Score:1

Second monitor displays incorrect resolution on Ubuntu 20.04

ar flag

I use a Dell XPS 13 9350 laptop. I recently purchased an HP EliteDisplay E223d monitor. Both the laptop and the monitor have native resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The monitor is connected to the laptop directly via a Thunderbolt cable.*

When I run sudo lshw -C video the output is:

*-display                 
   description: VGA compatible controller
   product: Skylake GT2 [HD Graphics 520]
   vendor: Intel Corporation
   physical id: 2
   bus info: pci@0000:00:02.0
   version: 07
   width: 64 bits
   clock: 33MHz
   capabilities: pciexpress msi pm vga_controller bus_master cap_list rom
   configuration: driver=i915 latency=0
   resources: irq:139 memory:db000000-dbffffff memory:90000000-9fffffff ioport:f000(size=64) memory:c0000-dffff

A Dell page that refers to the Skylake GT2 [HD Graphics 520] video card shows that it is capable of handling up to four times the native resolution of each of my screens:

DP 1.2/eDP 1.3 max. resolution  3840 x 2160 @ 60 Hz

While a fresh installation of Ubuntu 20.04 is loading, the entire second monitor shows the purple background colour, but as soon as Ubuntu is running, the second monitor displays with a maximum resolution of 1024 x 768 px:

Screen Display Settings

When used with other operating systems, the monitor has worked at full resolution.

Another issue, which may have a different cause, is that the monitor often tells me:

⚠️ Input Signal Not Found
Check the video cable and video source.
Display going to sleep.

When used with other operating systems, the monitor has worked at full resolution.

What steps should I take to get my second monitor to work correctly with Ubuntu 20.04?

From page 3 of the specifications for my laptop, I see

*Thunderbolt 3 (USB Type‑C) port Supports USB 3.1 Gen 2, DisplayPort 1.2 , Thunderbolt 3 and also allows you to connect to external display using dongles. Provides data transfer rates up to 10 Gbps for USB 3.1 Gen 2 and up to 40 Gbps for Thunderbolt 3.

Does this mean that a dongle is required, or that dongles are also supported? The monitor (sometimes) functioned at full resolution under Ubuntu 16.04, without a dongle.

codlord avatar
ru flag
You have not said how your monitor is connected to your laptop. I am guessing using a dongle or hub of some sort so specify exactly the make/model of hub and the cables going from laptop to monitor etc. It's likely to be the dongle/hub causing the issues. I think these devices have Windows drivers available but not necessarily any Ubuntu drivers. Seen lots of people with same sorts of issues using XPS laptops. You may be able to force the monitor into the correct resolution see here: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Xrandr#Adding_undetected_resolutions
James Newton avatar
ar flag
Following the instructions at the archilinux site, I tried... `xrandr --newmode "1920x1080_60.00" 173.00 1920 2048 2248 2576 1080 1083 1088 1120 -hsync +vsync; xrandr --addmode DP-1 1920x1080_60.00; xrandr --output DP-1 --mode 1920x1080_60.00` ... and this worked *once* but subsequently it just causes the second monitor to flicker to black a few times and then revert, or simply stop recognizing input.
Score:0
ar flag

My problem disappeared immediately when I started using an HDMI - USB Type C cable. Apparently, the HP EliteDisplay E223d monitor does not communicate all the necessary data down a cable which is connected directly to its own USB Type C port.

mangohost

Post an answer

Most people don’t grasp that asking a lot of questions unlocks learning and improves interpersonal bonding. In Alison’s studies, for example, though people could accurately recall how many questions had been asked in their conversations, they didn’t intuit the link between questions and liking. Across four studies, in which participants were engaged in conversations themselves or read transcripts of others’ conversations, people tended not to realize that question asking would influence—or had influenced—the level of amity between the conversationalists.