I need troubleshooting help.
I am new to Linux and I haven't really used Unix since the Eighties.
Scenario:
I have a Samsung NF310 Netbook (as they called it), originally shipped with Windows 7. I have kept it alive on Windows 10; painfully slow. I don't need to do that anymore, so I thought I put Linux on it and hook it up to the TV for streaming. However, display on both Netbook and monitor is never OK on Linux no matter what monitor or resolution I try. It works fine in Windows (except everything being so ridiculously slow).
System:
Samsung Netbook NP-NF310-A01US
Intel Atom N550 processor, 1.50GHz, dual core, 64 bit
Installed RAM 2.00 GB
Integrated Intel GMA 3150 graphics
Display 10.1 inches, max resolution 1366x768 (16:9 ratio)
1 VGA port (no HDMI)
Monitors I tested with:
MAG Industries 14" VGA, max res 1024x768 (4:3 ratio)
Hanns G HB191D 19" using its VGA port, max res 1440:900 (16:10 ratio)
LG TV 48" HDMI port, through VGA-HDMI adapter, max res 1920x1080 (16:9 ratio)
Display is fine in Win10 for all monitors including with the VGA-HDMI adapter. Mirror mode sets both displays to highest common resolution. Extend mode sets both displays to max resolution. The Netbook display is stretched when mirrored on the lower resolution MAG monitor. (A little ugly, but it works.)
Linux:
My Search for lightweight, windows-like distros resulted in a shortlist of Zorin and Mint. Zorin seemed gentler on the hardware and when I found Zorin Lite, I picked it. Install and updates worked smoothly and I was very happy - until I plugged it in to the TV.
The Netbook display now showed only the upper left quadrant of the desktop. The TV showed the entire desktop, but with the Netbook display kind of overlayed on the upper left quadrant. And when I tried extend it got worse. Flickering and horizontal stripes over parts or all of both screen.
I now tested against the Hanns G and MAG monitors and had similar problems.
I installed Zorin Core instead (clean, no dual boot) but that did not help. I tried Mint Xfce (clean install). Similar display problems and other problems so now I'm back on Zorin Lite.
Conclusion (so far):
The hardware is capable, because it works under Windows.
The Linux software is almost there. Monitors are detected, Monitor properties such as name and available resolution is picked up. But, the video signal gets garbled on both monitor and Netbook when extend mode is applied. It is not perfect in mirror mode either as the Netbook display gets cropped when the monitor has higher resolution.
I need troubleshooting help. Or, even better, a fix!
(I can provide photos of the screens if it's OK to post.)
I just notice one anomaly, important or not. The listing for Monitor-2 shows max and min resolution (correctly). The listing for Monitor-1 (the built in display) shows only 1366x768. That is not correct! It has a long list of possible resolutions, e.g., 1024x768.
I did not mean that the reported resolution for the built in monitor (Monitor-1) is wrong. Maybe I should have said it is incomplete.
This may be a rabbit hole but I let others decide on that. I see a difference in how inix reports Monitor-1 and -2. Could that be of importance for my troubleshooting? I don't have the know-how to determine that.
inix shows a min and a max resolution for Monitor-2, but only 1366x768 for Monitor-1. I know that Monitor-1 has 10 more resolution settings, down to 640x360. Why doesn't inix report max and min values for Monitor-1? Is some lower layer component not providing the proper information to inix and could this have something to do with why the displays get distorted when I plug in a monitor?
I see. Yes, when you put it that way it does stand out. The resolution it's reporting is its native resolution. I'm not sure if it's related to the distortion or not, but it is strange. Was this output taken while mirroring or extending, and is the output different when taken in the other case?
There's a kernel argument "nomodeset" that (if I'm understanding correctly) causes a system to load video drivers later in the boot process, using only BIOS video modes until X Windows is loaded. I'd be curious if that changed anything in your case, but I'll admit that I've never used nomodeset and am not an expert by any means.
I wouldn't fault you any for waiting for someone more experienced to chime in on whether or not I'm barking up the wrong tree here, but it should be a safe change to make and revert if unhelpful.
Thanks for the tip and the link. I'll check it out. The data was collected in mirror mode. I cannot work the system in extend mode. The displays are too unstable and flickering/flashing. I attach two photos I took, a few seconds apart when I tried extended display yesterday. It fortunately reverts to mirror after a little while as I never confirm the change.)
I followed Locklear93's link and then the step by step instructions in Mr. Magoo's post and added nomodeset noplymouth to the Linux line in GRUB.
It made a change, but for the worse. The desktop displayed OK, but it looked crude, for lack of a better term. Also, the external monitor was not detected!
But before I had time to test with nomodeset I had another display issue.
After my previous post I let the Netbook sit for a while and the screensaver kicked in. When I came back I expected the desktop to display when I moved the mouse a little. I have disabled screen lock so this had worked fine until now.
This time I just got a white display with the mouse cursor still working. It was the arrow cursor to begin with, except for some areas where it changed to a vertical bar. I tried left and right mouse clicks, hitting Enter and Esc, etc., but nothing helped. Eventually the vertical bar cursor showed no matter where I pointed on the screen. It is a little hard to see, but it is there in the photo. Halfway between center and top, a little to the right of center.
In the end I long pressed the power button and the system was fine when it powered up again.
I had a similar, but worse issue when I tried Mint. It would display the lock screen as expected, but consistently show a black screen after I entered my password. If I let it sit it would eventually show the lock screen again, let me enter my password and go black! And Mint had the same external monitor issues this thread is about so I threw it out and went back to Zorin Lite.
I wanted to mention this because it points to issues stemming from components that are shared between Zorin and Mint. (Then again, there are probably quite a few of those.)
I found a solution, kind of.
I read about wattOS as being very forgiving with the hardware. Also, it belongs to a different branch of the Linux family so maybe it uses other display software? I installed it dual boot to Zorin.
Lo and behold! Extend to the right worked in wattOS!
It came with Firefox ESR, which was very slow streaming, so now I learned how to remove a package and how to install another one via the Terminal. Streaming was still a bit slow with an up-to-date Firefox, slower than on Zorin or Windows. I will try to do something about that.
I still like the Zorin GUI better, but wattOS seems good enough for the limited use I have in mind for my Netbook.
Funny side effect of installing wattOS. BIOS now thinks my USB mouse is a boot device and I have to unplug it to see the GRUB menu. Then I plug it in again after restart is completed. (Mint had the same problem when restarting during install, but not after install was completed.)
As far as I can tell from looking at it, WattOS is based on Debian, which Zorin also is, though Zorin is perhaps farther removed, since it's based on Ubuntu, which in turn is based on Debian. My first guess, if I were to give one, is that in pursuit of absolute minimum power draw (which is WattOS's claim to fame), they're eschewing any real hardware acceleration. Intel's not known for their quality integrated graphics solutions.
Glad you've got a solution, and I wish I were at a level I could translate it into a fix for your Zorin situation.