[solved - hardware issue] Monitor blanks; won't wake up

[dedanna1029]

With a recent bug in X, posted in the Arch Linux thread in Distro Talk, my monitor still blanks on its own, and it's next to impossible to resume from it in the mornings (my computer stays up 24/7) because of the X bug (I have to hit Ctrl+F2, type something, then Ctrl+F7 to get it to come back in the end), even when I've turned it off overnight. I've been through the menu on my monitor (it actually blanks in 5 minutes when in tty too), and I can't find where to shut that off. It's a Samsung SyncMaster 731B - any clue how to stop it from blanking?

Thanks

[dedanna1029]

I remembered. In /etc/X11/xorg.conf:

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Section "Monitor"
   Identifier   "Monitor0"
   VendorName   "Samsung"
   ModelName    "SyncMaster 731B"
   HorizSync    28.0 - 33.0
   VertRefresh  43.0 - 72.0
----->Option       "DPMS" "false"

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/DPMS

Now, let's just hope that these wonderful (#sarcasm) new Xorg auto-options don't take hold... siiiiggh...

One can also do:

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# xset dpms force off

Hoping that will help, with the new version of xset installed with updates today.

And, in the process of all this, I found out how to turn on numlock on at login! w00t!

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# xset q
Keyboard Control:
  auto repeat:  on    key click percent:  0    LED mask:  00000002
  XKB indicators:
    00: Caps Lock:   off    01: Num Lock:    on     02: Scroll Lock: off
    03: Compose:     off    04: Kana:        off    05: Sleep:       off
    06: Suspend:     off    07: Mute:        off    08: Misc:        off
    09: Mail:        off    10: Charging:    off    11: Shift Lock:  off
    12: Group 2:     off    13: Mouse Keys:  off
  auto repeat delay:  500    repeat rate:  30
  auto repeating keys:  00ffffffdffffbbf
                        fadfffefffedffff
                        9fffffffffffffff
                        fff7ffffffffffff
  bell percent:  50    bell pitch:  400    bell duration:  100
Pointer Control:
  acceleration:  2/1    threshold:  4
Screen Saver:
  prefer blanking:  yes    allow exposures:  yes
  timeout:  600    cycle:  600
Colors:
  default colormap:  0x20    BlackPixel:  0    WhitePixel:  16777215
Font Path:
  /usr/share/fonts/misc/,/usr/share/fonts/TTF/,/usr/share/fonts/Type1/,/usr/share/fonts/100dpi/,/usr/share/fonts/75dpi/,built-ins
DPMS (Energy Star):
  Standby: 0    Suspend: 0    Off: 0
  DPMS is Enabled
  Monitor is On

I've just turned DPMS off for now, in case they fix this and I can go back with it.

I can alternatively:

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[root@dedanna dedanna]# xset -dpms;xset s off
[root@dedanna dedanna]# xset q
Keyboard Control:
  auto repeat:  on    key click percent:  0    LED mask:  00000002
  XKB indicators:
    00: Caps Lock:   off    01: Num Lock:    on     02: Scroll Lock: off
    03: Compose:     off    04: Kana:        off    05: Sleep:       off
    06: Suspend:     off    07: Mute:        off    08: Misc:        off
    09: Mail:        off    10: Charging:    off    11: Shift Lock:  off
    12: Group 2:     off    13: Mouse Keys:  off
  auto repeat delay:  500    repeat rate:  30
  auto repeating keys:  00ffffffdffffbbf
                        fadfffefffedffff
                        9fffffffffffffff
                        fff7ffffffffffff
  bell percent:  50    bell pitch:  400    bell duration:  100
Pointer Control:
  acceleration:  2/1    threshold:  4
Screen Saver:
  prefer blanking:  yes    allow exposures:  yes
  timeout:  0    cycle:  600
Colors:
  default colormap:  0x20    BlackPixel:  0    WhitePixel:  16777215
Font Path:
  /usr/share/fonts/misc/,/usr/share/fonts/TTF/,/usr/share/fonts/Type1/,/usr/share/fonts/100dpi/,/usr/share/fonts/75dpi/,built-ins
DPMS (Energy Star):
  Standby: 0    Suspend: 0    Off: 0
->DPMS is Disabled

And have it disabled.

Now, let's just hope I wake up in the morning, and find this thing not blanked, and that I'm able to "get in" so to speak. This morning it took SIX tries at Ctrl+Alt+F2 and back to Ctrl+Alt+F7 (yes, six passes of each, alternating with turning the monitor on and off a dozen times) to get this thing to resume.

They haz borked it, I tell ya.

[viking60]

xscreensaver uses it's own DPMS:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Xscreensaver

[dedanna1029]

Yup, got that too - but it's disabled anyway.

Much to my chagrin, none of this has worked. Had a heckuva time resuming from blanking again just a bit ago.

Something has got to be way broke...

[dedanna1029]

PLEASE help with Bug #21395 for Arch - vote for it, comment as you will, as you've seen what I've been through with this.

I don't know how to bump up the priority of the bug - if you know, please do tell.

Thanks.

[dedanna1029]

I need to close the bug.

The story goes like this:

Last night, I checked out F14 - again on my other (front) hdd, only this time rather than a clean install, I installed F13 again, and tried preupgrade. What I should've done was left it on F13 and checked it for this issue, but like a dummy I didn't.

Well, as it happens, it got really late during the installation part (after the downloading of the upgrade packages), so I went to bed to let it finish, and while I was sleeping, this thing had gone for a reboot. It was at my BIOS password when I got up, and I had a heckuva time resuming - I'd shut the monitor off, and it would just flash on, then go right back to off like it does in Arch.

So, what I have is either a kernel issue, or a monitor issue, or, an issue with the hard drives resuming.



Question: How do I narrow down which it is?

[viking60]

Do you have another monitor you can test with? That would be the obvious choice I think

[dedanna1029]

Wish I did - I guess I can go get my old KDS from my daughter's and test it. I'm really hoping it's not the monitor - can't afford a new one right now.

[dedanna1029]

Just had a thought - what are the odds my video card is going out? It's going on some 4 or 5 yrs old?

Edit: I don't think so, because when I get into the GUI with this, my hard drives constantly sound like they're going to crash - something like what Bug # 20699 would produce (similar, anyway). It does this in both distros now. Both hard drives are constantly running - like crap, from the sound of them.

Thanks.

[dedanna1029]

I think what I will do is reinstall F13 again and leave it there. Then, reinstall Arch to the latest, and see what happens. I seem to remember this not happening on the 2.6.34 kernel - would like to test that.

[viking60]

It is hard to tell since you do not have the testing possibilities.

[dedanna1029]

Well, what I have done so far is downgrade to the nvidia-173xx driver in Arch - have yet to leave it alone long enough to see if the blanking issue comes up. Will do so probably tonight when I go to bed and see how it does in the morning.

It is running a tad quieter now on this.