MX Linux Forum

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 9:39 am**

Screensaver is "turned off". Power settings set to "never". What else is causing my screen to "blank out" every 5 minutes?

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 9:45 am**

Post your Quick System Info found in MX Tools.

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 10:22 am**

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 6.1.0-37-amd64 [6.1.140-1] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-37-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro quiet splash
  Desktop: Xfce v: 4.20.0 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.38 info: xfce4-panel wm: xfwm v: 4.20.0 vt: 7
    dm: LightDM v: 1.32.0 Distro: MX-23.6_x64 Libretto October 15  2023 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12
    (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASRock model: X570 Phantom Gaming-ITX/TB3 serial: <superuser required>
    UEFI-[Legacy]: American Megatrends v: P1.60 date: 08/28/2019
Battery:
  Device-1: hidpp_battery_0 model: Logitech Wireless Keyboard serial: <filter>
    charge: 55% (should be ignored) rechargeable: yes status: discharging
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 2 gen: 3 level: v3 note: check
    built: 2020-22 process: TSMC n7 (7nm) family: 0x17 (23) model-id: 0x71 (113) stepping: 0
    microcode: 0x8701013
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 8 tpc: 2 threads: 16 smt: enabled cache: L1: 512 KiB
    desc: d-8x32 KiB; i-8x32 KiB L2: 4 MiB desc: 8x512 KiB L3: 32 MiB desc: 2x16 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 2200 min/max: 2200/3600 boost: enabled scaling: driver: acpi-cpufreq
    governor: ondemand cores: 1: 2200 2: 2200 3: 2200 4: 2200 5: 2200 6: 2200 7: 2200 8: 2200 9: 2200
    10: 2200 11: 2200 12: 2200 13: 2200 14: 2200 15: 2200 16: 2200 bogomips: 115200
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: indirect_target_selection status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed mitigation: untrained return thunk; SMT enabled with STIBP protection
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow mitigation: safe RET
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; IBPB: conditional; STIBP: always-on; RSB filling;
    PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: AMD Cape Verde PRO [Radeon HD 7750/8740 / R7 250E] vendor: VISIONTEK driver: radeon
    v: kernel alternate: amdgpu arch: GCN-1 code: Southern Islands process: TSMC 28nm built: 2011-20
    pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 ports: active: DP-4 empty: DP-1, DP-2, DP-3, DP-5, DP-6
    bus-ID: 2a:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:683f class-ID: 0300 temp: 61.0 C
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 compositor: xfwm v: 4.20.0 driver: X: loaded: radeon
    unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa dri: radeonsi gpu: radeon display-ID: :0.0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 509x286mm (20.04x11.26") s-diag: 584mm (22.99")
  Monitor-1: DP-4 mapped: DisplayPort-3 model: TCL serial: <filter> built: 2013 res: 1920x1080
    hz: 60 dpi: 61 gamma: 1.2 size: 800x450mm (31.5x17.72") diag: 815mm (32.1") ratio: 16:9 modes:
    max: 1920x1080 min: 720x400
  API: OpenGL v: 4.5 Mesa 22.3.6 renderer: VERDE ( LLVM 15.0.6 DRM 2.50 6.1.0-37-amd64)
    direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: AMD Oland/Hainan/Cape Verde/Pitcairn HDMI Audio [Radeon HD 7000 Series]
    vendor: VISIONTEK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 2a:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:aab0 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: AMD Starship/Matisse HD Audio vendor: ASRock driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie:
    gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 2c:00.4 chip-ID: 1022:1487 class-ID: 0403
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-37-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.0 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse status: active
    2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin 4: pw-jack type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel modules: wl pcie: gen: 2 speed: 5 GT/s
    lanes: 1 bus-ID: 25:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:2723 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Intel I211 Gigabit Network vendor: ASRock driver: igb v: kernel pcie: gen: 1
    speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: e000 bus-ID: 26:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:1539 class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel AX200 Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 5-2:2 chip-ID: 8087:0029
    class-ID: e001
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 1 state: up address: <filter> bt-v: 3.0 lmp-v: 5.2
    sub-v: 200f hci-v: 5.2 rev: 200f
  Info: acl-mtu: 1021:4 sco-mtu: 96:6 link-policy: rswitch sniff link-mode: peripheral accept
    service-classes: rendering, capturing, audio, telephony
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 465.76 GiB used: 117.45 GiB (25.2%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Sabrent model: Rocket 4.0 500GB size: 465.76 GiB
    block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 63.2 Gb/s lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter>
    rev: RKT401.3 temp: 66.8 C scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 52.08 GiB size: 50.96 GiB (97.85%) used: 14.6 GiB (28.7%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 maj-min: 259:2
  ID-2: /home raw-size: 283.92 GiB size: 278.41 GiB (98.06%) used: 102.84 GiB (36.9%) fs: ext4
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p4 maj-min: 259:4
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 15 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 91.46 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
    dev: /dev/nvme0n1p3 maj-min: 259:3
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 76.4 C mobo: N/A gpu: radeon temp: 61.0 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A
Repos:
  Packages: 2837 pm: dpkg pkgs: 2833 libs: 1521 tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala,synaptic pm: rpm
    pkgs: 0 pm: flatpak pkgs: 4
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
    1: deb http://deb.debian.org/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64] https://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list
    1: deb http://ftp.osuosl.org/pub/mxlinux/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
Info:
  Processes: 377 Uptime: 2h 0m wakeups: 14 Memory: 62.72 GiB used: 6.11 GiB (9.7%) Init: SysVinit
  v: 3.06 runlevel: 5 default: graphical tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 12
  Client: shell wrapper v: 5.2.15-release inxi: 3.3.26
Boot Mode: BIOS (legacy, CSM, MBR)

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 10:49 am**

You have an overheating problem:

Code: Select all

Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 76.4 C mobo: N/A gpu: radeon temp: 61.0 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A

What you are describing is a common symptom of a bios shutting down services in order to protect the CPU. Since this is a desktop, in addition to cleaning the heat sink and fan, and replacing the thermal paste, you should consider adding at least one cooling fan (two would be better).

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 11:30 am**

I disagree. If the BIOS were doing what you say; it would shut down "the whole system!" I build computers! I am well aware of what the BIOS would do. So! You have demonstrated to me that you have "no idea" what you are talking about. I will no longer consider ANY answer you give on this issue!

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 11:34 am**

woodyb12 wrote: Sun Jun 22, 2025 11:30 am I disagree. If the BIOS were doing what you say; it would shut down "the whole system!" I build computers! I am well aware of what the BIOS would do. So! You have demonstrated to me that you have "no idea" what you are talking about. I will no longer consider ANY answer you give on this issue!

Bring down the tone please. It would suffice to say that you have experience and disagree.

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 11:52 am**

woodyb12 wrote: Sun Jun 22, 2025 11:30 am I disagree. If the BIOS were doing what you say; it would shut down "the whole system!" I build computers! I am well aware of what the BIOS would do. So! You have demonstrated to me that you have "no idea" what you are talking about. I will no longer consider ANY answer you give on this issue!

On older rigs than yours, overheating would shut down a computer completely. But on modern machines the shutdown tends to happen in stages and the only thing that jumps out from your QSI is the high CPU temperature. When it is compared to the temp reading from my HP 17's 3rd gen Ryzen 3 which has been up for six hours this morning and under load the whole time:

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Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 40.9 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 34.0 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): fan-1: 0 fan-2: 0

The high 76.4 C temp of your CPU has to be cause for concern.

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 12:06 pm**

I have been using computers since Tandy 1000; with 51/2" floppies, etc. I have never met a BIOS that "simply shut off a monitor: or, for that matter, a graphics card!" in order to "save itself". They always shut down the "whole system". The same way as if there were a "power outage". This problem didn't exist until I installed "upgrades" a few weeks ago. It has nothing to do with the BIOS!
I really do understand that you are probably a "volunteer"; trying to help other users. I am "grateful" for such a community! The Linux community wasn't always so accommodating! I LOVE this community! But; I am a "NO xxxxxxx" kinda person, too! So! Please forgive me if I tend to seem like a "mean spirited" individual. I am not. Thanking you in advance! I am: "A Linux user 4 ever!!!"

P.S. CPU temp: [current] 61-C= 141.8-F! I changes all the time but does not get much hotter than that.

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 12:11 pm**

@woodyb12 You mentioned the screen blanks every five minutes... if it is regular like this, then give some of the following a try:

- Remove screen saver entirely for testing
- Turn power saving on. exit the app, then go back in and turn it off again. (We have seen some oddities in older settings and newer power manager.)

Does this happen on a cold machine or just when it has been on for a while?

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 12:13 pm**

It happens "cold or hot". And as soon as I touch the mouse, or, hit a key on the keyboard it comes back on.

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 12:22 pm**

Screensaver "turned off". Power settings [on]: Put to sleep=never; switch off after=never

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 1:00 pm**

@woodyb12 something that caught my eye, you mention screen "blanking out" and so on, but also "I have never met a BIOS that simply shut off a monitor" ... So I'm just making sure (it will help who ever troubleshoots it further) : are you seeing the monitor merely black out, or is the monitor literally shutting off for a moment? Are there perhaps some signs of losing the signal, too, when that happens? Or is the "shut off a monitor" just an expression, there, and it's not literally shutting off when this problem occurs? (In other words, is it more like a screensaver kicking in, no matter whether it is an actual screensaver or not, or is something literally cutting off the video / monitor for a sec?)

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 1:02 pm**

K.. to help in debugging and ruling them out.... you might try:
1) Set screensaver to 15 min (I know you said it was off, but humor me)
2) Turn power settings (display) to 20 min and then off.

If this changes your 5 min timing, you should be able to tell which one of these is going rogue on you. If it changes nothing, then we can rule these out I think. (I personally would still remove any screen savers as a test.)

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 1:16 pm**

When I say "blanking out" I mean that my monitor displays this message: Display not connected to [port]. Which means that the video feed from the card is being shut off. Power manager: shut off! Screensaver set to "Activate when idle 300 minutes" "Inhibit screensaver for fullscreen applications" activated!
Enable "Lock Screen"=Off.

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 3:46 pm**

Post the results of "xset q".

Use the </> icon to post it in the code brackets.

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 4:00 pm**

Xset-q command results:

Code: Select all

  auto repeat:  on    key click percent:  0    LED mask:  00000002
  XKB indicators:
    00: Caps Lock:   off    01: Num Lock:    on     02: Scroll Lock: off
    03: Compose:     off    04: Kana:        off    05: Sleep:       off
    06: Suspend:     off    07: Mute:        off    08: Misc:        off
    09: Mail:        off    10: Charging:    off    11: Shift Lock:  off
    12: Group 2:     off    13: Mouse Keys:  off
  auto repeat delay:  500    repeat rate:  20
  auto repeating keys:  00ffffffdffffbbf
                        fadfffefffedffff
                        9fffffffffffffff
                        fff7ffffffffffff
  bell percent:  50    bell pitch:  400    bell duration:  100
Pointer Control:
  acceleration:  2/1    threshold:  4
Screen Saver:
  prefer blanking:  yes    allow exposures:  yes
  timeout:  600    cycle:  600
Colors:
  default colormap:  0x20    BlackPixel:  0x0    WhitePixel:  0xffffff
Font Path:
  /usr/share/fonts/X11/misc,/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi/:unscaled,/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi/:unscaled,/usr/share/fonts/X11/Type1,/usr/share/fonts/X11/100dpi,/usr/share/fonts/X11/75dpi,built-ins
DPMS (Energy Star):
  Standby: 0    Suspend: 0    Off: 0
  DPMS is Disabled
woody@mx23:~/Desktop
$

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 4:37 pm**

No change.

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 4:53 pm**

I turned off "Automatic Updater" on January 31, 2025 due to Timeshift problems. I started updating again on May 26, 2025. I am having problems with Timeshift again; but, I haven't had time to investigate that problem yet. And the screen problem did not exist before then.

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 5:19 pm**

woodyb12 wrote: Sun Jun 22, 2025 4:00 pm Xset-q command results:
Code: Select all
DPMS (Energy Star):
  Standby: 0    Suspend: 0    Off: 0
  DPMS is Disabled

OK, we can rule xset out.

Have you tried the suggestion from Charles in post #13 yet?

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 5:22 pm**

Yes. No change.

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 5:32 pm**

My laptop can run at 93 C for many hours at time if I ask it to build something like Pale Moon for ARM in emulation, which is 10X slower than a native build, so I don't think the temps are to blame. IDK how shutting off an external monitor is going to help moderate temps, either.

Have you tried "presentation mode" in the XFCE power manager? It's supposed to prevent the screen from ever going off, such as in the middle of a presentation.

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 6:08 pm**

I don't see a "presentation mode" in the "power settings", or, "Screensaver".

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 6:37 pm**

woodyb12 wrote: Sun Jun 22, 2025 6:08 pm I don't see a "presentation mode" in the "power settings", or, "Screensaver".

Click on Settings > Power Manger > select the General tab > Toggle on System tray icon > look for the power icon in the panel and right click on it. > Toggle on Presentation mode.

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 6:53 pm**

Done! Let's see how that does??

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 7:01 pm**

The monitor "flickers" now! Yee! Haaaa! Now we know that it is not the BIOS!

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 8:15 pm**

woodyb12 wrote: Sun Jun 22, 2025 7:01 pm The monitor "flickers" now! Yee! Haaaa! Now we know that it is not the BIOS!

Since I am a retired Working Superintendent I have seen my share of strange electrical woes. Try plugging it in a different socket. Also check the condition of the whole electrical cord coming out of the monitor. Pull the cord out of the back of the monitor and make sure there is no dust in the monitor socket and plug it back it. Both ends of the plugs should fit in snug.

Posted: **Sun Jun 22, 2025 10:49 pm**

woodyb12 wrote: Sun Jun 22, 2025 1:16 pm When I say "blanking out" I mean that my monitor displays this message: Display not connected to [port]. Which means that the video feed from the card is being shut off. Power manager: shut off! Screensaver set to "Activate when idle 300 minutes" "Inhibit screensaver for fullscreen applications" activated!
Enable "Lock Screen"=Off.

I have/had the exact same problem on all three of my MX23 XFCE installations (on completely different hardware eg. AMD and Intel chipsets). You're right it is blanking not sleeping the monitor. The following fix by CharlesV seemed to work.

viewtopic.php?f=93&t=83825&p=810043#p810043

Enable the daemon in Xscreensaver on startup and choose a screensaver then disable the screensaver and then disable Display Power Management in the advanced tab then In Power Manager the setting to adjust is the one for blanking not sleeping. You can disable the daemon afterwards once it is working.

edit: @woodyb12 sorry had to edit instructions, it was a while ago, I've forgotten the exact solution. I think (I stress I'm not sure) the problem is that X Server has a 'lock' on the Display Power Management and therefore XFCE Power Manager can't control it, so installing XScreensaver allows you to disable the lock from the advanced tab. (It's 10 mins by default not 5 I think). That way you can control DPMS from XFCE Power Manager again.

Posted: **Mon Jun 23, 2025 1:47 pm**

I temporarily solved my own problem. I used a fresh SSD [external], gparted, and an "installation" disk. I booted from the "install" disk and copied the partition(s) from my current drive to the fresh SSD [formatted GPT only--no file system] with gparted program. Then I "rolled back" my system to a previous state and "NO Problem!"
But no more updates for me! Auto Updater: OFFFFF!

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