Odd external vid behavior after update to 15.6

English Install/Boot/Login
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I just updated my laptop (HP ZBooK 15 1920 x 1080 Intel Core i7-4700MQ, Nvidia Quadro K610M) to 15.6/KDE and the mirrored external monitor (Pavilion 27xw (HDMI) - using display port → HDMI cable) display is suddenly garbled (except for the mouse pointer, which looks and acts normally). It looks like chopped-up horizontal lines, and I can visually make out that it does come from the internal display. It reminds me of improperly sync’d/res’d display, and includes the taskbar, icons, etc.; but the cursor arrow looks perfectly normal and moves normally against the distorted desktop - so I know the display is syncd correctly.

The external display all during boot looks normal until the splash screen loads.

I’ve tried several changes to the settings in Display Settings, and unplugging, etc. This has always worked on Leap prior to 15.6. I think there may be a video file I need to modify or something? I know the hardware is good since the cursor is perfect.

I should say that I copied my old .config, .kde4, and .local (and I think, maybe, .cache) directories from the Leap 15.5 install. This ports my old desktop arrangement to the new install, which I like.

Thank you in advance for any guidance in trouble-shooting this. :green_heart: This hardware setup has worked for many years… I may try reinstalling but with the external monitor attached at install time.

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I should have mentioned that I did a repartition and fresh install of 15.6 - not an “update” - sorry!

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A couple of questions for clarification.

The laptop has an NVIDIA for graphics. Which drivers are used, and from which repos?? (NVIDIA can be psychotic and sensitive at times).

You mention that you’ve tried “several changes for Display” but did not specify “what exactly”. A question … are you using Wayland or X11 with KDE/Plasma??

If using Wayland, log out (or reboot) and at the login screen, select X11 with KDE and see if that makes a difference. (Wayland can also be psychotic).

Oh, and one other test … create a brand new user account that has never been used … then log into that account … same behavior??

( BTW - copying the ~/.cache sub-directory isn’t important … AAMOF, we delete that sub-dir every couple of weeks just as a clean up routine. )

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Did you do that copying (for a user I assume) before or after that user logged in into the desktop.

When it was done before, then that would make sense and the new KDE would have seen them and probably updated them here and there.

When you did after, you probably have overwritten the things that KDE puts there on first usage.

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Which drivers are used, and from which repos??

TY - yes, a “vanilla” install, which, I think, means that the Nouveau drivers are installed by default in 15.6 (?) and only stock repos, selected by the GUI installer, are used.

are you using Wayland or X11 with KDE/Plasma
I’m not sure how to answer that question - I just set the KDE/plasma as desktop option in the installer

If using Wayland, log out (or reboot) and at the login screen, select X11 with KDE and see if that makes a difference. (Wayland can also be psychotic).

OK, I’ll try that… what seems odd is that the mouse/pointer graphics are perfect.

Oh, and one other test … create a brand new user account that has never been used … then log into that account … same behavior??

OK, I’ll try that when I get home from school in a couple of hours… TY 4 the info about .cache

EDIT: Ok, relogin showed X11/KDE was being used. I tried switching to KDE/Weyland, no change, logout, switch back to KDE/X11, no change.

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hcvv: UNFORTUNATELY, I copied that stuff before reattaching the external screen. So I thought to reinstall again, this time with the screen attached. That takes a while so I thought I’d ask here first. TY

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On a hunch from the info here, I searched YaST applet for Nouveau, and saw
“xf86-video-nouveau - Accelerated Open Source driver for nVidia cards” and figured it couldn’t hurt to install that… (two nouveau libs were already installed as well as kernel-firmware-nvidia) then rebooted and the external monitor screen is back to normal. I wonder why?

Anyway, THANK YOU as I really need that external display. :smiley:

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OK, fine it works now.

To come back to my remark. When you want to recover user data after such a new installation, there are a few possibilities. E.g. you can have a separate file system for /home , in which case not touching it during installation is sufficient. When you do not have a separate file sytem for /home , you should make a good backup (well , you should already have one) and copy that back after installation.
The important thing though is that in both cases you should do that as system manager (root) before the user(s) start(s) using the system (by logging in in the desktop).

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