Fedora: Second external monitor detected but no signal after system update (NVIDIA GPU)

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1

Hello everyone,

I’m having an issue with multiple external monitors on Fedora that started after a system update.
Before the update, everything worked correctly.

:laptop: Setup

  • Laptop with NVIDIA GPU
  • Fedora (GNOME)
  • Using Xorg (already switched from Wayland)
  • Two external monitors connected directly to the laptop (HDMI and USB-C)

:cross_mark: Problem

  • Fedora detects both external monitors, but only one shows an image
  • The second monitor shows “No signal”
  • If I disconnect the monitor that has no image, the other monitor also loses signal
  • This happens even when both monitors are connected directly (no dock)

:magnifying_glass_tilted_left: What I’ve tried

  • Switched from Wayland to Xorg
  • Checked NVIDIA drivers
  • Tested different cables and ports
  • Ran: xrandr --listproviders
  • → Output shows: Providers: number: 0
  • The issue started after a system update, no hardware changes

:red_question_mark: Question

Why does Fedora detect both monitors but only one works?
Why does disconnecting the “no signal” monitor cause the working one to lose signal?

Any help or guidance would be really appreciated.
Thank you!

3

Welcome to Fedora @stan90

We just can guess, because we are missing on information. To gather help full information please read the following:

4

@ilikelinux

inxi -Fzxx

System:
  Kernel: 6.18.6-200.fc43.x86_64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 15.2.1
  Desktop: GNOME v: 49.3 tk: GTK v: 3.24.51 wm: gnome-shell dm: GDM
    Distro: Fedora Linux 43 (Workstation Edition)
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Dell product: Precision 7520 v: N/A
    serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Dell model: 0P707G v: A00 serial: <superuser required> part-nu: 07B0
    Firmware: UEFI vendor: Dell v: 1.40.0 date: 01/23/2025
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 77.9 Wh (85.6%) condition: 91/91 Wh (100%) health: good
    temp: 25 C volts: 12.03 min: 11.4 model: Samsung SDI DELL TWCPG79
    serial: <filter> charging: status: discharging control: start: 50%
    end: 90% cycles: N/A
CPU:
  Info: quad core model: Intel Core i7-6820HQ bits: 64 type: MT MCP
    arch: Skylake-S rev: 3 cache: L1: 256 KiB L2: 1024 KiB L3: 8 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 800 min/max: 800/3600 cores: 1: 800 2: 800 3: 800 4: 800
    5: 800 6: 800 7: 800 8: 800 bogomips: 43198
  Flags-basic: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Skylake-H GT2 [HD Graphics 530] vendor: Dell driver: i915
    v: kernel arch: Gen-9 ports: active: eDP-1 empty: DP-1, DP-2, DP-3,
    HDMI-A-1, HDMI-A-2, HDMI-A-3 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:191b
  Device-2: NVIDIA GM206GLM [Quadro M2200 Mobile] vendor: Dell
    driver: nvidia v: 580.119.02 arch: Maxwell pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16
    ports: active: none empty: DP-4, DP-5, DP-6, VGA-1, eDP-2 bus-ID: 01:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:1436
  Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.21 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.9
    compositor: gnome-shell driver: X: loaded: modesetting,nvidia
    alternate: fbdev,nouveau,nv,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 display-ID: 0
  Monitor-1: eDP-1 model: BOE Display 0x06f1 res: 1920x1080 dpi: 142
    diag: 395mm (15.5")
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 vendor: intel mesa v: 25.2.7 glx-v: 1.4 es-v: 3.2
    direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 530 (SKL GT2)
    device-ID: 8086:191b display-ID: :0.0
  API: EGL Message: EGL data requires eglinfo. Check --recommends.
  Info: Tools: api: glxinfo gpu: nvidia-settings,nvidia-smi x11: xdriinfo,
    xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel CM238 HD Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:a171
  Device-2: NVIDIA GM206 High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:0fba
  API: ALSA v: k6.18.6-200.fc43.x86_64 status: kernel-api
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.4.10 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
    4: pw-jack type: plugin
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Ethernet I219-LM vendor: Dell driver: e1000e v: kernel
    port: N/A bus-ID: 00:1f.6 chip-ID: 8086:15e3
  IF: enp0s31f6 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Intel Wireless 8265 / 8275 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel pcie:
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:24fd
  IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB
    rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 1-6:2 chip-ID: 8087:0a2b
  Report: btmgmt ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 4.2
    lmp-v: 8
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 1.13 TiB used: 82.16 GiB (7.1%)
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Kingston model: SNV3S1000G size: 931.51 GiB
    speed: 63.2 Gb/s lanes: 4 serial: <filter> temp: 32.9 C
  ID-2: /dev/sda vendor: A-Data model: SU630 size: 223.57 GiB
    speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter>
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 929.93 GiB used: 81.45 GiB (8.8%) fs: btrfs
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3
  ID-2: /boot size: 973.4 MiB used: 702.5 MiB (72.2%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
  ID-3: /boot/efi size: 598.8 MiB used: 19.3 MiB (3.2%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
  ID-4: /home size: 929.93 GiB used: 81.45 GiB (8.8%) fs: btrfs
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 8 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
    dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 0.0 C pch: 41.5 C mobo: 38.0 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): cpu: 0 fan-2: 0
Info:
  Memory: total: 32 GiB available: 31.18 GiB used: 3.23 GiB (10.4%)
  Processes: 416 Power: uptime: 1m wakeups: 0 Init: systemd v: 258
    default: graphical
  Packages: pm: rpm pkgs: N/A note: see --rpm pm: flatpak pkgs: 31
    Compilers: gcc: 15.2.1 Shell: Zsh v: 5.9 running-in: ptyxis-agent
    inxi: 3.3.40
5

The ‘inxi’ output says you are using Wayland and only the internal display. Did you have external displays connected and powered on when you ran inxi? Are the external monitos connected directly to the laptop or do you use some sort of dock?

6

Sorry, I had unplugged the monitors.

System:
  Kernel: 6.18.7-200.fc43.x86_64 arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 15.2.1
  Desktop: GNOME v: 49.3 tk: GTK v: 3.24.51 wm: gnome-shell dm: GDM
    Distro: Fedora Linux 43 (Workstation Edition)
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: Dell product: Precision 7520 v: N/A
    serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: Dell model: 0P707G v: A00 serial: <superuser required> part-nu: 07B0
    Firmware: UEFI vendor: Dell v: 1.40.0 date: 01/23/2025
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 84.4 Wh (92.7%) condition: 91/91 Wh (100%) health: good
    temp: 25.1 C volts: 12.11 min: 11.4 model: Samsung SDI DELL TWCPG79
    serial: <filter> charging: status: discharging control: start: 50%
    end: 90% cycles: N/A
CPU:
  Info: quad core model: Intel Core i7-6820HQ bits: 64 type: MT MCP
    arch: Skylake-S rev: 3 cache: L1: 256 KiB L2: 1024 KiB L3: 8 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 800 min/max: 800/3600 cores: 1: 800 2: 800 3: 800 4: 800
    5: 800 6: 800 7: 800 8: 800 bogomips: 43198
  Flags-basic: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel Skylake-H GT2 [HD Graphics 530] vendor: Dell driver: i915
    v: kernel arch: Gen-9 ports: active: DP-3,HDMI-A-2,eDP-1 empty: DP-1, DP-2,
    HDMI-A-1, HDMI-A-3 bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:191b
  Device-2: NVIDIA GM206GLM [Quadro M2200 Mobile] vendor: Dell
    driver: nvidia v: 580.119.02 arch: Maxwell pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16
    ports: active: none empty: DP-4, DP-5, DP-6, VGA-1, eDP-2 bus-ID: 01:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:1436
  Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.21 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.9
    compositor: gnome-shell driver: X: loaded: modesetting,nvidia
    alternate: fbdev,nouveau,nv,vesa dri: iris gpu: i915 display-ID: 0
  Monitor-1: DP-3 model: VA24EHF res: 1920x1080 dpi: 93 diag: 604mm (23.8")
  Monitor-2: HDMI-A-2 model: VA24EHF res: 1920x1080 dpi: 93
    diag: 604mm (23.8")
  Monitor-3: eDP-1 model: BOE Display 0x06f1 res: 1920x1080 dpi: 142
    diag: 395mm (15.5")
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 vendor: intel mesa v: 25.2.7 glx-v: 1.4 es-v: 3.2
    direct-render: yes renderer: Mesa Intel HD Graphics 530 (SKL GT2)
    device-ID: 8086:191b display-ID: :0.0
  API: EGL Message: EGL data requires eglinfo. Check --recommends.
  Info: Tools: api: glxinfo gpu: nvidia-settings,nvidia-smi x11: xdriinfo,
    xdpyinfo, xprop, xrandr
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel CM238 HD Audio vendor: Dell driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    bus-ID: 00:1f.3 chip-ID: 8086:a171
  Device-2: NVIDIA GM206 High Definition Audio driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:0fba
  API: ALSA v: k6.18.7-200.fc43.x86_64 status: kernel-api
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.4.10 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
    4: pw-jack type: plugin
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Ethernet I219-LM vendor: Dell driver: e1000e v: kernel
    port: N/A bus-ID: 00:1f.6 chip-ID: 8086:15e3
  IF: enp0s31f6 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Intel Wireless 8265 / 8275 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel pcie:
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 02:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:24fd
  IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel Bluetooth wireless interface driver: btusb v: 0.8 type: USB
    rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 1-6:3 chip-ID: 8087:0a2b
  Report: btmgmt ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 4.2
    lmp-v: 8
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 1.13 TiB used: 82.31 GiB (7.1%)
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Kingston model: SNV3S1000G size: 931.51 GiB
    speed: 63.2 Gb/s lanes: 4 serial: <filter> temp: 29.9 C
  ID-2: /dev/sda vendor: A-Data model: SU630 size: 223.57 GiB
    speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter>
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 929.93 GiB used: 81.6 GiB (8.8%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3
  ID-2: /boot size: 973.4 MiB used: 704.7 MiB (72.4%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2
  ID-3: /boot/efi size: 598.8 MiB used: 19.3 MiB (3.2%) fs: vfat
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1
  ID-4: /home size: 929.93 GiB used: 81.6 GiB (8.8%) fs: btrfs
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3
Swap:
  ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 8 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
    dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 0.0 C pch: 41.0 C mobo: 34.0 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): cpu: 0 fan-2: 0
Info:
  Memory: total: 32 GiB available: 31.18 GiB used: 3.55 GiB (11.4%)
  Processes: 388 Power: uptime: 5m wakeups: 0 Init: systemd v: 258
    default: graphical
  Packages: pm: rpm pkgs: N/A note: see --rpm pm: flatpak pkgs: 31
    Compilers: gcc: 15.2.1 Shell: Zsh v: 5.9 running-in: ptyxis-agent
    inxi: 3.3.40

The monitors are connected directly to the laptop, one via HDMI and the other via a USB-C port.

When I first installed Fedora, both monitors worked perfectly.

7

The inxi output now shows both monitors are detected and connected to the Intel iGPU. Are they working? Some laptops use Nvidia dGPU to render complex images, but then pass the image to the Intel iGPU where they are embedded in the displayed screen as described in https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5097/~/nvidia-advanced-optimus-overview and https://forums.developer.nvidia.com/t/timeline-for-cuda-support-on-fedora-43-wayland-only-gnome-kernel-updates-and-driver-compatibility/351356. Were you using Xorg when you first installed Fedora? You can’t “switch to Xorg” in F43.

8

I’ve always used Wayland. I tried installing Xorg, but I never saw the option to switch to Xorg, only GNOME and GNOME Classic.

Is there a way to fix this using Wayland? Currently, it detects both, but only one displays an image. If I disconnect the one that isn’t displaying an image, neither displays an image.