[gentoo-user] Console won't un-blank

[gentoo-user] Console won't un-blank

[Michael J. Barillier]

If I leave my laptop unattended (at a console, not X) and the screen
blanks, pressing a key won't un-blank the terminal.  As a test, I ssh'ed
into the laptop and ran:

  # setterm -blank poke >/dev/tty$N

(as root, for the current/active TTY) which according to the man page
should restore the screen - no response.  Also tried chvt but that
didn't work either.  Any suggestions on where to look to see why the
terminal won't restore?  Is this a kernel config (ACPI?) issue, or an
agetty issue?

-- 
Michael J. Barillier     ///    http://blackwolfinfosys.net/u/blackwolf/
_O_|  "When you have to shoot, shoot.  Don't talk."
__O|      -- Tuco Ramirez
OOO|

Re: [gentoo-user] Console won't un-blank

[Alan McKinnon]

On 18/10/2013 03:02, Michael J. Barillier wrote:
> If I leave my laptop unattended (at a console, not X) and the screen
> blanks, pressing a key won't un-blank the terminal.  As a test, I ssh'ed
> into the laptop and ran:
> 
>   # setterm -blank poke >/dev/tty$N
> 
> (as root, for the current/active TTY) which according to the man page
> should restore the screen - no response.  Also tried chvt but that
> didn't work either.  Any suggestions on where to look to see why the
> terminal won't restore?  Is this a kernel config (ACPI?) issue, or an
> agetty issue?
> 


What video hardware are you using, and what driver?

I've had similar issues in the past myself with a variety of causes:

- dodgy versions of mesa
- dodgy versions of video drivers (both nouveau and radeon)
- incorrect kernel settings, usually getting KMS wrong
- incompatible combinations of framebuffer and KMS

I don't recall any case where the problem was purely userland and the
kernel systems were not involved

hth

-- 
Alan McKinnon
alan.mckinnon@gmail.com

[gentoo-user] Re: Console won't un-blank

[Holger Hoffstaette]

On Thu, 17 Oct 2013 21:02:13 -0400, Michael J. Barillier wrote:

> If I leave my laptop unattended (at a console, not X) and the screen
> blanks, pressing a key won't un-blank the terminal.  As a test, I ssh'ed
> into the laptop and ran:
> 
>   # setterm -blank poke >/dev/tty$N
> 
> (as root, for the current/active TTY) which according to the man page
> should restore the screen - no response.  Also tried chvt but that didn't
> work either.  Any suggestions on where to look to see why the terminal
> won't restore?  Is this a kernel config (ACPI?) issue, or an agetty issue?

Very likely kernel or DRM subsystem. I have an T60 Thinkpad with old ATI
graphics and since kernel ~3.7.1 (approx.) it won't unblank any more, just
as you described. I tested some time ago with an early 3.10.x and it still
did not work. Everything works correctly on a second machine without KMS
(plain VESA) and a third system with newer Radeon card, so I always
attributed it to the stone age hardware and bitrot. There were quite a lot
of changes to the Radeon and DRM machinery over the last few kernel
releases.

In order to prevent this from locking me out I simply turned it off in
/etc/local.d/ like this (there might be a canonical way):

$cat /etc/local.d/consoleblank.start 
# don't blank console - bug in 3.7.1
setterm -blank 0

You could try to bisect from 3.7.0 onwards.. :-)

cheers
-h

[gentoo-user] Re: Console won't un-blank

[Holger Hoffstaette]

On Fri, 18 Oct 2013 22:40:32 +0200, Holger Hoffstaette wrote:

> as you described. I tested some time ago with an early 3.10.x and it still
> did not work. [..]

And it still won't unblank with 3.11.6 either, tested just now.

-h

Re: [gentoo-user] Console won't un-blank

[Peter Humphrey]

On Thursday 17 Oct 2013 21:02:13 Michael J. Barillier wrote:
> If I leave my laptop unattended (at a console, not X) and the screen
> blanks, pressing a key won't un-blank the terminal.  As a test, I ssh'ed
> into the laptop and ran:
> 
>   # setterm -blank poke >/dev/tty$N
> 
> (as root, for the current/active TTY) which according to the man page
> should restore the screen - no response.  Also tried chvt but that
> didn't work either.  Any suggestions on where to look to see why the
> terminal won't restore?  Is this a kernel config (ACPI?) issue, or an
> agetty issue?

Have you tried specifying these commands on the kernel line?

	consoleblank=0 noclear

The former is AFAIK equivalent to setterm -blank 0 but takes effect right from 
the beginning of the boot sequence; the latter prevents blanking out of the 
console boot messages just before the login prompt is shown.

One of those might help.

-- 
Regards,
Peter

Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Console won't un-blank

[Frank Steinmetzger]

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On Fri, Oct 18, 2013 at 10:40:32PM +0200, Holger Hoffstaette wrote:
> On Thu, 17 Oct 2013 21:02:13 -0400, Michael J. Barillier wrote:
> 
> > If I leave my laptop unattended (at a console, not X) and the screen
> > blanks, pressing a key won't un-blank the terminal.  As a test, I ssh'ed
> > into the laptop and ran:
> > 
> >   # setterm -blank poke >/dev/tty$N
> 
> Very likely kernel or DRM subsystem. I have an T60 Thinkpad with old ATI
> graphics and since kernel ~3.7.1 (approx.) it won't unblank any more, just
> as you described. I tested some time ago with an early 3.10.x and it still
> did not work. Everything works correctly on a second machine without KMS
> (plain VESA) and a third system with newer Radeon card, so I always
> attributed it to the stone age hardware and bitrot. There were quite a lot
> of changes to the Radeon and DRM machinery over the last few kernel
> releases.

I have here a Samsung P30 (first Centrino generation) with a Radeon 9200
and radeon driver in KMS mode, Kernel 3.10.11. Unblanking works normal.
I [br]arely use that machine, only keep it up to date from time to time
in case I may need it in lieu of my normal laptop. So its setup is
fairly default stage3.
-- 
Gruß | Greetings | Qapla’
Please do not share anything from, with or about me with any Facebook service.

Friends may come and go, but enemies accumulate.

[-- Attachment #2: Digital signature --]
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Re: [gentoo-user] Re: Console won't un-blank

[Frank Steinmetzger]

On Sun, Oct 20, 2013 at 08:02:50PM +0200, Frank Steinmetzger wrote:
> On Fri, Oct 18, 2013 at 10:40:32PM +0200, Holger Hoffstaette wrote:
> > On Thu, 17 Oct 2013 21:02:13 -0400, Michael J. Barillier wrote:
> > 
> > > If I leave my laptop unattended (at a console, not X) and the screen
> > > blanks, pressing a key won't un-blank the terminal.  As a test, I ssh'ed
> > > into the laptop and ran:
> > > 
> > >   # setterm -blank poke >/dev/tty$N
> > 
> > Very likely kernel or DRM subsystem. I have an T60 Thinkpad with old ATI
> > graphics and since kernel ~3.7.1 (approx.) it won't unblank any more, just
> > as you described. I tested some time ago with an early 3.10.x and it still
> > did not work. Everything works correctly on a second machine without KMS
> > (plain VESA) and a third system with newer Radeon card, so I always
> > attributed it to the stone age hardware and bitrot. There were quite a lot
> > of changes to the Radeon and DRM machinery over the last few kernel
> > releases.
> 
> I have here a Samsung P30 (first Centrino generation) with a Radeon 9200
> and radeon driver in KMS mode, Kernel 3.10.11. Unblanking works normal. […]

Ha! spoken too soon. I upgraded from 3.10.11 to 3.11.6 (including a
whole world update in the same go, unfortunately) and now I can't
unblank either. What brings the screen back, though, is switching to X
for a mo.
-- 
Gruß | Greetings | Qapla’
Please do not share anything from, with or about me with any Facebook service.

“There’s no power in the ’verse can stop me.”