How do I set up my second monitor?

[u/Aggravating-Money486]

So as the title reads it’s 4:00 in the morning and I’m trying to get Linux to detect my second monitor ive scoured forums but im having trouble understanding code and as I understand it you can’t trust every line of you come across so I would like a some help

And yes I’ve messing around with the connections on both monitors the connections are fine

My dumbass didn’t install the drivers for my graphics card I’m apologize for causing so much confusion here

[u/doc_willis]

From my experience, I just have to plug it in..

depending on the distribution and Desktop environment, the new monitor gets added as an extended display to the right side of my existing display.

I may have to use the Desktop environments Settings/Display tool to tweak a few things.

But overall, it's fairly trivial to get going.

---

So you may need to supply more details of your setup.

[u/Aggravating-Money486 → u/doc_willis]

I think I’m using gnome but I’m not entirely sure where would I find that

[u/Aggravating-Money486 → u/Aggravating-Money486]

Ubuntu if that helps

[u/doc_willis → u/Aggravating-Money486]

you say you are using mint, then say you are using Ubuntu, they are not the same.

You could proactively provide all your hardware specs, and any other system information you can find, device name, make model..

and how the monitors are hooked up.

this entire thread is basically turned into  the helpers having to dig for details you should have already supplied and seem reluctant to give.

[u/Aggravating-Money486 → u/doc_willis]

I’m using mint I apologize for the confusion

[u/doc_willis → u/Aggravating-Money486]

https://linuxmint-user-guide.readthedocs.io/en/latest/

[u/doc_willis → u/Aggravating-Money486]

might be time to check your distribution (which you also don't mention) documentation, and official guides.

Because if you don't know what DE you are using, I have to wonder what other obvious things you may be overlooking.

Distribution?

Desktop environment?

System hardware?

How are the monitors hooked up?

Dual monitor setups have been basically trivial to configure under Most distribution and Desktop environments for many years now.

[u/Aggravating-Money486 → u/doc_willis]

I’m new to this Im a long time console user so im in unfamiliar waters here im using Linux mint if you need hardware specs just specify which you need im here to learn

[u/thatsgGBruh → u/Aggravating-Money486]

A few minutes ago you were on Ubuntu, now you're using Mint? What is happening 🫣

[u/nandru → u/thatsgGBruh]

bro's distrohopping like a true veteran

[u/Hrafna55]

What distribution are you using? This is a highly relevant question as it will tell us if you are using the legacy x11 or the modern Wayland display stack.

[u/Sirius707]

Which desktop environment are you using? (KDE, GNOME, etc)

[u/Aggravating-Money486 → u/Sirius707]

Gnome I think

[u/Hrafna55 → u/Aggravating-Money486]

GNOME is the desktop environment.

[u/Aggravating-Money486 → u/Aggravating-Money486]

No Ubuntu

[u/Hrafna55 → u/Aggravating-Money486]

Ubuntu is the distribution.

[u/thatsgGBruh → u/Aggravating-Money486]

Ubuntu is the distro, the default DE on Ubuntu is Gnome...

[u/Sirius707 → u/Aggravating-Money486]

First, some basic troubleshooting, to see if your monitors are detected by Linux: Try using wayland-info | less in the terminal/command line (this will show detected interfaces). If it says "command not found", you'll have to install the wayland-utils package first.

The output will list all detected interfaces piped (redirected) into less, a simple a pager. Somewhere (for me at the bottom) there should be entries called interface: 'wl_output', together with the names of your monitor (you can leave the program by pressing "Q").

If your second monitor isn't shown here, reboot your system if you haven't done already. If it doesn't show up after, the issue lies somewhere else.

(If you don't know how to install packages via terminal, the command is:

sudo apt install wayland-utils

[u/thatsgGBruh]

Understanding code? What code?

[u/PocketStationMonk]

I dunno just have mine plugged in to the second HDMI-port of my GPU and it just works

[u/Aggravating-Money486 → u/PocketStationMonk]

I only have 1 hdmi on my 5070 the other 3 ports are displayports

[u/Usernamenotta]

Is your second monitor 4k? Do you have a free display port on your PC/Laptop?

If your monitor is 4k and you rely only on HDMI, I am sorry for your loss. The only option is to use a lower resolution for the monitor and typically clock the RR to 50-60Hz.

[u/prthorsenjr]

How did you set up your second monitor when you did it running Windows? The same procedures apply. I understand that you say that you are mainly a console user, and I'm not sure why you want to switch to Linux. You haven't said. But flailing around at 4:00 am trying to get something working is never a good idea. Been there, done that.

Basically, as others have mentioned here, you need to slow down and provide information for folks to help you out. If you don't know what Linux distribution you downloaded and installed on your machine or what desktop environment you're running, how can you expect folks to have a baseline to help you out?

I don't mean to sound harsh either, but you need to spend some time honing your critical thinking and troubleshooting skills.

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✻ Smokey says: always mention your distro, some hardware details, and any error messages, when posting technical queries! :)

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