Non-native screen resolutions unavailable when using nVidia proprietary

[lcampagn]

Using the nVidia proprietary display driver, I am unable to change my screen resolution; only the native resolution is available:

$ xrandr
Screen 0: minimum 8 x 8, current 1920 x 1200, maximum 8192 x 8192
VGA-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
TV-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
LVDS-0 connected 1920x1200+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y axis) 331mm x 207mm
   1920x1200 60.0*+
DVI-I-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI-0 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)

The nouveau driver does not have this problem.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 12.10
Package: nvidia-current 304.51.really.304.43-0ubuntu1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.5.0-22.34-generic 3.5.7.2
Uname: Linux 3.5.0-22-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.6.1-0ubuntu9
Architecture: amd64
Date: Fri Jan 25 14:38:53 2013
InstallationDate: Installed on 2012-12-15 (41 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Kubuntu 12.10 "Quantal Quetzal" - Release amd64 (20121017.1)
MarkForUpload: True
SourcePackage: nvidia-graphics-drivers
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
modified.conffile..etc.modprobe.d.nvidia.current.hybrid.conf: [deleted]

[lcampagn (luke-campagnola)]

More information here: https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topic/526439/linux/black-screen-after-resollution-change/
This would appear to be an nVidia bug. Question is, can we find a workaround?

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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

[Horst Schirmeier (horst)]

I'm seeing the same issue (NVIDIA Corporation G98M [Quadro NVS 160M]), no matter which of the NVIDIA driver versions shipped with Ubuntu 12.10 I install. This *did* work perfectly with Ubuntu 12.04, though ...

[lcampagn (luke-campagnola)]

Here's a better thread discussing the problem:
https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topic/525287/linux/non-native-resolutions-not-available-in-3xx-drivers-on-8700m-gt/

It appears that nVidia is aware of and has no intention to correct the issue, so a workaround from ubuntu or the xorg folks may be the only solution..

I would just recommend the nouveau driver if it weren't for the overheating issues (#858265).

[Jérémie (jitsumi)]

This bug affect my two laptops

[Carlo Bonamico (carlo-bonamico)]

I managed to solve the same issue by manually installing the Nvidia version 319.49 drivers downloaded from http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

following the procedure described in ["Method 4: Manual install from the official site"][1]
Note that I have enabled the DKMS option during install, and answered yes to the question on whether to overwrite existing xorg.conf files.

After installing, I rebooted the laptop and in nvidia-settings all resolutions were visible again.

  [1]: http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/ubuntu-ringtail-nvidia.html

So it might well worth trying to package this 319.49 version as a debian/ubuntu package...