Need a way to change Screen Timeout or prevent it

[.:triune. (♪_♪)]

I asked about this here >> http://code.google.com/p/chromium-os/issues/detail?id=4070
and was directed to put in a feature request here. Basically, I use my
netbook as my communication portal: email, IM, phone, video chatting,
etc... and as such, I'm always leaving it open with Gmail open in the
browser. The problem is, ChromeOS doesn't allow you to set the screen
timeout period or disable it. From what I can tell, they are using
"intelligent" algorithms to determine when to turn off the display.
Personally, I think this approach serves most users' needs. But I
think it would be grand if the OS has an API that an extension
developer could plug into to disable or change the screen timeout. I
would could the extension myself to mimic this app for OSX >>
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/caffeine.html
. Its very elegant... you click it and your coffee cup is full, the
screen never dims. Empty it, and the OS turns off the screen when it
reaches the timeout period. I would perhaps make an options page for
the extension to set the timeout period when the coffee cup is empty.
Having a coffee cup icon for ChromeOS would be awesome, and make me
not use my mac anymore for Gmail... I'd really love to swtich to my
Cr-48 for this purpose!

[.:triune. (♪_♪)]

Sorry, I meant code, not could the extension :)

On Jan 12, 5:12 pm, .:triune. (♪_♪) <tri...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I asked about this here >>http://code.google.com/p/chromium-os/issues/detail?id=4070
> and was directed to put in a feature request here. Basically, I use my
> netbook as my communication portal: email, IM, phone, video chatting,
> etc... and as such, I'm always leaving it open with Gmail open in the
> browser. The problem is, ChromeOS doesn't allow you to set the screen
> timeout period or disable it. From what I can tell, they are using
> "intelligent" algorithms to determine when to turn off the display.
> Personally, I think this approach serves most users' needs. But I
> think it would be grand if the OS has an API that an extension
> developer could plug into to disable or change the screen timeout. I

> would could the extension myself to mimic this app for OSX >>http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/caffeine....

[Steve Pirk]

What is it about the screen timeout that keeps you from using the Cr-48 as a communications hub?

The only thing that slows me down bringing it out of sleep is that I lock my screen on timeout. Other than that, gmail updates within seconds after the wifi reconnects.

Now if it is the lack of notifications, wouldn't that be handled by the 3g card? 

Maybe not. I think I see the issue. 3g does not connect until wireless disconnects. Not sure a screen timeout completely disconnects the wireless. My 3g does not work, so I cannot test getting notifications when idle. I usually listen for my phone to ping on incoming.

--steve

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[.:triune. (♪_♪)]

The issue here is much simpler than you think. I just want the screen
to not turn off for a duration of time that is of my choosing, not
when ChromeOS decides to dim it for me....

> > Chromium OS discuss mailing list: chromium-os-disc...@chromium.org

[Chris Masone]

Rather than erring on the side of hyper-configurability like most open source projects, Chromium has had a long-standing design principle to figure out the right thing for most users and just do it.  Chromium OS intends to continue in this vein, though I admit we caved in on some things so we could get features in by the time we wanted to send out the Cr48s.  Thus, we're much more interested in shipping a solution like what Steve was talking about than adding yet another slider to the settings tabs or exposing an extensions API that makes sense only on our platform.

Chromium OS discuss mailing list: chromium-...@chromium.org

[.:triune. (♪_♪)]

What your saying seems to make sense for the current rapid development
period of ChromiumOS. If the developers are just trying to launch the
platform with success. However, I think in the long run, this will be
a feature that more and more people will request.

Think of some use case scenarios where you may want to give a
presentation or just imagine that you are using some web application
that is not video and want the screen to stay on longer than a few
minutes. I don't think keeping the screen only perpetually just for
video is the solution, it blocks out too many other possible
applications that would rely on the screen to not turn off.

It may make sense to open up this capability from crosh:
crosh> setdisplaytimeout 0 ;

But for now, I'd be happy if I could just change the timeout period
from bash....

[Wes Beal]

I've got enough faith in google's track record to not question their
approach to configurability, but I have to agree with the annoyance of
the screen timing out.

Let me start with one observation about the Cr48: is battery life an
issue for anyone? After I charged the thing up for the first time,
I've never seen the battery get that low. Granted, I always keep it
plugged in overnight...

On to the screen timeouts: I submitted a feature request on this, and
on the wifi connection going to sleep, a while back too.

Using Gmail as a communications hub (fans of LifeHacker have probably
read their article on this at
http://lifehacker.com/5713726/how-to-use-gmail-as-your-central-universal-communications-hub)
is something I'm trying to do now, but failing because of this very
issue.

This also becomes an issue for me again, when I try and use the Cr48
in the kitchen. I like referring to recipes on the internet when I
cook. On a windows laptop, I can set things up so the machine will
always be on, but on the Cr48 I can't. And when my hands are covered
with whatever I'm cooking with, I really don't want to touch the
keyboard to wake the machine back up.

I would also like it if the wifi signal did not go to sleep as soon as
I close the cover. I like being able to have the Cr48 at my side
wherever I'm at, and if I think of something I want to check on or
know, pop it open and look. Right now if I haven't kept it open the
whole time (not something I like to do) I have to wait, a fairly long
time, for the wifi to kick in with a connection. On laptops I set
things up so this isn't an issue, but can't solve this problem on the
Cr48.

Since the battery life is really good, I'd like the Cr48 to wait *a
lot* longer before it powers things down.

Especially if the cover is open. Why dim anything before an hour of no
use if the cover is open?

If you wanted to predict what the right thing for most users was, you
could control the dimming to be relative to the amount of battery life
currently available on the machine: Since charging it up initially, I
don't think I've had less than a half full charge on the machine. You
could choose to go with a more aggressive timeout function when the
battery is less than half full.

My two-cents. This really is an issue for me though, and I think it
will be for others too. This isn't a smartphone that I'm going to have
out all the time; when I do have it out, I want it to be ready to
work.

-Wes

On Jan 13, 9:23 pm, Chris Masone <cmas...@chromium.org> wrote:

[.:triune. (♪_♪)]

The behavior is worse depending on whether or not you have it plugged
in. I use the Cr48 at home as a communication hub and when its plugged
in, the screen dims, but at least the wifi stays on and it stays
connected.

Switchover to when your on the road (or dont have your charger with
you) and not only does the screen dim, but the wifi turns off as well
to conserve power. This is a major annoyance when I take my Cr48 to
work in my cube! I enjoy the 7-8 hours of batter life even on constant
use, however when your on a network that requires constant traffic
every 15 minutes or so (you get logged out of the Radius Server when
you stop sending traffic) not only do you have to wake up the machine,
but re-authenticate. THIS is even worse of an annoyance.

I can handle the screen timeouts, but not the wifi radio being turned
off while the cover is open! Can't ChromeOS assume that I might want
to save battery life (turn off the screen) but stay connected, since I
haven't closed my cover?

I would say keep the wifi radio on when the cover is open and turn it
off when the laptop is closed.

On Jan 14, 11:40 am, Wes Beal <beal....@gmail.com> wrote:
> I've got enough faith in google's track record to not question their
> approach to configurability, but I have to agree with the annoyance of
> the screen timing out.
>
> Let me start with one observation about the Cr48: is battery life an
> issue for anyone? After I charged the thing up for the first time,
> I've never seen the battery get that low. Granted, I always keep it
> plugged in overnight...
>
> On to the screen timeouts: I submitted a feature request on this, and
> on the wifi connection going to sleep, a while back too.
>
> Using Gmail as a communications hub (fans of LifeHacker have probably

> read their article on this athttp://lifehacker.com/5713726/how-to-use-gmail-as-your-central-univer...)

> is something I'm trying to do now, but failing because of this very
> issue.
>
> This also becomes an issue for me again, when I try and use the Cr48
> in the kitchen. I like referring to recipes on the internet when I
> cook. On a windows laptop, I can set things up so the machine will
> always be on, but on the Cr48 I can't. And when my hands are covered
> with whatever I'm cooking with, I really don't want to touch the
> keyboard to wake the machine back up.
>
> I would also like it if the wifi signal did not go to sleep as soon as
> I close the cover. I like being able to have the Cr48 at my side
> wherever I'm at, and if I think of something I want to check on or
> know, pop it open and look. Right now if I haven't kept it open the
> whole time (not something I like to do) I have to wait, a fairly long
> time, for the wifi to kick in with a connection. On laptops I set
> things up so this isn't an issue, but can't solve this problem on the
> Cr48.
>
> Since the battery life is really good, I'd like the Cr48 to wait *a
> lot* longer before it powers things down.
>
> Especially if the cover is open. Why dim anything before an hour of no
> use if the cover is open?
>
> If you wanted to predict what the right thing for most users was, you
> could control the dimming to be relative to the amount of battery life
> currently available on the machine: Since charging it up initially, I
> don't think I've had less than a half full charge on the machine. You

> could choose to go with a more aggressivetimeoutfunction when the

> battery is less than half full.
>
> My two-cents. This really is an issue for me though, and I think it
> will be for others too. This isn't a smartphone that I'm going to have
> out all the time; when I do have it out, I want it to be ready to
> work.
>
> -Wes
>
> On Jan 13, 9:23 pm, Chris Masone <cmas...@chromium.org> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > Rather than erring on the side of hyper-configurability like most open
> > source projects, Chromium has had a long-standing design principle to figure
> > out the right thing for most users and just do it.  Chromium OS intends to
> > continue in this vein, though I admit we caved in on some things so we could
> > get features in by the time we wanted to send out the Cr48s.  Thus, we're
> > much more interested in shipping a solution like what Steve was talking
> > about than adding yet another slider to the settings tabs or exposing an
> > extensions API that makes sense only on our platform.
>
> > On Thu, Jan 13, 2011 at 5:42 PM, .:triune. (♪_♪) <tri...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > The issue here is much simpler than you think. I just want the screen
> > > to not turn off for a duration of time that is of my choosing, not
> > > when ChromeOS decides to dim it for me....
>
> > > On Jan 13, 2:08 am, Steve Pirk <pirks...@gmail.com> wrote:

> > > > What is it about the screentimeoutthat keeps you from using the Cr-48

> > > as a
> > > > communications hub?
> > > > The only thing that slows me down bringing it out of sleep is that I lock
> > > my

> > > > screen ontimeout. Other than that, gmail updates within seconds after

> > > the
> > > > wifi reconnects.
>
> > > > Now if it is the lack of notifications, wouldn't that be handled by the
> > > 3g
> > > > card?
> > > > Maybe not. I think I see the issue. 3g does not connect until wireless

> > > > disconnects. Not sure a screentimeoutcompletely disconnects the

> > > wireless.
> > > > My 3g does not work, so I cannot test getting notifications when idle. I
> > > > usually listen for my phone to ping on incoming.
>
> > > > --steve
>
> > > > On Wed, Jan 12, 2011 at 14:16, .:triune. (♪_♪) <tri...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > > Sorry, I meant code, not could the extension :)
>
> > > > > On Jan 12, 5:12 pm, .:triune. (♪_♪) <tri...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > > > I asked about this here >>
> > > > >http://code.google.com/p/chromium-os/issues/detail?id=4070
> > > > > > and was directed to put in a feature request here. Basically, I use
> > > my
> > > > > > netbook as my communication portal: email, IM, phone, video chatting,
> > > > > > etc... and as such, I'm always leaving it open with Gmail open in the
> > > > > > browser. The problem is, ChromeOS doesn't allow you to set the screen

> > > > > >timeoutperiod or disable it. From what I can tell, they are using

> > > > > > "intelligent" algorithms to determine when to turn off the display.
> > > > > > Personally, I think this approach serves most users' needs. But I
> > > > > > think it would be grand if the OS has an API that an extension

> > > > > > developer could plug into to disable or change the screentimeout. I

> > > > > > would could the extension myself to mimic this app for OSX >>
> > > > >http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/caffeine..
> > > ..
> > > > > > . Its very elegant... you click it and your coffee cup is full, the
> > > > > > screen never dims. Empty it, and the OS turns off the screen when it

> > > > > > reaches thetimeoutperiod. I would perhaps make an options page for
> > > > > > the extension to set thetimeoutperiod when the coffee cup is empty.

[John Mora]

You could flip the Dev Mode switch, drop to a proper shell and then run:

sudo initctl stop powerd

It's hacky, but it would do the trick (e.g. kill power management). It appears there are a few other things you can do at the filesystem-level, but that's a whole other discussion.

[.:triune. (♪_♪)]

Interesting, thanks for the tip!

It seems like the chromium guys aren't open to public opinion when it
comes to shaping the rules that govern the power settings. So, I guess
we just have to play buy their rules.

[Chris Sosa]

We are open to discussion about it. This is something we debate and
have debated about for a while. At some point we had to make a
decision and moved on.

I personally agree with you, but I understand the idea to keep
Chromium only as configurable as necessary. Hopefully we can find a
solution that makes everyone in this conversation happy at some point.
I know we're still looking for ideas about how to still get
notifications while your machine is sleeping (e.g. get chats and
appear online when you're unplugged with a Chrome notebook for more
than 10 minutes) or automatically detect when we want to not go idle.
I personally doubt we could find a heuristic for the latter case that
will always work, however, someone could write a Chrome extension to
take advantage of said heuristic .

If you have good ideas on those fronts, I'm sure more than few people
would be happy.

-Sosa

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> Chromium OS discuss mailing list: chromium-...@chromium.org

[Todd Vierling]

On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 6:12 PM, .:triune. (♪_♪) <tri...@gmail.com> wrote:
> It seems like the chromium guys aren't open to public opinion when it
> comes to shaping the rules that govern the power settings. So, I guess
> we just have to play buy their rules.

They're open to input.

As to your previous post, I haven't had any problems with wireless
powering itself off at all. The machine will go to sleep if left alone
for a while after the screensaver kicks in, or if the screen is
closed, but the wifi interface never suddenly turns itself off while
the system is running with the screen open. This sounds like a bug,
related to something with the wifi network you're using, not
intentional behavior.

[Matt Richards]

There's a screen saver? Thought the screen just goes blank after a little while when on battery.

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[Todd Vierling]

On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 6:51 PM, Matt Richards <mric...@gmail.com> wrote:
> There's a screen saver? Thought the screen just goes blank after a little
> while when on battery.

That's what us older nerds used to consider a screen saver. Your
screen isn't being saved from much if it has random stuff displayed on
it. ;)

[Glapoes]

Supposedly there was something of a displayed screensaver that was updated out of the OS.

--

[.:triune. (♪_♪)]

Over the course of the last hour, cooking dinner in my kitchen, I left
my Cr48 unplugged and gmail open. It went to sleep a total of 4 times
(2 of them for long periods) and in the 2 longer periods, wifi did in
fact turn off. I noticed it X'd out and re-connecting when I woke the
laptop to check gmail.

[.:triune. (♪_♪)]

I am also a Nexus one owner and have to say that I LOVE the multi-
colored trackball. I've heard it does 5 colors (white, red, gree,
blue, yellow); however I've only ever seen 3 of them: 1) white missed
call 2) green incoming SMS via GoogleVoice 3) Red when I accidentally
dropped the phone in a glass of water (it survived and still works!).

I think perhaps ChromeOS Notebooks should have the capability to
interact with some sort of device notification interface. This could
be simple, a multi-colored button, or even more complex like a small
LCD screen (1x1 inch) that shows some type of message. Who knows, make
Desktop Notifications themselves could appear on such a said tiny
display!

One other possibility, more in line with the current hardware, is to
change the blinking pattern on the power button. The screen could go
to sleep (presumably the wifi would stay on!!!) and incoming
notifications would be made know by a rapidly blinking power button.

> > Chromium OS discuss mailing list: chromium-os-disc...@chromium.org

[.:triune. (♪_♪)]

Sorry to reply to myself... but I meant:

maybe Desktop Notifications
not
make Desktop Notifications

I should proofread before hitting send.

Another idea that came to mind.... maybe the power button itself could
have the multicolored lights akin to the Nexus One trackball.

One other thing that bugs me about the Cr48's is that they don't have
a lighted keyboard like all newer Mac's. It kind of makes using them
impossible in the dark :(

[Todd Vierling]

On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 8:16 PM, .:triune. (♪_♪) <tri...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Over the course of the last hour, cooking dinner in my kitchen, I left
> my Cr48 unplugged and gmail open. It went to sleep a total of 4 times
> (2 of them for long periods) and in the 2 longer periods, wifi did in
> fact turn off. I noticed it X'd out and re-connecting when I woke the
> laptop to check gmail.

Ah. In the longer two periods, it was powering down everything except
the minimal battery needed to keep the stuff in RAM intact, known as
"standby" mode on other OS's.

Yes, this might be useful as a tunable, or at least exposed through an
API that an extension could use as previously mentioned in this
thread.

[.:triune. (♪_♪)]

I still think that ALL of the power management settings should be
manageable via the extensions API: what to power off, when to power it
off, etc. The default power behavior can still be dictated by the
ChromeOS team and serve the purpose of the average user with the most
intelligent settings. Power users could tweak them however merely by
installing an extension (which I could write...)

Is there anywhere to go to see what API's are available to extensions
being unique to ChromeOS that are not in standard Chrome?

[Sam Leffler]

wifi should not power off. If the wifi icon was marked "X" then
something caused your device to drop off the network and not
reconnect. If you file feedback when this happens the system log will
be included and that will (hopefully) let us diagnose what happened.

-Sam

> --
> Chromium OS discuss mailing list: chromium-...@chromium.org

[.:triune. (♪_♪)]

Captured and sent it in.

> > Chromium OS discuss mailing list: chromium-os-disc...@chromium.org

[Deidre Elizabeth]

i had the same problem with wifi disconnect... i did a system restore at some point and it stopped....  not sure what the one has to do with the other...  could be an odd glitch on the system when first installed?  a few people have had this problem

sudo initctl stop powerd

was the command i was given to use, after flipping the dev switch, it seems to help

____________________________________

I'm not sure.  

Ask me again in a few minutes. 

One of my other personalities likely knows.

Note to my pet peeve:  I called the humane society, they are on their way to to put you to sleep for good.  :)

Chromium OS discuss mailing list: chromium-...@chromium.org

[BadRock]

I feel the same way, you should be able to change these settings. I
love to listen to Pandora but after a couple songs the wifi is dropped
and so are my tunes. The screen timing out is fine but I still want to
be connected and playing. Hope this is taken into consideration in
future updates.

On Jan 12, 3:12 pm, .:triune. (♪_♪) <tri...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I asked about this here >>http://code.google.com/p/chromium-os/issues/detail?id=4070
> and was directed to put in a feature request here. Basically, I use my
> netbook as my communication portal: email, IM, phone, video chatting,
> etc... and as such, I'm always leaving it open with Gmail open in the
> browser. The problem is, ChromeOS doesn't allow you to set the screen
> timeout period or disable it. From what I can tell, they are using
> "intelligent" algorithms to determine when to turn off the display.
> Personally, I think this approach serves most users' needs. But I
> think it would be grand if the OS has an API that an extension
> developer could plug into to disable or change the screen timeout. I

> would could the extension myself to mimic this app for OSX >>http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/system_disk_utilities/caffeine....

[Steve Pirk]

Is there any correlation to the applications that are left running in the background? If I am listening to music via exfm or an mp3 podcast playing in a browser tab, the music keeps on after the screen has gone to sleep and I am in screen lock mode.

The interesting thing I see is that I can still adjust the volume even though the screen is locked.

Trey cool.

-- steve

[Lynn]

I agree that the power management needs to have the option to change
settings for screen shutdown. And wouldn't it make sense to have the
machine monitor the WiFi traffic and stay on when it's being used?

What about using the webcam as a motion detector to allow waving your
hands to reactivate? That way when your hands are dirty you could get
the machine back up and running without touching it.

On Feb 3, 1:21 am, Steve Pirk <pirks...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Is there any correlation to the applications that are left running in the
> background? If I am listening to music via exfm or an mp3 podcast playing in
> a browser tab, the music keeps on after the screen has gone to sleep and I

> am in *screen lock* mode.

> > Chromium OS discuss mailing list: chromium-os-disc...@chromium.org

> > View archives, change email options, or unsubscribe:

> >http://groups.google.com/a/chromium.org/group/chromium-os-discuss?hl=en- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[A Hylian Human]

+1 to having either built-in interface for changing power settings or
an extension API. I understand keeping things simple, but some things
need to have options.

[Timm Freiheit]

+1 for an option to manually hold back the timeout / lockscreen. 

[Chris Masone]

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/keep-awake/bijihlabcfdnabacffofojgmehjdielb

On Fri, Oct 4, 2013 at 4:51 AM, Timm Freiheit <timm.f...@gmail.com> wrote:

+1 for an option to manually hold back the timeout / lockscreen. 

--

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