External Monitor Resolution - Driver Issue

Hello! Three weeks ago my old laptop's screen (1280x800) stopped working. I found another one (Dell 190PS - 1280x1024) and connected it through VGA cable.

Having tested other distros without success, I thought I'd give a try to Ubuntu 18.04 Mate. I did a fresh install and the resolution is 1024x768.

inxi -Fxz
System:    Host: rokal Kernel: 4.18.0-16-generic i686 bits: 32 gcc: 7.3.0
           Desktop: MATE 1.20.1 (Gtk 3.22.30-1ubuntu2)
           Distro: Ubuntu 18.04.2 LTS
Machine:   Device: laptop System: Acer product: Aspire 5680 v: V3.60 serial: N/A
           Mobo: Acer model: Grapevine serial: N/A
           BIOS: Acer v: V3.60 date: 08/12/2008
CPU:       Dual core Intel Core2 T5600 (-MCP-) 
           arch: Conroe rev.6 cache: 2048 KB
           flags: (lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 7314
           clock speeds: max: 1833 MHz 1: 1305 MHz 2: 1245 MHz
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA G73M [GeForce Go 7600] bus-ID: 01:00.0
           Display Server: x11 (X.Org 1.20.1 )
           drivers: vesa,nouveau (unloaded: modesetting,fbdev)
           Resolution: [email protected]
           OpenGL: renderer: llvmpipe (LLVM 7.0, 128 bits)
           version: 3.3 Mesa 18.2.8 Direct Render: Yes

The vesa driver is loaded instead of nouveau. The gpu-manager.log mentions that nouveau is loaded...

cat /var/log/gpu-manager.log
log_file: /var/log/gpu-manager.log
last_boot_file: /var/lib/ubuntu-drivers-common/last_gfx_boot
new_boot_file: /var/lib/ubuntu-drivers-common/last_gfx_boot
can't access /run/u-d-c-nvidia-was-loaded file
can't access /opt/amdgpu-pro/bin/amdgpu-pro-px
Looking for nvidia modules in /lib/modules/4.18.0-16-generic/updates/dkms
Looking for amdgpu modules in /lib/modules/4.18.0-16-generic/updates/dkms
Is nvidia loaded? no
Was nvidia unloaded? no
Is nvidia blacklisted? no
Is intel loaded? no
Is radeon loaded? no
Is radeon blacklisted? no
Is amdgpu loaded? no
Is amdgpu blacklisted? no
Is amdgpu versioned? no
Is amdgpu pro stack? no
Is nouveau loaded? yes
Is nouveau blacklisted? no
Is nvidia kernel module available? no
Is amdgpu kernel module available? no
Vendor/Device Id: 10de:398
BusID "PCI:1@0:0:0"
Is boot vga? yes
Error: can't access /sys/bus/pci/devices/0000:01:00.0/driver
The device is not bound to any driver.
Error : Failed to open /dev/dri
Error : Failed to open /dev/dri
Error : Failed to open /dev/dri
Error : Failed to open /dev/dri
Does it require offloading? no
last cards number = 1
Has amd? no
Has intel? no
Has nvidia? yes
How many cards? 1
Has the system changed? No
Single card detected
Nothing to do

The reason could be the following warning when updating initramfs:

sudo update-initramfs -u
[sudo] password for rok: 
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-4.18.0-16-generic
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/nvidia/gv100/sec2/sig.bin for module nouveau
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/nvidia/gv100/sec2/image.bin for module nouveau
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/nvidia/gv100/sec2/desc.bin for module nouveau
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/nvidia/gv100/nvdec/scrubber.bin for module nouveau
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/nvidia/gv100/gr/sw_method_init.bin for module nouveau
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/nvidia/gv100/gr/sw_bundle_init.bin for module nouveau
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/nvidia/gv100/gr/sw_nonctx.bin for module nouveau
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/nvidia/gv100/gr/sw_ctx.bin for module nouveau
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/nvidia/gv100/gr/gpccs_sig.bin for module nouveau
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/nvidia/gv100/gr/gpccs_data.bin for module nouveau
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/nvidia/gv100/gr/gpccs_inst.bin for module nouveau
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/nvidia/gv100/gr/gpccs_bl.bin for module nouveau
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/nvidia/gv100/gr/fecs_sig.bin for module nouveau
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/nvidia/gv100/gr/fecs_data.bin for module nouveau
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/nvidia/gv100/gr/fecs_inst.bin for module nouveau
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/nvidia/gv100/gr/fecs_bl.bin for module nouveau
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/nvidia/gv100/acr/ucode_unload.bin for module nouveau
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/nvidia/gv100/acr/ucode_load.bin for module nouveau
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/nvidia/gv100/acr/unload_bl.bin for module nouveau
W: Possible missing firmware /lib/firmware/nvidia/gv100/acr/bl.bin for module nouveau
I: The initramfs will attempt to resume from /dev/sda6
I: (UUID=c0b2a257-d50d-4f3f-b5e7-fb6f67602bd2)
I: Set the RESUME variable to override this.

The NVIDIA drivers (304.137) are not supported in Mate 18.04, so I tried a patch found in this forum, resulting in blank screen after reboot and requiring a new install.

I've also tried to change the resolution, using cvt / xrandr --newmode / xrandr --addmode commands but failed to change it.

After trying a lot of configurations and with the valuable help of a forum member, I managed to change the resolution to 1280x1024, by creating the following xorg.conf file:

Section "Monitor"
   Identifier    "Monitor0"
   HorizSync       30.0 - 81.0	   
   VertRefresh     56.0 - 76.0
 EndSection

Section "Device"
   Identifier   "Device0"
   Driver   "nouveau"   			
EndSection

Section "Screen"
   Identifier   "Screen0"
   Device   "Device0"
   Monitor   "Monitor0"
   DefaultDepth 24
EndSection

but vesa is still loaded instead of nouveau and as a result I've issues with color stripes when I open a folder or a program (Firefox) and freezing when playing videos.

How can we manage to load nouveau or modesetting driver instead of vesa? Looking forward to your valuable suggestions!

To add the Proprietary NVIDIA GPU Drivers PPA in Ubuntu based systems and update the software sources, use the following commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa

sudo apt update

Close terminal then the Driver Manager and install latest nVidia drivers

Thank you very much for your reply. I'd tried your suggestion before applying the patch mentioned in my post. I can click in the Driver Manager the NVIDIA 304.137 but when I click “Apply Changes” it gets back to the Nouveau driver option. As described here.

I'm testing now different kernels and I'll revert back.

Can you post the output of
nvidia-installer log file '/var/log/nvidia-installer.log

There is not any nvidia-installer.log.

This is a part of the Xorg.0.log

[    42.981] 
X.Org X Server 1.20.1
X Protocol Version 11, Revision 0
[    42.981] Build Operating System: Linux 4.4.0-140-generic i686 Ubuntu
[    42.981] Current Operating System: Linux rokabal 4.18.0-17-generic #18~18.04.1-Ubuntu SMP Fri Mar 15 15:26:32 UTC 2019 i686
[    42.981] Kernel command line: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-4.18.0-17-generic root=UUID=7b5870cf-bcd0-4bb8-88e0-9df324f91ab7 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=1
[    42.981] Build Date: 27 November 2018  05:27:12PM
[    42.981] xorg-server-hwe-18.04 2:1.20.1-3ubuntu2.1~18.04.1 (For technical support please see http://www.ubuntu.com/support) 
[    42.981] Current version of pixman: 0.34.0
[    42.981] 	Before reporting problems, check http://wiki.x.org
	to make sure that you have the latest version.
[    42.981] Markers: (--) probed, (**) from config file, (==) default setting,
	(++) from command line, (!!) notice, (II) informational,
	(WW) warning, (EE) error, (NI) not implemented, (??) unknown.
[    42.981] (==) Log file: "/var/log/Xorg.0.log", Time: Tue Apr  2 21:07:03 2019
[    43.001] (==) Using system config directory "/usr/share/X11/xorg.conf.d"
[    43.002] (==) No Layout section.  Using the first Screen section.
[    43.002] (==) No screen section available. Using defaults.
[    43.002] (**) |-->Screen "Default Screen Section" (0)
[    43.002] (**) |   |-->Monitor "<default monitor>"
[    43.002] (==) No monitor specified for screen "Default Screen Section".
	Using a default monitor configuration.
[    43.003] (==) Automatically adding devices
[    43.003] (==) Automatically enabling devices
[    43.003] (==) Automatically adding GPU devices
[    43.003] (==) Automatically binding GPU devices
[    43.003] (==) Max clients allowed: 256, resource mask: 0x1fffff
[    43.003] (WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/X11/cyrillic" does not exist.
[    43.003] 	Entry deleted from font path.
[    43.003] (WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/" does not exist.
[    43.003] 	Entry deleted from font path.
[    43.003] (WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/" does not exist.
[    43.003] 	Entry deleted from font path.
[    43.003] (WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi" does not exist.
[    43.003] 	Entry deleted from font path.
[    43.003] (WW) The directory "/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi" does not exist.
[    43.003] 	Entry deleted from font path.
[    43.003] (==) FontPath set to:
	/usr/share/fonts/X11/misc,
	/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1,
	built-ins
[    43.003] (==) ModulePath set to "/usr/lib/xorg/modules"
[    43.003] (II) The server relies on udev to provide the list of input devices.
	If no devices become available, reconfigure udev or disable AutoAddDevices.
[    43.003] (II) Loader magic: 0x74f020
[    43.003] (II) Module ABI versions:
[    43.003] 	X.Org ANSI C Emulation: 0.4
[    43.003] 	X.Org Video Driver: 24.0
[    43.003] 	X.Org XInput driver : 24.1
[    43.003] 	X.Org Server Extension : 10.0
[    43.004] (++) using VT number 7

[    43.004] (II) systemd-logind: logind integration requires -keeptty and -keeptty was not provided, disabling logind integration
[    43.010] (--) PCI:*(1@0:0:0) 10de:0398:1025:0090 rev 161, Mem @ 0xcd000000/16777216, 0xd0000000/268435456, 0xce000000/16777216, I/O @ 0x00006000/128, BIOS @ 0x????????/131072
[    43.010] (II) LoadModule: "glx"
[    43.010] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/extensions/libglx.so
[    43.334] (II) Module glx: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    43.334] 	compiled for 1.20.1, module version = 1.0.0
[    43.334] 	ABI class: X.Org Server Extension, version 10.0
[    43.494] (==) Matched nouveau as autoconfigured driver 0
[    43.494] (==) Matched modesetting as autoconfigured driver 1
[    43.494] (==) Matched fbdev as autoconfigured driver 2
[    43.494] (==) Matched vesa as autoconfigured driver 3
[    43.494] (==) Assigned the driver to the xf86ConfigLayout
[    43.494] (II) LoadModule: "nouveau"
[    43.494] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/nouveau_drv.so
[    43.529] (II) Module nouveau: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    43.529] 	compiled for 1.20.1, module version = 1.0.15
[    43.529] 	Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[    43.529] 	ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 24.0
[    43.529] (II) LoadModule: "modesetting"
[    43.529] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/modesetting_drv.so
[    43.529] (II) Module modesetting: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    43.529] 	compiled for 1.20.1, module version = 1.20.1
[    43.529] 	Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[    43.529] 	ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 24.0
[    43.529] (II) LoadModule: "fbdev"
[    43.530] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/fbdev_drv.so
[    43.530] (II) Module fbdev: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    43.530] 	compiled for 1.20.1, module version = 0.5.0
[    43.530] 	Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[    43.530] 	ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 24.0
[    43.530] (II) LoadModule: "vesa"
[    43.530] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/drivers/vesa_drv.so
[    43.530] (II) Module vesa: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    43.530] 	compiled for 1.20.1, module version = 2.4.0
[    43.530] 	Module class: X.Org Video Driver
[    43.530] 	ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 24.0
[    43.530] (II) NOUVEAU driver Date:   Fri Apr 21 14:41:17 2017 -0400
[    43.530] (II) NOUVEAU driver for NVIDIA chipset families :
[    43.530] 	RIVA TNT        (NV04)
[    43.530] 	RIVA TNT2       (NV05)
[    43.530] 	GeForce 256     (NV10)
[    43.530] 	GeForce 2       (NV11, NV15)
[    43.530] 	GeForce 4MX     (NV17, NV18)
[    43.530] 	GeForce 3       (NV20)
[    43.530] 	GeForce 4Ti     (NV25, NV28)
[    43.531] 	GeForce FX      (NV3x)
[    43.531] 	GeForce 6       (NV4x)
[    43.531] 	GeForce 7       (G7x)
[    43.531] 	GeForce 8       (G8x)
[    43.531] 	GeForce GTX 200 (NVA0)
[    43.531] 	GeForce GTX 400 (NVC0)
[    43.531] (II) modesetting: Driver for Modesetting Kernel Drivers: kms
[    43.531] (II) FBDEV: driver for framebuffer: fbdev
[    43.531] (II) VESA: driver for VESA chipsets: vesa
[    43.711] (EE) [drm] Failed to open DRM device for pci:0000:01:00.0: -19
[    43.711] (EE) open /dev/dri/card0: No such file or directory
[    43.711] (WW) Falling back to old probe method for modesetting
[    43.711] (EE) open /dev/dri/card0: No such file or directory
[    43.711] (II) Loading sub module "fbdevhw"
[    43.711] (II) LoadModule: "fbdevhw"
[    43.711] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libfbdevhw.so
[    43.711] (II) Module fbdevhw: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    43.711] 	compiled for 1.20.1, module version = 0.0.2
[    43.711] 	ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 24.0
[    43.711] (EE) open /dev/fb0: No such file or directory
[    43.711] (WW) Falling back to old probe method for fbdev
[    43.711] (II) Loading sub module "fbdevhw"
[    43.711] (II) LoadModule: "fbdevhw"
[    43.711] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libfbdevhw.so
[    43.711] (II) Module fbdevhw: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    43.711] 	compiled for 1.20.1, module version = 0.0.2
[    43.711] 	ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 24.0
[    43.711] (EE) open /dev/fb0: No such file or directory
[    43.711] (EE) Screen 0 deleted because of no matching config section.
[    43.711] (II) UnloadModule: "modesetting"
[    43.711] (EE) Screen 0 deleted because of no matching config section.
[    43.711] (II) UnloadModule: "fbdev"
[    43.711] (II) UnloadSubModule: "fbdevhw"
[    43.712] (II) Loading sub module "vbe"
[    43.712] (II) LoadModule: "vbe"
[    43.712] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libvbe.so
[    43.712] (II) Module vbe: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    43.712] 	compiled for 1.20.1, module version = 1.1.0
[    43.712] 	ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 24.0
[    43.712] (II) Loading sub module "int10"
[    43.712] (II) LoadModule: "int10"
[    43.712] (II) Loading /usr/lib/xorg/modules/libint10.so
[    43.712] (II) Module int10: vendor="X.Org Foundation"
[    43.712] 	compiled for 1.20.1, module version = 1.0.0
[    43.712] 	ABI class: X.Org Video Driver, version 24.0
[    43.712] (II) VESA(0): initializing int10
[    43.714] (II) VESA(0): Primary V_BIOS segment is: 0xc000
[    43.722] (II) VESA(0): VESA BIOS detected
[    43.722] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE Version 3.0
[    43.722] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE Total Mem: 131072 kB
[    43.722] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE OEM: NVIDIA
[    43.722] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE OEM Software Rev: 5.115
[    43.722] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE OEM Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
[    43.722] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE OEM Product: G73 Board - e463h10 
[    43.722] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE OEM Product Rev: Chip Rev   
[    43.752] (II) VESA(0): Creating default Display subsection in Screen section
	"Default Screen Section" for depth/fbbpp 24/32
[    43.752] (==) VESA(0): Depth 24, (--) framebuffer bpp 32
[    43.752] (==) VESA(0): RGB weight 888
[    43.752] (==) VESA(0): Default visual is TrueColor
[    43.752] (==) VESA(0): Using gamma correction (1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
[    43.752] (II) Loading sub module "ddc"
[    43.752] (II) LoadModule: "ddc"
[    43.752] (II) Module "ddc" already built-in
[    43.755] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE DDC supported
[    43.756] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE DDC Level 2
[    43.756] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE DDC transfer in appr. 1 sec.
[    43.820] (II) VESA(0): VESA VBE DDC read successfully
[    43.820] (II) VESA(0): Manufacturer: DEL  Model: 405a  Serial#: 843794252
[    43.820] (II) VESA(0): Year: 2012  Week: 5
[    43.820] (II) VESA(0): EDID Version: 1.3
[    43.820] (II) VESA(0): Analog Display Input,  Input Voltage Level: 0.700/0.300 V
[    43.820] (II) VESA(0): Sync:  Separate  Composite  SyncOnGreen
[    43.820] (II) VESA(0): Max Image Size [cm]: horiz.: 38  vert.: 30
[    43.820] (II) VESA(0): Gamma: 2.20
[    43.820] (II) VESA(0): DPMS capabilities: StandBy Suspend Off; RGB/Color Display
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): Default color space is primary color space
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): First detailed timing is preferred mode
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): redX: 0.640 redY: 0.330   greenX: 0.300 greenY: 0.600
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): blueX: 0.150 blueY: 0.060   whiteX: 0.313 whiteY: 0.329
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): Supported established timings:
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): 720x400@70Hz
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): 640x480@60Hz
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): 640x480@75Hz
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): 800x600@60Hz
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): 800x600@75Hz
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): 1024x768@60Hz
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): 1024x768@75Hz
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): 1280x1024@75Hz
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): Manufacturer's mask: 0
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): Supported standard timings:
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): #0: hsize: 1152  vsize 864  refresh: 75  vid: 20337
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): #1: hsize: 1280  vsize 1024  refresh: 60  vid: 32897
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): Supported detailed timing:
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): clock: 108.0 MHz   Image Size:  376 x 301 mm
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): h_active: 1280  h_sync: 1328  h_sync_end 1440 h_blank_end 1688 h_border: 0
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): v_active: 1024  v_sync: 1025  v_sync_end 1028 v_blanking: 1066 v_border: 0
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): Serial No: 1V88T2232KGL
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): Monitor name: DELL P190S
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): Ranges: V min: 56 V max: 76 Hz, H min: 30 H max: 81 kHz, PixClock max 145 MHz
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): EDID (in hex):
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): 	00ffffffffffff0010ac5a404c474b32
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): 	051601030e261e78eeee95a3544c9926
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): 	0f5054a54b00714f8180010101010101
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): 	010101010101302a009851002a403070
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): 	1300782d1100001e000000ff00315638
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): 	3854323233324b474c0a000000fc0044
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): 	454c4c2050313930530a2020000000fd
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): 	00384c1e510e000a2020202020200019
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): EDID vendor "DEL", prod id 16474
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): Using EDID range info for horizontal sync
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): Using EDID range info for vertical refresh
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): Printing DDC gathered Modelines:
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): Modeline "1280x1024"x0.0  108.00  1280 1328 1440 1688  1024 1025 1028 1066 +hsync +vsync (64.0 kHz eP)
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): Modeline "800x600"x0.0   40.00  800 840 968 1056  600 601 605 628 +hsync +vsync (37.9 kHz e)
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): Modeline "640x480"x0.0   31.50  640 656 720 840  480 481 484 500 -hsync -vsync (37.5 kHz e)
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): Modeline "640x480"x0.0   25.18  640 656 752 800  480 490 492 525 -hsync -vsync (31.5 kHz e)
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): Modeline "720x400"x0.0   28.32  720 738 846 900  400 412 414 449 -hsync +vsync (31.5 kHz e)
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): Modeline "1280x1024"x0.0  135.00  1280 1296 1440 1688  1024 1025 1028 1066 +hsync +vsync (80.0 kHz e)
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): Modeline "1024x768"x0.0   78.75  1024 1040 1136 1312  768 769 772 800 +hsync +vsync (60.0 kHz e)
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): Modeline "1024x768"x0.0   65.00  1024 1048 1184 1344  768 771 777 806 -hsync -vsync (48.4 kHz e)
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): Modeline "800x600"x0.0   49.50  800 816 896 1056  600 601 604 625 +hsync +vsync (46.9 kHz e)
[    43.821] (II) VESA(0): Modeline "1152x864"x0.0  108.00  1152 1216 1344 1600  864 865 868 900 +hsync +vsync (67.5 kHz e)
[    43.822] (II) VESA(0): Searching for matching VESA mode(s):
[    43.822] Mode: 100 (640x400)

If you have secure boot on disable it in the bios
then run
sudo apt purge nvidia*
sudo apt update
sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall
sudo apt full-upgrade

Thank you very much for your reply. When I run sudo-ubuntu drivers autoinstall , I get the following error:

~$ sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 nvidia-304 : Depends: make
              Depends: dkms but it is not installable
              Depends: linux-libc-dev but it is not installable
              Depends: libc6-dev but it is not installable
              Depends: xorg-video-abi-11 but it is not installable or
                       xorg-video-abi-12 but it is not installable or
                       xorg-video-abi-13 but it is not installable or
                       xorg-video-abi-14 but it is not installable or
                       xorg-video-abi-15 but it is not installable or
                       xorg-video-abi-18 but it is not installable or
                       xorg-video-abi-19 but it is not installable or
                       xorg-video-abi-20 but it is not installable or
                       xorg-video-abi-23 but it is not installable
              Depends: xserver-xorg-core
              Recommends: nvidia-settings (>= 331.20) but it is not going to be installed
              Recommends: libcuda1-304 but it is not going to be installed
              Recommends: nvidia-opencl-icd-304 but it is not going to be installed
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

Need to fix this error

sudo dpkg --configure -a

I've tried it, no success. Thank you very much again for your help.

$ sudo dpkg --configure -a
$ sudo apt-get update
Hit:1 http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu bionic InRelease
Hit:2 http://gr.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic InRelease
Hit:3 http://gr.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-updates InRelease
Hit:4 http://gr.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-backports InRelease
Hit:5 http://ppa.launchpad.net/graphics-drivers/ppa/ubuntu bionic InRelease   
Hit:6 http://ppa.launchpad.net/teejee2008/ppa/ubuntu bionic InRelease         
Hit:7 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu bionic-security InRelease
Reading package lists... Done

~$ sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree       
Reading state information... Done
Some packages could not be installed. This may mean that you have
requested an impossible situation or if you are using the unstable
distribution that some required packages have not yet been created
or been moved out of Incoming.
The following information may help to resolve the situation:

The following packages have unmet dependencies:
 nvidia-304 : Depends: make
              Depends: dkms but it is not installable
              Depends: linux-libc-dev but it is not installable
              Depends: libc6-dev but it is not installable
              Depends: xorg-video-abi-11 but it is not installable or
                       xorg-video-abi-12 but it is not installable or
                       xorg-video-abi-13 but it is not installable or
                       xorg-video-abi-14 but it is not installable or
                       xorg-video-abi-15 but it is not installable or
                       xorg-video-abi-18 but it is not installable or
                       xorg-video-abi-19 but it is not installable or
                       xorg-video-abi-20 but it is not installable or
                       xorg-video-abi-23 but it is not installable
              Depends: xserver-xorg-core
              Recommends: nvidia-settings (>= 331.20) but it is not going to be installed
              Recommends: libcuda1-304 but it is not going to be installed
              Recommends: nvidia-opencl-icd-304 but it is not going to be installed
E: Unable to correct problems, you have held broken packages.

Those drivers are not compatible with 18.04 but there seems to be a work around

http://www.hexaid.com/blog/2018/09/12/how-to-install-nvidia-legacy-304-driver-in-ubuntu-18-04/

hope this helps