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Dual monitors, VGA and DVI 2nd monitor turns off

Hello,

I have a Dell Dimension 8400 with a NVIDIA NV41 GEForce 6800 pci card.

When I boot, both terminals display the initial mint logo display.

After that, the 2nd monitor connected to the VGA port goes on standby and goes dark. When I go into system settings/display, it shows both monitors. What needs to be fixed, loaded, updated? Thanks in advance.

Here is my system info:

System: Host: flackbait-Dimension-8400 Kernel: 4.15.0-39-generic i686 bits: 32 gcc: 7.3.0
Desktop: Cinnamon 3.8.9 (Gtk 3.22.30-1ubuntu1) dm: lightdm Distro: Linux Mint 19 Tara
Machine: Device: desktop System: Dell product: Dimension 8400 serial: N/A Chassis: type: 6 serial: N/A
Mobo: Dell model: 0U7077 serial: N/A BIOS: Dell v: A09 date: 07/07/2006
CPU: Single core Intel Pentium 4 (-UP-) arch: Netburst Prescott rev.4 cache: 1024 KB
flags: (pae sse sse2 sse3) bmips: 6782 speed: 3391 MHz (max)
Graphics: Card: NVIDIA NV41 [GeForce 6800] bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:00c1
Display Server: x11 (X.Org 1.19.6 ) drivers: nouveau (unloaded: modesetting,fbdev,vesa)
Resolution: 1280x1024@60.02hz, 720x576@50.00hz
OpenGL: renderer: NV41 version: 2.1 Mesa 18.0.5 Direct Render: Yes
Audio: Card-1 Intel 82801FB/FBM/FR/FW/FRW (ICH6 Family) AC'97 Audio Controller
driver: snd_intel8x0 ports: ec00 e8c0 bus-ID: 00:1e.2 chip-ID: 8086:266e
Card-2 Ensoniq ES1371/ES1373 / Creative Labs CT2518
driver: snd_ens1371 port: dcc0 bus-ID: 04:02.0 chip-ID: 1274:1371
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.15.0-39-generic
Network: Card-1: Broadcom Limited NetXtreme BCM5751 Gigabit Ethernet PCIE
driver: tg3 v: 3.137 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 14e4:1677
IF: enp2s0 state: down mac: <filter>
Card-2: Ralink RT5372 Wireless Adapter
driver: rt2800usb v: 2.3.0 usb-ID: 001-003 chip-ID: 148f:5372
IF: wlx9cefd5fc31f0 state: N/A mac: N/A
Drives: HDD Total Size: 160.0GB (10.1% used)
ID-1: /dev/sda model: ST3160023AS size: 160.0GB serial: <filter>
Partition: ID-1: / size: 146G used: 15G (11%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda1
RAID: System: supported: N/A
No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Unused Devices: none
Sensors: None detected - is lm-sensors installed and configured?
Repos: Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list
deb http: //packages.linuxmint.com tara main upstream import backport #id:linuxmint_main
deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic main restricted universe multiverse
deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates main restricted universe multiverse
deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb http: //security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ bionic-security main restricted universe multiverse
deb http: //archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ bionic partner
Info: Processes: 165 Uptime: 50 min Memory: 904.7/3024.3MB
Init: systemd v: 237 runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 7.3.0 Client: Unknown python3.6 client inxi: 2.3.56

output of

Code:

xrandr

please.

Have you tried assigning the monitor to display anything, since it is seen by the oS and desktop? What does nvidia-settings show you?

xrandr output:

xflackbait@flackbait-Dimension-8400:~$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1856 x 1024, maximum 4096 x 4096
VGA-1 connected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
1280x1024 60.02 + 75.02
1024x768 75.03 60.00
832x624 74.55
800x600 75.00 60.32
640x480 75.00 59.94
720x400 70.08
DVI-I-1 connected primary 1280x1024+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 338mm x 270mm
1280x1024 60.02*+ 75.02
1152x864 75.00
1024x768 75.03 60.00
800x600 75.00 60.32
640x480 75.00 59.94
720x400 70.08
TV-1 connected 576x720+1280+0 left (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 0mm x 0mm
720x576 50.00*+
1024x768 50.00
800x600 50.00
720x480 50.00
640x480 50.00
400x300 50.00
320x240 50.00
320x200 50.00
flackbait@flackbait-Dimension-8400:~$

2nd monitor is still on power savings setting. When I try to modify the settings in Display to the desired xrandr settings 1280 by 1024, Mint Display sends me a message. Failed to apply configuration

GDBus.Error:org.gtkGDBus.Unmapped GError. Quark_gnome_2drr_2derror_2dquarkCode 3:
required virtural size does not fit available size: requested + (5163,2560), minimum+(320,200), max =(4096,4096).

I also noticed that when I first open Display, the 2nd monitor does not show the resolution settings. I have to switch on Primary settings to get the resolution settings to display. I then try to apply the settings and I get the above notice.

what i see in your xrandr output:

VGA-1 is ready to be used, but not actually used (no *)
DVI-I-1 is in use and primary, no problems there
TV-1 is connected and in use, but what is it? you haven't mentioned that at all yet. a TV as third monitor???

After rummaging around in XRANDR, I found the the solution.

Use xrandr to activate the dormant monitor.

xrandr --output DVI-I-1 --mode 1280x1024 --rate 60.02
xrandr --output DVI-I-1 --primary --rotate normal --output VGA-1 --auto --right-of DVI-I-1 --output TV-1 --off