[Tfug] APM mechanisms

[Bexley Hall]

Hi, John,

--- John Karns <johnkarns at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Jan 6, 2008 1:46 PM, Bexley Hall
> <bexley401 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > Ah, OK.  Yes, my xset supports the same syntax.
> > But, that brings me back to the original question
> > re: how APM is implemented.  E.g., how to shut
> > off the backlight yet still let the box handle
> > DNS queries, etc.
> 
> Just to reiterate, for some reason, the dpms
> interface mechanism in
> xset is ineffective with the nVidia card in the (now
> ancient) laptop.

Yes, I don't hold up much hope for this.  :<
I think I will shit-can the machine and move
back to the SPARC LX (all because of a backlight?
<grin>) Admittedly, it is a lot slower machine
but all it needs to do is serve up boot images
for the X terminals, fonts, time, etc. and my
own (local) DNS traffic -- plus emacs/vi to let
me prototype some code.

(sigh)  Too many incompatible "standards"...

> > Note that this would also have to talk directly to
> > the X server on that machine -- but I don't *run*
> > X there (i.e. I will have to dig through the
> servers
> > code to see how *it* talks to the APM when it
> receives
> > this message from xset)
> 
> I would guess that the 1st two tetters of the
> vbetools package name
> couls well be a reference to "video bios", which
> would lead me to
> speculate that it would be independant of X.  The
> fact that the
> backlight in the machines LCD shuts off in response
> to issuing the
> command from a text console screen, outside of X
> would seem to support the conjecture.

Yes, I dug through the vbetools sources and it,
in turn, relies on some (one or more?) intermediate
layers of code to drill down to the BIOS.  I.e., it's
just not worth the time and trouble to sort through
the mess (and port it to NetBSD).  So, I'll either
install a switch in the B+ to the CCFL inverters
(take *that* video BIOS!  :> ) or just dump the
machine and stop fretting over it!  (most likely)

> A quick search for vbetools didn't bring up a URL
> for download for me,
> and I don't have it stored on the machine I'm using
> at the moment to
> look for hints to substantiate my speculation.  I do
> still have the
> package archived, so that if you are unsuccessful in
> your search, just
> let me know, and I can send an attachment off-list.

Thanks, I found it.

And thanks for the input!
--don


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