Fix: Ubuntu Studio Dual Monitor Black Screen After Upgrade

Hey everyone! Ever run into that dreaded black screen issue after a system upgrade? It’s super frustrating, especially when you’re rocking a dual-monitor setup on Ubuntu Studio. I recently faced this exact problem after an apt update/upgrade and reboot, and let me tell you, it threw me for a loop. But don't worry, I managed to solve it, and I'm here to share the steps so you can fix it too!

The Problem: Black Screen on Secondary Monitor

So, here’s the deal. After a routine system update on my Ubuntu Studio 24.04.2 LTS machine (kernel 6.8.0.65-lowlatency), one of my monitors went completely black. My primary monitor was working perfectly fine, but the second one? Nada. Zilch. Just a big, empty void. I'm running an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060, and I suspected the graphics drivers might be the culprit. Specifically, I was using either version 535.230.02 or 535.247.01.

Diving Deep: Understanding the Issue

The first thing I did was try to understand what might have gone wrong during the upgrade process. System updates can sometimes mess with drivers, especially graphics drivers, because they interact so closely with the kernel. When you're dealing with multiple monitors, the system needs to properly manage the display outputs, and any hiccup in the driver configuration can lead to one or more screens going dark. It's like a digital traffic jam where the signal for the second monitor gets lost in translation.

NVIDIA drivers are powerful, but they can also be a bit finicky. Sometimes, a simple update can cause compatibility issues, especially if the new driver version doesn't play nicely with the current kernel or Xorg configuration. Xorg is the display server that manages the graphical environment in Linux, and it relies heavily on the graphics drivers to function correctly. When the driver and Xorg aren't in sync, you might see weird display issues like flickering, resolution problems, or, in our case, a completely black screen.

Initial Troubleshooting Steps

Before diving into more complex solutions, I tried some basic troubleshooting steps. First, I checked all the cables to make sure they were securely connected. Sometimes, the simplest solutions are the ones we overlook! Then, I tried rebooting the system a few times, hoping it was just a temporary glitch. Unfortunately, the black screen persisted. I also checked the display settings to see if the second monitor was even being detected. Ubuntu Studio has a handy display settings panel where you can arrange your monitors and configure their resolutions. But in my case, the second monitor was recognized, just not displaying anything.

I also attempted to use xrandr in the terminal to manually configure the displays. xrandr is a command-line tool that allows you to manage monitor settings, and it's a lifesaver when the graphical interface isn't cooperating. However, even with xrandr, I couldn't get the second monitor to light up. This pointed more strongly toward a driver-related issue, since the system seemed to recognize the monitor, but the driver wasn't sending the signal correctly.

The Solution: A Multi-Step Approach

Okay, guys, here's the meat of the solution. It took a bit of trial and error, but I finally got my dual-monitor setup working again. The fix involved a few steps, including purging the existing NVIDIA drivers, installing specific versions, and tweaking the Xorg configuration. Let's break it down:

Step 1: Purging Existing NVIDIA Drivers

The first step is to completely remove the current NVIDIA drivers. This ensures that we're starting with a clean slate and avoids any conflicts with the new driver installation. To do this, I used the following command in the terminal:

sudo apt purge nvidia*

This command tells apt (the package manager) to remove any package that starts with