I have RH9.0 with Ximian desktop and applied the acpi patch to the 2.4.20 kernel(the one from kernel.org, not from the RH9.0), and recompiled the kernel with acpi stuffs as modules.

I am interested in how to make the screen shut off when not being used, and how to make the CPU goes to sleep when there is nothing to do.

Do I really need the ACPI or ACPID stuff for the desktop PC or is it only for the laptop? Is that those that make the screen shut down and CPU go to sleep so that the CPU life span can be extended?

Could some expert answer my questions?

THank you very much.

Acpi runs the hardware of your computer by controlling power and features. If everything worked before installing acpi, I have no idea why you would install it. If several pieces of hardware were non-responsive well then yes you need acpi.

If you want to make the screen shut off, I don't know why you'd need acpi, as this is just a plain old power saving feature.

Caeda, I thank you for the reply.

My monitor does not shut off after a while even with the screen saver stuff set up. It goes to the blank screen after a while, but not shut off. And that is why I thoguht I need ACPI, and I installed it.

Is it because I did not set up the RH9.0 Ximian desktop screen saver correctly?

HOw about the CPU goes to sleep if there is work to do, ie idle 99 - 100%? I read somewhere the ACPI can make the CPU sleep or hibernate and thereby can extend the life of the CPU by running it less.

I am confused on this power savings and ACPI relations.

Thank you very much for your help.