screens and graphics app crashes with no monitor attaches

[electricbrad]

Binary package hint: displayconfig-gtk

using system remotely via remote desktop, no monitor plugged directly to pc.
system defaulting to widescreen 1280x768, which is not listed in xorg.conf
attempted editing xorg.conf, dpkg-reconfigure, preferences->screen resolution
xorg display settings don't seem to affect resolution, even modeline
dpkg only setup keyboard and mouse, no monitor options
screen resolution app shows blank resolution options, no numbers

this setup worked fine in 7.10, screens and graphics could be set to generic monitor with 1024x768
upgraded to 8.04 and can't get 1024x768 back

as listed in summary, screens and graphics that i used in 7.10 crashes without ever opening a window
I am looking for any means to change resolution while no monitor is connected

ProblemType: Crash
Architecture: i386
Date: Sun May 4 18:47:47 2008
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 8.04
ExecutablePath: /usr/bin/displayconfig-gtk
InterpreterPath: /usr/bin/python2.5
Package: displayconfig-gtk 0.3.10
PackageArchitecture: all
ProcCmdline: /usr/bin/python /usr/bin/displayconfig-gtk
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=/usr/local/sbin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/X11R6/bin
 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
PythonArgs: ['/usr/bin/displayconfig-gtk']
SourcePackage: displayconfig-gtk
Title: displayconfig-gtk crashed with IndexError in getSize()
Uname: Linux 2.6.24-16-generic i686
UserGroups: