what file controls......
 

what is the file/program that controls turning the monitor off after a certain amount of inactivity -thanks

I could be wrong about this, but I believe screen blanking is controlled on the console by the kernel. apm or acpi... That's what I think it is anyway...

I think if you have apm/acpi support and have X running xscreensaver-demo can be configured to turn the monitor off after a certain time
hth
-NSKL

Turning of the monitor in what? X, or the at the text console?

I only have experience with X 3.3.x presenly: the option "powersaver" in your /etc/XF86Config enables monitor power level switching. It's also where the time outs are set for each power level.

As for the console, APM or ACPI needs to be compiled into the kernel, and there'll presumably be files in /etc which correspond to these (could be wrong but - never tried this). Check out the "help" when you enable APM/ACPI in your kernel config.

For the console I know there is a file in /etc ( i've seen it )...however i'm not on slack right now so i cant be more exact. I believe the default is set to 15 minutes with some command like 'setterm -blank 15' or something to that effect. If you search through the files in /etc there will be comments on that command that say explicitly that it sets the monitor to blank out after 'X' minutes.....try something like this (as root?) in /etc

grep -in 'blank' *

just to see if that gets you anywhere....sorry i can't be more precise

For XFree86.4.x.x you need to add Option "DPMS" to your monitor section and the following options to your server flags,
Option "StandbyTime" "time"
Option "SuspendTime" "time"
Option "OffTime" "time"
You can also use the Energy module in kde control center.

http://www.xfree86.org/4.2.1/XF86Config.5.html#sect3

http://www.xfree86.org/4.2.1/XF86Config.5.html#sect8