Can't enable external monitor; out of memory error

[Steve Magoun]

I'm trying to get my Dell U2410 to work as an external monitor on my MacbookPro3,1. The OS detects the monitor but cannot enable it.

To reproduce:
1) Plug in an external monitor. Note that the desktop is not automatically extended to the monitor
2) Open the 'Displays' control panel. Note that the second monitor is shown in the diagram.
3) In the Displays control panel, select the second monitor from the diagram.
4) In the Displays control panel, toggle the on/off switch for the monitor and press 'Apply'

Expected results:
The desktop is extended to the external monitor

Actual results:
1) The desktop is not extended to the external monitor
2) A dialog appears with the message, "The selected configuration for displays could not be applied"
3) The following errors appear in Xorg.log:

[ 73239.976] (EE) NVIDIA(0): Failed to allocate primary buffer: out of memory.
[ 73239.977] (EE) NVIDIA(0): *** Aborting ***

This is a regression from 13.04, in which the external monitor worked flawlessly and reliably.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.10
Package: nvidia-319-updates 319.32-0ubuntu6
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.10.0-6.17-generic 3.10.3
Uname: Linux 3.10.0-6-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.12-0ubuntu3
Architecture: amd64
Date: Thu Aug 8 10:43:11 2013
InstallationDate: Installed on 2010-09-17 (1056 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 10.10 "Maverick Meerkat" - Beta amd64 (20100901.1)
MarkForUpload: True
SourcePackage: nvidia-graphics-drivers-319-updates
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to saucy on 2013-08-07 (0 days ago)

[Steve Magoun (smagoun)]

The problem described above is 100% reproducible on my system, but I found a workaround. After steps 1-4, the error dialog appears: "The selected configuration for displays could not be applied". Dismiss the dialog. In the Displays control panel, press the "Apply" button again. This results in the external monitor being enabled in extended desktop mode, which is the goal.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.