Add an option to disable screensaver under linux ?

[bevito]

Hi,
I'm running pSX under Linux Debian Etch, everything is working, but i wonder if it can be possible to add an option to disable any kind of screensaver (like xscreensaver or gnome-screensaver) while playing pSX.
For example, mplayer has got this option.
It can be better for players.

Thanks for your hard work, pSX is really easy to install and configure !

[patrickp]

I don't bother with screensavers myself, but I know how annoying it can be to have one cut in because your system thinks you're not doing anything. Good thought, bevito.

I can't recall offhand whether Windows pSX has has a screensaver disabler but, if not, it would be a good idea in Windows, too.

[pSX Author]

I will look into this, but I was under the impression that its not possible to do in a generic way in X windows (unlike Windows which sends out a message when the screensaver or powersaving is about to kick in to give apps a chance to prevent it).

[Sune]

It sounds to me like his screensaver is kicking in while he is playing.

If so, could it be caused by him using a joystick/gamepad driver that isn't correctly reporting "hello, user is pressing buttons on an input device here, don't let the screensaver start"?

I remember having this problem in the past (Windows 98 SE I think) while using a USB gamepad. If I was using my keyboard (PS2 at the time) or a soundcard gameport device it didn't happen.

I'm a total Linux noob so I don't know; but I'm thinking maybe his problem could be solved by simply using another gaming device driver?

[patrickp]

Or it might be that the screensaver's kicking in while he's watching an FMV or a demo, Sune.

[Sune]

...but who has their screensaver set to activate after less than 10 minutes of inactivity?

I doubt there are many games for the PlayStation that have you do nothing for 10 minutes.

[bevito]

Just to reply to Sune, maybe my driver don't report "hello, user is pressing buttons on an input device here, don't let the screensaver start", what i know is that i use the "joystick" module included in "joystick" package.

My screensaver is set to activate after 20 minutes, but sometimes you play without touching your keyboard or mouse, especially when you do some power level.

If nothing can be done, that's not a big problem, now i'm used to move the mouse to prevent the activation of the screensaver.

[Sune]

I am pretty sure that it's the responsibility of the joystick driver to report user activity so that the screen saver doesn't start.

I don't know if there are other generic joystick drivers that will work on your OS.

Hey, maybe you can get around it by using a utility that remaps your joystick to key-presses.

[bevito]

I will test your suggestion. By the way i made a mistake the module is named : joydev, and it appears that it is a very generic driver for joystick, gamepad.

[patrickp]

I wouldn't think a controller reports its activity in any other way than the way it functions - so if it works as a controller, it must be reporting its activity as much as it's meant to. The problem must be in the way your OS or screensaver picks this up, I guess, bevito.

I notice that in the Ubuntu repositories, there's a package called xdg-utils, which includes an application called xdg-screensaver, which can enable, disable, or suspend the screensaver. It comes from freedesktop.org - might be worth checking out?

[bevito]

Thanks patrickp i'll check this right away.
By the way i did some google and i found that gnome-screensaver doesn't see joystick input as input. This bug as already been reported to Ubuntu. Maybe one day they'll fix it.
Thanks you very much.

EDIT : Thanks patrickp, it works. Getting Window ID of pSX is not very easy, but in the end it works

# xwininfo -name "pSX v1.11" | grep id: | cut -c 22-30
0x2600006
# xdg-screensaver suspend 0x2600006
and to resume the screensaver
# xdg-screensaver resume 0x2600006

Just a little script to do to launch pSX with this

[patrickp]

That's useful news for screensaver users, bevito.