Re: manual lcd off reset by return from idle

[timotheus <tim...@us...>]

Hi Matthias,

I tried your recommended source change with pbbuttonsd
0.7.9. Unfortunately, the new pbbuttonsd with patched source did not
demonstrate any change in behavior.

To reproduce:
   - in xorg.conf, put displays in clone mode
   - in Section "Device", use the option:
         Option          "PanelOff"              "1"

Run X11. Let the machine idle 10 minutes or so. Move the mouse. The LCD
panel turns on at minimum dimness instead of remaining off. Very bad for
the life of the LCD.

Currently, I just use a script that kills pbbuttonsd whenever I run X11
in clone mode; but this is obviously an undesirable hack.

Linux kernel version:   2.6.19

Some questions:
   - could there be another location in the pbbuttonsd source that needs
     to be modified?
   - is it possible that some kernel-level driver for the LCD affects
     this issue? (I doubt that it would affect more than the dim
     buttons)

Regards,
-timotheus

> Date: Sun, 11 Feb 2007 12:04:46 +0100
> From: Matthias Grimm <mat...@us...>

> > - when panel birghtness is > 0, save before dimming/suspending lcd,
> >   restore after return from idle (implemented)
> > - when panel brightness is == 0, save before dimming/suspending lcd,
> >   restore lcd to brightness of 0 after return from idle (not possible)
> >
> > I do think that this is a bug. The LCD should not turn on due to user
> > interaction if the LCD was turned off by the user prior to idling the
> > machine. If you disagree, please consider providing a pbbuttonsd option
> > for this purpose.
> 
> This behaviour is definitely not a bug; it's a design decision. I
> thought that it would be irritating that the display once switched to
> darkness by hand will stay dark forever. But this is my personal
> opinion and you are the first one who responded to this feature.
> 

> In the meantime you could help yourself by editing the source of pbbuttonsd.
> In module_display.c, function display_change_brightness() you will find a
> switch - case statement. In the case section OP_DIM_RECOVER comment the
> following lines out:
>    if (base->lcdlight.target == LCD_BRIGHTNESS_OFF)
>        base->lcdlight.target = LCD_BRIGHTNESS_MIN;
> 
> After this change pbbuttonsd should do what you want.