Laptop cant detect or show anything on external monitor

Question

My laptop cant detect any monitor which i connect via docking station or HDMI splitter, it only works with the monitor which I connect directly on its HDMI port. Mouse, keyboard and headset are connected via the docking station and are working. The docking station itself is connected via USB-C with the computer and has a seperate power source. Earlier same setup used to work, so hardware is not an issue here, just one fine morning my system hanged a bit and then I rebooted it, since then it does not work with 3rd screen, only the one I connected directly on HDMI of my laptop works now. I have this below system details-

Software - Ubuntu 24.04.2 LTS
Hardware Model - HP HP ZBook Firefly 16 inch G10 Mobile Workstation PC
Processor - 13th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1355U × 12
Graphics - Intel® Graphics (RPL-U)
Kernel Version - Linux 6.8.0-71-generic
Firmware Version - V70 Ver. 01.09.00

When I run xrandr I get-

anuhar@anuhar-HP-ZBook-Firefly-16-inch-G10-Mobile-Workstation-PC:~$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 4480 x 1440, maximum 16384 x 16384
eDP-1 connected primary 1920x1200+2560+240 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 345mm x 215mm
   1920x1200     60.00*+  40.00  
   1920x1080     60.00  
   1600x1200     60.00  
   1680x1050     60.00  
   1400x1050     60.00  
   1600x900      60.00  
   1280x1024     60.00  
   1400x900      60.00  
   1280x960      60.00  
   1440x810      60.00  
   1368x768      60.00  
   1280x800      60.00  
   1280x720      60.00  
   1024x768      60.00  
   960x720       60.00  
   928x696       60.00  
   896x672       60.00  
   1024x576      60.00  
   960x600       60.00  
   960x540       60.00  
   800x600       60.00  
   840x525       60.00  
   864x486       60.00  
   700x525       60.00  
   800x450       60.00  
   640x512       60.00  
   700x450       60.00  
   640x480       60.00  
   720x405       60.00  
   684x384       60.00  
   640x360       60.00  
   512x384       60.00  
   512x288       60.00  
   480x270       60.00  
   400x300       60.00  
   432x243       60.00  
   320x240       60.00  
   360x202       60.00  
   320x180       60.00  
HDMI-1 connected 2560x1440+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 597mm x 336mm
   2560x1440     59.95*+ 143.91   120.00  
   3840x2160     60.00    50.00    59.94  
   1920x1080    120.00   119.88    60.00    60.00    50.00    59.94  
   1280x1024     75.02    60.02  
   1280x720      60.00    50.00    59.94  
   1024x768     119.99    99.97    75.03    70.07    60.00  
   832x624       74.55  
   800x600      119.97    99.99    72.19    75.00    60.32    56.25  
   720x576       50.00  
   720x480       60.00    59.94  
   640x480      119.99   100.00    75.00    72.81    66.67    60.00    59.94  
   720x400       70.08  
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)
anuhar@anuhar-HP-ZBook-Firefly-16-inch-G10-Mobile-Workstation-PC:~$

Please ask for more info if needed since I dont know too much about tech I just need my laptop to work with 2 external screens and if it can't, then I need to think of going back to windows because this problem is irritating. I liked the concept of open source and speed in Ubuntu at first but I would rather switch to windows if this kind of problems will persist. I have no option left.

Your system should also have a NVIDIA RTX A500. You're using the integrated Intel. When it "used to work" weren't you using the dGPU (Nvidia)? — ChanganAuto, Aug 03 '25 at 21:06
no i installed A500 later in hope of it working but never went ahead. — Anuhar Tripathi, Aug 04 '25 at 11:01

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 04 '25 at 07:36

0

I had a similar issue, and rolling back to the 6.8.0-64 kernel fixed it.

I can't find a bug for it yet, but if you can confirm this fixes it I will open one.

answered Aug 04 '25 at 07:36

salty-horse

1

Hi, thanks for suggestion but since its my company laptop, I am afraid to take backup and do such step. I don't want to risk work :) Any other option i have? Also I would need company provided storage device to take backup since taking it on my personal would be little unethical thing. And it would mean more bureaucracy :( – Anuhar Tripathi Aug 04 '25 at 11:06
Installing a different kernel or running an already installed older one does not require OS reinstallation or data backup. Backups is something you (your company) should have regardless. And this temporary workaround can and should be implemented by your IT department, as well as making sure all the required drivers including any proprietary ones are installed and running whenever necessary and that you're properly trained on the recommended usage of hybrid graphics in Linux. – ChanganAuto Aug 04 '25 at 12:10
All you need to do is install the package linux-image-6.8.0-64-generic, restart the computer, and select it in Grub's menu.
I can help with any of these steps if you can describe what difficulties you are facing.
– salty-horse Aug 05 '25 at 06:55
So I tried to rollback to older version, but still display problem is not resolved. I have same behaviour. – Anuhar Tripathi Aug 05 '25 at 13:04
Maybe it's related to https://askubuntu.com/questions/1554015/dual-monitor-ubuntu-studio-setup-dispalying-black-screen-on-second-monitor-after – salty-horse Aug 07 '25 at 06:39

Laptop cant detect or show anything on external monitor

1 Answers1

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