Laptop Power Management

[JayMan8081]

I've been trying to Google this issue for a while now without much success. I am running Ubuntu 9.04 on an IBM Thinkpad T21 using the ubuntu-minimal install. That means I'm not using X11, Gnome, etc. just a tty console. All I want to do for power management is have the LCD backlight turned off after a set amount of time and for it to turn back on when I press a key or move the mouse. I DON'T want the system to ever suspend or hibernate. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

[hlrguy]

I use KDE, it overrides the bios settings. The odd time I have booted to single user and left it there while running fsck, the screen has turned itself off, obviously a bios function at that point. Have you checked the bios for these settings?

hlrguy

[JayMan8081]

Sorry for the delay in responding. I checked the BIOS and turned the setting "LCD Monitor Off" to be on a 10 minute delay. It does the same thing that it did before I turned that setting on. Basically the screen looks blank but the backlight for the LCD is still powered on. That was the only setting that I could see in the BIOS relating to the screen the rest controlled hibernation and suspension which I don't need. Any other suggestions are appreciated!

[JohnT]

Try this....xset +dpms
or vbetool

[JayMan8081]

Try this....xset +dpms
or vbetool

If I use vbetool to turn dpms off will the monitor turn back on if I press a key or will I have to blindly use vbetool to turn dpms back on?

[JohnT]

Wouldn't know...don't use it...only pointed it out as an option. I've always used the xset solution when needed. There may be others.

[JayMan8081]

Ok I got a chance to try JohnT's suggestions. xset is out since it depends on having X11 installed and I don't have it installed and would rather avoid installing. vbetool dpms off worked to turn the backlight all the way off but then to turn it back on so I can use the system requires me to ssh in from another machine and run 'sudo vbetool dpms on' again. So I'm getting closer to a solution but not all the way there yet.

[JohnT]

Some directional hints...possibly
And....

[hlrguy]

I would set up a couple of aliases in my shell.

alias lightoff="sudo vbetools dpms off"
alias ligthon="sudo vbetools dpms on"

Then, when the backlight is off, simply enter
lighton
<sudo password>
to get the screen back.

You might be able to set a control sequence to do the same. CTRL-O or something reset to turn it back on again.