[Tfug] APM mechanisms

[Bexley Hall]

Hi, John,

[attributions not strictly preserved, sorry  :, ]

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

> > > I have an old Dell Inspiron 8100 with an nVidia
> card
> > > that won't
> > > respond to the xset command to turn off the
> >
> > Hmmm... my xset has no such "feature" (unless it
> > hides under a different name/description).  While
> > I don't run X on that box (I use the display just
> as
> > a text console when things have bit-the-shed). 
> But,
> > if it *did*, I could scan the sources to see *how*
> > it is trying to do so...>
> 
> My old Dell runs Ubintu 5.x, which of course
> includes X from Xorg. That xset supports the syntax:
> 
> xset [[+-]dpms] [dpms standby [ suspend [ off]]]
> [dpms force
> standby/suspend/off/on]

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.

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)

> which, as I mentioned, didn't work for the nVidia
> gforce2-go, but was
> effective on a nearly identical Inspiron 8000 with
> an ATI card.
>
> > > backlight.  After some
> > > fishing around, I found a work-around for it. 
> I'll
> > > have to take a
> > > look at the script I implemented it in to see
> what
> > > the command is.  It might be of use to you.
> >
> > Excellent!  I can always DL the source of xset
> > from whatever distro you are using to see what's
> > under the hood...
> 
> My work-around uses a package called vbetools.  I'm
> not sure if it
> requires having X installed, but I do know that the
> command will work
> from a virtual text console, so I think the chances
> are fair that it
> would:

[snip]

OK.  I'll take a look at it.
 
> > <grin>  Ever notice how piss-poor the
> documentation
> > on open-source projects is?  :>  (FWIW, PostgreSQL
> > really stands out as an exception, here)
> 
> Yes, the Postgres docs are rather quite thorough,
> especially in
> comparison to a lot of other FOSS projects.

Of course, folks (developers) always have an excuse
as to why they "didn't have time" to do the paperwork.
Amusing that at $WORK they blame it on their boss
not GIVING them time... (I wonder what the excuse
is when you are doing it WITHOUT a boss over your
shoulders?? ;-)

> > > solution.  It gets rather contorted for some
> > > machines which date back
> > > to that period (ca. 2000 - 2001), due to the
> fact
> > > that some of them
> > > (at least the Dells) tried to put a foot in both
> > > camps by implementing
> > > parts of both ACPI and APM support in the BIOS,
> but
> > > didn't adhere to
> > > strictly to the standards of one / both of the
> >
> > Yes, I think that's the case.  And, I think it was
> a
> > typical MS inspired hack vs. a well thought out
> > "feature".
> 
> Indeed.  Add to that a notoriously buggy BIOS on
> some makes (think
> Dell here).  I formed the impression that some of
> the mfr's purposely
> deviate from the APM / ACPI standards to dodge
> competition, or heaven
> only knows why.

Aren't standards *great*??  EVERYBODY should have
one!!  :-/ 

> > > specs.  My take on it
> > > at the time was the backlight control was more
> > > dependant on the quirks
> > > of the video card BIOS than the machine BIOS.
> >
> > Hmmm... this is an oddball design.  IIRC, the
> video
> > card is *almost* off-the-shelf but modified to
> > talk to an LCD instead of external monitor (though
> > I think the external monitor connector is still
> > present... perhaps wired in parallel, etc.)
> 
> Well, I hope the vbetools solution is helpful.

Thanks!  I will DL it and grep the sources.

--don


      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Be a better friend, newshound, and 
know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile.  Try it now.  http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ