Justin wrote:

> On 2004-08-28, Al C. <no.spam.acanton@adams-blake.no.spam.com> wrote:
>> I've asked this first in comp.sys.linux.portable and did not get a
>> solution. So I asked in comp.sys.laptops and I wanted to see if the answer
>> proposed made any sense to those of you with more Linux experience than I.
>> It's not a big deal, but it is a PITA for my wife (who can also be a
>> PITA... but that's a different story!). You guys are my last resort because
>> if you don't know, ain't no one who knows... and we'll just live with it.
>> (She is making a good recovery and while she has much more 'on foot'
>> mobility, she is still 'on butt' a lot of the day and her computer card
>> games help keep her spirits up. Another 3 weeks (we pray) she'll be fully
>> mobile and kickin' my ass! Been a long summer.)
>>
>> Is there such a thing as a default linux kenel 10 minute screen saver?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Al
>>
>>
>> ++++++++++++
>> Question
>> ++++++++++++
>> I put Slackware 9.1 with KDE 3.1 on wife's new Toshiba A45 laptop. Works
>> fine except for one annoying thing. When she is playing a game where there
>> is no keyboard interaction (like Solitare), every 10-15 minutes the screen
>> goes black. You hit any key and it comes back up and all is OK. I think it
>> has something to do with the fact that the machine has not 'heard' a
>> keystroke in a while.
>>
>> I do NOT have APM or ACPI loaded, nor does KDE have any of the power saving
>> 'features' enabled. Also, there is no screen-saver set.
>>
>> I tried xset -dpms but that did not work.
>>
>> Anyone have any idea of what the hardware is doing? I don't think it is a
>> Linux thing... but I could be wrong.
>>
>>
>>====================
>> Answer
>>====================
>>
>>
>> This looks like the default Linux kernel 10 minute terminal
>> screensaver.***All*it*does*is*blank*the*video*but* the*lamp*stays
>> on.***Check*the*Slackware*docs*and**the*manual*pag es*for:
>> setterm -blank 0
>> xset*s*noblank
>> xset*s*off
>>
>> You may have to put one**in*a*startup*script.
>
> Have you checked your BIOS? As another poster said, some BIOSes have
> blanking/power saving options, so that could be the cause of your problem.

I think you are right. In the BIOS is battery setting in which you can choose
"full power" "low power" or "user setting" each of these bring up a screen
that has a blanking timeout and other choices. I was going to change it, but
I know from past experience that messing with the BIOS can turn your machine
into a paperweight if you don't know what you are doing!! After I do a bit
more research on Google and the Toshiba groups I'll give it a try.

There is a discussion about this on comp.sys.laptops where Peter Breuer has
gotten involved. Some of you might know that name as he has a reputation on
several NGs for being a 'world class' Linux expert.... and also sort of a
'character.' I'm surprised he's not a Slack user as he personifies the
concept of "don't give the guy the fish, teach him how to fish" which is sort
of the unwritten charter around here. He thinks it might be an X thing having
to do with "SendCoreEvents" and has led me to learn more about X...but I have
that in the xconfig file.

I like these kinds of 'problems' because they are not an emergency. The wife's
computer runs fine.... just a little glitch... one of the tradeoffs perhaps
of using hardware neutral Linux as opposed to an OS that was written
expressly for the hardware. And we know that laptops often use hardware that
is not 100% compatible with Linux (except IBM Thinkpads, that is.) Sooner or
later this will get solved. Not a big deal... but thanks everyone for the
ideas and suggestions.

Al C.

Al C. wrote:

> There is battery BIOS setting that relates to power and display blanking,
> but I have not messed with it. I guess that is the next step unless
> someone has a better suggestion.
>
First, find out if it also blanks while on the AC adapter. If so, then
just run it from the adapter. And yes, it's probably a battery power save.
Write down the settings in that section, and start poking around, gently.
(i.e., change one thing at a time, see what happens, change it back, verify
that you're back to usual, if change 1 didn't fix it, change something
else, check, and so on.)

Everything is certainly pointing at this as the prime suspect. :-)

> What mystifies me is that the machine only cares about keyboard input as
> the factor to determine whether or not it is idle, and not the mouse. Very
> strange.
>
> Thanks anyway,
>
Good Luck!
Rich