nvidia-current 195.36.24 fails to start X server when no display connected

Bug #608036 reported by Craig Hansen
12
This bug affects 2 people
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
nvidia-graphics-drivers (Ubuntu)
New
Undecided
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Bug Description

nvidia-current 195.36.24 has completely different and fatal behavior (compared to nvidia-173) when started with no display attached to the graphics card. For some bizarre reason Nvidia has changed the default behavior (from assuming by default a "CRT" output with 1kx768 resolution) to now refusing to start the X server. This makes a remote session using "vino" or other VNC server impossible.

The original behavior, that of starting the X server, can be obtained by adding the line:

 Option "ConnectedMonitor" "CRT"

to either the "Device" or "Screen" section of the /etc/X11/xorg.conf file.

Be warned that running nvidia-xconfig will erase this line from the configuration file if you run it, and
running "nvidia-xconfig --virtual" will not insert it.

Below is a section of release notes for a related package that has the relevant details obtained from
    http://lists.pcbsd.org/pipermail/testing/2010-March/003860.html
This was at one time available from
    http://www.nvidia.com/object/freebsd_195.36.08.html
but not any more.

    * Altered NVIDIA X driver behavior in the case that no display
      devices are connected to the GPU.Previously, in this case, the
      NVIDIA X driver would pretend a CRT was connected to the GPU. Now,
      the NVIDIA X driver will not automatically pretend that any CRTs
      are connected.If the X driver does not detect any connected
      display devices, the X server will fail to start.
      To restore the old behavior, use the ConnectedMonitor X
      configuration option; e.g.,
            Option "ConnectedMonitor" "CRT"
      Alternatively, if display is not desired, Quadro and Tesla GPU
      users can enable "NoScanout" mode, which bypasses any mode timing
      validation or use of display devices; this is configured with:
            Option "UseDisplayDevice" "none"

Tags: regression
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