Arch Linux

MetalBasket4236

Member

Registered: 2023-05-28

Posts: 4

[SOLVED] setup on laptop with external monitor

Hello, i have a problem that is more of an inconvenience than anything but i would like to know if i can get around it.
When starting setup on my laptop with an external monitor the monitor turns on and mirrors the display of the laptop but it has bad resolution settings kind of like unnecessary overscan so i have to look at the laptop screen to see if im typing the correct command.
I would like to know if there is any way to get around this and only display the shell on the external monitor and set the correct resolution and refresh rate either with boot options or through the shell
Thank you.

Last edited by MetalBasket4236 (2025-02-27 17:28:55)

mackin_cheese

Member

Registered: 2025-01-07

Posts: 296

Re: [SOLVED] setup on laptop with external monitor

do you need the monitor?

MetalBasket4236

Member

Registered: 2023-05-28

Posts: 4

Re: [SOLVED] setup on laptop with external monitor

considering i've been using it since i got it 2 years ago.... yes i do need it. infact i cant stand the harsher backlight and "worse" i guess colors and refresh rate of the built in display.

ps: i was expecting for an answer pointing directly to the solution but ok i guess

Last edited by MetalBasket4236 (2025-02-26 16:25:54)

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 24,120

Re: [SOLVED] setup on laptop with external monitor

Are you actually talking about the TTY? You can pretty easily properly configure this once you're in a GUI session on the TTY it's going to be a bit more involved, refer to and https://www.kernel.org/doc/Documentation/fb/modedb.txt https://raw.githubusercontent.com/torva … /fbcon.rst though I personally don't really see the point of messing with this for the use of the TTY when you can just boot up a GUI session that properly sets up everything and then just place a fullscreen terminal there.

mackin_cheese

Member

Registered: 2025-01-07

Posts: 296

Re: [SOLVED] setup on laptop with external monitor

considering i've been using it since i got it 2 years ago.... yes i do need it. infact i cant stand the harsher backlight and "worse" i guess colors and refresh rate of the built in display.

ps: i was expecting for an answer pointing directly to the solution but ok i guess

Well I ask because it's not really a issue (need) but more of a convenience (want) when it comes to just installation. The effort it'll take to fix that when your using the archiso is likely not worth benefits because you're only changing what's involved with Archiso, once you install arch, whatever changes you made won't apply to your installation cause archiso and your installation are two different things at that point.

I would say it's better to just forego the monitor for the installation part, once you installed arch, then bring your external monitor into the mix.

The effort you put into fixing this monitor issue now will be wasted once you install arch (cause again, two different systems at that point)

MetalBasket4236

Member

Registered: 2023-05-28

Posts: 4

Re: [SOLVED] setup on laptop with external monitor

Thank you all for helping. have a nice day.
i figured it out btw. it was a simple boot params edit "video=eDP-1:d video=HDMI-A-2:1920x1080" assuming that the display and port names are these i can easily find out by doing "ls /sys/class/drm" and for which is connected do "cat /sys/class/drm/*/status"

Last edited by MetalBasket4236 (2025-02-26 19:04:22)

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 24,120

Re: [SOLVED] setup on laptop with external monitor

Nice! please mark as [SOLVED] by editing the title in your first post.