[Nouveau] Problem with external monitor on laptop

[don fisher]

I am running opensuse Leap 15 on an Alienware laptop. When I plug a 
monitor into the HDMI socket xrandr shows that is disconnected. How can 
I get the system to send an event or something so it will look and see 
that a monitor is there. If I cycle power on the computer with the 
monitor connected both monitors come up connected. The command xrandr 
--auto does not bring the disconnected monitor to life. The output of 
xrandr on the system with both monitors is:

  Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1920 x 1080, maximum 16384 x 16384
LVDS-1 connected 1920x1080+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y 
axis) 409mm x 230mm
    1920x1080     60.00*+
    1680x1050     59.95
    1400x1050     59.98
    1280x1024     59.89
    1280x960      59.94
    1152x864      59.96
    1024x768      59.92
    800x600       59.86
    640x480       59.38
    720x400       59.55
    640x400       59.95
    640x350       59.77
DP-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI-2 connected 1920x1080+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y 
axis) 698mm x 392mm
    1920x1080     60.00*+  50.00    59.94
    1680x1050     59.88
    1600x900      60.00
    1280x1024     75.02    60.02
    1440x900      59.90
    1280x800      59.91
    1152x864      75.00
    1280x720      60.00    50.00    59.94
    1024x768      75.03    70.07    60.00
    832x624       74.55
    800x600       72.19    75.00    60.32    56.25
    720x576       50.00
    720x480       60.00    59.94
    640x480       75.00    72.81    66.67    60.00    59.94
    720x400       70.08

Any input or guidance will be appreciated.

Don