I have installed Debian 11 on a new Lenovo LEGION 5i Pro with Nvidia RTX 3050 and followed the instructions to install the drivers:
$ sudo apt-get install nvidia-driver firmware-misc-nonfree
I have plugged in an external monitor using the HDMI port, but it’s not being detected, it’s not showing on the Displays settings page.
But when I open the nvidia-settings GUI I can see under GPU-0 an entry for HDMI-1-0 with the name of the monitor so it is connected and I think it’s only a problem with configuration.
These are my xrandr outputs:
$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1920 x 1200, maximum 16384 x 16384
eDP-1 connected primary 1920x1200+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 345mm x 215mm
2560x1600 165.02 + 60.01 + 59.99 59.97
2560x1440 59.99 59.99 59.96 59.95
2048x1536 85.00 75.00 60.00
1920x1440 85.00 75.00 60.00
1856x1392 75.00 60.01
1792x1344 75.00 60.01
2048x1152 59.99 59.98 59.90 59.91
1920x1200 59.88* 59.95
1920x1080 60.01 59.97 59.96 59.93
1600x1200 85.00 75.00 70.00 65.00 60.00
1680x1050 84.94 74.89 69.88 59.95 59.88
1600x1024 60.17
1400x1050 85.00 74.76 70.00 59.98
1600x900 59.99 59.94 59.95 59.82
1280x1024 85.02 75.02 60.02
1440x900 59.89
1400x900 59.96 59.88
1280x960 85.00 60.00
1440x810 60.00 59.97
1368x768 59.88 59.85
1360x768 59.80 59.96
1280x800 59.99 59.97 59.81 59.91
1152x864 100.00 85.06 85.00 75.00 75.00 70.00 60.00
1280x720 60.00 59.99 59.86 59.74
1024x768 85.00 75.05 60.04 85.00 75.03 70.07 60.00
1024x768i 86.96
960x720 85.00 75.00 60.00
928x696 75.00 60.05
896x672 75.05 60.01
1024x576 59.95 59.96 59.90 59.82
960x600 59.93 60.00
832x624 74.55
960x540 59.96 59.99 59.63 59.82
800x600 85.00 75.00 70.00 65.00 60.00 85.14 72.19 75.00 60.32 56.25
840x525 85.02 74.96 69.88 60.01 59.88
864x486 59.92 59.57
800x512 60.17
700x525 85.08 74.76 70.06 59.98
800x450 59.95 59.82
640x512 85.02 75.02 60.02
720x450 59.89
700x450 59.96 59.88
640x480 85.09 60.00 85.01 72.81 75.00 59.94
720x405 59.51 58.99
720x400 85.04
684x384 59.88 59.85
680x384 59.80 59.96
640x400 59.88 59.98 85.08
576x432 100.11 85.15 85.09 75.00 75.00 70.00 60.06
640x360 59.86 59.83 59.84 59.32
640x350 85.08
512x384 85.00 75.03 70.07 60.00
512x384i 87.06
512x288 60.00 59.92
416x312 74.66
480x270 59.63 59.82
400x300 85.27 72.19 75.12 60.32 56.34
432x243 59.92 59.57
320x240 85.18 72.81 75.00 60.05
360x202 59.51 59.13
360x200 85.04
320x200 85.27
320x180 59.84 59.32
320x175 85.27
DP-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-3 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-4 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-5 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
$ xrandr --listproviders
Providers: number : 2
Provider 0: id: 0x4a cap: 0xf, Source Output, Sink Output, Source Offload, Sink Offload crtcs: 4 outputs: 7 associated providers: 0 name:modesetting
Provider 1: id: 0x2af cap: 0x2, Sink Output crtcs: 4 outputs: 6 associated providers: 0 name:NVIDIA-G0
$ xrandr --listmonitors
Monitors: 1
0: +*eDP-1 1920/345x1200/215+0+0 eDP-1
I don’t have a config file at /etc/X11/xorg.conf but when I generate one using nvidia-xconfig I get the external monitor working but if I unplug it and try to use the laptop without it, I get a blank screen on the built-in display, I can fix the problem by removing the /etc/X11/xorg.conf config file and rebooting.
Here’s the generated config file:
# nvidia-xconfig: X configuration file generated by nvidia-xconfig
# nvidia-xconfig: version 460.32.03
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "Layout0"
Screen 0 "Screen0"
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
EndSection
Section "Files"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
# generated from default
Identifier "Mouse0"
Driver "mouse"
Option "Protocol" "auto"
Option "Device" "/dev/psaux"
Option "Emulate3Buttons" "no"
Option "ZAxisMapping" "4 5"
EndSection
Section "InputDevice"
# generated from default
Identifier "Keyboard0"
Driver "kbd"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor0"
VendorName "Unknown"
ModelName "Unknown"
Option "DPMS"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "Device0"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "Screen0"
Device "Device0"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
SubSection "Display"
Depth 24
EndSubSection
EndSection
I have also tried a command that I’ve found somewhere online:
$ xrandr --setprovideroutputsource 1 0
It worked, I was able to see and configure both the built-in display and the external monitor on the settings page, but the changes did not persist after reboot and also after checking top the Xorg process was using about 30-40% CPU alone and there was lagging on the external screen.
I already have secure boot disabled in the BIOS, and I’m using the 5.10 Linux kernel.
So what am I missing here? How can I properly configure my OS to use both displays?
Thank you very much.
Update:
I tried installing the latest version (470) manually using the .run file, but it seems that the drivers is not being used at all as the output of nvidia-smi does not show any process using it and the xrandr output differ a lot from the above, showing only 1 provider, I couldn’t find any instructions on how to make it work like the one installed from the debian repository.
xrandr output:
$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 16 x 16, current 1920 x 1200, maximum 32767 x 32767
XWAYLAND0 connected primary 1920x1200+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 340mm x 220mm
1920x1200 59.86*+
inxi -G output:
$ inxi -G
Graphics: Device-1: Intel driver: i915 v: kernel
Device-2: NVIDIA driver: nvidia v: 470.94
Device-3: Chicony Integrated Camera type: USB driver: uvcvideo
Display: wayland server: X.Org 1.20.11 driver: loaded: modesetting,nvidia unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa
resolution: 1920x1200~60Hz
OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics (TGL GT1) v: 4.6 Mesa 20.3.5