Laptop screen cut off with HDMI TV connected

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number77
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Laptop screen cut off with HDMI TV connected

Post by number77 »

Hello
I am running xenial64 on an Acer Travelmate. If I boot with HDMI TV connected xrandr says TV is 1920x1980 50.00, the Acer is 1366x768 60.02 but the bottom is cut off. Is there any way I can stop this cut off.
I have tried on Fossapup64 as this has dual monitor facility but get the same cut off on laptop screen.
Is there any way round this.
Help appreciated.
Thanks
number77

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snoring_cat
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Re: Laptop screen cut off with HDMI TV connected

Post by snoring_cat »

Hi number77,

In your default setup, Puppy Linux is being told to set the DISPLAY for every screen to match your HDMI's dimensions of 1920x1980. The laptop can only display a portion of the 1920x1980 DISPLAY, ie only a 1366x768 portion.

One solution is to have the Puppy Linux extend your desktop to display between both screens. To do this extending you can use GUI programs like lxrandr, arandr or zarfy to walk you through the steps. The app you want might have to be installed via the Puppy Package Manager. When set up, you can then move your mouse between the 1920x1980 TV screen and the 1366x768 laptop screen just by moving your mouse off of the edge of one of the screens. You can even drag application windows between screens. As an example, I can display a video via the MPV application on the HDMI TV, while also browsing the internet on the laptop screen.

There are other options you could try (such as scaling your laptop to mimic a 1920x1980 monitor, or setting your HDMI output to the laptop dimensions of 1366x768). But I think extending your desktop gives you more flexibility.

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Re: Laptop screen cut off with HDMI TV connected

Post by Geek3579 »

On my laptop I have used the puppy linux HDMI out to various TVs and so on. I always boot the OS with the HDMI cable DISCONNECTED or I get the same/similar problem as described.

Then, once booted, I plug in the HDMI cable and use Zarfy to select the same resolution on the TV as on the normal resolution on the laptop. Sometimes the latop is set to the TV resolution and have to be reset back.
I think I also set things to mirror the output from the laptop screen in the HDMI/TV.

I only had one occasion when things did not come good on the Tv, and then I think I either unplugged/replugged the HDMI cable or turned the TV off/on (cant recall) which fixed things.

Either way i have found Zarfy to be brilliant, especially when you are in a new situation and the audience is arriving !

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Re: Laptop screen cut off with HDMI TV connected

Post by number77 »

snoring_cat wrote: Tue Dec 07, 2021 8:46 pm

Hi number77,

In your default setup, Puppy Linux is being told to set the DISPLAY for every screen to match your HDMI's dimensions of 1920x1980. The laptop can only display a portion of the 1920x1980 DISPLAY, ie only a 1366x768 portion.

One solution is to have the Puppy Linux extend your desktop to display between both screens. To do this extending you can use GUI programs like lxrandr, arandr or zarfy to walk you through the steps. The app you want might have to be installed via the Puppy Package Manager. When set up, you can then move your mouse between the 1920x1980 TV screen and the 1366x768 laptop screen just by moving your mouse off of the edge of one of the screens. You can even drag application windows between screens. As an example, I can display a video via the MPV application on the HDMI TV, while also browsing the internet on the laptop screen.

There are other options you could try (such as scaling your laptop to mimic a 1920x1980 monitor, or setting your HDMI output to the laptop dimensions of 1366x768). But I think extending your desktop gives you more flexibility.

Thanks snoring_cat. I installed lxrandr and eventually got what I wanted by reducing resolution on TV I can read both. Reduced resolution does not matter as its youtube and not brilliant detail anyway.
Thanks again.

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Re: Laptop screen cut off with HDMI TV connected

Post by number77 »

Geek3579 wrote: Wed Dec 08, 2021 8:46 am

On my laptop I have used the puppy linux HDMI out to various TVs and so on. I always boot the OS with the HDMI cable DISCONNECTED or I get the same/similar problem as described.

Then, once booted, I plug in the HDMI cable and use Zarfy to select the same resolution on the TV as on the normal resolution on the laptop. Sometimes the latop is set to the TV resolution and have to be reset back.
I think I also set things to mirror the output from the laptop screen in the HDMI/TV.

I only had one occasion when things did not come good on the Tv, and then I think I either unplugged/replugged the HDMI cable or turned the TV off/on (cant recall) which fixed things.

Either way i have found Zarfy to be brilliant, especially when you are in a new situation and the audience is arriving !

Haven't found Zarfy yet, not in PPM

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Re: Laptop screen cut off with HDMI TV connected

Post by snoring_cat »

number77,

Zarfy hasn't been updated in quite a while, and is not in many software repositories. Lxrandr and arandr do about the same thing as zarfy, so you shouldn't need it (since you are up and running). However, I will attach zarfy for Fossa 64. It might work with your Tahr 64. (I might add zarfy packages to my software repository in the near future)

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Re: Laptop screen cut off with HDMI TV connected

Post by number77 »

snoring_cat wrote: Sat Dec 11, 2021 1:34 pm

number77,

Zarfy hasn't been updated in quite a while, and is not in many software repositories. Lxrandr and arandr do about the same thing as zarfy, so you shouldn't need it (since you are up and running). However, I will attach zarfy for Fossa 64. It might work with your Tahr 64. (I might add zarfy packages to my software repository in the near future)

Thanks snoring_cat. It didn't run in xenial64 but lxrandr does do the job.
Thanks for your help.

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