[SOLVED] Zorin OS not Detecting Monitor Properly

I'm a noob & I installed Zorin OS last week [release 6, 32-bit, Kernel Linux 3.20-54-Generic PAE] in this desktop computer. When booting up, my monitor [Dell 1N1910N 1366X768 16:9, 60Hz.] always tells me that the computer settings don't match the monitor resolution. In spite of this, for the first few days when I checked "displays" it always showed me the proper resolution but today, after installing updates, the display is somewhat off so I checked the display settings & they're 1024X768 & it indicates that I'm using a laptop! I still can't get Zorin to detect the monitor correctly or allow me to manually change this & the resolution to the right ones. BIOS still displays OK, just Zorin won't quite; where do I go from here? Thanks!

Hi,

first run "DPKG" (Network cable required) per this guide:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2247

Let us know if this fixes the problem.

What graphics card does your PC have?.

For Nvidia, see here:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2490

Regards Wolfman

Thanks Wolfman! I wasn't able to visit either of the links you provided with this computer because the monitor stopped communicating entirely. I tried an older Hewlett-Packard monitor [flat screen also] & it wouldn't display either. At this point the only thing I could think of to try was to reinstall Zorin OS. I did this earlier today & it's working; if it still works a week from now, as I expect it to, we can call this matter resolved [ie, if you don't hear any more from me about this]. You asked me what graphics card I use: not sure, I can't find anything that tells other than it's a NVIDIA, which I remember from when I used Win7 [which I removed]. All this begs 2 questions: [1] Are all the NVIDIA drivers detected from "Additional Drivers" [from System Settings] [it found 4] "good" drivers for my graphics card, i.e., could my display problem have been caused by installing one that Zorin detected that was actually incompatible? [2] Do I dare try installing any of the other 3 NVIDIA drivers that Zorin found? Thanks again.

Hi,

use the drivers from the PPA in the Nvidia link I provided earlier, the Additional Drivers Tools seems a bit naff!. RESTART AFTER INSTALLING DRIVERS AND RUN AN UPDATE AND ANOTHER RESTART ONCE THE DRIVERS ARE INSTALLED!.

Glad to hear it is working, I will mark this as solved unless you have anything against that!.

Regards Wolfman

Another 60 blue jewels to Wolfman!

Hi Woffman, The main problem with the monitor not communicating with my desktop computer is still solved, thankfully, but I never have been able to apply the fixes described in the link you posted, viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2247, because the monitor[s] won't display anything after the BIOS status display until the boot up is complete & the desktop appears. At the end of the BIOS screen the monitor says that the computer is configured wrong & goes dark [standby mode] until the boot up is done. Also, for the record, It does this with 2 different flat screen LCD monitors & I run Zorin [64-bit] in a laptop & have never had this problem [& the boot option screen always appears on it]. So, is there any way to install/repair any packages as described in the aforementioned link without using recovery mode? Regards.
Dave

Hi Dave,

you can try forcing an update with this command:

Code:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade -f

as it might be a case of missing dependencies!.

Restart your PC after updates!.

Let us know if it helps.

Regards Wolfman

Hi again. OK, I tried that & it wouldn't accept it using the Linux Terminal [from Accessories]. How should I enter this instruction [remember I'm a noob!] Regards.
Dave

Hi Dave,

strange that it won't accept theat command via a terminal?, you did enter your password (even though it won't show up when typing it) in the teminal after pasting that command?.

Write down the command on a piece of paper and start your PC in recovery mode and first activate "Network" ( a network cable is required) and then click on "root" and enter that command, once done, restart your PC with Ctrl + Alt + Del, don't click on "Resume".

Let us know how you get on.

Another thing you might want to do is check your software download sources list to see where you are getting your downloads from, it should be set to "Main", if it is already set to Main, change it to somewhere else and try simply updating using Synaptic, see the update guide for info:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2247

Let us know if it helps.

Regards Wolfman

I didn't use my password with the terminal the first try but I did a few minutes ago & got this response, "Command not found" [without the quotes]. Got the same response after I entered, "CODE: SELECT ALL" without quotes again]. And after entering, "sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get dist-upgrade -f" [w/o quotes] the terminal came back with, "sudo: must be setuid root".

As for doing anything in recovery mode, that's the issue I still have, either the computer's not sending that screen containing boot options including recovery [is this called the grub screen?] or it's sending it improperly so the monitor can't display it.

This begs two more questions: [1] is there another way to enter this instruction into the terminal?. And [2] Is there a way to send this issue to Ubuntu or Zorin OS for their assistance in the event their team isn't aware of this? Thank you.