May 4, 2011

Fixing Ubuntu 11.04 Multi Monitor Problem

If you upgraded your Ubuntu into 11.04 / Natty Narwhal from Ubuntu 10.10, maybe you're facing multi monitor problem. Your second monitor will be blank or blink in black and this will surely happens when you're connecting the second monitor with your notebook that has resolution of 1280x800 (16:10). When this happen you don't see anything on the screen, no taskbar, no shortcut and no right click, you just see your wallpaper and your mouse cursor. When this happens and you're inside Ubuntu, do this :


  1. Press CTRL+ALT+F1, this will force your Ubuntu to enter console mode.
  2. Insert your username and password.
  3. Type 'sudo shutdown -r 00', (you will be prompted to insert your password) the meaning of this command is you're forcing your Ubuntu to restart (-r) immediately (00 mean 0 milisecond).
  4. When your computer is restarted, unplug VGA cable/DVI cable that connecting your second monitor with your notebook.

When Ubuntu Login Screen is running:

  1. Login as usual (don't worry if your login screen is having smaller resolution than your notebook monitor has).
  2. When Ubuntu is shown (doesn't matter what the desktop style you chose), open System-Preferences-Monitors. If you're using Unity desktop. just search Monitors and choose it.
  3. Change the resolution into '1024x768 (4:3)'. Press Apply and when the confirmation dialog is shown just press 'Keep this configuration'.
  4. Plug your VGA/DVI cable of your second monitor to your notebook.
  5. Your second monitor is up and functioning.
  6. Change your first monitor resolution back to '1280x800 (16:10)'.
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9 comments:

  1. Bruno CourtemancheMay 14, 2011, 12:55:00 AM

    doesn't work

    ReplyDelete
  2. adiMay 14, 2011, 5:37:00 AM

    Can I know your graphic card ?

    ReplyDelete
  3. ClaireMay 19, 2011, 7:08:00 PM

    doesn't work neither! I just have laptop in monitor preferences, I don't have anything about my second monitor. my graphic card is an Intel Graphics...

    ReplyDelete
  4. ShouvikJun 4, 2011, 3:29:00 AM

    my graphic card is an Intel Graphics.. cant use multiple monitor. i have 2 monitors apart from laptop monitor

    ReplyDelete
  5. ConzarJun 22, 2011, 8:02:00 AM

    This solution also doesn't work for me. I have a System76 Lemur laptop. Every time I plugin HDMI, I get a black screen on laptop and external monitor indicates no signal.

    ReplyDelete
  6. adiJun 22, 2011, 8:54:00 AM

    For the user of Intel Graphics, check your Update Manager, there should be fix for this problem. I think some of you still have problem after using my solution is because of the type of graphics controller in Intel Processor. Mine used Intel i3 and Intel HD Graphics. If you have the same processor and same graphics, please let me know if you still have problem.

    @Conzar. I don't test this using HDMI, perhaps the problem is related to xorg.conf file. Maybe you can find the fix in your graphics driver site. Because different graphics driver have different xorg.conf

    ReplyDelete
  7. MiroslavAug 8, 2011, 1:07:00 AM

    Also doesn't work for me.
    I have core i3 procesor with Intel HD Graphics graphic card, on Toshiba Satellite C650-16R.
    I checked System Updates, but I didn't found solution...

    ReplyDelete
  8. venugopalNov 4, 2011, 3:46:00 PM

    Very useful post, thx a lot, it really helps !!!
    Cheers

    Notebook Repair Melbourne

    ReplyDelete
  9. Jim RallAug 8, 2013, 9:22:00 PM

    1024x768 (4:3) makes no sense

    ReplyDelete

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