18.04 NVIDIA MX230 graphics Can't change resolution on ASUS MX27A monitor

Question

I bought notebook DELL Inspirion 5593 with Intel HD Graphics and NVIDIA MX230.

I have Ubuntu Desktop 18.04 additional information about OS and Windows 10 as well (dual boot).

When I connect my external monitor ASUS MX27A with max resolution 2560x1440 in Ubuntu setting for Devices/Monitor I have only 1920x1080 max resolution. I do get 2560x1440 @ 60 Hz in Windows.

I tried manually add new mode for resolution with xrandr:

cvt 2560 1440

"2560x1440_60.00"  312.25  2560 2752 3024 3488  1440 1443 1448 1493 -hsync +vsync

xrandr --newmode "2560x1440_60.00"  312.25  2560 2752 3024 3488  1440 1443 1448 1493 -hsync +vsync
xrandr --addmode HDMI-1 2560x1440_60.00
xrandr --output HDMI-1 --mode 2560x1440_60.00

and I got this failure:

xrandr: Configure crtc 1 failed

but if I use smaller HZ value - 33 instead of 60 - it's working. But you know, 33 HZ is a hell, it's not possible for my eyes.

In Asus MX27A monitor manual there is a resolution table:

According to this table I should be able to use this resolution with 60Hz - 2560x1440@60Hz

I've also checked HDMI port version of my notebook, it's 1.4b (new enough).

William He · Answer

I had pretty much the exact same issue and this answer worked for me.
Basically the problem seems to be that cvt is outputting the incorrect numbers, so you actually need to run
edid-decode /sys/class/drm/card0-HDMI-A-1/edid

(it might prompt you to install edid-decode first). Doing that should give you a correct modeline, namely by noting the clock (in MHz), then the two sets of four numbers, and the hsync and vsync. Now you can run your xrandr commands with these new numbers and it should work. You can also do some quick calculations to confirm that the numbers are for the refresh rate you want (see the linked answer for more details).

K7AAY · Answer

Use the current version, 440.82, of the NVIDIA drivers to solve this problem. https://nvidia.com/en-us/drivers/results/159360

18.04 NVIDIA MX230 graphics Can't change resolution on ASUS MX27A monitor

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