External monitor freezing

[sriracha666]

Distribution (run cat /etc/os-release): NAME="Pop!_OS" VERSION="22.04 LTS" ID=pop ID_LIKE="ubuntu debian" PRETTY_NAME="Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS" VERSION_ID="22.04" HOME_URL="https://pop.system76.com" SUPPORT_URL="https://support.system76.com" BUG_REPORT_URL="https://github.com/pop-os/pop/issues" PRIVACY_POLICY_URL="https://system76.com/privacy" VERSION_CODENAME=jammy UBUNTU_CODENAME=jammy LOGO=distributor-logo-pop-os

Issue/Bug Description: I have a laptop connected to an external monitor (Alienware AW252HF, 240hz monitor). When I have more than one program open, the monitor will freeze completely. I can still use the computer from the laptop's monitor, but I can't move the windows from the monitor to the laptop screen or do anything with the monitor. The only thing I've found that resolves this is turning the monitor on and off again.

This has most often happened when I play a game (FFXIV usually) and open firefox. When this happens with FFXIV I often have to restart my computer because FFXIV will refuse to load.

It happened again today when I only had these programs open: firefox, winetricks, file folder viewer. I have a support log zip generated right after I turned off/on my monitor.

Steps to reproduce (if you know):

Hardware ///////////// gaymerboi666@pop-os ///////////////////// ------------------- ///////767//////////////// OS: Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS x86_64 //////7676767676////////////// Host: ROG Strix G531GV_G531GV 1.0 /////76767//7676767////////////// Kernel: 6.2.6-76060206-generic /////767676///76767/////////////// Uptime: 5 hours, 8 mins ///////767676///76767.///7676/////// Packages: 2122 (dpkg), 21 (flatpak) /////////767676//76767///767676//////// Shell: bash 5.1.16 //////////76767676767////76767///////// Resolution: 1920x1080, 1920x1080 ///////////76767676//////7676////////// DE: GNOME 42.5 ////////////,7676,///////767/////////// WM: Mutter /////////////*7676///////76//////////// WM Theme: Pop ///////////////7676//////////////////// Theme: Pop-dark [GTK2/3] ///////////////7676///767//////////// Icons: Pop [GTK2/3] //////////////////////'//////////// Terminal: gnome-terminal //////.7676767676767676767,////// CPU: Intel i7-9750H (12) @ 4.500GHz /////767676767676767676767///// GPU: Intel CoffeeLake-H GT2 [UHD Grap /////////////////////////// GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile ///////////////////// Memory: 5484MiB / 15832MiB /////////////

[yoginho]

Absolutely same issue here (all identical to the above, except that I am using a Dell Latitude laptop, but the problem seems to occur across a wide range of hardware...). It renders Pop_OS! basically useless for my work, so I'll switch to Ubuntu if this bug isn't fixed with highest priority. It seems that a lot of users are affected by this issue. It was caused by one of the last updates to the system. I've never had it before. Extremely annoying.

[sonAndrew]

I have the exact same issue as above. I am using a Alienware m16 R1 laptop. This issue recently started before I installed Pop!_OS on this laptop last week. I have an old 2015 Macbook Pro that I have been using pop on for a few months now and it has the same issue.

The only way I found to fix it:

1. to unplug the HDMI from the laptop and plug it back in
2. to change the display position
3. to change the scale

These are only temporary fixes because the issue persists even after doing these things.

I am not sure of the cause but any information or update would be helpful.

Below is the System and Machine and Graphics information for the Alienware machine.

System:
  Kernel: 6.4.6-76060406-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A
    Desktop: GNOME 42.5 Distro: Pop!_OS 22.04 LTS base: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS Jammy
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Alienware product: Alienware m16 R1 v: N/A
  Mobo: Alienware model: 09R1YM v: A00 
    UEFI: Alienware v: 1.10.1 date: 07/28/2023
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel vendor: Dell driver: i915 v: kernel bus-ID: 0000:00:02.0
  Device-2: NVIDIA vendor: Dell driver: nvidia v: 535.104.05
    bus-ID: 0000:01:00.0
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.4 driver: X:
    loaded: modesetting,nvidia unloaded: fbdev,nouveau,vesa gpu: i915
    resolution: 1: 1920x1080~75Hz 2: 2560x1600~165Hz
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa Intel UHD Graphics (ADL-S GT1)
    v: 4.6 Mesa 23.1.3-1pop0~1689084530~22.04~0618746 direct render: Yes

[dchiang]

I also have the same issue and my laptop is a brand new System76 Serval WS 13 that I received the last month. I have experienced it many times like when I change the focus between windows, specially if its a fast change like alt+tab (even if the windows I'm switching are in the same monitor) or super+l but it can also happens if I run a command in the terminal that spawns a lot of text to the output like lshw or at the moment I get any video player into full screen or quit the full screen. I have noticed that the issue happens even if the events I mention are on windows that are in the laptop monitor.

As @sonAndrew suggested, making any change to the display settings unfreeze the external monitor, but it's a temporary fix that could last no longer than a few seconds before you face the same issue again.

There is another open issue that I think is related to this one https://github.com/pop-os/pop/issues/2808 since there are time when my external monitor that is connected through hdmi freezes when trying to wake up my laptop.

Maybe the issue has something to do with the hdmi controllers since everything works fine as long as I don't connect any external monitor at all using hdmi but I can't say it's only related to hdmi since I don't have a DP or usb type c adapter to test it.

[leviport]

Sounds like it could be this bug: https://github.com/pop-os/nvidia-graphics-drivers/issues/61

[dchiang]

Sounds like it could be this bug: pop-os/nvidia-graphics-drivers#61

Apparently it is the same bug. As suggested I switched to NVIDIA Graphics mode and there was no performance or freeze issue, but unlike most people say it ain't perfect either. Just today there was a blackout in my area and as soon as there was no energy my external monitor (which was set as the primary) went off but my System 76 laptop failed to detect that and kept working with the join displays configuration rather than switching back to single display and set the built-in display as the primary.

When I changed it manually, I accidentally left the external monitor set as my primary display and so the built-in display became black even though the external monitor was still off because of no power and there was no way for me to change the settings. There is the 20secs confirmation window and since I never accepted or rejected the change, the new display settings should had been reversed to the previous configuration after the 20secs but it didn't happen.

I thought that unplugging my external monitor from the HDMI laptop port should force my laptop to work with the built-in display but it didn't and so I had to force shutdown by keeping the power button pressed and then turn on my laptop again so that I can finally use it again. All that happened while it was in NVIDIA Graphics mode again.

At that point I thought that since I didn't know how long it would take to the energy to come back it was going to be better if I switch to the Integrated Graphics mode but after restarting there was the black screen again (external monitor was still unplugged from the HDMI laptop port) and so I had to force shutdown again...

As soon as the energy came back, I connected the power regulator back to the power outlet (I always disconnect it during blackouts and my laptop power bank is connected to my power regulator) and switched back to NVIDIA Graphics with my external monitor set as primary and I didn't have display issues after that.

There have been a few other issues with my System76 laptop since I got it but now I'm not sure if everything going on with it is software related and if I should open new issues in the pop_os github or if they are hardware related and I should open support tickets in the System76 web page.

[leviport]

@dchiang The System76 Support Team assists with software issues as well. I'd recommend chatting with them about any problems you have. They are very good.