[SOLVED] VLC Blank Screen after 15 minutes

DrCooper · 2016-05-20 17:27:00

My screen goes blank after 15 minutes of inactivity even when I'm playing a video file in VLC. Here's my "xset q":

Keyboard Control:
  auto repeat:  on    key click percent:  0    LED mask:  00000002
  XKB indicators:
    00: Caps Lock:   off    01: Num Lock:    on     02: Scroll Lock: off
    03: Compose:     off    04: Kana:        off    05: Sleep:       off
    06: Suspend:     off    07: Mute:        off    08: Misc:        off
    09: Mail:        off    10: Charging:    off    11: Shift Lock:  off
    12: Group 2:     off    13: Mouse Keys:  off
  auto repeat delay:  250    repeat rate:  25
  auto repeating keys:  00ffffffdffffbbf
                        fadfffefffedffff
                        9fffffffffffffff
                        fff7ffffffffffff
  bell percent:  0    bell pitch:  400    bell duration:  100
Pointer Control:
  acceleration:  2/1    threshold:  4
Screen Saver:
  prefer blanking:  yes    allow exposures:  yes
  timeout:  0    cycle:  0
Colors:
  default colormap:  0x22    BlackPixel:  0x0    WhitePixel:  0xffffff
Font Path:
  /usr/share/fonts/X11/misc,/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/:unscaled,/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/:unscaled,/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1,/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi,/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi,built-ins
DPMS (Energy Star):
  Standby: 0    Suspend: 0    Off: 900
  DPMS is Enabled
  Monitor is On

I have already set "Blank after" and "Put to sleep after" to "Never" in the XFCE Power Manager and "Switch off after" to 15 minutes.

Somewhere I saw a solution which mentioned to add "Hidden=true" in the light-locker.desktop which solved the problem but it prevented the locking after 15 minutes of inactivity which is undesirable for me.

So, how can I prevent the screen from being shut off after 15 minutes of inactivity when playing a media file in VLC while still locking and shutting off in case of "normal" inactivity?

Last edited by DrCooper (2016-05-21 19:16:04)

damo · 2016-05-20 17:35:02

Have you tried Presentation Mode in the power manager?

DrCooper · 2016-05-20 17:44:44

damo wrote:

Have you tried Presentation Mode in the power manager?

I don't see that option in the XFCE Power Manager.

damo · 2016-05-20 18:13:06

^ R Click the powermanager icon in the systray.

DrCooper · 2016-05-20 18:17:19

This is a desktop so there is no icon in the systray.

damo · 2016-05-20 18:24:33

See if this fix is relevant for your situation: http://crunchbang.org/forums/viewtopic. … 81#p439381

(Searching indicates it is a long-standing vlc bugginess. Anyway, I use mpv instead )

xaos52 · 2016-05-20 18:46:28

Try this:

xfconf-query -c xfce4-power-manager -p /xfce4-power-manager/dpms-enabled -s false

This disables dpms.
Then start vlc
When finished, enable dpms again.

I have not tested this.

If it works,you can create a wrapper script for vlc, with the vlc command in between disable and enable, if you understand what I mean.

Let us know if it works

Head_on_a_Stick · 2016-05-20 18:51:26

Try installing xscreensaver

Explanation buried away in here:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+sour … ug/1309744

I think BunsenLabs has xdg-utils installed already, make sure your system has that package.

Horizon_Brave · 2016-05-20 18:51:47

I think the dpms is the key here. Needs to be disabled. But I'm sort of surprised that VLC offers no option to keep the screen alive while playing

DrCooper · 2016-05-20 19:13:58

xaos52 wrote:

Try this:

xfconf-query -c xfce4-power-manager -p /xfce4-power-manager/dpms-enabled -s false

This disables dpms.

It works!

xaos52 wrote:

If it works,you can create a wrapper script for vlc, with the vlc command in between disable and enable, if you understand what I mean.

I will surely need help on how to do that.

Head_on_a_Stick wrote:

I think BunsenLabs has xdg-utils installed already, make sure your system has that package.

Yes, xdg-utils is installed.

damo · 2016-05-20 19:25:06

Example here, found after a google search

#!/bin/bash

#Disable modes
/usr/bin/xset -dpms &
/usr/bin/xset s off &

#Open VLC
/usr/bin/vlc "$@"

#Re-enable modes
/usr/bin/xset dpms
/usr/bin/xset s on
exit

DrCooper · 2016-05-21 08:09:02

damo wrote:

Example here, found after a google serach

#!/bin/bash

#Disable modes
/usr/bin/xset -dpms &
/usr/bin/xset s off &

#Open VLC
/usr/bin/vlc "$@"

#Re-enable modes
/usr/bin/xset dpms
/usr/bin/xset s on
exit

Umm... Where do I add this?

damo · 2016-05-21 10:27:48

DrCooper wrote:

damo wrote:
Example here, found after a google serach
#!/bin/bash

#Disable modes
xset -dpms &
xset s off &

#Open VLC
vlc "$@"

#Re-enable modes
xset dpms
xset s on
exit
Umm... Where do I add this?

(I've removed the '/usr/bin/' from the paths, which should be redundant)

Use it the same way as any bash script. Save it in your $PATH, eg '~/bin/myvlc', and make it executable;
The "$@" represents the parameters passed to the script, so run it with:

myvlc /path/to/mediafile

You will have to investigate how to start media filetypes with the script instead of the default executable.

Or use mpv instead, as I implied earlier

DrCooper · 2016-05-21 18:04:02

damo wrote:

You will have to investigate how to start media filetypes with the script instead of the default executable.

This was pretty simple. Edit the Debian Alternative for bl-media-player to use "~/bin/myvlc.sh" instead of the default "vlc". Now opening any media file with the bl-media-player will trigger that script turning off DPMS while VLC is running.

(Maybe implement this in the next release so that new users don't have to worry about this?)

Last edited by DrCooper (2016-05-21 18:04:30)

damo · 2016-05-21 18:24:25

DrCooper wrote:

...
(Maybe implement this in the next release so that new users don't have to worry about this?)

What about all those users who don't have a problem, and don't want Display Power Management Signalling disabled?

Glad you got it fixed though - please add [SOLVED] to the title (edit your first post)

johnraff · 2016-05-22 03:21:15

DrCooper wrote:

This was pretty simple. Edit the Debian Alternative for bl-media-player to use "~/bin/myvlc.sh" instead of the default "vlc".

This is the way to go for anyone who wants to change their default app if it's a bl-alternative. All the mime-type associations should continue to work as-is.

DrCooper · 2016-05-22 08:54:19

Horizon_Brave wrote:

I think the dpms is the key here. Needs to be disabled. But I'm sort of surprised that VLC offers no option to keep the screen alive while playing

Actually, VLC does offers these options:
Tools -> Preferences -> All -> Advanced -> Inhibit the power management daemon during playback
Tools -> Preferences -> All -> Video -> Disable screensaver
It just doesn't seem to work with the BL Setup (xfce4-power-manager and light-locker)

damo wrote:

What about all those users who don't have a problem, and don't want Display Power Management Signalling disabled?

Given that BL ships with VLC as the default media player and it doesn't handles power management out of the box, I don't see why not?

damo · 2016-05-22 09:00:19

DrCooper wrote:

....
damo wrote:
What about all those users who don't have a problem, and don't want Display Power Management Signalling disabled?
Given that BL ships with VLC as the default media player and it doesn't handles power management out of the box, I don't see why not?

Is it established that others have the same problem, or just with your system? AFAIK you are the only person who has raised this issue. If it turns out to be a common problem then it is something to consider.

ohnonot · 2016-05-22 09:31:03

damo wrote:

(I've removed the '/usr/bin/' from the paths, which should be redundant)
Use it the same way as any bash script. Save it in your $PATH, eg '~/bin/myvlc', and make it executable;
The "$@" represents the parameters passed to the script, so run it with:
myvlc /path/to/mediafile
You will have to investigate how to start media filetypes with the script instead of the default executable.

actually, if you leave the absolute paths, you can save it as ~/bin/vlc, and it will Just Work without any further adjustments.

xaos52 · 2016-05-22 15:07:20

^ Provided ~/bin comes before /usr/bin in your PATH!!!!

#1 2016-05-20 17:27:00

[SOLVED] VLC Blank Screen after 15 minutes

#2 2016-05-20 17:35:02

Re: [SOLVED] VLC Blank Screen after 15 minutes

#3 2016-05-20 17:44:44

Re: [SOLVED] VLC Blank Screen after 15 minutes

#4 2016-05-20 18:13:06

Re: [SOLVED] VLC Blank Screen after 15 minutes

#5 2016-05-20 18:17:19

Re: [SOLVED] VLC Blank Screen after 15 minutes

#6 2016-05-20 18:24:33

Re: [SOLVED] VLC Blank Screen after 15 minutes

#7 2016-05-20 18:46:28

Re: [SOLVED] VLC Blank Screen after 15 minutes

#8 2016-05-20 18:51:26

Re: [SOLVED] VLC Blank Screen after 15 minutes

#9 2016-05-20 18:51:47

Re: [SOLVED] VLC Blank Screen after 15 minutes

#10 2016-05-20 19:13:58

Re: [SOLVED] VLC Blank Screen after 15 minutes

#11 2016-05-20 19:25:06

Re: [SOLVED] VLC Blank Screen after 15 minutes

#12 2016-05-21 08:09:02

Re: [SOLVED] VLC Blank Screen after 15 minutes

#13 2016-05-21 10:27:48

Re: [SOLVED] VLC Blank Screen after 15 minutes

#14 2016-05-21 18:04:02

Re: [SOLVED] VLC Blank Screen after 15 minutes

#15 2016-05-21 18:24:25

Re: [SOLVED] VLC Blank Screen after 15 minutes

#16 2016-05-22 03:21:15

Re: [SOLVED] VLC Blank Screen after 15 minutes

#17 2016-05-22 08:54:19

Re: [SOLVED] VLC Blank Screen after 15 minutes

#18 2016-05-22 09:00:19

Re: [SOLVED] VLC Blank Screen after 15 minutes

#19 2016-05-22 09:31:03

Re: [SOLVED] VLC Blank Screen after 15 minutes

#20 2016-05-22 15:07:20

Re: [SOLVED] VLC Blank Screen after 15 minutes

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