Arch Linux

VoidableMethod

Member

Registered: 2023-01-20

Posts: 3

When switching to external monitor only, it's being taken as the main

Hi!
So I couldn't fit the title in completely, so here's what happens:

When I am trying to switch to my external monitor only, the OS does indeed do things with my monitor, but after a few seconds, it displays a bright-red message in the top left corner which has the title "Main Display". I can't do anything, it's just blank, and after a while it logs me out and I have to log in again, making the display go back to default settings.

DE I'm using: Cinnamon
Graphics drivers: Nouveau
GPU: GTX 1050

I have a laptop with 60hz, and a external monitor with 144hz, so that's why I want to change.
Any ideas? Maybe doing pacman -Sy nvidia will work?

V1del

Forum Moderator

Registered: 2012-10-16

Posts: 21,736

Re: When switching to external monitor only, it's being taken as the main

Nvidia will have vastly less bugs and generally outperform nouveau, yes.

But don't use -Sy for installing packages, ever, and pay attention to some of the notes in regards to nvidia installation: https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/NVIDIA#Installation