VGA external projector not detected with Ubuntu Dell XPS 13
TweetJust got back from an amazing Jug Summercamp at La Rochelle. I was ready for the presentation of the Live Pair Programing with Eclipse Cloud Development and … AGAIN ! I got display issues with the external VGA projector not detected on my computer. The same one I had few months ago at Eclipse Con France. Here is how I managed to get rid of my display issues.
Searching …
When I plugged the VGA cable to my display port, the projector was showing: “SEARCHING …”. No screen was detected on my laptop configuration screen. I’ve tried on another room and it worked fine. Most of the time that problem happens when there is an extension of the VGA cable.
My laptop
Operating system:
Linux Ubuntu Trusty
Laptop:
Dell System XPS L322X (Dell System XPS L322X)
Display device:
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller (rev 09)
The laptop is plugged to the external screen projector with the VGA cable and a mini-display-port to VGA adaptor.
Fix it
The following fix needs to be adapted to your device. These are using eDP1
and DP1
because it is using a mini display port.
eDP1
is the main laptop screenDP1
is the external screen
You can run the xrandr
command (with no parameter) to get the status of your display:
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1920 x 1080, maximum 32767 x 32767
eDP1 connected primary 1920x1080+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 294mm x 165mm
1920x1080 60.0*+ 59.9 40.0
1680x1050 60.0 59.9
1600x1024 60.2
1400x1050 60.0
1280x1024 60.0
1440x900 59.9
1280x960 60.0
1360x768 59.8 60.0
1152x864 60.0
1024x768 60.0
800x600 60.3 56.2
640x480 59.9
VGA1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
VIRTUAL1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
Choose a resolution that works with the external monitor. Make sure your VGA cable is plugged before running these commands (expecially the last one)
# Set the main display to the resolution
xrandr --output eDP1 --mode 1280x1024
# add the mode resolution to external projector
xrandr --addmode DP1 1280x1024
# activate the output for the external projector using a clone of the main display
xrandr --output DP1 --mode 1280x1024 --same-as eDP1
Wait 5 seconds and it should work!
Arandr
(Edit 21/01/2015)
It’s also possible to use the GUI arandr to generate xrandr commands.
It generates this kind of script:
$ cat ~/.screenlayout/clone.sh
#!/bin/sh
xrandr --output HDMI1 --off --output VIRTUAL1 --off --output DP1 --mode 1920x1080 --pos 0x0 --rotate normal --output eDP1 --mode 1920x1080 --pos 0x0 --rotate normal --output VGA1 --off
So each time i need to clone my screen, I can just execute the right script … et voilà !
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