Monitor dimming

[Matthew Seaman]

On Tue, Jun 17, 2003 at 09:20:38PM -0700, Peter Leftwich wrote:
> Can someone tell me what controls the dimming of my monitor after a set
> amount of minutes of idle time?  It is not xscreensaver; I'm assuming it is
> something called from "startx" or at boot time in rc.conf?
> 
> I ask because I would like to [1] change the idle timeout and [2] run a
> command line command to "dim now."  Thanks all, please CC: me!

You can put settings into /etc/X11/XF86Config, like this:

    Section "ServerFlags"
            Option       "BlankTime" "10"
            Option       "StandbyTime" "20"
            Option       "SuspendTime" "30"
            Option       "OffTime" "30"
    EndSection

XF86Config(5) has the details.

You can also use xset(1) to modify the settings from within an X session:

    % xset dpms 1200 1800 1800
    % xset dpms force standby

[Nb. xset(1) uses units of seconds, XF86Config uses units of minutes.
So much for consistency.]

Programs like window managers may also modify the DPMS settings -- use

   % xset q

to see the current settings.

	Cheers,

	Matthew

-- 
Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil.                       26 The Paddocks
                                                      Savill Way
PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey         Marlow
Tel: +44 1628 476614                                  Bucks., SL7 1TH UK
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