Q4OS Forum

BryanMcC

Member

Registered: 2026-08-28

Posts: 1

How do I setup a dual monitor connection?

I have been using Q4OS for a short time now on this old Dell chromebook type of thing I found in some scrap parts. I want to use it for streaming my steam deck to my roku tv. everything has been working nicely, I have everything installed and the steaming works well, but I don't know how to setup the hdmi monitor system.

I want to have both screens showing the same thing. when I type in "xrandr", it shows that the hdmi is recognized and connecting to the tv.

xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1366 x 768, maximum 16384 x 16384
eDP-1 connected primary 1366x768+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 256mm x 144mm
   1366x768      60.00*+  48.01
   1280x720      60.00    59.99    59.86    59.74
   1024x768      60.04    60.00
   960x720       60.00
   928x696       60.05
   896x672       60.01
   1024x576      59.95    59.96    59.90    59.82
   960x600       59.93    60.00
   960x540       59.96    59.99    59.63    59.82
   800x600       60.00    60.32    56.25
   840x525       60.01    59.88
   864x486       59.92    59.57
   700x525       59.98
   800x450       59.95    59.82
   640x512       60.02
   700x450       59.96    59.88
   640x480       60.00    59.94
   720x405       59.51    58.99
   684x384       59.88    59.85
   640x400       59.88    59.98
   640x360       59.86    59.83    59.84    59.32
   512x384       60.00
   512x288       60.00    59.92
   480x270       59.63    59.82
   400x300       60.32    56.34
   432x243       59.92    59.57
   320x240       60.05
   360x202       59.51    59.13
   320x180       59.84    59.32
DP-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI-1 connected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
   1920x1080     60.00    59.94    30.00    24.00    29.97    23.98
   1920x1080i    60.00    59.94
   1680x1050     59.88
   1280x1024     75.02    60.02
   1440x900      59.90
   1280x960      60.00
   1360x768      60.02
   1280x800      59.91
   1152x864      75.00
   1280x720      60.00    30.00    59.94    29.97    24.00    23.98
   1024x768      75.03    70.07    60.00
   800x600       72.19    75.00    60.32
   720x480       60.00    59.94
   720x480i      60.00    59.94
   640x480       75.00    72.81    60.00    59.94
   720x400       70.08

I can't find a display application, and the display within the control panel > peripherals > display has the settings for screen greyed out, so i cannot pick a different screen from there as far as I can see. I picked the basic desktop profile when starting because this laptop only has ~15GBs of space, and other larger distros have broke down on this system due to the small storage space.

I could easily be missing a check box, or lacking an application.

Added later 12 min 17 s:
OK so I havent quite figured out how to make it mirror screens yet, but perripherals was the wrong menu. You go to control pannel > system administration > monitor and display. Then you can setup dual monitors, or change the primary monitor to the tv you want to use.

bin

Member

From: U.K.

Registered: 2016-01-28

Posts: 1,608

Re: How do I setup a dual monitor connection?

From your description it sounds like you are using TDE - Trinity Desktop.
Your starting point is Menu>System>TDERandRTray
You will then see a new icon in the system tray - bottom right.
Click that and you will see a number of sections. The bit you want to start with is the Output Port.
Hopefully you'll have 2 entries - VGA and HDMI - they may be labelled LDVS or something other. Trial and error will tell you which is which.
If the graphics chip in the dell supports it you should be able to get 1920x1080 on the HDMI display.
However what you get on the laptop may well be a mess.
Getting to where you want may be difficult or you may strike lucky.
I suggest searching the forum for TDERandRTray as it is ususally mentioned in most of the issues raised trying to resolve this.
I did manage it with an old Nvidia shod Acer and some custom xrandr scripts. I'll have a look and see if I can find them.

It will help if you can run inxi -F and copy/paste the results. Please highlight the results and use the Code Block icon above to make it easier to read.

bin

Member

From: U.K.

Registered: 2016-01-28

Posts: 1,608

Re: How do I setup a dual monitor connection?

Sadly I no longer have the scripts - I think I wiped them from that drive after a while.
However, the way I did it as I recall involved using lxrandr - which you can just install - and then using it to configure the displays.
I then copied the results out to create an xrandr command - if that helps at all.