How can I change the screen resolution in Linux Mint?

My laptop screen broke, so I'm using my TV as a screen. It's working fine on windows, but the desktop is zoomed in way too much on my Linux Mint partition. I can't see the panel to access it the normal way. Is there a shortcut key to open a terminal, then a command to open the window to adjust the screen settings? Also, I can right click, but I wasn't able to find my way from any option available..

It randomly adjusted and worked once, but it hasn't done that since. 

Menu > System Settings > Hardware > Display

Select resolution, click Apply

(that's presuming you're using Mint Cinnamon)

Edited by Gary R, 16 January 2019 - 10:54 AM.

Perhaps this may help and it should be the same for any version of Linux Mint.

Always more than one way to do a thing in Linux, and Toolman's way cuts out 2 clicks. 

Perhaps I wasn't clear enough. I cannot see the panel, so I cannot go to the menu to go to system settings. That's why I am asking if there's a way to access it via terminal. Yes, I have cinnamon.

Edited by AZ546, 16 January 2019 - 11:36 AM.

@ AZ546:-

As Gary says, there's always more than one way to do anything in Linux. This may work (AFAIK, it'll work in any distro):-

Hold the ALT key down, then click (and hold) your left mouse key. You should get a '4-way' arrow, similar to this:-

Keeping the ALT key & left-mouse pressed down, you should now be able to move the screen image around to see the bit you want. However, I don't know whether this'll work, using a TV as a monitor.....

Worth a try.

Mike.

OK, not tried this myself, but hopefully it will work ....

Hit Ctrl+Alt+T to open a terminal.

If you know what resolution your screen will support (eg, 1440 x 900) you can use ...

xrandr -s 1440x900

Replacing 1440x900 with whatever resolution you need. (Note ... space between xrandr and -s ... and space between -s and 1440x900)

Please note ...  I believe this will only work for the current session, however once you've got video back you can make a more permanent change using the GUI method described earlier.

Please note ... inputting the wrong resolution can sometimes damage the monitor/screen.

See ... http://www.perpetualpc.net/srtd_resolution.html

Edited by Gary R, 16 January 2019 - 12:24 PM.

Edited by AZ546, 16 January 2019 - 04:08 PM.

Hm. Sounds to me like a 'dodgy' install.....possibly precipitated by a 'duff' download. It CAN happen, even with md5 checksums and all that malarkey. Still not an absolute guarantee of a perfect download.

I've seen this happen SO many times over the last few years. You download, install, it seems to be going well, then things start to misbehave...then it all goes tits-up. So you wash, rinse & repeat...

'Breaking' a Linux install, the first few times out of the blocks, it's, well.....it's almost a 'rite of passage'. Every single one of us has been there; we've ALL done it. The good thing about Linux is that it's a lot quicker & easier to re-install than Windoze ever will be.....I can honestly say that the number of folks who've transitioned from Windows to Linux, worldwide, and have been totally successful with their very first attempt, can probably be counted on the fingers of your two hands. It's so rare that, for all intents & purposes, it simply doesn't happen.....

Whatever you do, don't get 'hung up' about failures in the early days. When I started, nearly 5 years ago, at EOL for XP, I broke my Ubuntu install so many times in the first few weeks it was comical..!    Learn from your mistakes; wipe, re-install - have a laugh - dive back in, and have another go. Doesn't take long to get the hang of it. And remember this; it doesn't matter how 'expert' you may think you are with Windows; everyone, without fail, when they first come to Linux, is a beginner. We all have to start from scratch, and it's actually harder for a 'power-user' to learn to use Linux than it is for a computer newbie, who doesn't know the first thing about any of it!

You may find this an interesting read:-

http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

Mike.

Edited by Mike_Walsh, 16 January 2019 - 05:47 PM.

Do you see this or do you have no desktop display.

.

Exactly what version of Linux Mint are you using  Linux Mint 18.x  or  Linux Mint 19.x .

Cinnamon is only the user interface and doesn't say what version of  Linux Mint  you have installed.

Edited by The-Toolman, 16 January 2019 - 06:02 PM.

Hm. Sounds to me like a 'dodgy' install.....possibly precipitated by a 'duff' download. It CAN happen, even with md5 checksums and all that malarkey. Still not an absolute guarantee of a perfect download.

 

I've seen this happen SO many times over the last few years. You download, install, it seems to be going well, then things start to misbehave...then it all goes tits-up. So you wash, rinse & repeat...

 

'Breaking' a Linux install, the first few times out of the blocks, it's, well.....it's almost a 'rite of passage'. Every single one of us has been there; we've ALL done it. The good thing about Linux is that it's a lot quicker & easier to re-install than Windoze ever will be.....I can honestly say that the number of folks who've transitioned from Windows to Linux, worldwide, and have been totally successful with their very first attempt, can probably be counted on the fingers of your two hands. It's so rare that, for all intents & purposes, it simply doesn't happen.....

 

Whatever you do, don't get 'hung up' about failures in the early days. When I started, nearly 5 years ago, at EOL for XP, I broke my Ubuntu install so many times in the first few weeks it was comical..!    Learn from your mistakes; wipe, re-install - have a laugh - dive back in, and have another go. Doesn't take long to get the hang of it. And remember this; it doesn't matter how 'expert' you may think you are with Windows; everyone, without fail, when they first come to Linux, is a beginner. We all have to start from scratch, and it's actually harder for a 'power-user' to learn to use Linux than it is for a computer newbie, who doesn't know the first thing about any of it!

 

You may find this an interesting read:-

 

http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

 

 

Mike.

 

-

 

Well, I've actually been using Linux for about 13 years and have had Mint installed on a few different machines.. This isn't the first time I've had issues with using a TV as a monitor, but it usually just doesn't work at all, or it's not the right resolution, but still works. I've been meaning to reinstall it anyway, just because the version I have is out of date. Other than the screen issue, everything is working fine.

 

 

-

 

 

 

Do you see this or do you have no desktop display.

 

 

.

 

 

Exactly what version of Linux Mint are you using  Linux Mint 18.x  or  Linux Mint 19.x .

 

Cinnamon is only the user interface and doesn't say what version of  Linux Mint  you have installed.

 

-

 

I'm using version 18.2.
And no, I don't see the desktop as pictured. All I see is my background. No desktop icons or panel on the bottom. The panel/ menu I added seems normal size as well as firefox. 

 

Edited by AZ546, 16 January 2019 - 07:26 PM.

So, this is what happened when I took a screenshot: https://i.ibb.co/yFN7dJ4/Screenshot-from-2019-01-16-16-04-32.png

That's one screenshot, unedited. It's like there's two screens? The only one I see is the one on the right.

Edited by AZ546, 16 January 2019 - 07:21 PM.

I would go back to the default desktop and if it is ok than stick with it or find another desktop image.

Edited by The-Toolman, 16 January 2019 - 07:43 PM.

I figured it out, finally. I had to turn off my laptop screen and make the TV primary. It's the proper resolution and is working now.
It was treating the TV as a secondary screen and the defaults are to remove the desktop icons and panel.

Edited by AZ546, 16 January 2019 - 08:02 PM.

Cool glad you got it solved and all is working well.