Cannot use my primary Screen since I plugged a second screen [SOLVED]

Question

Hi folks,
I use a bumblebee configuration with intel + nvidia and I plugged in a second screen via HDMI. Even after restarting with out X!! The first screen remains black after booting. I think I might have to reconfigure the GRUB video config in order to reset the old settings. The Problem arises as following:
1. When I start, the GRUB shows me the Options, where I select Arch. (still on the primary screen)
2. Arch beginns to boot, I see messages such as "arch clean ... " (primary screen)
3. Primary Screen goes black
The only possibility to continue for me is to pluggin the HDMI second screen now, where I can see my Login (no X, only framebuffer)
From the second screen I can start X without problems. When I then go to the gnome settings it tells me that the primary screen should be running as a secondary screen since the external HDMI screen is primary now. But in fact the screen remains black!!
If you have any questions regarding to this please dont hesitate to raise them since this problem is holding me back from my work.
The problem was only the backlight dimming, which has an unusal behavior. Thanks #archlinux for the help.
Last edited by vsilv (2013-12-23 18:52:43)

Answer 1

I had the same problem (also HDMI), and while I dont remember how I set my xorg.conf up, what worked for me was just reading up on creating your own xorg.conf and then do everything from scratch. I use a VGA and HDMI. Tiring work, but now my monitor setup works flawlessly.
I dont think it'll be of any help, but here is my xorg.conf
# x config created by myself :P Lets hope it doesnt break everything
Section "ServerLayout"
Identifier "TwinLayout"
Screen 0 "metaScreen" 0 0
InputDevice "Keyboard0" "CoreKeyboard"
InputDevice "Mouse0" "CorePointer"
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"
ModelName "HP w2007"
Option "Enable" "true"
Option "DPMS" "false"
Option "Primary" "true"
EndSection
Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Monitor1"
ModelName "SAMSUNG"
Option "Enable" "true"
Option "DPMS" "false"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "GeForce GT530"
Driver "nvidia"
VendorName "NVIDIA Corporation"
Option "NoLogo" "true"
#refer to the link below for more information on each of the following options.
Option "MetaModes" "1680x1050, 1920x1080"
Option "ConnectedMonitor" "CRT-1, DFP-1"
Option "MetaModeOrientation" "CRT-1 LeftOf DFP-1"
EndSection
Section "Screen"
Identifier "metaScreen"
Device "GeForce GT530"
Monitor "Monitor0"
DefaultDepth 24
Option "TwinView" "True"
SubSection "Display"
Modes "1680x1050"
EndSubSection
EndSection
Regards,
Lithdk