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It seems like when I have certain web pages focused, my screensaver will kick in, but the screen won't turn itself off. Does anyone have any ideas why this might be? Is there a way to disable whatever is keeping DPMS from kicking in?

tshepang
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xenoterracide
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    The whatever is probably a movie playing plugin. As far as I know, it's a global X server setting that any client can change (`xset dpms …`) on the command line. – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil' Sep 04 '10 at 18:22
  • @Gilles maybe... though I usually leave my browser on Google Reader. – xenoterracide Sep 04 '10 at 19:21
  • I know mplayer will do that, and it seems to be permanent; once I've played a video in mplayer my DPMS is disabled until I reenable it or restart. Gilles is probably right, but you'd have to experiment – Michael Mrozek Sep 04 '10 at 20:26
  • @Michael For me mplayer only keeps the screen disabled while playing... my screen will still shut off if it's not playing... well when I'm not using it I always leave smplayer minimized to systray – xenoterracide Sep 04 '10 at 20:31
  • @xeno Interesting; must just be something I messed up with my configuration – Michael Mrozek Sep 04 '10 at 20:52
  • @Gilles @Michael doesn't `xset dpms` disable the screensaver too? my screensaver kicks in, my screen just doesn't power off, it keeps running the screensaver. – xenoterracide Sep 04 '10 at 20:58
  • `xset dpms` controls the X server feature that powers the screen off. `xset s` controls the X server's built-in screen saver (floating “x” or blanking). It seems that whatever only knows about the X server's built-in feature and not your third-party screensaver. As for your first comment, whatever has to enable dpms again (typically when it exits), I don't think it matters whether it's focused or visible. – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil' Sep 04 '10 at 21:19
  • @Michael Mrozek perhaps you have a buggy mplayer version; another case where DPMS settings are mixed up is, when mplayer or a similar program crashes before being able to restore the settings. @xenoterracide *xset +dpms* ... @all why is nobody posting an answer?!? – maxschlepzig Sep 04 '10 at 21:21
  • @max how am I supposed to use that command to my advantage? I certainly want mplayer to continue to be able to block dpms while playing... it's simply browsers that I'd rather didn't... although tbh, I wish they would block the screensaver while playing (html5/flash) – xenoterracide Sep 04 '10 at 21:57
  • Does the same thing happen in Gnome? I know there's an option for this in gnome-control-center under "Screen". I'm not saying you should switch to Gnome, but if it works there, it may give a hint as to where the problem lies. – Alexander Jun 25 '11 at 08:51

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Do you have SELinux enabled? My machine uses the ATI binary blob and it always gets denied to so the monitor is simply black.

Aaron D. Marasco
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