Ubuntu 14.04 forgets Display Settings from monitors.xml / xorg.conf (Dual-Screen Setup)

[The Bright Side]

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Install Ubuntu Gnome14.04 on a freshly formatted PC with 2 screens
2. Using "Additional Drivers", install latest Nvidia driver (331)
3. Modify screen settings (e.g. change position of 2 screens as depicted in attached Screens_good.gif)
4. Turn secondary screen off and back on - OR - reboot
5. Observe that screen settings have been reverted

Actual Results:
Ubuntu forgets the screen settings made in either NVidia-settings or Ubuntu's own "Displays" tool. The screen settings are reverted to the default (screen 2 to the right of screen 1) after reboot or when turning the second screen off and back on.

Expected Results:
Ubuntu should apply the user's defined screen settings when the second screen is turned on.

Notes:
The test PC has two devices connected to a GeForce GTX 680 (Gigabyte GV-N680OC-2GD) card:
1. Samsung SyncMaster screen via DVI
2. Yamaha RX-V 661 5.1 surround receiver via HDMI (recognized by Ubuntu as a second screen)
Encountered in Ubuntu Gnome 14.04, 64 bit
Encountered with NVidia drivers 331, 331 update and 304 (legacy)

Reading Xorg.0.log, one can see that the user's desired settings are actually applied more than once (exerpts):

[ 5.252] (II) NVIDIA(0): Validated MetaModes:
[ 5.252] (II) NVIDIA(0): "DVI-I-0:1920x1200_60+0+1080,HDMI-0:1920x1080_60i+1920+0"
[ 5.252] (II) NVIDIA(0): Virtual screen size determined to be 1920 x 2280
[ 5.275] (--) NVIDIA(0): DPI set to (93, 95); computed from "UseEdidDpi" X config
[ 5.275] (--) NVIDIA(0): option
[ 5.275] (--) Depth 24 pixmap format is 32 bpp
[ 5.275] (II) NVIDIA: Using 3072.00 MB of virtual memory for indirect memory
[ 5.275] (II) NVIDIA: access.
[ 5.281] (II) NVIDIA(0): Setting mode "DVI-I-0:1920x1200_60+0+1080,HDMI-0:1920x1080_60i+1920+0"

At the very end, an unknown process takes over and reverts the previous desired settings to the undesired default (line 3):

[ 7.196] (II) XKB: reuse xkmfile /var/lib/xkb/server-A237F4D5ECC0A2998042D3B58D9A7CE5E820BA0E.xkm
[ 7.208] (II) NVIDIA(0): Setting mode "NULL"
[ 7.270] (II) NVIDIA(0): Setting mode "DVI-I-0: nvidia-auto-select @1920x1200 +0+0 {ViewPortIn=1920x1200, ViewPortOut=1920x1200+0+0}"
[ 7.469] (II) XKB: reuse xkmfile /var/lib/xkb/server-A237F4D5ECC0A2998042D3B58D9A7CE5E820BA0E.xkm
[ 7.474] (II) XKB: reuse xkmfile /var/lib/xkb/server-A237F4D5ECC0A2998042D3B58D9A7CE5E820BA0E.xkm
[ 7.496] (II) NVIDIA(GPU-0): Display (Samsung SyncMaster (CRT-0)) does not support NVIDIA
[ 7.496] (II) NVIDIA(GPU-0): 3D Vision stereo.
[ 41.097] (II) XKB: reuse xkmfile /var/lib/xkb/server-A237F4D5ECC0A2998042D3B58D9A7CE5E820BA0E.xkm
[ 511.720] (II) NVIDIA(GPU-0): Display (Samsung SyncMaster (CRT-0)) does not support NVIDIA

Attachments: screenshots of desired screen settings (Screens_good.gif) and default screen settings (Screens.gif)
This issue occurs regardless of whether the user makes the desired settings in Ubuntu's "Display" tool or NVidia-Settings.
This issue persists even after specifically saving the desired settings to xorg.conf using NVidia-Settings.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.04
Package: xorg 1:7.7+1ubuntu8
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.13.0-24.46-generic 3.13.9
Uname: Linux 3.13.0-24-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
.proc.driver.nvidia.gpus.0: Error: [Errno 21] Is a directory: '/proc/driver/nvidia/gpus/0'
.proc.driver.nvidia.registry: Binary: ""
.proc.driver.nvidia.version:
 NVRM version: NVIDIA UNIX x86_64 Kernel Module 331.38 Wed Jan 8 19:32:30 PST 2014
 GCC version: gcc version 4.8.2 (Ubuntu 4.8.2-19ubuntu1)
ApportVersion: 2.14.1-0ubuntu3
Architecture: amd64
CompizPlugins: No value set for `/apps/compiz-1/general/screen0/options/active_plugins'
CompositorRunning: None
CurrentDesktop: GNOME
Date: Tue Apr 22 18:14:34 2014
DistUpgraded: Fresh install
DistroCodename: trusty
DistroVariant: ubuntu
DkmsStatus:
 bbswitch, 0.7, 3.13.0-24-generic, x86_64: installed
 nvidia-331-updates, 331.38, 3.13.0-24-generic, x86_64: installed
ExtraDebuggingInterest: Yes
GraphicsCard:
 NVIDIA Corporation GK104 [GeForce GTX 680] [10de:1180] (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
   Subsystem: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd Device [1458:353c]
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-04-20 (2 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu-GNOME 14.04 LTS "Trusty Tahr" - Release amd64 (20140416.2)
MachineType: To Be Filled By O.E.M. To Be Filled By O.E.M.
ProcEnviron:
 TERM=xterm
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.13.0-24-generic root=UUID=c651e8be-8145-4f89-9f68-919286e646bb ro quiet splash
SourcePackage: xorg
Symptom: display
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 05/20/2010
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 080015
dmi.board.name: JW-A870T-UC3
dmi.board.vendor: JW Technology
dmi.board.version: V1.0
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.chassis.version: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr080015:bd05/20/2010:svnToBeFilledByO.E.M.:pnToBeFilledByO.E.M.:pvrToBeFilledByO.E.M.:rvnJWTechnology:rnJW-A870T-UC3:rvrV1.0:cvnToBeFilledByO.E.M.:ct3:cvrToBeFilledByO.E.M.:
dmi.product.name: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.product.version: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.sys.vendor: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
version.compiz: compiz N/A
version.ia32-libs: ia32-libs N/A
version.libdrm2: libdrm2 2.4.52-1
version.libgl1-mesa-dri: libgl1-mesa-dri 10.1.0-4ubuntu5
version.libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental: libgl1-mesa-dri-experimental N/A
version.libgl1-mesa-glx: libgl1-mesa-glx 10.1.0-4ubuntu5
version.nvidia-graphics-drivers: nvidia-graphics-drivers N/A
version.xserver-xorg-core: xserver-xorg-core 2:1.15.1-0ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-input-evdev: xserver-xorg-input-evdev 1:2.8.2-1ubuntu2
version.xserver-xorg-video-ati: xserver-xorg-video-ati 1:7.3.0-1ubuntu3
version.xserver-xorg-video-intel: xserver-xorg-video-intel 2:2.99.910-0ubuntu1
version.xserver-xorg-video-nouveau: xserver-xorg-video-nouveau 1:1.0.10-1ubuntu2
xserver.bootTime: Tue Apr 22 17:30:17 2014
xserver.configfile: default
xserver.errors: open /dev/fb0: No such file or directory
xserver.logfile: /var/log/Xorg.0.log
xserver.outputs:

xserver.version: 2:1.15.1-0ubuntu2

[Kenneth Long (kelargo1000)]

I think I have this bug, also. I have two displays attached to my notebook. a Dual display works .. but the config does not save after reboots. I have nvidia driver installed and Dual display persisted between boots before Trusty.
I'm using NVIDIA-Linux-x86_64-331.67.run driver. blacklisted nouveau. not using synaptic for the driver at this moment.

Let me know what other info to provide.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[PholloX (marcosgallo)]

I'm affected by this bug as well. I have two identical monitors attached to a GT610 DVI and VGA ports. Dual display works (configured thru xorg.conf). I'm using nvidia 331.38 from nvidia-331-updates driver. Randomly, an unknown process "resets" my monitor config (third line):
Xorg.0.log:
[ 3043.682] (II) NVIDIA(GPU-0): Display (LG Electronics 22EA53 (DFP-0)) does not support
[ 3043.682] (II) NVIDIA(GPU-0): NVIDIA 3D Vision stereo.
[ 3114.626] (II) NVIDIA(0): Setting mode "NULL"
[ 3114.790] (II) NVIDIA(0): Setting mode "VGA-0: nvidia-auto-select @1920x1080 +0+0 {ViewPortIn=1920x1080, ViewPortOut=1920x1080+0+0}"

Apparently its related to this service 'org.freedesktop.nm_dispatcher':
May 16 11:03:05 xxxxxxxxx dbus[593]: [system] Activating service name='org.freedesktop.nm_dispatcher' (using servicehelper)
May 16 11:03:05 xxxxxxxxx dbus[593]: [system] Successfully activated service 'org.freedesktop.nm_dispatcher'

A simple "xrandr -q" restores my settings but it's very annoying...

[PholloX (marcosgallo)]

It seems the guilty process is "gnome-settings-daemon" see this:
http://askubuntu.com/questions/450767/multi-display-issue-with-ubuntu-gnome-14-04
It's been working for me so far.

[Fredrik Gustavsson (fgustavsson)]

I run Ubuntu 14.04 with Unity and have the exact same problem. Saved settings disapere after reboot, seems like the xorg.conf file gets overwirtten.

[Alwin Mark (a-karabiowski)]

For me the best solution, was to delete all output information except of the one i was setting in the ~/.config/monitors.xml

[Alwin Mark (a-karabiowski)]

Forget it, I had to do both!

so editing monitors.xml and "pkill -9 -f gnome-settings-daemon" at startup

[Timo Stoll (tibo-fb)]

Another workaround:

Make the necessary changes to the layout with ARandR, save layout as yadayada.sh (or whatever name you prefer), define yadayada.sh as a startup application (after making it executable).

You will have messy screen layout until entering the password (with my layout, I have to do this without seeing anything unless I turn the TV on), but after that it should look exactly the way you want it to. At least that's what I got.

I don't have a solution yet how to start the script before the login screen, but this is probably no rocket science either.

I came across this workaround after I'd been facing that nasty issue with a GeForce card, and it persisted after I used an ATI instead (at first I'd thought it might be related to the NVidia driver in some way).

By the way, I don't have xorg.conf and monitors.xml anymore. I didn't have monitors.xml with GeForce either, but I did have xorg.conf before. Doesn't matter to me now.