You may be using a laptop that is connected to an external monitor. You want to use the monitor as your primary display on Linux, but it won’t allow you. Let’s fix that.
This solution will apply to devices with NVIDIA graphics cards.
1. Open NVIDIA X Server Settings.
2. Click on Prime Profile
3. Set NVIDIA (Display Mode).
Restart your computer to apply the changes. I don’t know why this requires a system restart, but it does.
When I installed Linux Mint, both displays worked perfectly out of the box, and I was able to use the display settings to set my monitor as the primary display, and turn off the laptop’s screen (since it was broken). Then I installed NVIDIA’s drivers using Mint’s built-in driver manager. However, when I restarted the laptop, it would not remember my display settings. This will not allow the monitor to serve as the primary display, when I tried, the internal display went black, and the monitor display froze. No errors, nothing. I just had a black screen with a cursor. I tried messing with settings and ARandR, it didn’t help. Then I realized that NVIDIA’s configuration was silly.
NVIDIA From its name, you would assume that NVIDIA GPUs are used when needed, right? Yes, that’s how it works. When you play games or do anything that requires the GPU, it gets activated. But, when your monitor is connected to the GPU’s port, virtually, via HDMI, you would expect it to recognize it and work. Instead, it still behaves as if On Demand mode is active, so the internal GPU, in this case, an Intel one, is active and handles the load. Nvidia is inactive. When the monitor is set to primary, the iGPU goes to sleep, but the NVIDIA does not wake up. Taking a nap at work! A similar issue has been reported Here.
I encountered a few hiccups while installing Linux Mint. First the flashing problem which was caused by Secure Boot, then the need to disable RST, then the monitor problem. A little patience can do wonders, and I learned a few things.
Perhaps there are other solutions to this monitor problem.
