I can't use all 6 of my monitors

General system Kernel, boot, graphics & hardware
1

Hi Community,

I am new to the Linux universe and have only recently started using EndeavorOS with Gnome.
I have had 6 monitors connected to my PC for years and want to continue using them with Linux. Unfortunately I always have freezes and crashes when I use all 6.
As a gamer and streamer I always have many programs open and I noticed that games freeze or crash on startup when I open OBS. The same also happens with an open browser.

I have already tried and installed several things, but in the end I always had to reset everything because nothing worked anymore.

I also searched for additional hardware and tried the following:

  • NVIDIA GeForce GT 730 - unfortunately needs different drivers
  • Ugreen 6-in-1 USB-C Multifunction Adapter - HDMI ports are not recognized
  • Conceptronic EMRICK07G - supposed to support Linux but it doesn’t say how, support doesn’t answer me.

I currently only use 4 monitors which all run via the GPU, there are 5 connections, but if I use all of them only one monitor is used.

My specs:

  • Mainboard - Asus TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS D4
  • CPU - Intel i7-12700K
  • GPU - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080
  • RAM - 48 GB

My monitors:

  • Asus ROG PG278QR - 2560*1440
  • LG ULTRAWIDE - 2560*1080
  • 4* BenQ GL2580 - 1920*1080

Arrangement:
BenQ - LG - BenQ
BenQ - Asus - BenQ

If something is missing I will add it.

1 Like
2

Confused about this if you have RTX 3080?

3

I wanted to use both at the same time because according to Arch Wiki:
Maxwell (NV110/GMXXX) through Ada Lovelace (NV190/ADXXX) - nvidia for linux, nvidia-lts for linux-lts, nvidia-dkms for any other kernel(s)
The GT 730 is part of the Maxwell family.

4

The GT 730 require you to install the drivers from the AUR since Nvidia isn’t supporting that card anymore. The 470.xx version is what you would want although it is supported also by the 390.xx version too. Both available in the AUR.

Edit: Not sure if you used the nvidia option on install as that would install the current drivers for the RTX 3080.

Edit2: Not sure how that would work if you have two Nvidia cards in the system with one that requires different drivers installed. :thinking:

5

I had tried both, but could only use one driver, GT or RTX.

6

Do you actually have drivers installed for both? What does inxi -Ga show?

7

Graphics:
Device-1: Intel AlderLake-S GT1 vendor: ASUSTeK driver: i915 v: kernel
alternate: xe arch: Gen-12.2 process: Intel 10nm built: 2021-22+ ports:
active: none empty: DP-4,HDMI-A-3,HDMI-A-4 bus-ID: 00:02.0
chip-ID: 8086:4680 class-ID: 0300
Device-2: NVIDIA GA102 [GeForce RTX 3080 Lite Hash Rate] vendor: ASUSTeK
driver: nvidia v: 560.35.03 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 550.xx+
status: current (as of 2024-06; EOL~2026-12-xx) arch: Ampere code: GAxxx
process: TSMC n7 (7nm) built: 2020-2023 pcie: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s
lanes: 16 ports: active: none off: DP-1, DP-3, HDMI-A-1, HDMI-A-2
empty: DP-2 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:2216 class-ID: 0300
Device-3: Elgato Systems GmbH Facecam Pro driver: uvcvideo type: USB
rev: 3.0 speed: 5 Gb/s lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 bus-ID: 2-5:3
chip-ID: 0fd9:0079 class-ID: 0e02 serial: A01HA33510MTOE
Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.13 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.2
compositor: gnome-shell v: 46.4 driver: X: loaded: modesetting,nvidia
alternate: fbdev,intel,nouveau,nv,vesa dri: iris
gpu: nvidia,nvidia-nvswitch display-ID: :0 screens: 1
Screen-1: 0 s-res: 4480x2520 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 1185x667mm (46.65x26.26")
s-diag: 1360mm (53.54")
Monitor-1: DP-1 note: disabled pos: top-right model: BenQ GL2580
serial: N8K03707019 built: 2019 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 90 gamma: 1.2
size: 544x303mm (21.42x11.93") diag: 623mm (24.5") ratio: 16:9 modes:
max: 1920x1080 min: 640x480
Monitor-2: DP-3 mapped: DP-4 note: disabled pos: primary,bottom-l
model: ROG PG278QR serial: #ASOlg+QsAZvd built: 2017 res: 2560x1440 dpi: 109
gamma: 1.2 size: 598x336mm (23.54x13.23") diag: 686mm (27") ratio: 16:9
modes: max: 2560x1440 min: 640x480
Monitor-3: HDMI-A-1 mapped: HDMI-0 note: disabled pos: top-left
model: LG (GoldStar) ULTRAWIDE serial: 240743 built: 2020 res: 2560x1080
hz: 60 dpi: 97 gamma: 1.2 size: 673x284mm (26.5x11.18")
diag: 730mm (28.8") modes: max: 2560x1080 min: 640x480
Monitor-4: HDMI-A-2 mapped: HDMI-1 note: disabled pos: bottom-r
model: BenQ GL2580 serial: N8K03693019 built: 2019 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60
dpi: 90 gamma: 1.2 size: 544x303mm (21.42x11.93") diag: 623mm (24.5")
ratio: 16:9 modes: max: 1920x1080 min: 640x480
API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: intel iris drv: nvidia platforms: device: 0
drv: nvidia device: 2 drv: iris device: 3 drv: swrast gbm: drv: nvidia
surfaceless: drv: nvidia x11: drv: nvidia inactive: wayland,device-1
API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: nvidia mesa v: 560.35.03
glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080/PCIe/SSE2
memory: 9.77 GiB
API: Vulkan v: 1.3.295 layers: 7 device: 0 type: discrete-gpu
name: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 driver: nvidia v: 560.35.03
device-ID: 10de:2216 surfaces: xcb,xlib

8

I don’t see the GT 730 card or drivers. The RTX 3080 has the correct drivers installed and it is rendering on that gpu. Do you have the GT 730 card installed but just not the drivers yet?

9

You might perhaps try to look into using a Matrox card, since Matrox’s whole thing is having 6-7 connections on the board, if you absolutely must use 6 different monitor outputs, all at once. Not sure how the Linux drivers are, though, or if there are any.

10

The GT 730 is atm not in the PC.

11

Okay but when you had it in the computer did you install the 470.xx drivers?

12

Not now, I reinstalled EndeavorOS to have a clean version after the test.

Unfortunately I have to work now, will get back to you afterwards.

13

That’s okay I’m just asking because i didn’t know if it would run on the open source nouveau if you hadn’t installed drivers from the AUR for it when you have both cards installed and current nvidia drivers are installed for the RTX 3080. :thinking: