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Article Number: 000130979

How to configure multiple displays on a Dell PC using the Ubuntu operating system

Summary: This article takes you through how to set up multiple displays on a Dell PC using the Ubuntu operating system.

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Article Content

Symptoms

 

This article will give information about setting up multiple screens using the Ubuntu operating system on your Dell PC.

Table of Contents:

  1. Introduction
  2. Configuring Multiple Displays on Ubuntu
  3. Tips and fixes for common issues

 

Introduction

 

Many people now expect to have multiple displays or monitors working from their PC as a base level specification. Dell has always built this capability into their Windows PCs. (Both in the hardware that is offered and in the utilities that are installed from the factory.)

You can get multiple screens to work on your PC. However, you need to have both the correct hardware and the correct software that is installed along with the support of the operating system.

Hardware Requirements:

  • The obvious first requirement is that you have more than 1 display or monitor.
  • The second is that your PC has more than 1 video output:
    • For a Notebook, this could be a VGA and either a DisplayPort or HDMI connector that is built into the PC.
    • For a Docked Notebook using a port replicator, this could be multiple VGA, HDMI, Dport, and DVI connectors.
    • For a Desktop, this could be either VGA or DVI and either DisplayPort or HDMI connector on the Motherboard.
    • For a Desktop, use an Add-on Video card. This is only limited to the type of card you buy and the kind of money you are willing to spend.
  • You will also need the correct video cables to go between the PC video connectors and the monitor or displays.

Software Requirements:

  • An operating system that supports multiple displays.
  • Installing the correct drivers and software:
    • If you are using onboard video, you must have the correct software or driver that is installed from the GPUs' manufacturer. (Commonly Intel or AMD)
    • If you are using a discrete or add-on video card, you will need the appropriate software from the GPUs' manufacturer. (Commonly Nvidia, Radeon, Matrox or one of the other manufacturers.)
SLN298529_en_US__1icon Note: Before you attempt to connect up multiple displays using different types of video connector. Or by using additional adapters and/or converters. I would recommend you look over the type of video in use across the different connectors. For example, VGA is analogue only. Some DVI is both analogue and digital, while some DVI is only digital. (Knowing what type of DVI connector you have is key to knowing what type of video it supports.) HDMI and DisplayPort are digital-only. (HDMI carries sound and video, whereas DisplayPort carries only video.) Some issues can be avoided if you get the connectors and cabling correct here.


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Resolution

 

Configuring Multiple Displays on Ubuntu

 

The first thing to do is to make sure your Graphics drivers and software are installed and up to date. (They are open-source drivers which install by default and you can install proprietary drivers at need. ) You can find out more on the article that is linked below:

When everything is up to date, reboot your PC and the Ubuntu Desktop.

  1. Connect the additional monitors or displays to your PC. Ubuntu should attempt to automatically configure the additional screens.

  1. To configure the additional screens yourself, go to System Settings > Displays.

    1. The top part of the configuration window displays the detected monitors or displays along with their names. (You can click the monitors and drag them into the correct alignment for how you have them set up.)

    2. The bottom of the configuration window shows several options:

      1. There is a checkbox at the upper right-hand side corner of the bottom half of the configuration window that toggles the screens between Extend and Mirrored. (Extend is the default. Be aware of setting the screens to Mirror as this may restrict the possible resolutions in use.)

      2. The first option down the middle is Resolution: this has a drop-down menu of choices. (It matches whichever screen you have clicked at the top of the window.) The resolution is how big or small the screen appears, how much detail is shown and the aspect of the screen.

      3. The second option down the middle is Rotation: this also has a drop-down menu of choices. (Again it matches whichever screen you have clicked.) The rotation decides which edge of the screen the display regards as being the bottom. This is useful if you have one or more of your displays that are mounted on their side. Where they give a Portrait, rather than a Landscape view.

      4. The third option down the middle is Launcher Placement: this has a drop-down menu which gives a choice between the launcher being visible on only on one of the displays or on all displays. (The default setting is All Displays. The Launcher is the vertical taskbar in Ubuntu.)

      5. The fourth option down the middle is Sticky Edges: this has a toggle between on and off. (The default setting is ON.) The purpose of Sticky Edges is to allow applications to dock to the edge where two monitors meet. It slows the mouse to give you more time to align the application correctly.

      6. There is a button at the lower left-hand side corner of the configuration window that is named Detect Displays. It attempts to detect any screens plugged to your system and assign an ID on each screen so you can see if your configuration is working.

      7. There is a button at the lower right-hand side corner of the configuration window that is named Apply Settings that will save your configuration.

SLN298529_en_US__2Ubuntu_DualScreen_BK_01

  1. Use this window and its various options to configure the multiple screens the way you want them. How you set your screens up is purely down to your personal preferences and needs.


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Tips and fixes for common issues

 

SLN298529_en_US__3icon Note: Dell only supports the hardware that ships with the PC and the factory-installed version of the Ubuntu Operating system. What if the hardware checks out OK and an OS reinstall from the recovery partition does not resolve the issue? Then you could be directed to contact Canonical for further Software support. If the hardware in question is a third-party device, you may be directed to contact the manufacturer of the device for further help. Are you still having trouble? You may be directed to contact the Ubuntu community forums with the information about your hardware for further support. I will give some general troubleshooting steps in the section below, but this information is used at your own risk.

Tips

Use a different wallpaper on each screen or extend one across them all

There are two applications which can be used to achieve this sort of thing:

  1. The first application is SynchWall. Use the command below to install it:

    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:milarimogard/webupd8
    sudo apt-get update
    sudo apt-get install synchwall

  2.  

    • Open the snychwall app and go to Preferences > Display parameters. Go to Multi-Monitor Display and select Extend image on the page below. Check the box next to share image between monitors to put the wallpaper across all your screens.

    • synchwall can also rotate wallpapers, apply effects and more.

  1. The second application is Nitrogen. You can search for it in the Ubuntu Software center or use the command below:

    sudo apt-get install nitrogen

    Nitrogen does not have a desktop launcher, so open it from the command line:

    nitrogen

     

    • Go to Preferences and add your wallpaper folder. Select Full Screen at the bottom of the preferences window to stretch the same wallpaper across the monitors.

    • To get individual wallpapers on each screen select screen 1, 2, etc. at the bottom of the preferences page to set each wallpaper on each screen.

      SLN298529_en_US__3icon Note: To set a different wallpaper for each monitor, you must disable the file manager from handling the desktop. Be aware this means you will no longer have folders on the desktop.

      You need to install the GNOME Tweak Tool:

      sudo apt=get install gnome-tweak-tool

       

      Go to the Desktop section in the GNOME tweak tool and set the Have file manager handle the desktop option to OFF.

    • To have your configuration saved past a reboot, remember and add nitrogen --restore to your startup applications.

Get Flash videos to remain full screen on one monitor when using the desktop on another monitor

Most Flash videos and Games are shown within either the Chrome or Firefox browser. There are a couple of extensions you can use that will resolve this issue:

  1. For Google Chrome or Chromium: MaximizeFlash resizes the flash video or game to fill the whole browser. If you press F11, it will make the browser full screen on the monitor you selected.

  2. For Firefox: Flash Game Maximizer adds a button to the addon bar that resizes the flash video or game to fill the whole browser. If you press F11, it will make the browser full screen on the monitor you selected. (Be aware there are known issues with this extension and YouTube.)

Fixes

Issues with Video drivers

You may not achieve the configuration that you want with the open-source drivers that default install on your PC. You may want to try the proprietary driver and utility that comes from the video GPU manufacturer. Sometimes going from the proprietary driver to the open-source driver can achieve the results that you want, depending on what you are trying to do. The basic advice is - if you are having problems with one, try installing the other instead and see if you experience the same issue?

The Ubuntu Configuration Window does not let me set up my displays as I need them

As in Windows, you can use the software that installs with the proprietary driver to configure your video devices and to configure your multiple displays. Each manufacturer will have more information about their support site about how to use their specific software.

Ubuntu does not detect all the displays correctly

  1. Install CCSM (Compiz Config Settings Manager):

    sudo apt-get install compizconfig-settings-manager

  2. Open CCSM and go to General Options > Display Settings.

  3. Uncheck the Detect Outputs box.

  4. In the outputs array, set each of your displays screen resolution.

  5. Go back to section 2 and configure your displays again in Ubuntu's display settings.

Ubuntu will not keep the display positions past a restart

There are a series of steps below. They take you through creating a script that allows you to fix the positions of your multiple monitors. It keeps them past a restart or coming out of suspend:

  1. Delete your old monitors.xml file and create one using the Gnome display settings tool:

    rm ~/.config/monitors.xml
    gnome-control-center

    Go to Displays and change the positions to how you want them.

  2. Open the file ~/.config/monitors.xml in an editor and make sure the primary display has a yes for the primary flag.

  3. Install the libxml2-utils package if it is not already installed:

    sudo apt-get install libxml2-utils

  4. Use the commands below to copy the script to a directory on your path and make it executable:

    sudo wget -O /usr/local/sbin/update-monitor-position http://www.calgorithms.com/assets/files/update-monitor-position
    chmod +x /usr/local/sbin/update-monitor-position

  5. Use the System > Startup Applications tool to add update-monitor-position so that it runs when you log in.

  6. Reboot your system and check the script works.


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Additional Information:

 

SLN298529_en_US__3icon Note:
Software support for Canonical is through the following methods:
Technical Support is provided by Dell:


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Article Properties

Affected Product

Inspiron, Latitude, Vostro, XPS, Fixed Workstations

Last Published Date

21 Feb 2021

Version

4

Article Type

Solution

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