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Nathan Osman
Asked: 2010-10-15 13:12:15 +0800 CST

How to turn off the display via the command line?

  • 772

Is there a way to turn off the display (enter power saving mode) using a command?

For example, when the computer is inactive for a specific interval, the screen turns off to conserve energy. Is there a way to manually turn off the screen, yet keep the computer running normally?

This is a notebook, so there's no 'power-off' button on the monitor itself.

power-management command-line display

6 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    I think you are looking for

    xset dpms force off

    However, you need to make sure that your acpi is enabled. You can check this with

    cat /proc/acpi/info

    Another option could be

    setterm -powersave powerdown
    • 40

  2. I'm running Ubuntu Server without X on a 2007 MacBook Pro. The display is sleeping by itself but won't reactivate when a key is pressed on the keyboard. At this point my fix is to use vbetool. Install using apt-get:

    sudo apt-get install vbetool

    Then use to turn display on via SSH from a different machine:

    sudo vbetool dpms on

    Or off:

    sudo vbetool dpms off
    • 6

  3. I have made a unity launcher to turn off the LCD

    sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends gnome-panel

gnome-desktop-item-edit ~/Desktop/ --create-new

    It will open a small windows. Enter the following:

    Name: turnofflcd

    Command: gnome-screensaver-command --lock && sleep 2s && xset dpms force off

    You can also choose an icon by clicking the icon on the left .

    For more on making launcher see http://www.ubuntugeek.com/how-to-create-desktop-launchers-in-ubuntu-11-10oneiric.html.

    • 3 
  4. (sleep 10; xset dpms force suspend) & xdg-screensaver lock

    This starts the screen saver in locked mode and then puts your display in standby. Ubuntu Mate 15.10

    • 1

  5. xset dpms force off worked only for 5 seconds.

    I searched the internet and found the following script, and after a small change it worked perfectly.

    #!/usr/bin/python
import time
import subprocess
from Xlib import X
from Xlib.display import Display
display = Display(':0')
root = display.screen().root
root.grab_pointer(True,
       X.ButtonPressMask | X.ButtonReleaseMask | X.PointerMotionMask,
       X.GrabModeAsync, X.GrabModeAsync, 0, 0, X.CurrentTime)
root.grab_keyboard(True,
       X.GrabModeAsync, X.GrabModeAsync, X.CurrentTime)
subprocess.call('xset dpms force off'.split())
#original
#p = subprocess.Popen('gnome-screensaver-command -a'.split())
#changed
p = subprocess.Popen('xset dpms force off'.split())
time.sleep(1)
while True:
   print display.next_event()
   p.terminate()
   break
    • 1

  6. I know that xscreensaver is not exactly blank screen, but may be of some help:

    xscreensaver-command -activate

    or via ssh

    DISPLAY=:0 xscreensaver-command -activate

    The same way deactivate:

    DISPLAY=:0 xscreensaver-command -deactivate

    or

    export DISPLAY=:0 
xscreensaver-command -activate
xscreensaver-command -deactivate

    Enter password after xscreensaver via ssh:

    DISPLAY=:0 xdotool type Ctrl # wake up from screensaver
   or: DISPLAY=:0 xdotool click 1 
DISPLAY=:0 xdotool type "passwordovich"
DISPLAY=:0 xdotool type Return # Enter
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