Author Topic: Monitor DPMS controls : SNAP config?  (Read 17470 times)

Dariusz Piatkowski

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Monitor DPMS controls : SNAP config?
« on: November 11, 2019, 05:12:56 am »
I've got the AN SNAP 505 build here and since I hooked up my dual screen setup (Dell U2412M monitors) I figured it would be best for me to actually use the PowerSave feature.

Previously I was running a Samsung245T display and that was a ON/OFF type of a deal, so I took to just running the display ON full-time.

Alright, so what's the secret to getting this to work? LOL

I looked at the XWP  'Desktop=>ScreenSaver=P2 - DPMS Settings' configuration options and both the DPMS Standby and Suspend are greyed out. Only DPMS OFF state is click-able, which is what I have selected. The problem is that after 60mins of no both monitors stay powered ON.

So off I went checking out the SNAP 'Advanced Button => VESA DPMS Power Tests' option to see what SNAP actually recognizes about the monitors' capability. Let me mention that the DELL displays are correctly recognized to start off with, I did not have to wrestle with the setups along the lines of what I had to do with the Samsung 245T.

Anyways, so SNAP actually shows the following:
1) STAND BY
2) SUSPEND
3) OFF

...which I tested, and all of them correctly work from within that 'Advanced' button screen.

So why is it that XWP apparently does not "see it"?

Ideally I would like to use the SUSPEND option.

Dave Yeo

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Re: Monitor DPMS controls : SNAP config?
« Reply #1 on: November 11, 2019, 05:56:56 am »
Did you actually enable the screensaver on page 1 and set a module on page 3?
The screensaver should enable all options if the driver and card supports it and if falling back to using the VGA registers, only the off state is supported.
The screensaver is built against an old SNAP SDK so I guess something might have changed or SNAP itself is broken. I'd suggest opening a ticket at Arca Noae. I do know that SNAP does turn my monitor off, only thing I've found that does under OS/2 but as my video card isn't supported I get no wide screen resolutions and therefore use Panorama.

Dariusz Piatkowski

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Re: Monitor DPMS controls : SNAP config?
« Reply #2 on: November 11, 2019, 05:57:41 am »
...ummm...never mind, I think I got this one.

Turns out my Doodle Screen Saver was set to non-DPMS mode, presumably b/c my Samsung245T didn't work otherwise?

One of my old (c 2015) posts came up in my search on this topic and the problem I ran into there was that I wasn't sure how to turn OFF DPMS functionality (was having issues with the power supply board capacitors on my 245T).

Anyways, so yeah, off I went to re-set DoodleSS to use the DPMS modes, now they show up in the XWP ScreenSaver tab and hopefully they will successfully toss the monitors into the STANDBY mode. I will report out once that test happens.

Dariusz Piatkowski

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Re: Monitor DPMS controls : SNAP config?
« Reply #3 on: November 11, 2019, 05:59:56 am »
Hey Dave!
Did you actually enable the screensaver on page 1 and set a module on page 3?
The screensaver should enable all options if the driver and card supports it and if falling back to using the VGA registers, only the off state is supported.
The screensaver is built against an old SNAP SDK so I guess something might have changed or SNAP itself is broken. I'd suggest opening a ticket at Arca Noae. I do know that SNAP does turn my monitor off, only thing I've found that does under OS/2 but as my video card isn't supported I get no wide screen resolutions and therefore use Panorama.

Thanks for the response, our postings crossed each other...I think I got this one figured out.

BUT....you did answer another question of mine, which was: having had the DSS installed why is it that I no longer actually see any of the SS modules showing up in the P3 I think? Sounds like it's the issue you mentioned above...I'll toss a ticket out there for that one.

Dave Yeo

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Re: Monitor DPMS controls : SNAP config?
« Reply #4 on: November 11, 2019, 06:16:49 am »

BUT....you did answer another question of mine, which was: having had the DSS installed why is it that I no longer actually see any of the SS modules showing up in the P3 I think? Sounds like it's the issue you mentioned above...I'll toss a ticket out there for that one.

You mean there are no modules listed on page 3? Or they can't be enabled?

Dariusz Piatkowski

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Re: Monitor DPMS controls : SNAP config?
« Reply #5 on: November 11, 2019, 06:43:47 pm »

BUT....you did answer another question of mine, which was: having had the DSS installed why is it that I no longer actually see any of the SS modules showing up in the P3 I think? Sounds like it's the issue you mentioned above...I'll toss a ticket out there for that one.

You mean there are no modules listed on page 3? Or they can't be enabled?

Actually, attempting to get to P3 never gets me there...pressing the '+' just hangs on P2 in an effort to get to P3, pressing it again brings me to 'Archive' tab next.

Here are the contents of sscore.cfg:

Code: [Select]
[G:\util\DSSaver]type sscore.cfg
; ----------------------------------------------------------
; This is an automatically generated configuration file for
; the Screen Saver core.
; Do not modify it by hand!

Enabled = 1
Activation_Time = 600000
Module_FileName = G:\util\DSSaver\Modules\Blank.dll
Password_Protected = 0
Use_Current_Security_Password = 0
Password =
Delayed_Password_Protection = 0
Password_Delay_Time = 60000
Use_DPMS_Standby_State = 0
DPMS_Standby_Time = 3600000
Use_DPMS_Suspend_State = 0
DPMS_Suspend_Time = 7200000
Use_DPMS_Off_State = 0
DPMS_Off_Time = 7200000
Wake_By_Keyboard_Only = 0
First_Key_Event_Goes_To_Password_Window = 0
Disable_VIO_Popups = 1

; ----------------------------------------------------------
; End of configuration file
; ----------------------------------------------------------

The 'g:\util\dssaver\...' is not present anywhere in my CONFIG.SYS, assuming that something is missing from the environment and preventing the modules from being found.

Strangely enough, the BLANK module is in fact active b/c on P1 of the 'Screen Saver' tab I do have the 'Screen saving enabled' checked and it is active after 10 mins of inactivity. The screen does certainly go blank after 10 mins.

So it's almost like XWP does not see the installed screen saver modules in the DSSaver directory itself. Let me see if flipping Disable_VIO_Popups to '0' will allow me to see some errors/warnings?

Dariusz Piatkowski

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Re: Monitor DPMS controls : SNAP config?
« Reply #6 on: November 11, 2019, 06:47:46 pm »
...ummm...never mind, I think I got this one....SNIP...Anyways, so yeah, off I went to re-set DoodleSS to use the DPMS modes, now they show up in the XWP ScreenSaver tab and hopefully they will successfully toss the monitors into the STANDBY mode. I will report out once that test happens.

Well, so a rather strange result:

1) PRIMARY display stayed turned ON
2) SECONDARY display went to DPMS SUSPEND mode

ugh? lol

I will log a ticket for that issue as I suspect this is entirely within the SNAP driver somewhere. Perhaps a silly missconfiguration when running a dual-head setup? Clearly the system knows to put something into SUSPEND mode, but that ends up being just one of the monitors.

Dave Yeo

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Re: Monitor DPMS controls : SNAP config?
« Reply #7 on: November 11, 2019, 07:08:50 pm »
The 2 main reasons for not being able to get to page 3 are a bad sscore.cfg, easy enough to test by moving it out of the way even though it looks fine. Or a corrupted/bad module. Reinstalling might fix that, or else uninstalling and reinstalling. The latest is in the testers directory or if needed I can send you a copy.

Did both monitors used to turn off? I don't know if the screen saver was written to turn off both monitors or if that is a SNAP responsibility.

Dariusz Piatkowski

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Re: Monitor DPMS controls : SNAP config?
« Reply #8 on: November 11, 2019, 09:16:51 pm »
Dave!

The 2 main reasons for not being able to get to page 3 are a bad sscore.cfg, easy enough to test by moving it out of the way even though it looks fine. Or a corrupted/bad module. Reinstalling might fix that, or else uninstalling and reinstalling. The latest is in the testers directory or if needed I can send you a copy.

Oh boy, was I behind on these releases or what!!!

I was running v1.8 here, meanwhile 2.2 is out there publicly available, and now there is yours 2.4 drop (which I just grabbed, so no worries, but thank you for the reminder - I originally noted it on the mailing list and just forgot about it).

Sooo...great news! The upgrade to 2.1 and then 2.2 fixed my issue. All modules show up, they are configurable and work correctly, as best as I can tell anyways. So now the only thing left is to get the DPMS stuff working for both monitors.

...Did both monitors used to turn off? I don't know if the screen saver was written to turn off both monitors or if that is a SNAP responsibility.

Nope, I never had two of the Samsungs hooked up long enough b/c that monitor has a weird EDID coding. It is meant to facilitate the LANDSCAPE to PORTRAIT mode switch, but unfortunately that has always caused the secondary monitor on my OS/2 box to insist on running in 960x1200 mode, which as you can imagine is absolutely dreadful looking when in LANDSCAPE mode. I spent countless hours with the SNAP configuration utility trying to play with different H & V-sync signals to trip the monitor into the proper & native 1920x1200, but no-go there.

As my primary monitor started to make that capacitor buzzing noise I figured I might as well take a stab at getting something else to work, which of course meant having to find a monitor with both DVI & VGA inputs, so that PRIMARY could run off of my ATI X850's DVI connector, while the SECONDARY would need to accept a VGA feed (SNAP driver limitations...grrh...c'mon, we've gotta be able to fix that eh?).

But anyways, the DELL was on sale, for a nifty $150 USD brand new, and the 2nd one being OpenBox with a $100 price tag I couldn't refuse.

In all honesty though I miss the awesome picture quality of the Samsung 245T. That was a PVA panel, and even though the IPS in the Dell is supposed to be better, it is a 6-bit panel and while the colour reproduction on the DVI connector is nice, there is something off on the VGA one. Certain colours are washed out.

Dave Yeo

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Re: Monitor DPMS controls : SNAP config?
« Reply #9 on: November 11, 2019, 10:27:32 pm »
Good to hear that the screensaver is straightened out. As for the DPMS,probably should open an issue though I doubt much will happen quickly.

Dariusz Piatkowski

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Re: Monitor DPMS controls : SNAP config?
« Reply #10 on: November 11, 2019, 11:50:52 pm »
...Sooo...great news! The upgrade to 2.1 and then 2.2 fixed my issue. All modules show up, they are configurable and work correctly, as best as I can tell anyways. So now the only thing left is to get the DPMS stuff working for both monitors...

OK, probably the last update on this given that the next part is most likely a SNAP device driver issue and as Dave put it, it'll take a long time, if ever actually to get resolved.

So with DSSaver at 2.2 version I activated the Matrix screen saver so that I could somewhat tell whether the PRIMARY monitor was being addressed/instructed to go into a DPMS mode in any way.

Alright, good dosage of snow tonight, got out there to clear the driveway, which took a while...LOL, long enough for the DPMS power-save to kick in.

Here are the results:

1) PRIMARY - Matrix screeensaver halted, meaning, the letters no longer scroll and the last active image is frozen on screen, so it would appear that DSSaver at least recognized that something 'DPMS' was supposed to happen. The monitor itself however did not go out of ACTIVE mode, no STAND BY, no SUSPEND.

2) SECONDARY - working good, screen put into SUSPEND mode

Dave Yeo

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Re: Monitor DPMS controls : SNAP config?
« Reply #11 on: November 12, 2019, 12:02:19 am »
Yes, even with non-working DPMS, the screen saver will stop when it is time to put the monitor to sleep.
I can build you a debug SSDPMS.dll which might print something interesting. Is your C:\ writeable?

Dariusz Piatkowski

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Re: Monitor DPMS controls : SNAP config?
« Reply #12 on: November 12, 2019, 12:24:48 am »
Dave!

Yes, even with non-working DPMS, the screen saver will stop when it is time to put the monitor to sleep.
I can build you a debug SSDPMS.dll which might print something interesting. Is your C:\ writeable?

Oh yeah, you bet...send it my way, or tell me where to pick it up. I'm about to install your latest 2.4 20190914 release...

Dave Yeo

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Re: Monitor DPMS controls : SNAP config?
« Reply #13 on: November 12, 2019, 01:54:16 am »
Here, I think your sdpms.dll will be in \os2\apps\dll, might need unlocking before backing up and replacing with this one.
Let the screensaver put your monitor to sleep/turn off and see what is written in c:\sdpms.log.
Don't forget to put your original back once finished testing.

Dariusz Piatkowski

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Re: Monitor DPMS controls : SNAP config?
« Reply #14 on: November 12, 2019, 03:56:48 am »
...Let the screensaver put your monitor to sleep/turn off and see what is written in c:\sdpms.log.
Don't forget to put your original back once finished testing.

Hmm...I tried, but no drive C:\ here...and no log file anywhere else on my machine...is that hard-coded? Any chance we could use %TMP%, or %TEMP%, or anything else like that one?