Monitor sync problems

[h2f]

Installed uMATE 16.04 as a dualboot to a existing Win 10.

Hardware: AMD A8-7600 on a MSI A68HM Grenade mainboard without extra grafics. I use VGA onboard.
Monitor is a 13y old Samsung 193T, 19” 1280x1024.

My Problem: black screen after grub, if I boot mate (16.04), no login possible. I think, the monitor goes out of sync. (It searches for signal on both inputs) (Other/newer Monitors work.)

But: Windows 10 works fine. No screen problems at all.
And: If I start Mate “rescue mode”, and than (without any repair) choose: boot (first entry), everything looks fine. I’m able to login, monitor properties : resolution 1280x1024, but sync is shown as 0 Hz (grey). (find/recognize? Monitor fails)
What could be an easy workaround?
Any idea of a “futureproof” solution that will also work later with another monitor?
(sorry about my bad english;)

[wolfman]

What onboard graphics card does it have?.

See

How to install graphics card drivers in Ubuntu

ATTENTION ATI/AMD GRAPHICS CARD OWNERS, IF YOU INTEND TO USE UBUNTU (MATE) 16.04, PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING FIRST!. EDIT: POSSIBLE SOLUTION FOR SOME WHO HAVE AN AMD CARD ON THE LIST HERE: http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/AMD-Radeon-GPU-PRO-Linux-Beta-Driver%E2%80%93Release-Notes.aspx See also: https://support.amd.com/en-us/download/linux First and foremost, Intel drivers are auto installed and there is no reason to start to try installing any drivers for Intel graphics…

[h2f]

It has only onboard-grafics witch uses the GPU in the CPU intern. I think its called “AMD Radeon R7 A8-7600 Radeon R7”

[wolfman]

Take a look at the Radeon page which might help you, I don’t have one myself so a bit difficult to assess your situation!:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/RadeonDriver

Certainly run a full system update which may also help solve the problem?:

Ubuntu Mate Update Guide

These are my own setting preferences, use at your own risk!. AN IMPORTANT NOTE FOR LINUX BEGINNERS. WHEN YOU ARE IN RECOVERY MODE, THE KEYBOARD DEFAULTS TO US ENGLISH, IF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER LANGUAGE KEYBOARD OTHER THAN US ENGLISH, WHEN YOU TYPE "Y" (FOR "YES"), IT MIGHT SHOW UP AS A DIFFERENT LETTER, ON MY KEYBOARD I MUST PRESS THE "Z" KEY WHICH EQUATES TO "Y" AS I HAVE A GERMAN KEYBOARD, JUST PRESS "BACKSPACE" AND HIT A DIFFERENT KEY UNTIL YOU SEE THE "Y" SHOW UP!. Click on "Subscri…

[h2f]

I tested with and without AMD proprietary firmware: no solution

updated and upgraded mate more than 1 time…

the only thing that helps is:
boot in grub to latest recovery mode, than in recovery menu > boot
first entry > graphical login arrives…

• in „normal“ boot mode - after the grub screen > screen goes
  black, the computer „stops“ about 10..20 sec, (now the monitor switches to out of sync) while there are no blinking HD-Leds etc. PC seams to stop for a while, later goes on booting (HD LEDs blinking normally...). The screen keeps black and even switching it off/on brings no screen… no sync possible at all

• in recovery mode + boot > text arrives on the screen. The timeout
  seams to be much shorter: screen stays „on“, login appears… works

searching for the difference in both cases:

normal mode:
ab@UMate-MS-7891:~$
systemd-analyze blame
23.077s dev-sda5.device
20.473s systemd-udevd.service
20.141s systemd-sysctl.service
7.869s NetworkManager-wait-online.service
5.990s nmbd.service
5.836s samba-ad-dc.service
4.697s grub-common.service
4.474s apport.service
4.444s networking.service
3.659s libvirt-bin.service
3.333s irqbalance.service
3.172s speech-dispatcher.service
………
no login possible because screen does not „resync“

in recovery mode:
ab@UMate-MS-7891:~$
systemd-analyze blame
27.460s dev-sda5.device
7.006s NetworkManager-wait-online.service
6.291s systemd-udevd.service
5.507s friendly-recovery.service
1.948s NetworkManager.service
1.287s accounts-daemon.service
1.219s ModemManager.service
1.185s nmbd.service
1.105s samba-ad-dc.service
990ms systemd-tmpfiles-setup-dev.service
607ms gpu-manager.service
596ms grub-common.service
593ms irqbalance.service
…..
graphical login: OK

Its a AMD Kaveri CPU, 8 GB Ram, 1 TB HD, multiboot with win 10, both
without EFI (mbr) and I have no idea, why it takes so much time to boot...

[wolfman]

Hi @h2f ,

what method of install did you use?, if you used a DVD; did you burn it at the slowest possible speed?:

Burn ISO's at the slowest possible speed

Hi all, as the title suggests, some and/or many problems with your installation can be avoided by burning the ISO file at the "SLOWEST POSSIBLE SPEED", most if not all burner apps will automatically choose the fastest speed available for your disk burner drive so it is important before you commit to burn a CD/DVD that you select the menu tab which controls the burn speed and select the lowest number on offer. Your burner drive may well support a burn speed of 20 X for DVD and 60 X for CD's a…

Did you format the USB stick if you used that?.

On Ubuntu 16.04, don’t use any AMD drivers as they are not fully functional at the moment!:

AMD/ATI owners read this before upgrading to 16.04

EDIT: POSSIBLE SOLUTION FOR SOME WHO HAVE A CARD ON THE LIST HERE: http://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/AMD-Radeon-GPU-PRO-Linux-Beta-Driver%E2%80%93Release-Notes.aspx Take a look here if you have an AMD/ATI graphics card/chip if you intend to upgrade to Ubuntu 16.04: IF YOU ARE LUCKY YOU WILL FIND YOUR AMD CARD ON THE FOLLOWING LIST BUT PLEASE BE CAREFUL AND DON'T CHANCE YOUR ARM!: https://support.amd.com/en-us/download/linux

To fix it all quicker than trying to find a solution, do a fresh install using the “Something Else” method (don’t format “/home”):

Install Ubuntu (Mate) using "Something else" method

Hi all, this guide can be used on any Ubuntu based system and is intended for people who have a basic working knowledge of an Ubuntu installation and wish to keep the contents of their home folder after doing a re-install. This guide is also intended for those that already have an existing swap, root and home partition setup!!. If you have not done/never done any pre-partitioning, please see this guide about using Gparted partition editor: See also: https://help.ubuntu.com/community…

[h2f]

shortversion:
Installed from DVD (burned 4x speed), incl. veryfi, Download MD5 checked, I used the same DVD for installing about 5 Mates until now. (All work…)
“something else” is my only way to create fresh installations, because i everytime use a /root, a /home and a swap partition.
And in this moment are there “no proprietary drivers installed”

What is the difference between normal boot and recovery + boot?

[wolfman]

What is the difference between normal boot and recovery + boot?

Hi @h2f,

basically, normal boot is when the PC boots without any real interaction with the operator, “Recovery Mode” gives you the option to:

Add or remove apps.
Repair things like resetting your password (using the necessary commands of course).
Scan for viral infections (good for Windblows/MAC users): https://www.howtoforge.com/tutorial/clamav-ubuntu/
Update your system. (Run “dpkg” in recovery mode, see guide):

Ubuntu Mate Update Guide

These are my own setting preferences, use at your own risk!. AN IMPORTANT NOTE FOR LINUX BEGINNERS. WHEN YOU ARE IN RECOVERY MODE, THE KEYBOARD DEFAULTS TO US ENGLISH, IF YOU HAVE ANY OTHER LANGUAGE KEYBOARD OTHER THAN US ENGLISH, WHEN YOU TYPE "Y" (FOR "YES"), IT MIGHT SHOW UP AS A DIFFERENT LETTER, ON MY KEYBOARD I MUST PRESS THE "Z" KEY WHICH EQUATES TO "Y" AS I HAVE A GERMAN KEYBOARD, JUST PRESS "BACKSPACE" AND HIT A DIFFERENT KEY UNTIL YOU SEE THE "Y" SHOW UP!. Click on "Subscri…

[h2f]

hi wolfman

i give up:
I couldn’t find out, how to use the monitor with fixed frequency and i was also not able to find any further information about the slow start…
(23.077s dev-sda5.device)
Can’t believe, but Google lists nothing really helpful to me.
(no xorg.conf, no 10-monitors.conf etc)

but OT:
Want to say: I like your tutorials a lot! Its the kind of things, beginner should find to make the right decisions…

And: Ubuntu MATE is a distribution I like very much. Started working with ubuntu about 2008 (8.04?) because it had an easy GUI, a very good structured desktop and it was friendly to beginners. Later I went to Kubuntu and Xubuntu but missed the old Desktop. Now Mate brings it back and with mate-tools even more possibilities.

Thanks to all developers, supporters and helpers.
greetings and good luck further on… h2f

[h2f]

Heureka!

Found out: the second monitor input was DVI.
solved the Problem by using a DVI-cable instead of VGA.