Prompts to change monitors displays comes every 5 seconds

[SteveM2020]

Hello.

I'm new to this forum. Don't know what info you need to help me address this problem, but the 5 second popups on the laptop with Linux-lite 5.8 can be quite distracting.

-Computer-
Processor : AMD Phenom™ II P840 Triple-Core Processor
Memory : 3763MB (597MB used)
Machine Type : Notebook
Operating System : Linux Lite 5.8
User Name : user (Admin)
Date/Time : Thu 28 Apr 2022 11:15:42 AM
-Display-
Resolution : 1366x768 pixels
OpenGL Renderer : AMD RS880 (DRM 2.50.0 / 5.4.0-109-generic, LLVM 12.0.0)
X11 Vendor : The X.Org Foundation
-Audio Devices-
Audio Adapter : HDA-Intel - HDA ATI SB
Audio Adapter : HDA-Intel - HDA ATI HDMI
-Input Devices-
Power Button
Lid Switch
Power Button
AT Translated Set 2 keyboard
Video Bus
Video Bus
ARESON Wireless Mouse
ARESON Wireless Mouse
SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad
ST LIS3LV02DL Accelerometer
HP WMI hotkeys
2SF022: HP Webcam
HDA ATI HDMI HDMI/DP,pcm:3
HDA ATI SB Mic
HDA ATI SB Front Headphone
-Printers (CUPS)-
HP_DeskJet_2600_series_969B2C_
-SCSI Disks-
ATA ST9500420AS
hp DVDRAM GT30L
Generic- Multi-Card

Here is a picture of the problem: https://i.imgur.com/o5GjWhL.jpg

It seems if one of these isn't popping up, the other one is. I timed them down to 5 seconds before another one pops up.

I found I can stop the bigger one from popping up by hooking an hdmi cable to the hdmi port, and opening the terminal and pasting:
xrandr --auto && xrandr --output HDMI-1-0 --off

The smaller one... I can stop it if I leave the hdmi cable plugged in, and leave it in the middle of the monitor screen. I can't minimize it, or else it will start popping up every 5 seconds again. When I open the terminal and type:

xrandr --current

I get

Welcome to Linux Lite 5.8 user

Wednesday 27 April 2022, 18:52:49
Memory Usage: 1049/3675MB (28.54%)
Disk Usage: 9/457GB (3%)
Support - https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/ (Right click, Open Link)

 user  ~  xrandr --current
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1366 x 768, maximum 8192 x 8192
VGA-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
LVDS connected primary 1366x768+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 344mm x 193mm
  1366x768      60.04*+
  1280x720      59.97 
  1152x768      59.95 
  1024x768      59.95 
  800x600      59.96 
  848x480      59.94 
  720x480      59.94 
  640x480      59.94 
LVDS-1-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI-1-0 connected 1366x768+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 698mm x 392mm
  1366x768      59.79*+
  1920x1080    60.00    59.94    30.00    24.00    29.97    23.98 
  1920x1080i    60.00    59.94 
  1680x1050    59.88 
  1280x1024    60.02 
  1440x900      59.90 
  1280x960      60.00 
  1280x800      74.93    59.91 
  1280x768      59.99 
  1280x720      60.00    59.94 
  1024x768      60.00 
  1440x480i    59.94 
  800x600      60.32    56.25 
  720x480      60.00    59.94 
  720x480i      60.00    59.94 
  640x480      60.00    59.94 
  720x400      70.08 
VGA-1-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
 user  ~  

I can't remember if this means the hdmi cable is plugged in or not. I'm getting confused.

I guess one solution would be to change the OS to something else, but this one seems to be the fastest one I've seen on this old laptop. I think I would like to keep it, if I can

[stevef]

Recent threads in LinuxMint forums for this machine and very similar problem.

Some earlier (2012) posts in xfce forum regarding the HP Pavilion DV6 dual monitor settings pop up problems with various suggested hacks which I assume you've also found.  These posts suggest this issue has been around a while but not addressed - maybe an edge case with the hardware/driver.  Reads like the hardware repeatedly reports a new monitor being plugged in which triggers the pop up.

It doesn't appear to be a Linux Lite specific issue.

[stevef]

Meant to say - I assume you've disabled the application shortcuts under keyboard settings just in case.

[SteveM2020]

Meant to say - I assume you've disabled the application shortcuts under keyboard settings just in case.

I wouldn't have guessed that removing application shortcuts would solve the issue. Now that I've deleted them, the problem seems to have disappeared. Thank you. Will this affect any of the other apps and programs?

[stevef]

You're welcome.  I hope it has fixed it for you.

Now that I've deleted them, the problem seems to have disappeared.

Which shortcuts did you remove ?

From what I read, removing the Display shortcut is the hack that seems to alleviate the problem (in some cases).

Command                                  Shortcut
xfce4-display-settings --minimal  Display

So you may be able to retain the 'Super P' shortcut for display settings if you use it.

Will this affect any of the other apps and programs?

Shouldn't do, but then again, having the short cut shouldn't trigger pop ups.