F5F Stay Refreshed Hardware Desktop The laptop's internal screen isn't showing up after you unintentionally turned it off in Ubuntu.

The laptop's internal screen isn't showing up after you unintentionally turned it off in Ubuntu.

The laptop's internal screen isn't showing up after you unintentionally turned it off in Ubuntu.

A
ajpate
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09-14-2023, 05:38 PM
#1
Hello everyone, the matter isn’t overly long, but I’ll go through it thoroughly (including pictures and what I attempted) so you can pinpoint the main problem more easily. My setup includes a dual-monitor arrangement: an external Dell monitor connected via HDMI to my Dell Latitude E5470. I recently installed Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS alongside Windows 11 using dual boot, and I’m using it for development work. What led to the issue?

A few days ago, while adjusting display settings on Ubuntu, I accidentally turned off the built-in laptop display using the button at the top right of the display menu. At first, I thought I could just switch it back whenever, so I didn’t pay much attention since I was mainly relying on the external screen. However, later an Ubuntu firmware update occurred. After that, when I tried to turn on the built-in display from the external monitor, it wasn’t present at all. The settings displayed as if only one display was connected (see image below).

One important detail from the picture is that the system recognizes this as a second monitor (marked with number 2 in the top left corner), yet it fails to detect the built-in display somehow. I’ve tried several fixes but haven’t succeeded:

1. On Ubuntu, I unplugged the HDMI cable—normally it would switch automatically to the built-in display, but it did so instantly. However, the laptop would immediately go into sleep (as seen in Ubuntu), requiring me to press the power button manually to restart and log in again.
2. Opening the display settings within a short time would cause the built-in display to appear, but the session would freeze and then shut down again.
3. I opened the display settings on the external monitor and unplugged the cable, forcing the built-in display to show the settings. The settings page only displayed one Night Light option (see image below).
4. Assuming the problem was Ubuntu-related, I restarted the system to boot into Windows and disconnected the HDMI cable, which showed everything correctly on the built-in screen. Everything looked normal until the Windows loading screen appeared, after which the screen went blank even though the sound of startup played.
5. After plugging the HDMI cable back in, the lock screen appeared on the external display. I then opened the display settings on Windows for the external monitor, but it still showed only one monitor attached (see image below).

I’m unable to view the actual display settings for the built-in display in Windows because unplugging the HDMI cable causes a blank laptop screen instead of showing everything properly.

Other attempts I made:
- Tried resetting display settings on Ubuntu via the command line—no improvement.
- Reinstalled display drivers on Windows—also failed.
- Reinstalled Ubuntu from USB; during installation, if I unplugged the HDMI cable, the built-in display would sleep after a few seconds and required constant manual wake-up by pressing the power button.

I considered the issue might be BIOS-related since it works across OSes, so I reset the BIOS, but that didn’t help either.

If anyone can assist in getting my laptop screen back to normal, I’d really appreciate it. My machine is currently a Windows Mini version derived from Mac Mini. # EDIT 1: I’m able to manage BIOS settings on the built-in display without problems. Updated June 7, 2023 by maxxxpool

Additional info that could help:
- The external monitor works fine in BIOS mode.
- I can manually control the built-in display via Windows settings, but it’s unstable.
- The problem seems to appear only when switching between displays or disconnecting cables.
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A
ajpate
09-14-2023, 05:38 PM #1

Hello everyone, the matter isn’t overly long, but I’ll go through it thoroughly (including pictures and what I attempted) so you can pinpoint the main problem more easily. My setup includes a dual-monitor arrangement: an external Dell monitor connected via HDMI to my Dell Latitude E5470. I recently installed Ubuntu 22.04.2 LTS alongside Windows 11 using dual boot, and I’m using it for development work. What led to the issue?

A few days ago, while adjusting display settings on Ubuntu, I accidentally turned off the built-in laptop display using the button at the top right of the display menu. At first, I thought I could just switch it back whenever, so I didn’t pay much attention since I was mainly relying on the external screen. However, later an Ubuntu firmware update occurred. After that, when I tried to turn on the built-in display from the external monitor, it wasn’t present at all. The settings displayed as if only one display was connected (see image below).

One important detail from the picture is that the system recognizes this as a second monitor (marked with number 2 in the top left corner), yet it fails to detect the built-in display somehow. I’ve tried several fixes but haven’t succeeded:

1. On Ubuntu, I unplugged the HDMI cable—normally it would switch automatically to the built-in display, but it did so instantly. However, the laptop would immediately go into sleep (as seen in Ubuntu), requiring me to press the power button manually to restart and log in again.
2. Opening the display settings within a short time would cause the built-in display to appear, but the session would freeze and then shut down again.
3. I opened the display settings on the external monitor and unplugged the cable, forcing the built-in display to show the settings. The settings page only displayed one Night Light option (see image below).
4. Assuming the problem was Ubuntu-related, I restarted the system to boot into Windows and disconnected the HDMI cable, which showed everything correctly on the built-in screen. Everything looked normal until the Windows loading screen appeared, after which the screen went blank even though the sound of startup played.
5. After plugging the HDMI cable back in, the lock screen appeared on the external display. I then opened the display settings on Windows for the external monitor, but it still showed only one monitor attached (see image below).

I’m unable to view the actual display settings for the built-in display in Windows because unplugging the HDMI cable causes a blank laptop screen instead of showing everything properly.

Other attempts I made:
- Tried resetting display settings on Ubuntu via the command line—no improvement.
- Reinstalled display drivers on Windows—also failed.
- Reinstalled Ubuntu from USB; during installation, if I unplugged the HDMI cable, the built-in display would sleep after a few seconds and required constant manual wake-up by pressing the power button.

I considered the issue might be BIOS-related since it works across OSes, so I reset the BIOS, but that didn’t help either.

If anyone can assist in getting my laptop screen back to normal, I’d really appreciate it. My machine is currently a Windows Mini version derived from Mac Mini. # EDIT 1: I’m able to manage BIOS settings on the built-in display without problems. Updated June 7, 2023 by maxxxpool

Additional info that could help:
- The external monitor works fine in BIOS mode.
- I can manually control the built-in display via Windows settings, but it’s unstable.
- The problem seems to appear only when switching between displays or disconnecting cables.

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C
Cyanstrophic
Senior Member
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668
09-14-2023, 05:38 PM
#2
Here’s a revised version of your message:

For anyone who might face a similar problem later, here’s the approach I discovered after extensive searching. It also explains why this issue arises with laptops, beyond my initial misunderstandings and unsuccessful efforts. https://askubuntu.com/a/1413208/1450033
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C
Cyanstrophic
09-14-2023, 05:38 PM #2

Here’s a revised version of your message:

For anyone who might face a similar problem later, here’s the approach I discovered after extensive searching. It also explains why this issue arises with laptops, beyond my initial misunderstandings and unsuccessful efforts. https://askubuntu.com/a/1413208/1450033

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