Dual monitor setup with Radeon HD 6530D card on 4.12.0-kali1-amd64
 

Well, I've scoured the web. Nothing has worked thus far. No xrandr, no Xorg-anything (yet).

The thing is, when I boot up (I have both monitors ON), both monitors are working up to a certain point in the boot process when the left one just goes blank and stays that way. Admittedly, I'm pretty new to linux. I'm more interested in the programming side than the hardware side, but it helps to know both I guess.

Anyways.. some other helpful info (maybe)

dmesg (grep radeon) dump:
xrandr dump: (You can see that it 'sees' the monitor..

Member response
 

Hi,

Look at this sticky for some reference links; Using Kali Linux? PLEASE READ!!

Hope this helps.
Have fun & enjoy!
:hattip:

Right. So what if Benjamin Franklin tried a few times to get a light bulb to work, and then just said "[mod removed] it, the candle is already a light source!" Where would we be today? ;)

No, but seriously. I appreciate the thought, and see that there is little support for MY particular machine in linux, which isn't surprising because the people who created it don't even support it anymore. Ho hum. But I've learned quite a bit about the underpinnings of linux and how it works simply by trying to get a second monitor to work! I can't give up now!

Is the cable flakey? Seeing that DVI-0 == disconnected. I've had quirky behavior when an HDMI cable I had was flakey (radio shack brand ofc).

Shouldn't be. It was the monitor I was originally using until I plugged in my other monitor after finally finding the HDMI cord. I have an older HP Pavillion P6 series desktop that has an integrated system for display/sound/usb/etc. It works fine on windows (of course) but like I said, both displays are on during the boot process, then I get a message, something like "KVM disabled by bios" and the other (left) monitor turns off and the one I just recently plugged in is working. So I know it's not the plug itself, nor the cord, as the one that ISN'T working is the one I WAS using before I plugged in the new one.

I looked up the KVM message and found out a little about it, but nothing real specific except how to disable the message. I've scoured through xrandr and different threads on how users of other Debian distros made things work, and even in arandr, it won't let me add the other monitor. I have a suspicion that it has to do with the xorg config file, but just not sure how to write it to work, and I'm not a linux guru (yet, lol). It seems to be using some generic driver. I got a driver from AMD but it won't work with my current xorg settings or version. So I'm learning alot, but not getting any results just yet. :D

I'm looking into other distros. Like I said in my other thread, I'm hesitant because I tried Ubuntu on my laptop and now all it does is beep at me and the screen never comes on (like, not even the BIOS screen!) so not sure if it did something to the BIOS or the hardware somehow, or what.. but this Kali linux has 'worked' enough that I've been able to explore and get online and configure a VPN and do some fiddling, but it has little support for my graphics card, which I'm not sure any other distros will be much better, as this is an old, outdated machine (as is my laptop, which until I tried putting Ubuntu on it, was running Windows XP).

Just gotta find the best Linux version that has good support for old AMD systems I guess. :D I'd like to try Arch linux, even though it's for more 'advanced' users, I like the idea of simplicity and their overall philosophy, but since I just started using Linux full-time a few weeks ago, I may have to try a more regular Debian, OPENSuse, mint, or something else. Ideally I still want some of the tools that are on Kali for decompiling/reverse engineering binaries, as well as the specialized tools for networking and wireless, but I should be able to download them to a different version.

Moderator response
 

@StevenSmithCIS

Please refrain from using foul/vulgar language when posting here at LQ;

Look up Arch Anywhere. All the goodness of Arch, without the hassle of their horribly slow and time intensive installation method.

And good choice moving away from Kali. While Kali is great for what it is, it's meant to be used as a live OS only. When even the developers say quite clearly on their site "WE DO NOT RECOMMEND USING THIS FOR DESKTOP USAGE" that's usually a pretty fair indicator that it's not meant to be used as a desktop OS.

AS far as Debian, in 20 years of using linux, I can only remember 1 or 2 machines I've never been able to get Debian to work on, and for a while I was purchasing new hardware every 6 months and had 3 desktops and 6 laptops.

Member response
 

Hi,
I referenced that link for links within;Not to discourage your use of 'kali' but to provide directions as to get additional help. It's your choice to use or not!
Hope this helps.
Have fun & enjoy!
:hattip:

Kali Linux is not intended and not suitable to be used as a desktop distro. Using it for anything else than its intended purpose is discouraged indeed.

yeah well. Like I've said 3 times now, it was the only linux that I've gotten to work smoothly so far on my old hardware. For 'whatever' reason. Ubuntu messed up my laptop, and now it just beeps at me and the screen won't turn on. But, I installed linux Mint and have the same problems with my video card driver, so it has nothing to do with Kali, and everything to do with my old hardware. I know lots of script kiddies are out trying to use Kali linux cause they think they're hackers now, but I have some legitimate uses for it.. however the main thing (for the 4th time) is that it happened to work very well on installation and so I went with it for a while. I am liking Mint though.. pretty cool, though it's obviously more geared towards windows users.

:)

So if I was just using straight Debian linux, it would be okay then? ;) Meh, whatever. I'm trying to learn LINUX, or more specifically, trying to learn the UNIX style kernel with various Linux flavors of it. I learned alot from tinkering around with Kali and trying to get hardware to work on a system that wasn't geared for it. That's how you LEARN an OS... by tinkering and having problems. The ability to FIX or at least troubleshoot is a much better skill to have (IMO) than just being able to 'use' an OS that works fine out of the box. However, if NOBODY (not even the manufacturer) supports your specific hardware, then it doesn't matter what you use unless you want to dig in and learn how to create drivers for embedded hardware (which I wouldn't mind learning). I installed Mint, then went to the forums.. apparently there is some problem with AMD Ratheon cards in Linux. Especially the old ones that I have that are > 5 years old.

I apologize for that. Won't happen again.

Member response
 

Hi,

Why not try Slackware? You surely will learn a lot working through the use of Slackware. Look here; Get Slackware Linux

Hope this helps.
Have fun & enjoy!
:hattip:

I read the kali docs. My professor in school got me really interested in internet security, so I've kindof taken a fork in the road and went from making apps and programs, to learning more about networking, protocols, scripting, how antivirus software works, how viruses work, how people hack wireless, desktop, laptops, and phones.. and how to stay safe from it. One method, is to quit using windows ( ;) ) but the other is just learning a few other tricks. And if I DO get hacked, which could happen since I am all over the web, including the dungeon, I'd like to know how to contain and study the process. Thankfully I don't have any sensitive or even really important info on my machine. It's all backed up onto disk or onto the cloud. So my machine is strictly for tinkering. :)