Possible to Spoof Keyboard or Mouse Hardware Interrupt with Software?

VaBeekeeper · 01-23-2010, 10:24 AM

My multiple posts in various forums (for instance, see http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...m7250n-782813/) turned up nothing on the question of how to get my HP Media Center desktop (ASUS P5LP motherboard) to avoid hanging after a period of inactivity. So I'm wondering whether it might be possible to write a C program that every once in a while effectively fools the OS into believing that a keyboard or mouse interrupt has occurred. That way, I can achieve my goal of being able to leave the computer for long periods of time without finding it hung up on my return.

If possible, generation of such an interrupt would be contingent on a certain amount of time having passed since the last interrupt (real or faked) occurred, and the generated event would be innocuous, such as notification that the mouse has moved (0,0) relative to its previous position, or that the <Shift> key was depressed and then released.

I guess I'm thinking of something along the lines of:

Code:

void onPeriodic(){
   if (timeInSecSinceLastInputPeripheralActivity() > MAX_INACTIVITY_SECS)
      spoofInputPeripheralActivity();  /* Avoid ACPI suspend */
}

Is it possible to do this (or something like this, that has the desired effect of avoiding suspend) in software?

Sorry for my ignorance on ACPI, Linux interrupts, &cet.

tredegar · 01-25-2010, 04:27 AM

This sort of behaviour is normally managed through your distro's "System Setup". "Control Centre", or just the battery icon on your desktop. Mine is just called "Power Manager"

Mine says "Mains Powered: When the system is idle for more than xx minutes.... Do Nothing", so I do not get the behaviour you describe.

There are other options, for example "What to do when running on battery and the battery is almost flat?" (Shutdown gracefully).

Try a search on your_distro power manager