Visual issues with triple monitor setup

Hello.

I just installed Garuda and I must say I really do love it. I am however experiencing some visual issues... I would attach a screenshot/image of what it looks like, but I cant as I'm new. So I uploaded it to imgur :slight_smile:

Screenshot of settings (expected result): https://i.imgur.com/d2IGYWb.png
Photo of setup (actual result): https://i.imgur.com/XPvCrAu.jpeg

The cursor does move as normal on the left monitor, but selecting seems to be inverted and half of the center monitor shows on it. As for the monitor on the right, it seems shaky/blurry. Also on the dark background it looks as if text is burned into the screen (its not).

garuda-inxi output: Garuda-inxi output - Pastebin.com

╰─λ garuda-inxi
System:
Kernel: 5.16.15-zen1-1-zen x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.2.0
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
root=UUID=9c17b418-33df-4d0d-b680-e1e5ad3ec051 rw rootflags=subvol=@
quiet quiet splash rd.udev.log_priority=3 vt.global_cursor_default=0
loglevel=3
Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.24.3 tk: Qt 5.15.3 info: latte-dock wm: kwin_x11
vt: 1 dm: SDDM Distro: Garuda Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Desktop System: ECT product: N/A v: 2.0 serial: <superuser required>
Mobo: MSI model: CSM-B85M-E45 (MS-7817) v: 2.0
serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends v: 10.4
date: 02/20/2014
CPU:
Info: model: Intel Core i5-4570 bits: 64 type: MCP arch: Haswell family: 6
model-id: 0x3C (60) stepping: 3 microcode: 0x28
Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 smt: <unsupported> cache: L1: 256 KiB
desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB L3: 6 MiB
desc: 1x6 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 3592 high: 3600 min/max: 800/3600 scaling:
driver: intel_cpufreq governor: performance cores: 1: 3598 2: 3571 3: 3600
4: 3600 bogomips: 25600
Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Vulnerabilities:
Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
Type: l1tf
mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT disabled
Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT disabled
Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
Type: spec_store_bypass
mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
Type: spectre_v1
mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines, IBPB: conditional, IBRS_FW,
STIBP: disabled, RSB filling
Type: srbds mitigation: Microcode
Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
Device-1: Intel Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics
vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: i915 v: kernel ports: active: HDMI-A-2,VGA-1
empty: HDMI-A-1 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0412 class-ID: 0300
Device-2: NVIDIA GM204 [GeForce GTX 970] vendor: Micro-Star MSI
driver: nouveau v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 link-max:
gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s ports: active: DP-1 empty: DVI-D-1,DVI-I-1,HDMI-A-3
bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:13c2 class-ID: 0300
Device-3: Logitech Webcam C270 type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo
bus-ID: 3-9:4 chip-ID: 046d:0825 class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter>
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.3 compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X:
loaded: intel,nouveau unloaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,nv,vesa
gpu: i915,nouveau display-ID: :0 screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 4920x2126 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 1298x561mm (51.1x22.1")
s-diag: 1414mm (55.7")
Monitor-1: DP-1-1 mapped: DP-1 pos: middle-l model: Acer CB242Y
serial: <filter> built: 2019 res: 1080x1920 dpi: 93 gamma: 1.2
size: 296x527mm (11.7x20.7") diag: 604mm (23.8") ratio: 16:9 modes:
max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
Monitor-2: HDMI2 mapped: HDMI-A-2 pos: bottom-r
model: LG (GoldStar) IPS FULLHD built: 2014 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 102
gamma: 1.2 size: 480x270mm (18.9x10.6") diag: 551mm (21.7") ratio: 16:9
modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
Monitor-3: VGA1 mapped: VGA-1 pos: primary,top-center
model: Samsung S24F350 serial: <filter> built: 2017 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60
dpi: 94 gamma: 1.2 size: 520x290mm (20.5x11.4") diag: 598mm (23.5")
ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 4600 (HSW GT2)
v: 4.5 Mesa 21.3.7 compat-v: 3.0 direct render: Yes
Audio:
Device-1: Intel Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor HD Audio
vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:03.0
chip-ID: 8086:0c0c class-ID: 0403
Device-2: Intel 8 Series/C220 Series High Definition Audio
vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
chip-ID: 8086:8c20 class-ID: 0403
Device-3: NVIDIA GM204 High Definition Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16
link-max: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:0fbb
class-ID: 0403
Device-4: Logitech Webcam C270 type: USB driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo
bus-ID: 3-9:4 chip-ID: 046d:0825 class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter>
Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.16.15-zen1-1-zen running: yes
Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.0 running: no
Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes
Network:
Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s
lanes: 1 port: d000 bus-ID: 03:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
IF: enp3s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 409.88 GiB used: 21.28 GiB (5.2%)
SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Samsung model: HD322HJ
size: 298.09 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s
type: N/A serial: <filter> rev: 1118 scheme: MBR
ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Innovation IT model: N/A
size: 111.79 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 2A0 scheme: GPT
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 108.79 GiB size: 108.79 GiB (100.00%)
used: 20.85 GiB (19.2%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sdb3 maj-min: 8:19
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 1024 MiB size: 1022 MiB (99.80%)
used: 576 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sdb1 maj-min: 8:17
ID-3: /home raw-size: 298.09 GiB size: 298.09 GiB (100.00%)
used: 441.5 MiB (0.1%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 108.79 GiB size: 108.79 GiB (100.00%)
used: 20.85 GiB (19.2%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sdb3 maj-min: 8:19
ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 108.79 GiB size: 108.79 GiB (100.00%)
used: 20.85 GiB (19.2%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sdb3 maj-min: 8:19
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 2 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
dev: /dev/sdb2 maj-min: 8:18
ID-2: swap-2 type: zram size: 7.57 GiB used: 2.5 MiB (0.0%) priority: 100
dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 29.8 C mobo: 27.8 C gpu: nouveau temp: 36.0 C
Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: nouveau fan: 576
Info:
Processes: 258 Uptime: 27m wakeups: 0 Memory: 7.57 GiB
used: 4.38 GiB (57.9%) Init: systemd v: 250 tool: systemctl Compilers:
gcc: 11.2.0 Packages: pacman: 1801 lib: 540 Shell: fish v: 3.3.1
default: Bash v: 5.1.16 running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.13
Garuda (2.5.6-2):
System install date:     2022-03-18
Last full system update: 2022-03-18
Is partially upgraded:   No
Relevant software:       NetworkManager
Windows dual boot:       No/Undetected
Snapshots:               Snapper
Failed units:            bluetooth-autoconnect.service

A tricky monitor setup like this will not be plug-and-play, but you might be able to get there using just the GUI settings menu in KDE. Have you checked it out? What have you tried so far?

3 Likes

I think installing the proprietary drivers could help here, with the HW assistant (Garuda Welcome - > Garuda Settings Manager - > Hardware Configuration)
And then work also with nvidia-settings.
See also
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Multihead
And related articles.

3 Likes

I tried this, but I had some issues...

Logs from installing open source drivers:

Waiting for user input...
Starting
> Skipping already installed config 'video-linux' for device: 0000:01:00.0 (0300:10de:13c2) Display controller nVidia Corporation GM204 [GeForce GTX 970]
> Skipping already installed config 'video-linux' for device: 0000:00:02.0 (0300:8086:0412) Display controller Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller


Done ...

Logs from installing proprietary drivers:

Starting
> Using config 'video-optimus-manager' for device: 0000:01:00.0 (0300:10de:13c2) Display controller nVidia Corporation GM204 [GeForce GTX 970]
> Using config 'video-optimus-manager' for device: 0000:00:02.0 (0300:8086:0412) Display controller Intel Corporation Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller
> Installing video-optimus-manager...
Sourcing /etc/mhwd-x86_64.conf
Has lib32 support: true
Sourcing /var/lib/mhwd/db/pci/graphic_drivers/optimus-manager/MHWDCONFIG
Processing classid: 0300
Sourcing /var/lib/mhwd/scripts/include/0300
:: Synchronizing package databases...
 core downloading...
 extra downloading...
 community downloading...
 multilib downloading...
 chaotic-aur downloading...
resolving dependencies...
looking for conflicting packages...
:: python-pyxdg and python-xdg are in conflict. Remove python-xdg? [y/N] error: unresolvable package conflicts detected
error: failed to prepare transaction (conflicting dependencies)

:: python-pyxdg and python-xdg are in conflict
Error: pacman failed!
Error: script failed!


Done ...

Maybe I should add this, not sure if it's relevant but probably is

https://imgur.com/ThOXlv2

Also, 1 monitor is connected via gpu, the other 2 are connected to on board graphics. I wish it was different, but unfortunately thats the only way I could get this setup...

Here I think you can safely answer y instead of the default N.
Could you try again in this way?

1 Like

How would I change this? I used the auto installer in the Hardware Configuration in the Garuda Settings Manager. I didn't see an option to change anything.

Install python-pyxdg (removing python-xdg when prompted) then try again.

3 Likes

Thanks, that fixed that part. However the other issue still remains and actually got slightly worse. The monitor on the right is still shaky/blurry but now the monitor on the left does not get detected at all. The monitor on the left is the only one that is connected to the graphics card, the other 2 are connected to on board graphics.

In meanwhile I had another issue as well, the dock was completely gone. But with help from this post I was able to fix that.