[SOLVED] detect X11 user inactivity

silvik · 2011-06-30 19:19:29

Hi there,
I want to write a script that shuts down the computer if I don't use X11 keyboard and mouse and no video player is running after 12PM. I hate waking up in the morning with the computer running after falling asleep during a movie.

How can I detect if I'm using X11? Is there any way to check if dpms kicked in or the mouse and keyboard aren't used for some time? Or some screensaver can tell over dbus if it's active or not? (right now i don't use any screensaver, only X11 dpms).
Pidgin has a way of detecting user inactivity based on keyboard and mouse usage, so probably there is a way to do this. Any ideas?

Thanks a lot!

Last edited by silvik (2011-07-04 09:06:19)

kofrad · 2011-06-30 21:59:38

Why not just use the power management options? Like setting the computer to hibernate/suspend after an hour or two. The computer will use far less power, take quicker to resume and turn off at anytime when idle, not just at night. I'm not sure of another way to do it though without xscreensaver, or whatever method you use to set your power settings.

silvik · 2011-07-01 00:38:45

Except ondemand frequency settings I don't use any power management, it's just a plain openbox desktop with a panel.
Last time I checked resume didn't work. Probably still doesn't. Anyway, it's not really what I'm looking for.

Maybe somebody has any other ideas? Thanks.

rockin turtle · 2011-07-01 04:51:45

If you know how to program in C, I believe you can use Xorg's xscreensaver API. Do a 'man xscreensaver' for details.

I've never tried to use this, so I'm not exactly sure how it works; I'd have to play around with it some to figure it out.

ConnorBehan · 2011-07-01 14:38:43

FYI, the Pidgin code that does this is in "pidgin/gtkidle.c" in the pidgin source. Hope that helps!

Azriel · 2011-07-02 00:59:00

Do you really want something this complicated ? If it's just for watching movies, you could consider just typing

sleep 2h; halt

in a terminal as root before starting the movie (or a longer time if the movie is a long one).

falconindy · 2011-07-02 01:36:07

18 lines of C...

/* gcc -o getIdleTime getIdleTime.c -lXss */
#include <X11/extensions/scrnsaver.h>
#include <stdio.h>

int main(void) {
  Display *dpy = XOpenDisplay(NULL);

  if (!dpy) {
    return(1);
  }

  XScreenSaverInfo *info = XScreenSaverAllocInfo();
  XScreenSaverQueryInfo(dpy, DefaultRootWindow(dpy), info);
  printf("%u", info->idle);

  return(0);
}

Last edited by falconindy (2011-07-03 14:09:11)

xduugu · 2011-07-02 08:58:49

sinac might work for you, but for movies I would just use

$ mplayer <video file>; shutdown -h now

silvik · 2011-07-03 14:03:52

Thanks for all answers!

@falconindy: Probably that's what I need, but I get some errors while compiling (sorry, I'm not a programmer):

silvik@morgana:/build$ gcc -o getIdleTime getIdleTime.c -lXss
getIdleTime.c: In function ‘main’:
getIdleTime.c:13:30: error: ‘display’ undeclared (first use in this function)
getIdleTime.c:13:30: note: each undeclared identifier is reported only once for each function it appears in

falconindy · 2011-07-03 14:09:33

and fixed in my original post. odd.

Foucault · 2011-07-03 14:12:44

Well this

XScreenSaverQueryInfo(dpy, DefaultRootWindow(display), info);

should be like this

XScreenSaverQueryInfo(dpy, DefaultRootWindow(dpy), info);

Edit: Sorry, too slow

Last edited by Foucault (2011-07-03 14:13:29)

silvik · 2011-07-04 09:05:57

thanks. problem solved. falconindy's program work great! (output in milliseconds)

Topsy · 2021-11-03 19:20:54

2021 version:

/* https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=956113#p956113 */
/* install libxss-dev, libx11-dev */
/* LANG=C gcc -Wall -Wextra -Werror -o getIdleTime getIdleTime.c -lXss -lX11 */
#include <X11/extensions/scrnsaver.h>
#include <X11/Xlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>

int main(void) {
  Display *dpy = XOpenDisplay(NULL);

  if (!dpy) {
    return(1);
  }

  XScreenSaverInfo *info = XScreenSaverAllocInfo();
  XScreenSaverQueryInfo(dpy, DefaultRootWindow(dpy), info);

  printf("%lu", info->idle);

  XFree(info);
  XCloseDisplay(dpy);
  return(0);
}

Last edited by Topsy (2021-11-03 21:30:39)

2ManyDogs · 2021-11-03 22:27:01

Closing this old solved topic.

Arch Linux

#1 2011-06-30 19:19:29

[SOLVED] detect X11 user inactivity

#2 2011-06-30 21:59:38

Re: [SOLVED] detect X11 user inactivity

#3 2011-07-01 00:38:45

Re: [SOLVED] detect X11 user inactivity

#4 2011-07-01 04:51:45

Re: [SOLVED] detect X11 user inactivity

#5 2011-07-01 14:38:43

Re: [SOLVED] detect X11 user inactivity

#6 2011-07-02 00:59:00

Re: [SOLVED] detect X11 user inactivity

#7 2011-07-02 01:36:07

Re: [SOLVED] detect X11 user inactivity

#8 2011-07-02 08:58:49

Re: [SOLVED] detect X11 user inactivity

#9 2011-07-03 14:03:52

Re: [SOLVED] detect X11 user inactivity

#10 2011-07-03 14:09:33

Re: [SOLVED] detect X11 user inactivity

#11 2011-07-03 14:12:44

Re: [SOLVED] detect X11 user inactivity

#12 2011-07-04 09:05:57

Re: [SOLVED] detect X11 user inactivity

#13 2021-11-03 19:20:54

Re: [SOLVED] detect X11 user inactivity

#14 2021-11-03 22:27:01

Re: [SOLVED] detect X11 user inactivity

Board footer