Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

hi Puppy people; this is my first problem in years, I am not really a beginner but I am quite incompetent so thought posting here would be appropraite...

So after using an old old HP laptop for many years, the screen started to flash and roll yesterday...I ran to my closet found an old external montitor plugged it into the (printer? ) port on back, it said no signal...I found MENU - setup - multiple monitors setings" and chenged the screen resilution and pretty soon the external monitor came to life...this is what I am typing on now as within an hour the screen on my laptop went totoally black, I am sure its dead forever.

I boot from a puppy CD, and I am pretty sure the next boot, will be my last, becuase Puppy will try to come up on the laptop screen, but its black ? How can I tell Puppy, to immediately go looking for an external monitor, at boot time ?

I hope this makes sense, if theres a way to set it permanently , PLEASE tell me in 5 year old steps , becuase I really don't understand the innards of Puppy even though I've used it for years.

Thanks in advance!!! Kevin the puppy I use is named Xenial or some thing like that.

We have to know what Puppy version you are using?

How stuff works in a specific Puppy version, may or may not be the same way, in another Puppy version.

hi it says xenailpup 7.0.6 under system info thank you

I meant Xenialpup , it is hard to be typing one place and the screen is now two feet away in another place!!!! so making many typo's Kev

@ahoogakev,

It's been a long time since I've run a XenialPup which is a 32 bit operating system so I'll need to find an ISO and boot it to look. But I think that xrandr on the command line might be a way. I seem to remember a graphical utility to set the primary display but not sure right now.

in a terminal something like this should work:

To find out what the display name is you want to set as the default:

xrandr -q

Then substitute the VGA1 with your correct display name:

xrandr --verbose --output "VGA1" --primary

Thanks well it says some thing like this when I type that in console :

VGA-0 connected primary with a bunch of display size numbers, then it says LVDS connected and a bunch more screen sized numbers.

I do not understand what you mean by quote :

Then substitute the VGA1 with your correct display name:

CODE: SELECT ALL

xrandr --verbose --output "VGA1" --primary

Can you explain what I should type exactly ? Sorry for being stupid but I have never grasped the things people type in Console, the shorthand commands make no sense to me at all so I need exact typings or I am hooped , Thanks Kevin

Ok I tried typing in the following :

xrandr --verbose --output "VGA-0" --primary

Console responded something like : crtc 1: 1024 by 768 75.08 +0 +0 vga-0

Is this what I was supposed to do, and will this now make the external monitor my default ? Thanks so much for your kind help!!! Kevin

@ahoogakev :-

Can't help with this one, unfortunately, mate - I run a desktop rig, and "only" a single monitor - but

hi it says xenailpup 7.0.6 under system info thank you

.....CHRIST, that takes me back. I remember running that exact version of Xenialpup myself for about a week or so, during Xenial's development testing phase.....about 8 years ago, as I recall!

That was one of the very early beta builds. Where on earth did you dig that up from?

Mike.

Hi ahoogakev,

For now you are correct not to turn off the computer.

Please answer these two questions.

Does your puppy linux use a save file or save folder when puppy shuts down? (a save file or a save folder saves system changes at shutdown for keeping changes for the next time the system boots)

Does your laptop have a working hard drive?

Hi Puppy Help guys :
A) Mike I have no idea where I got this version; the real answer would be a long ramble on my view of , well life basically, ah ha - i am 63 years old just starting to wander in my thoughts and time is going SO fast these days ..but mostly my view of life that so many things in the " old days " were better and so I never upgrade anything unless I have no choice, I like puppy and I wont change until I am forced ( to show a better example I drive a 79 Datsun truck I bought brand new age 18 I mean I never change anything unless I have no choice!!!)

B) For the 2nd guy Dog something? I am pretty sure I have that file that updates changes , becuase I recall boots saying " your next boot will be faster" and I think thats the clue that I have it? My foggy memory says I think I made one on version 4 of puppy which I think is the first puppy I tried ... and yup my laptop has a hard drive I for sure know that.

c) I have had the laptop running solid since the screen died, yeah I'd love to save it as I don't have the budget for a new one and the headache to set it up scares me severely , so thanks so much for trying to get me going I REALLY appreciate it!!! Kevin

ahoogakev wrote: Sun Oct 13, 2024 4:00 pm

Hi Puppy Help guys :
For the 2nd guy Dog something? I am pretty sure I have that file that updates changes , becuase I recall boots saying " your next boot will be faster" and I think thats the clue that I have it? My foggy memory says I think I made one on version 4 of puppy which I think is the first puppy I tried ... and yup my laptop has a hard drive I for sure know that.

Do you get the welcome screen window every time you boot from CD?
Just trying to establish if you are saving changes. If you dont get the welcome screen every time you boot from CD then you have a save file or save folder somewhere.

By the way, I just booted puppy precise from CD on an old 2005 Dell laptop where I connected an external monitor and it picked up the external monitor automatically. I am not saying yours will but your Xenial is the next newer puppy version than precise - so I would expect it to act in a similar way. Plus I don't know if your system will save the xrandr video settings you entered from the terminal

hi Dogcat : Well I trust your judgement and so I am going to say you've fixed my problem , and I'll find out the next my system crashes which is usually every week or so. I don't get a screen that says " welcome" I get a screen that says Xenial and a blue puppy picture , is my recognition.

So anyways thanks to you and everyone who responded; its really my own fault I should try harder to learn the Puppy basics; but usually it just ' works' so I am getting lazy I guess. Best regards!!! Kevin