olwe
May 29th, 2011, 03:40 PM
I just installed 11.04-64bit on my Thinkpad T61. Everything went smoothly. I opted for Ubuntu Classic. Fine. I set up my two external monitors. That was flaky going, but it finally worked. I put the system in hibernate, come back the next morning -- won't come out of hibenate, locked up. Had to reboot cold. Login screen is back on my supposedly "off" laptop screen. I log into Ubuntu Classic. But now it gives me just one monitor with no panels, no way to do anything. Right click offers only "Create Launcher." I'm guessing at this point I need to somehow get a command prompt,or an "app" that will allow me to retinker the monitors (an "app" like System Settings/Monitors or Preferences/Monitors).
At this point I don't know what to do, so I three-finger it, choose Restart (no other way?), then choose Ubuntu (Unity) at the login screen. Something comes up in one of my monitors, stretched, wrong res, but with the right half of the top panel. Good. I click on the power button, start System Settings/Monitors, fight with it for a few minutes (very cantankerous), get both externals going at good res (the laptop screen is turned off), save the config. Then I log out, log back in to Ubuntu Classic ... BANG, back to old problem: nothing but desktop background in right monitor, no panel, no way to do anything. The mouse works and when I move it to the left, it seems to go off to the left monitor, but it's black.
I'm fairly confident that if I go into my preferred U-Classic and can somehow get the Monitors app started, I can get my left monitor going, save the settings -- and with some luck actually get back into it again after a logout or restart and have it remember my settings. BTW, all this worked perfectly, with minimal hassles in 10.04-32bit. So I guess I need to know how to get to System Settings/Monitors from an empty screen with no panel, apps, etc. I had this problem with a previous Ubuntu, but it would always allow me to right-click, start a new panel, load System Settings on the panel, get into Monitors, adjust -- but not 11.04. BTW, is KDE any better at handling extra monitors?
At this point I don't know what to do, so I three-finger it, choose Restart (no other way?), then choose Ubuntu (Unity) at the login screen. Something comes up in one of my monitors, stretched, wrong res, but with the right half of the top panel. Good. I click on the power button, start System Settings/Monitors, fight with it for a few minutes (very cantankerous), get both externals going at good res (the laptop screen is turned off), save the config. Then I log out, log back in to Ubuntu Classic ... BANG, back to old problem: nothing but desktop background in right monitor, no panel, no way to do anything. The mouse works and when I move it to the left, it seems to go off to the left monitor, but it's black.
I'm fairly confident that if I go into my preferred U-Classic and can somehow get the Monitors app started, I can get my left monitor going, save the settings -- and with some luck actually get back into it again after a logout or restart and have it remember my settings. BTW, all this worked perfectly, with minimal hassles in 10.04-32bit. So I guess I need to know how to get to System Settings/Monitors from an empty screen with no panel, apps, etc. I had this problem with a previous Ubuntu, but it would always allow me to right-click, start a new panel, load System Settings on the panel, get into Monitors, adjust -- but not 11.04. BTW, is KDE any better at handling extra monitors?