Secondary screen freezes after changing refresh rate

[UsherTypeZorin]

Hi everyone,

I have two displays: my laptop’s built‑in screen and a 22‑inch Samsung monitor connected via HDMI. Because I’ve been studying a lot lately, I noticed the laptop screen was set to a 144 Hz refresh rate. To reduce eye strain I lowered it to 59.96 Hz, hoping to bring the two screens closer together.

However, after making this change, whenever I have several windows open at once (for example Vivaldi and other apps), the secondary screen (the Samsung monitor) freezes. The only way to recover is to restart the PC or reset the display settings.

I’m attaching screenshots with all the information I can gather about my system.

Does anyone have ideas on how to fix this? Thanks!

[Forpli]

Are you running Zorin on Xorg or Wayland? If you are in Wayland, please switch to Xorg at loginsecreen (cogwheel).
Can you try to set these settings in X Server Settings of Nvidia to see if it makes a difference?

[UsherTypeZorin]

I'll try and let you know in the next few days

[UsherTypeZorin]

I enabled the Xorg function as suggested, but then in the settings I’m prevented from changing the frequency to 144 Hz

[Forpli]

Xorg has problems with different refresh rates. You could try this solution if you want to set up different refresh rates in Xorg:

Refresh Rate

You could take a look here: "First add those 2 lines to /etc/environment: CLUTTER_DEFAULT_FPS=144 #Put your refresh rate __GL_SYNC_DISPLAY_DEVICE=DP-0 #Mine was DP-0 Then launch Nvidia X Server settings by typing "nvidia-settings" and then disable "Allow Flipping" in the OpenGL menu. To apply after every reboot, you just need to launch the "nvidia-settings" menu to apply the settings."

Here is another link:

https://www.reddit.com/r/linuxhardware/comments/mht7kn/workaround_for_multiple_monitors_with_different/

[Ponce-De-Leon]

You have set the Refresh Rate directly to 60,00Hz. Did You tried it with a slightly lower Setting like You have it on Your first Display with 59,96Hz?

[UsherTypeZorin]

I’ll update you on what I’ve tested these past few days:**

1. I tried using Xorg, and when I open a game on the laptop screen while using the second monitor for music or streaming, the monitor freezes.
2. I decided to reset all settings to defaults and switched back to Wayland, but it still froze.
3. Finally, I tried installing the Liquorix kernel, hoping it might help everything run more smoothly and correctly. However, I haven’t changed the “Hz” settings yet because I want to take things one step at a time.

[StarTreker]

(1) Disable "Secure Boot" in the BIOS

Picture from net for illustration purpose only.

(2) Run system in Xorg

Picture from net for illustration purpose only.

(3) Since you have an Nvidia GPU, make sure your running your proprietary GPU driver, in "Additional Drivers"

(4) Set your refresh rate using Nvidia X Server Settings APP

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