when i boot my computer after having run an update, my primary monitor (which should be at 1920x1080) is stuck at 640x480. interestingly, when i reboot and change nothing, it fixes itself until i run another update.

i’m on arch, using nvidia 555.58-2, on plasma 6.1.1-1. the monitor in question is DP-0 in the system info below.

what could be causing this and how can i fix it?

i’ve been having this issue for a while while kinda just dealing with it because it was something i could easily work around by booting my computer twice, but i’d really like to get it solved.

system info:

relevant (i think) inxi output
System:
  Host: ***** Kernel: 6.9.7-arch1-1 arch: x86_64 bits: 64
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.1.1 Distro: Arch Linux
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GP104 [GeForce GTX 1080] driver: nvidia v: 555.58
  Device-2: EMEET HD Webcam C960 driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo type: USB
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.13 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.0 driver: X:
    loaded: N/A failed: nvidia gpu: nvidia resolution: 1: 1920x1080
    2: 1920x1080~60Hz 3: 1920x1080~60Hz
  API: EGL v: 1.5 drivers: kms_swrast,nvidia,swrast
    platforms: gbm,x11,surfaceless,device
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: nvidia mesa v: 555.58
    renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080/PCIe/SSE2
  API: Vulkan v: 1.3.279 drivers: nvidia surfaces: xcb,xlib
xrandr from first boot
Screen 0: minimum 8 x 8, current 4480 x 1080, maximum 32767 x 32767
DVI-D-0 connected 1920x1080+1920+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 509mm x 286mm
   1920x1080     60.00*+
   1680x1050     59.95  
   1440x900      59.89  
   1280x1024     60.02  
   1280x800      59.81  
   1280x720      60.00  
   1152x864      75.00  
   1024x768      70.07    60.00  
   800x600       60.32    56.25  
   640x480       59.94  
HDMI-0 connected primary 1920x1080+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 1600mm x 900mm
   3840x2160     30.00 +  59.94    29.97    23.98  
   4096x2160     59.94    24.00  
   1920x1080     60.00*   59.94    29.97    23.98    60.00  
   1680x1050     59.95  
   1440x900      59.89  
   1280x1024     60.02  
   1280x960      60.00  
   1280x800      74.93    59.81  
   1280x768      59.87  
   1280x720      60.00    59.94    29.97    23.98  
   1024x768      60.00  
   800x600       60.32    56.25  
   720x480       59.94  
   640x480       59.94    59.93  
DP-0 connected 640x480+3840+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 0mm x 0mm
   640x480       59.94*+
DP-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-3 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-4 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-5 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
xrandr from the second boot
Screen 0: minimum 8 x 8, current 3840 x 1080, maximum 32767 x 32767
DVI-D-0 connected 1920x1080+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 509mm x 286mm
   1920x1080     60.00*+
   1680x1050     59.95  
   1440x900      59.89  
   1280x1024     60.02  
   1280x800      59.81  
   1280x720      60.00  
   1152x864      75.00  
   1024x768      70.07    60.00  
   800x600       60.32    56.25  
   640x480       59.94  
HDMI-0 connected 1920x1080+1920+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 1600mm x 900mm
   3840x2160     30.00 +  59.94    29.97    23.98  
   4096x2160     59.94    24.00  
   1920x1080     60.00*   59.94    29.97    23.98    60.00  
   1680x1050     59.95  
   1440x900      59.89  
   1280x1024     60.02  
   1280x960      60.00  
   1280x800      74.93    59.81  
   1280x768      59.87  
   1280x720      60.00    59.94    29.97    23.98  
   1024x768      60.00  
   800x600       60.32    56.25  
   720x480       59.94  
   640x480       59.94    59.93  
DP-0 connected primary 1920x1080+1920+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 531mm x 299mm
   1920x1080     60.00 + 144.00*  119.98    99.93    59.94    50.00  
   1680x1050     59.88  
   1440x900      59.90  
   1280x1024     75.02    60.02  
   1280x720      60.00    59.94    50.00  
   1024x768     119.99    99.97    75.03    70.07    60.00  
   800x600      119.97    99.66    75.00    72.19    60.32    56.25  
   720x576       50.00  
   720x480       59.94  
   640x480      119.52    99.77    75.00    72.81    59.94    59.93  
DP-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-2 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-3 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-4 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
DP-5 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

  • Brickardo
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    85 months ago

    Just to double check, are you sure you’re not running TempleOS?

    • businessfishOP
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      55 months ago

      no unfortunately god’s intended resolution is just slippin right into my arch install uninvited

  • @[email protected]
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    5 months ago

    This may be a stupid question. But are you using grub and have nomodeset? Sometimes DE’s have problem with xorg setting monitor settings, which you then half to override somewhere in the init of the DE

    –edit

    Heres a work around.

    https://askubuntu.com/questions/513036/how-do-you-change-display-resolution-of-vmware-player-in-kde-plasma-5#717471

    "I have the same issue and have the following workaround:

    It is possible to set the resolution from a command line using ‘xrandr’. Running just xrandr allows you to see the current resolution and the other valid resolutions.

    From a command line you can run ‘xrandr -s 1024x768’ and the screen in VMware will reset to that size!

    You can even set this at KDE startup by doing the following:

    click KDE start icon

    select System Settings

    select Startup and Shutdown

    click Add Program…

    enter ‘xrandr -s 1024x768’ in the text box

    be sure the “run in Terminal” checkbox is checked

    follow the rest of the prompts to set it as a startup command.

    The next time you log in, it will start at 800x600 but at the end of the login you will see the screen resize!

    "

    • businessfishOP
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      55 months ago

      while i appreciate the effort, this has no effect on my issue. also maybe worth noting, i am using grub but not nomodeset. i toggled it on just to see if it would do anything but the problem persists.

      if you look at my xrandr output on the first boot, the main problem is that it cannot see any other mode except 640x480 and running xrandr --output DP-0 --mode 1920x1080 fails. i cannot change it using plasma’s display settings gui or xrandr in any way - the only way i know how to get access to the other resolution/rate settings of that monitor is by rebooting.

      • 柊 つかさ
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        25 months ago

        It kinda sounds like some kind of driver issue to me. The fact that it doesn’t detect modes other than a single super basic one sound like not having a proper graphics driver. However, I have no clue why it would work again on reboot and maybe even more importantly, why the other monitor does have a proper mode detected. I wouldn’t expect that if the driver was messed (you would expect all monitors to be assigned some basic mode).

  • @Ptsf
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    75 months ago

    Just a thought, and it seems less applicable to your situation given the software experience you’ve described, but I’ve had this happen to me with a faulty display cable. Have you tried a spare one?

    • businessfishOP
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      45 months ago

      that’s worth checking - i don’t have a spare DP cable on hand to test, but you may be onto something.

      previously, i tried unplugging and replugging the cable on the PC end, as well as trying other ports, to no avail.

      just now, i tried replugging the end plugged into the monitor a few times and was able to reproduce the resolution issue a single time. this honestly just confuses me more though, because why would it happen only one time out of several cycles doing the exact same thing?

      i’m gonna get another cable just to be sure but that wont be for a few days at least.

      • businessfishOP
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        15 months ago

        in case anyone is reading this looking for a solution the cable was not the culprit

  • @[email protected]
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    5 months ago

    640x480 sounds like the typical fallback if there is no EDID/DDC data and the card is going ahead with the most bare-minimum signal that any screen should accept. Maybe there’s dumb state sitting around in the video card. Maybe, because everything is now so smart that it’s stupid, the monitor itself is the one remembering weird state. Maybe it doesn’t like the text-mode flip or a DPMS command at the end of an update-reboot cycle, so its EDID responder loses the plot. Who the fuck knows what goes on in all this garbage firmware?

  • SayCyberOnceMore
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    25 months ago

    Do you have any other hardware between computer & monitor? (Ie a KVM Switch?)

    The other post about display ID jogged my memory that KVMs (etc) don’t pass through the data (sometimes?), so just wondering whether there’s another factor here…

    Not sure how it would only trigger this on updates, but just building a complete picture of the issue.

    • businessfishOP
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      15 months ago

      nothing in between the computer and monitor - it’s just plugged straight in. my current guess is that some step of pacman’s install/update process changes something that also gets changed by something else (DE, config file, idk) after the boot.

    • businessfishOP
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      35 months ago

      could you elaborate?

      i’ve been just dealing with this problem for an embarrassing amount of time now, and have gone through several version updates of the nvidia drivers with this problem persisting. i’ve also tried reinstalling the nvidia drivers with no change.