[1368] in Release_7.7_team
Re: We want to change Solaris 2.6 monitor power saving.
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Angelo Rajadurai)
Fri Jul 17 19:17:16 1998
Date: Fri, 17 Jul 1998 16:11:53 -0700 (PDT)
From: Angelo Rajadurai <angelo@oasis.West.Sun.COM>
Reply-To: Angelo Rajadurai <angelo@oasis.West.Sun.COM>
To: wdc@MIT.EDU
Cc: release-team@MIT.EDU, angelo@oasis.West.Sun.COM
Bill:
Did some research on this issue. There is an RFE already filed for decoupling
screen saving from screen power management. The RFE number is 4045492. I'd add
your buisness justification and comments to that RFE.
Here is how power management is handled for monitors. The normal power anagement
using the /etc/power.conf does not apply when the system is under a windowing
environment.The power managent is handled by Xsun. Currently CDE will turn off
power only when the screen saver is set to blank. Or if the screenlock is turned
on manually.
Infact, from preliminary investigation even with plain X, the monitor is turned
off only when the screen is made blank. So if you have "xset s noblank" the
screensaver comes on and the screen is never turned off.
From the above it looks like the Xsun turns off the monitor if and only if the
screensaver is set to blank. Could you confirm this finding for me in MIT's
setup.
Thanks & Regards
Angelo
>Date: Fri, 17 Jul 1998 15:45:14 -0400 (EDT)
>From: Bill Cattey <wdc@MIT.EDU>
>To: angelo@West
>Subject: We want to change Solaris 2.6 monitor power saving.
>Cc: release-team@MIT.EDU
>
>Angelo:
>
>We're about to go live site-wide with Solaris 2.6, and we've discovered
>an annoyance with the Energy Star support that shuts off video monitors.
> I remember in the 2.6 SSRT last year how pleased the Sun engineers were
>about how much energy would be saved by this feature that powers down
>monitors.
>
>Well, our environment is a little different:
>
>Back when a blank screen meant a broken monitor, MIT developed a
>free-console display that would put up a logo, and the time of day, and
>move it across the screen (to avoid buring it into the phosphors.) We
>like this display, and have left it in our Solaris 2.6 based release.
>This means that machines staying idle over night will never power down.
>MIT does not have a problem with this.
>
>Our problem is tha tthe only people who will get their monitors powered
>down are users who step away from their desks for ten minutes. They
>don't like it and they want us to turn it off.
>
>Unfortunately, our preliminary investigation is that the only way to
>disable the monitor power down is to disable the X screensaver with
>"xset s off".
>
>We like the screen saver. We want the screensaver. We just want it to
>quit shutting off our monitors.
>
>Is there some command we have missed that exerts this finer control?
>
>If not, we want to formally request a Solaris enhancement. It should
>never be a choice between no screensaver whatsoever, and one that
>unconditionally kills power inconveniently.
>
>-wdc
