidia 
  unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa resolution: 3000x2000~60Hz, 1920x1200~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics 620 (KBL GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 20.0.8 

[jave]

How are your settings in the System Settings > Display?
I have a comparable configuration with the laptop monitor in Double Hi-DPI (1500x1000) and the external monitor in native (1920x1200) resolution. The appearance of text and icons on the external monitor is as usual.

inxi -G says the following:

Code: Select all

Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel UHD Graphics 620 driver: i915 v: kernel 
  Device-2: NVIDIA GP108M [GeForce MX150] driver: nvidia v: 450.80.02 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.8 driver: modesetting,nvidia 
  unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa resolution: 3000x2000~60Hz, 1920x1200~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics 620 (KBL GT2) v: 4.6 Mesa 20.0.8 

THANK YOU! My hack above wasn't working with xrandr so I removed it, AND I took a look at your settings and applied the same or similar settings.

[jave]

Still have one small problem. After I try to view the screens when the screens are blank (screensaver then monitor timeout) my browser window (Firefox) moves (!) from the primary display to the 2nd monitor, and my conky setup shifts nearly all the way across to the 2nd monitor as well.

Any ideas?

[SMG]

I wanted to point out it seems your system temp is on the high side.
System Temperatures: cpu: 68.6

There is absolutely nothing wrong with it. The CPU is an AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, so it reports Tcl temperatures, which are at 10 degrees above Tdie in order to overdrive the fans. It's by design in that CPU and if there is a problem anywhere, it's in inxi for not picking up Tdie.

In addition:

Code: Select all

           Speed: 3673 MHz min/max: N/A Core speeds (MHz): 1: 3673 2: 3533 3: 3684 4: 3692 5: 3689 6: 3683 7: 3682 8: 3693 
           9: 3673 10: 3533 11: 3684 12: 3692 13: 3689 14: 3683 15: 3682 16: 3693

The CPU is clearly under heavy load so it's more than likely that poster is busy doing something that soaks up CPU cycles.

Thanks for correcting my statement and pointing out what I missed.

I thought I had read the newer kernels were providing better temperature control, but I'll go back and check what I may have confused so my future posts will be more accurate.

[Moonstone Man]

I thought I had read the newer kernels were providing better temperature control...

Kernels from 5.6 onward contain a thermal policy engine, but in general, modern CPUs are self-governing, as are most NVMe drives. They both throttle back if necessary.

https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/ ... s-api.html

[absque fenestris]

Still have one small problem. After I try to view the screens when the screens are blank (screensaver then monitor timeout) my browser window (Firefox) moves (!) from the primary display to the 2nd monitor, and my conky setup shifts nearly all the way across to the 2nd monitor as well.

Any ideas?

There is the button > Set as Primary ...

In my case I haven't changed the setting as the system apparently sees the laptop monitor as the primary monitor.

[SMG]

Still have one small problem. After I try to view the screens when the screens are blank (screensaver then monitor timeout) my browser window (Firefox) moves (!) from the primary display to the 2nd monitor, and my conky setup shifts nearly all the way across to the 2nd monitor as well.

If absque fenestris's comment does not help, could you clarify what "screensaver then monitor timeout" means. Is the computer itself sleeping (thus you are waking it from sleep), is the monitor just on a power-save mode (so just waking the monitor), or something else?

[jave]

Still have one small problem. After I try to view the screens when the screens are blank (screensaver then monitor timeout) my browser window (Firefox) moves (!) from the primary display to the 2nd monitor, and my conky setup shifts nearly all the way across to the 2nd monitor as well.

If absque fenestris's comment does not help, could you clarify what "screensaver then monitor timeout" means. Is the computer itself sleeping (thus you are waking it from sleep), is the monitor just on a power-save mode (so just waking the monitor), or something else?

I have my screensaver set to kick in after 5 minutes, then the monitor goes to sleep after 10 minutes. The PC itself never sleeps. See pic.

[SMG]

My theory on what may be happening is that the re-powering of the displays is happening in a manner such that the computer sees your secondary as up and running before the primary. Therefore everything "shifts" to the secondary because the computer is only seeing it as available. Then the primary comes up.

I stress the word theory because I don't know that for sure. I've seen a number of threads where people have multiple monitors and things seem to go sideways (in various manners) after the monitor and/or the computer resumes from sleep. I've not yet been able to determine enough of a common theme based on the descriptions to determine exactly what is happening other than possibly the re-powering/data connections timing.

While trying to help troubleshoot a sort of similar issue in another thread, the OP in that thread decided to use a "dongle" fixIf I don't turn on my 2nd monitor, the 1st one stays black [solved]. That permits turning off the monitor, but the computer still sees it as on. I do not know if that type of workaround solution might work if the monitor is going to sleep.

It might also be that flip-flopping (if possible) the gpu ports each monitor is using might address the situation. I've seen enough posts where someone tried something that should not have made a difference but did that I don't rule out any odd ideas.

[jave]

Yes, I agree with you. My 2nd monitor (a Dell) comes back to life FIRST, then the new UHD monitor (Acer) comes back to life later.

I tried switching off the sleep function for the monitors and the problems doesn't occur. It's only when sleep mode is enabled.

I will try swapping over the DP cables from the monitors to the ports on the graphics card and see what happens.

I also found these - https://www.amazon.com.au/FUERAN-DP-Dis ... 07C6Q7BGP/

What exactly does a EDID emulator do? And why might it work in my situation?

[jave]

As I've tried to find out more information about this, I think it's some sort of "bug" with the way the display sets up primary monitors etc after waking up from sleep.

I deleted ~/.config/monitors.xml and ~/.config/cinnamon-monitors.xml and then set up my display as per the "Displays" app.

I then logged out and logged back in. Got a Cinnamon desktop error but this cleared after a reboot. BUT my problem still remains when waking the monitors from sleep.

[SMG]

I also found these - https://www.amazon.com.au/FUERAN-DP-Dis ... 07C6Q7BGP/

That looks like a plug which is not what you want. You would want what would be an inline one. That way you would plug it into your DP and then plug your cable into it. (Or it could probably also be in between the cable and your monitor.)

If you decide to get a dongle, check to make sure it supports the resolution/frequency of the Acer monitor. Based on the reviews I read on this one and on the ones mentioned in the other thread, that was one thing reviewers stressed to do. Not all the dongles work with every monitor's full capabilities. It may work with your monitor, but at a reduced resolution or a different frequency.

What exactly does a EDID emulator do? And why might it work in my situation?

What is EDID(Extended Display Identification Data) "EDID is the information provided by a monitor to the video source describing the monitor’s capabilities. This allows the video source to then send out a video signal that is supported by the monitor."

It sits between the GPU and the monitor and its function is to keep the information the monitor sent to the computer "live" for the current session of X Server even if the monitor stops sending its signal because it fell asleep.

As I understand it, when you first boot your computer, both monitors have time to be up and running before X Server and your GPU poll them for information. Then your monitors go to sleep and that can stop them from sending their info back to the GPU and X Server. On resume from sleep, the timing of the monitors powering and sending their info to the X Server, which has been running the entire time, is different and the Dell sneaks in ahead of the Acer.

[SMG]

I'm looking to find an example of a pass-through DP dongle and not finding any. Maybe there isn't such a thing. All I see are HDMI ones.

Maybe just a restart of the X server (which I know is Ctl-Alt-Backspace in LM19) would reset the monitors, but I've not done it and do not know how it might affect anything else.

[jave]

I'm looking to find an example of a pass-through DP dongle and not finding any. Maybe there isn't such a thing. All I see are HDMI ones.

My video card has one HDMI output and both my monitors have a HDMI input, SO could I use something like this on my Acer monitor (which is the one I want to stay "alive") - https://www.amazon.com.au/EVanlak-Passt ... 07YMTMMH5/

There were cheaper ones on Amazon but they reviewed poorly. I couldn't find any on ebay that were pass-through - just dummy plugs.

[SMG]

My video card has one HDMI output and both my monitors have a HDMI input, SO could I use something like this on my Acer monitor (which is the one I want to stay "alive") - https://www.amazon.com.au/EVanlak-Passt ... 07YMTMMH5/

There were cheaper ones on Amazon but they reviewed poorly. I couldn't find any on ebay that were pass-through - just dummy plugs.

That looks like it might be the same one Red Squirrel from the other thread bought EVanlak Hdmi Edid Emulator Passthrough and had success with.

Red Squirrel indicated the link originally posted in the thread changed to be a DVI passthrough, but it is still showing as HDMI for me. (Maybe because I'm not in Canada? Means it might work for you too. )

I did eventually find a DP passthrough one, but the reviews on it indicated that the values it held didn't always match the monitor. And I only found one which didn't seem like a good sign.