Trigger Screensaver/Off monitor

Question

IS it possible to somehow trigger screensaver or make the monitor sleep/off? I want to disable screensaver/monitor sleep as it gets annoying at times, however I still want a way to save power via such methods

Answer 1

sleep 1; xset dpms force off

source: http://www.shallowsky.com/linux/x-screen-blanking.html

You might find suspending the computer just as convenient.

Answer 2

Ubuntu 12.04 instructions

1. Open System Settings from the menu
2. Click on Keyboard
3. Click the tab Shortcuts
4. Click on Custom Shortcuts
5. Click the little "+" icon to create a new shortcut
6. Both in name and command enter xset dpms force off , then click Apply
7. Click on your new shortcut where it says Disabled
8. Press the F12 key

This will set the F12 key to turn off your monitor. Press anything to turn it back on again.

Answer 3

I figured after some searching in Google I can do

gnome-screensaver-command --activate

So I used it in a keytboard shortcut :)

UPDATE: hmm, the LCD backlight is still on, I guess what I really wanted is monitor off ...

Answer 4

It sounds like you want to put the monitor to sleep manually.

The closest thing I can suggest is to set the Power Management Preferences to put the display to sleep at the minimum time of one minute, then use the 'Inhibit Applet' on the Gnome Panel to disable sleep manually.

When you start the computer, click the applet to keep the monitor on. When you are ready to put the monitor to sleep, click it and the display will shut off a minute later.

Not very elegant but it's what you are wanting, with a one-minute delay. Hopefully someone else has a better response.

Answer 5

Running gnome-screensaver-command -a will trigger the screensaver.