Arch Linux

eblau

Member

Registered: 2016-02-11

Posts: 43

[SOLVED] Laptop screen will not come on after powering off

Ever since doing a system upgrade yesterday, I've had problems with my laptop screen not coming back on after powering off for power saving by xscreensaver.

In xscreensaver, I have the following settings:

dpmsEnabled:    True
dpmsQuickOff:    False
dpmsStandby:    0:10:00
dpmsSuspend:    0:10:00
dpmsOff:    0:20:00

The following packages that seem relevant were updated yesterday:

[2016-09-13 07:17] [ALPM] upgraded linux (4.6.4-1 -> 4.7.2-1)
[2016-09-13 07:17] [ALPM] upgraded xf86-video-intel (1:2.99.917+700+gebc066c-1 -> 1:2.99.917+703+g15c5ff1-1)

I'm using a Dell Latitude E7440 laptop with Intel graphics.

The backlight controls work fine in both 4.6.4 and 4.7.2. I can change the brightness settings using xbacklight with no problems. I can also do a "xset dpms force off". The screen will power off and then power back on as normal when I hit the keyboard or move the mouse.

Once the screen blanks due to xscreensaver, nothing I do seems to power it back on. I've tried using the keyboard and the mouse. I've also tried switching ttys by hitting Ctrl-Alt-F1 and then Ctrl-Alt-F7 to switch back again. Nothing seems to help. I have to power off my laptop and do a cold boot.

Any ideas? I can revert back to 4.6.4, but I had other issues with 4.6.4 with suspend and hibernate not working properly which seem to be fixed in 4.7.2.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Last edited by eblau (2016-09-20 10:15:22)

mrunion

Member

From: Jonesborough, TN

Registered: 2007-01-26

Posts: 1,938

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Laptop screen will not come on after powering off

Some things come to mind offhand:

When the screensaver blanks, maybe it is wanting your password to unblank? Next time the screensaver blanks, wiggle the mouse, then enter your login password and hit ENTER and see if it comes back.

Also, can you see if the same thing happens if you just "test" the screensaver by running "xscreensaver-demo" and previewing a screensaver.

Have you tried a different screensaver perhaps?

When the screen blanks, can you switch to a different TTY and log in and kill xscreensaver?

Last edited by mrunion (2016-09-15 14:26:51)

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Matt

"It is very difficult to educate the educated."

eblau

Member

Registered: 2016-02-11

Posts: 43

Re: [SOLVED] Laptop screen will not come on after powering off

Thanks for the suggestions. I will try a different screensaver and see if entering a password with the screen blank helps.

I did try switching TTYs, but the screen was off even after switching TTYs.

eblau

Member

Registered: 2016-02-11

Posts: 43

Re: [SOLVED] Laptop screen will not come on after powering off

I solved the problem by switching from linux 4.7.4 to the LTS kernel, 4.4.21-1-lts.

In my experience, staying on the latest kernel on a laptop has been too painful. There are too many things that break either with the USB ports on the port replicator not working properly until I unplug/replug cables, my dual DisplayPort monitors not being detected correctly (missing from xrandr), or suspend/hibernate being broken and hanging. It has not been a good experience.

iambig

Member

Registered: 2012-08-21

Posts: 25

Re: [SOLVED] Laptop screen will not come on after powering off

I'm not sure if we got same issue and if It's correct to give suggestion to a SOLVED thread, however I experienced a similar issue.
After kernel Upgrade (I don't know the right package version but in the same period) i fell into the problem.
When the screen got black after suspension or closed lid I was unable to get screen on.
I solved removing Intel DDX (xf86-video-intel) and Xorg config file. Now I can get the screen on after it sunspended or screensavered.
Cheers.

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Carthago delenda est

eblau

Member

Registered: 2016-02-11

Posts: 43

Re: [SOLVED] Laptop screen will not come on after powering off

I'm not sure if we got same issue and if It's correct to give suggestion to a SOLVED thread, however I experienced a similar issue.
After kernel Upgrade (I don't know the right package version but in the same period) i fell into the problem.
When the screen got black after suspension or closed lid I was unable to get screen on.
I solved removing Intel DDX (xf86-video-intel) and Xorg config file. Now I can get the screen on after it sunspended or screensavered.
Cheers.

Thanks. I tried your suggestion and it is working well for me. While the screen problem was fixed with linux 4.7.5 for me, I still had lots of problems with dock/undock and suspend & hibernate power saving modes using xf86-video-intel. In particular, when I docked my laptop after a resume from hibernate, I could not turn video output back on for my two DisplayPort monitors hooked up to the docking station. In fact, it would disable all video output on my laptop screen and both external monitors connected to the docking station. All I could do at that point is a hard reboot.

Removing the Intel driver seems to have solved these issues for me. Thanks!