My hardware: Dell xps L502X laptop with integrated intel video card and an GeForce GT 540M (HDMI). My config: Ubuntu 12.04 + nidia drivers 295.53
I didn't manage to use my external display neither in Ubuntu 11.10 with older nvidia drivers.
The problem is that when I want to open nvidia-setings I get
You do not appear to be using the NVIDIA X driver. Please edit your X configuration file (just run `nvidia-xconfig` as root), and restart the X server.
If I run nvidia-xconfig an xorg.conf file is generated and after reboot I get an 640:480 resolution on my laptop and nvidia-setings say the same thing.
Is there a way to use an external display? I don't care If I use nvidia, nuveau or other drivers.