Yeknrut's picture

The TKL fileserver would be great for me, but it won't blank the server screen.

The appliance is running on a Thinkpad, so the screen can't be switched off.

The BIOS is set to blank the screen after 5 minutes of idle, but the appliance will never go idle even if no other computers are on the network. Also, quitting the config screen doesn't help.

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Jeremy Davis's picture

if the config console isn't running (ie you're logged in) but the backlight will probably remain on which I'm guessing is your problem. A quick google turned this up. I haven't tested it but it sounds fairly straight forward. Note that to re-enable the screen you'll either need to reboot or ssh in remotely. The setterm command also may be worth investigation.

man setterm

Failing that there is also the option of installing a minimal X.

It'd be great if you report back with what works out best for you as others may also be looking for a similar solution.

Yeknrut's picture

I was not aware of the vbetool utility, very interesting.

By the way, your link to a blog that mentions vbetool is misspelled. Here are the correct links:

http://www.installationexperiences.com/2009/01/turn-off-lcd-display-back...

http://linux.die.net/man/1/vbetool

But I'm using a different solution -- one which will not astonish you.

Instead of bare metal I'm running the TKL appliance in a VirtualBox on a Linux distro, and using that distro's Gnome screensaver.

Thank you very much for your brilliant solutions (donation made) ... I work for a small non-profit organization that will deploy Moodle. Your TKL Moodle appliance is helping us as we learn how to administer this application.

Jeremy Davis's picture

I've now edited my previous post and corrected it. The link you provided to vbetool man page is useful too.

Your solution is a great common sense one that I must admit didn't cross my mind! Well done with that.

Good luck with your Moodle roll-out. And FYI these aren't 'my' appliances, I'm just an active community member. Thanks go to Liraz and Alon (the Devs), but good on you for making a donation :)

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