Can't use external monitor at native resolution (14040p)(KDE)

Juankz

Hello people! I need a little help with this.
I'm connecting my laptop to an external monitor with resolution 2560x1440. But on system preferences the select menu doesn't go upper than 1920x1080. Also this monitor support 165Hz but the menu only show 60Hz and 50Hz. I don't mind the refresh rate cause I don't think my GPU could hit that mark. But surely it can handle 1440p 60Hz.

The GPU is an NVIDIA GTX 1050 and I'm using KDE plasma.

How can I fix it?

George

Proprietary graphic driver installed? If I'm not mistaken, your GPU didn't recognize the second monitor

Juankz

It is being recognized. I'm only using the external monitor, and turned off the integrated one

Juankz

Yes, proprietary drivers installed

Juankz

I found a solution!
These two links were really useful: Link 1 Link 2

Here is a summary of what I did (Works only for x11):

Step 1 - Gathering Screen Info

Running xrandr --verbose gives among other things:

HDMI-1-2 connected 1920x1080+353+0 (0x232) normal (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 596mm x 335mm
        ...
        EDID: 
                00ffffffffffff003669a83c01010101
                221f0103803c2278ee55b5ab5146ab26
                0b50543fcf00d1c00101010101018180
                9500b3000101565e00a0a0a029503020
                3500544f2100001e000000fd0030901e
                00001a00000000000000000000000042
                f33c000a202020202020000000fc004d
                53492047323733510a202020000000ff
                00434138413432313830303734310187
                02033d714e020311121304292f901f40
                3f615f230917078301000067030c0010
                00183c67d85dc4017880006d1a000002
                0130a5ec0000000000e305e30111e200
                8ca0a0325026204808544f2100001e6f
                c200a0a0a0555030203500544f210000
                1e59928096703812401c203500544f21

From this we get the connection name: HDMI-1-2 and the EDID portion which provides useful info about the screen using edid-decode (not in solus repo, but I had an ubuntu VM laying around, so I just saved the edid info on a file):
$ edid-decode edid_file

...
Detailed mode: Clock 241.500 MHz, 596 mm x 335 mm
               2560 2608 2640 2720 ( 48  32  80)
               1440 1443 1448 1481 (  3   5  33)
               +hsync +vsync
               VertFreq: 59.951 Hz, HorFreq: 88.787 kHz
Display Range Limits
  Monitor ranges (GTF): 48-144 Hz V, 30-243 kHz H, max dotclock 600 MHz
...

Step 2 - Add a new mode

First create a mode using the clock and the values we got from EDID
xrandr --newmode "2560x1440" 241.500 2560 2608 2640 2720 1440 1443 1448 1481 +hsync -vsync

Next add the mode to the output:
xrandr --addmode HDMI-1-2 "2560x1440"

Step 3 - Try the new mode

This command will change the screen resolution (I think at this point the new mode should also appear on the settings panel, but I didn't check).
xrandr --output HDMI-1-2 --mode "2560x1440"

Step 4 - make the changes persistent:

Create the file /etc/X11/Xsession.d/45custom_xrandr-settings and add the newmode and addmode lines from above:

xrandr --newmode "2560x1440"  241.500   2560 2608 2640 2720  1440 1443 1448 1481 +hsync -vsync
xrandr --addmode HDMI-1-2 "2560x1440"

Restart and voilá we get the new resolution listed on the screen panel. And don't have to change it back after reboot:

scopedial

Juankz I compiled EDID from github and my output looks a little different from yours.
I do not have the data to do the xrandr "Newmode".

edid-decode (hex):

00 ff ff ff ff ff ff 00 10 ac 05 d1 56 4c 46 30
2c 1f 01 03 80 46 28 78 ea 3c 55 ad 4f 46 a8 27
11 50 54 a5 4b 00 a9 c0 b3 00 d1 00 71 4f a9 40
81 80 d1 c0 01 01 08 e8 00 30 f2 70 5a 80 b0 58
8a 00 b9 88 21 00 00 1a 00 00 00 ff 00 47 4a 36
57 54 42 33 0a 20 20 20 20 20 00 00 00 fc 00 44
45 4c 4c 20 53 33 32 32 31 51 53 0a 00 00 00 fd
00 28 3c 1d 8c 3c 00 0a 20 20 20 20 20 20 01 3b

02 03 53 f1 54 61 05 04 03 02 07 16 01 06 11 12
15 13 14 1f 10 5d 5e 5f 60 23 09 07 07 83 01 00
00 6d 03 0c 00 10 00 38 3c 20 00 60 01 02 03 67
d8 5d c4 01 78 80 01 e3 05 c0 00 e6 06 05 01 52
52 2c e2 00 d5 68 1a 00 00 01 01 28 3c e6 e4 0f
00 00 00 56 5e 00 a0 a0 a0 29 50 30 20 35 00 b9
88 21 00 00 1a a8 ac 00 a0 f0 70 33 80 30 30 35
00 b9 88 21 00 00 1a 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 22

----------------

Block 0, Base EDID:
  EDID Structure Version & Revision: 1.3
  Vendor & Product Identification:
    Manufacturer: DEL
    Model: 53509
    Serial Number: 809913430
    Made in: week 44 of 2021
  Basic Display Parameters & Features:
    Digital display
    Maximum image size: 70 cm x 40 cm
    Gamma: 2.20
    DPMS levels: Standby Suspend Off
    RGB color display
    First detailed timing is the preferred timing
  Color Characteristics:
    Red  : 0.6757, 0.3115
    Green: 0.2763, 0.6562
    Blue : 0.1533, 0.0673
    White: 0.3134, 0.3291
  Established Timings I & II:
    IBM     :   720x400    70.081663 Hz   9:5     31.467 kHz     28.320000 MHz
    DMT 0x04:   640x480    59.940476 Hz   4:3     31.469 kHz     25.175000 MHz
    DMT 0x06:   640x480    75.000000 Hz   4:3     37.500 kHz     31.500000 MHz
    DMT 0x09:   800x600    60.316541 Hz   4:3     37.879 kHz     40.000000 MHz
    DMT 0x0b:   800x600    75.000000 Hz   4:3     46.875 kHz     49.500000 MHz
    DMT 0x10:  1024x768    60.003840 Hz   4:3     48.363 kHz     65.000000 MHz
    DMT 0x12:  1024x768    75.028582 Hz   4:3     60.023 kHz     78.750000 MHz
    DMT 0x24:  1280x1024   75.024675 Hz   5:4     79.976 kHz    135.000000 MHz
  Standard Timings:
    DMT 0x53:  1600x900    60.000000 Hz  16:9     60.000 kHz    108.000000 MHz (RB)
    DMT 0x3a:  1680x1050   59.954250 Hz  16:10    65.290 kHz    146.250000 MHz
    DMT 0x45:  1920x1200   59.884600 Hz  16:10    74.556 kHz    193.250000 MHz
    DMT 0x15:  1152x864    75.000000 Hz   4:3     67.500 kHz    108.000000 MHz
    DMT 0x33:  1600x1200   60.000000 Hz   4:3     75.000 kHz    162.000000 MHz
    DMT 0x23:  1280x1024   60.019740 Hz   5:4     63.981 kHz    108.000000 MHz
    DMT 0x52:  1920x1080   60.000000 Hz  16:9     67.500 kHz    148.500000 MHz
  Detailed Timing Descriptors:
    DTD 1:  3840x2160   60.000000 Hz  16:9    135.000 kHz    594.000000 MHz (697 mm x 392 mm)
                 Hfront  176 Hsync  88 Hback  296 Hpol P
                 Vfront    8 Vsync  10 Vback   72 Vpol N
    Display Product Serial Number: 'GJ6WTB3'
    Display Product Name: 'DELL S3221QS'
    Display Range Limits:
      Monitor ranges (GTF): 40-60 Hz V, 29-140 kHz H, max dotclock 600 MHz
  Extension blocks: 1
Checksum: 0x3b

----------------

Block 1, CTA-861 Extension Block:
  Revision: 3
  Underscans IT Video Formats by default
  Basic audio support
  Supports YCbCr 4:4:4
  Supports YCbCr 4:2:2
  Native detailed modes: 1
  Video Data Block:
    VIC  97:  3840x2160   60.000000 Hz  16:9    135.000 kHz    594.000000 MHz
    VIC   5:  1920x1080i  60.000000 Hz  16:9     33.750 kHz     74.250000 MHz
    VIC   4:  1280x720    60.000000 Hz  16:9     45.000 kHz     74.250000 MHz
    VIC   3:   720x480    59.940060 Hz  16:9     31.469 kHz     27.000000 MHz
    VIC   2:   720x480    59.940060 Hz   4:3     31.469 kHz     27.000000 MHz
    VIC   7:  1440x480i   59.940060 Hz  16:9     15.734 kHz     27.000000 MHz
    VIC  22:  1440x576i   50.000000 Hz  16:9     15.625 kHz     27.000000 MHz
    VIC   1:   640x480    59.940476 Hz   4:3     31.469 kHz     25.175000 MHz
    VIC   6:  1440x480i   59.940060 Hz   4:3     15.734 kHz     27.000000 MHz
    VIC  17:   720x576    50.000000 Hz   4:3     31.250 kHz     27.000000 MHz
    VIC  18:   720x576    50.000000 Hz  16:9     31.250 kHz     27.000000 MHz
    VIC  21:  1440x576i   50.000000 Hz   4:3     15.625 kHz     27.000000 MHz
    VIC  19:  1280x720    50.000000 Hz  16:9     37.500 kHz     74.250000 MHz
    VIC  20:  1920x1080i  50.000000 Hz  16:9     28.125 kHz     74.250000 MHz
    VIC  31:  1920x1080   50.000000 Hz  16:9     56.250 kHz    148.500000 MHz
    VIC  16:  1920x1080   60.000000 Hz  16:9     67.500 kHz    148.500000 MHz
    VIC  93:  3840x2160   24.000000 Hz  16:9     54.000 kHz    297.000000 MHz
    VIC  94:  3840x2160   25.000000 Hz  16:9     56.250 kHz    297.000000 MHz
    VIC  95:  3840x2160   30.000000 Hz  16:9     67.500 kHz    297.000000 MHz
    VIC  96:  3840x2160   50.000000 Hz  16:9    112.500 kHz    594.000000 MHz
  Audio Data Block:
    Linear PCM:
      Max channels: 2
      Supported sample rates (kHz): 48 44.1 32
      Supported sample sizes (bits): 24 20 16
  Speaker Allocation Data Block:
    FL/FR - Front Left/Right
  Vendor-Specific Data Block (HDMI), OUI 00-0C-03:
    Source physical address: 1.0.0.0
    DC_36bit
    DC_30bit
    DC_Y444
    Maximum TMDS clock: 300 MHz
    Extended HDMI video details:
      HDMI VICs:
        HDMI VIC 1:  3840x2160   30.000000 Hz  16:9     67.500 kHz    297.000000 MHz
        HDMI VIC 2:  3840x2160   25.000000 Hz  16:9     56.250 kHz    297.000000 MHz
        HDMI VIC 3:  3840x2160   24.000000 Hz  16:9     54.000 kHz    297.000000 MHz
  Vendor-Specific Data Block (HDMI Forum), OUI C4-5D-D8:
    Version: 1
    Maximum TMDS Character Rate: 600 MHz
    SCDC Present
    Supports 10-bits/component Deep Color 4:2:0 Pixel Encoding
  Colorimetry Data Block:
    BT2020YCC
    BT2020RGB
  HDR Static Metadata Data Block:
    Electro optical transfer functions:
      Traditional gamma - SDR luminance range
      SMPTE ST2084
    Supported static metadata descriptors:
      Static metadata type 1
    Desired content max luminance: 82 (295.365 cd/m^2)
    Desired content max frame-average luminance: 82 (295.365 cd/m^2)
    Desired content min luminance: 44 (0.088 cd/m^2)
  Video Capability Data Block:
    YCbCr quantization: Selectable (via AVI YQ)
    RGB quantization: Selectable (via AVI Q)
    PT scan behavior: Always Overscanned
    IT scan behavior: Always Overscanned
    CE scan behavior: Always Overscanned
  Vendor-Specific Data Block (AMD), OUI 00-00-1A:
    Version: 1.1
    Minimum Refresh Rate: 40 Hz
    Maximum Refresh Rate: 60 Hz
    Flags 1.x: 0xe6 (MCCS)
  YCbCr 4:2:0 Capability Map Data Block:
    Empty Capability Map
  Detailed Timing Descriptors:
    DTD 2:  2560x1440   59.950550 Hz  16:9     88.787 kHz    241.500000 MHz (697 mm x 392 mm)
                 Hfront   48 Hsync  32 Hback   80 Hpol P
                 Vfront    3 Vsync   5 Vback   33 Vpol N
    DTD 3:  3840x2160   49.977386 Hz  16:9    110.500 kHz    442.000000 MHz (697 mm x 392 mm)
                 Hfront   48 Hsync  48 Hback   64 Hpol P
                 Vfront    3 Vsync   5 Vback   43 Vpol N
Checksum: 0x22  Unused space in Extension Block: 8 bytes

Could it be I am using the wrong version? It was the latest.
Any advice is appreciated.

Juankz

For the record it's possible that the HDMI cable was a problem. As connecting with a display port cable shows the proper resolution and can go up in refresh rate as well.

brent

Juankz you mean the HDMI was not snug fitting, thus propelling you to re-marry everything via xrandr command?
Or just a bad end-of-life cord that caused you to go through this?
Just asking because for me hardware is always the last thing I guess and often is the correct one..
edit: misspelled xrandr

Juankz

brent My guess is that I was using a cheap standard HDMI cable that theoretically only goes up to 1080p. And I was forcing it to output 1440p. It worked tho but always check your cables.

brent

Juankz not to keep this going too long but everytime I had to swap out cables it's usually in monitor setup stage and because an OS did not detect a connector end or port (vga, hdmi, etc) but I never took note of resolutions. I'm glad you worked it out.

Juankz

scopedial Sorry for the late reply. First of all did you check with another cable? That really solved it easier for me.
Anyways I'm not really sure but I think you can extract the value from the timing descriptors:

Hfront  176 Hsync  88 Hback  296 Hpol P
Vfront    8 Vsync  10 Vback   72 Vpol N

Seems to me that these are the same numbers found inside the parenthesis in my EDID

2560 2608 2640 2720 ( 48  32  80)
1440 1443 1448 1481 (  3   5  33)

And this is a guess but looks like the values are obtained by adding them to the desired resolution:

2560 (2560+48) (2560+48+32) (2560+48+32+80)
2560    2608      2640           2720

So if you are going for 4k your values would be:

3840 4016 4104 4400
2160 2168 2178 2250

Again. This is just a wild although reasonable guess.