Problem with xset dpms force off

[adgmonk]

How about this:

 xset s blank ; xset s 1 ; sleep 3 ; xset s 0

.

(Ubuntu 10.10 / Intel GMA graphics / i915 driver.)

[snoxu]

How about this:

 xset s blank ; xset s 1 ; sleep 3 ; xset s 0

.

(Ubuntu 10.10 / Intel GMA graphics / i915 driver.)

This seems to work. What does it actully do?

And how can I put this in Gnome's keyboard shortcut command option?

[GSF1200S]

This seems to work. What does it actully do?

And how can I put this in Gnome's keyboard shortcut command option?

Im not familiar with Gnome, but can you point its keyboard shortcuts to your own script? If so, just create a script:

#!/bin/sh
xset s blank ; xset s 1 ; sleep 3 ; xset s 0

then point Gnome at it in the keyboard shortcuts. Make sure to make the script executable..

[adgmonk]

This seems to work. What does it actully do?

It uses the built-in X11 screen saver to blank the screen. This method appears to be immune to the gnome-screensaver bug causing problems with the dpms method for screen blanking discussed in this thread.

Here is a slight improvement to my original command line to blank the screen:

xset s blank ; sleep 1 ; xset s activate

Of course, as shown by GSF1200S, you can put this command line in a shell script and bind it to a key via gnome's window manager.

Or you can do it even without any script file, by binding a key directly to the command:

/bin/sh -c 'xset s blank ; sleep 1 ; xset s activate'

Note: The key-binding can be done directly (to avoid gnome key binding bugs) using the passive grab mechanism available in Xlib, which will make it independent of gnome or ubuntu. I can post code if any one is interested. Full active grab of the entire keyboard and pointer (as done in nxmehta's script) may work, but is not secure, and should be avoided.

[inameiname]

Just to add a bit to this again, I recently ran across another interesting little display off script that I felt like sharing on here. Firstly, I still use nxmehta's script to turn the display off:

#!/usr/bin/python

import time
import subprocess
from Xlib import X
from Xlib.display import Display

display = Display(':0')
root = display.screen().root
root.grab_pointer(True,
        X.ButtonPressMask | X.ButtonReleaseMask | X.PointerMotionMask,
        X.GrabModeAsync, X.GrabModeAsync, 0, 0, X.CurrentTime)
root.grab_keyboard(True,
        X.GrabModeAsync, X.GrabModeAsync, X.CurrentTime)

subprocess.call('xset dpms force off'.split())
p = subprocess.Popen('gnome-screensaver-command -i'.split())
time.sleep(1)

while True:
    print display.next_event()
    p.terminate()
    break

...it never fails me as a means to turn off the display just once. Once you hit something or press a button it will come back on.

Now, for a little different one, this one will turn the display off, and it will continue to stay off, or rather, will resume to turning the screen back off, it you happen to press a button or touch the touchpad. So far, it seems to work too, and is another good means to turn off the screen, particularly if you give a hardware shortcut to it, such as like this:

gconftool-2 --set /apps/metacity/global_keybindings/run_command_5 --type string "<Control><Alt>Z"
gconftool-2 --set /apps/metacity/keybinding_commands/command_5 --type string "/home/me/.gnome2/nautilus-scripts/My_Scripts/Display-Off/Display-Offed.sh"

Anyway, here is the script:

#!/bin/bash

# Display-Offed.sh
# turns off screen and it will stay off until this script is closed/finished
# works well attached to a hardware button shortcut

LF=/tmp/screen-lock;
if [ -f $LF ]; then
    /bin/rm $LF;
else
    touch $LF;
    sleep .5;
    while [ -f $LF ]; do
        xset dpms force off;
        sleep 2;
    done;
fi

[ScumCoder]

Hi guys, I just use

xset dpms force suspend

and it works! It actually does exactly the same (i.e. blanks the screen and turns off the backlight), but it doesn't get dropped. I'm using lucid lynx 10.04.3 x64 on my Acer z5710 monoblock.

UPDATE: that stopped working after some random update But

sleep 1 && xset dpms force off

still works fine

[5oak]

It uses the built-in X11 screen saver to blank the screen. This method appears to be immune to the gnome-screensaver bug causing problems with the dpms method for screen blanking discussed in this thread.

Here is a slight improvement to my original command line to blank the screen:

xset s blank ; sleep 1 ; xset s activate

Of course, as shown by GSF1200S, you can put this command line in a shell script and bind it to a key via gnome's window manager.

Or you can do it even without any script file, by binding a key directly to the command:

/bin/sh -c 'xset s blank ; sleep 1 ; xset s activate'

Note: The key-binding can be done directly (to avoid gnome key binding bugs) using the passive grab mechanism available in Xlib, which will make it independent of gnome or ubuntu. I can post code if any one is interested. Full active grab of the entire keyboard and pointer (as done in nxmehta's script) may work, but is not secure, and should be avoided.

Thnx! I've been looking for a workaround for years (literally)!

[buddhaflow]

I wanted to throw my two cents in.

I ran the following in a script:

#!/bin/sh
perl -e 'select(undef,undef,undef,.1)' && xset dpms force off

It fixed the problem right away. No idea what that perl is doing, but it works.

AMD, lucid 32, etc.

Cheers

[RedgeOnline]

My solution lcdonoff script - simple and elegant

#/bin/sh
OID='LVDS1'
STATE=`xrandr | grep $OID | grep -c "ted ("`
case $STATE in
'1')
xrandr --output $OID --auto
;;
'0')
xrandr --output $OID --off
;;
esac

replace OID by your device

posted also at
http://paste2.org/p/1400104

...and the best is - you can still control your music player, while your LCD is turned off

Well this works, but it does mess with my Compiz. On the other hand, compiz has been sensitive as hell since I upgraded tot 12.04 so it might not be caused by the script.

[mondalaci]

Please somebody explain to me how `gnome-screensaver-command -i` is supposed to "inhibit" the screen saver. "-i" seems to be an invalid argument.

$ gnome-screensaver-command -i

** (gnome-screensaver-command:25672): WARNING **: Unknown option -i