Turning off X screenblanking in Suse9.0
 

This is a problem that has plagued me several times now. Twice I've been able to turn this feature off, but it remains a mystery as to what exactly does it.

QUESTION: How to I turn off screenblanking when starting an X server?

I've tried...

xset s noblank
xset s off
xset -dpms
setterm -blank 0
setterm -powersave off
setterm -powerdown 0

in XF86Config...

Section "ServerFlags"
Option "BlankTime" 0
Option "StandbyTime" "0"
Option "Offtime" 0"
EndSection

I've looked in the BIOS to make sure there were no powersave features enabled on the hardware. Screenblanking is OFF in the console, but still on in the XServer.

I have already pulled several plugs of my hair out trying to figure this one out. It is very annoying that each test takes friggin' 20 minutes to without touching anything to see if it was turned off or not. It hasn't been yet...

Thanks for any suggestions.

Ok, while I only have a few dense patches of hair still intact, I did figure this one out...

First I have the xset and setterm commands mentioned above in a startup script.

Second, those XF86Config files *must* be placed below the Modules section. If not, they do nothing. I had them above the Modules section and this was what was causing the problems.

I hope this helps someone oneday.