How to blank the screen to save power ?
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Is there a way to automatically blank the screen after a few minutes to save on power for the display when it's not needed ? Most operating systems have this capability through VESA DPMS. So far, I have my searches have come up empty about how to do this with pfSense. Help would be greatly appreciated !
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@madbrain Worth noting that most operating systems have a GUI that needs to blank the screen.
I presume this is a laptop because you can just turn off the monitor or remove it on a desktop.
There would have to be drivers for the LCD panel from the manufacturer to support turning off the backlight -- something like that would need to be side-loaded and might not survive an update.
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@rcoleman-netgate No, this is a desktop I built to run pfSense, using an AMD 5700g APU, with integrated graphics. It's hooked up to a KVM switch. When I work on the other PCs, they can blank the screen. But when the other machines suspend (not just the display), the KVM switch automatically changes focus to the first machine it finds that is powered on . That usually happens to be the pfSense router box I just built. And when focus switches to it, it wakes up the display. This happens automatically at night when other computers run backup jobs and then go to sleep. By morning when I wake up, the KVM has focus on the pfSense box and the display is on, and precious watts have been wasted.
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@madbrain I would turn off the monitor then. The OS is not designed to have a monitor plugged in 24/7 anyway.
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@rcoleman-netgate I see. Wish there was another way. I guess once I'm familiar enough with pfSense I'll disconnect the box from the KVM switch altogether. But for now as a newbie (I first tested the waters less than a week ago, and here I'm using it as my main router), I do need the console.
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@madbrain You could reinstall the software to not use the VGA at all (the Serial installer) or enable the serial interface on your machine and connect to it via RS232 and alleviate the monitor altogether.
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If you're looking to save power there are probably easier targets. That CPU is not really super efficient.
But to do this you would probably need to load the graphics driver. That may also reduce power in the graphics hardware. There are a few threads here detailing that but it's not that easy. You could certainly save more power more easily by using different hardware, but maybe not more cheaply.Steve
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@rcoleman-netgate Thanks. I wasn't aware of that option. I will consider it.
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@stephenw10 The system needs to handle 10 Gbps of traffic, which is why I chose this APU. If I wanted just 1 Gbps I agree it would be overkill. The 5700G is rated for 65W, but actually consumes much less at idle. In fact, the entire system, without the monitor, idles at 44 W. The specs include an Asus Prime X470 Pro motherboard, 2 x 8GB DDR4 2666, 1 x Intel X550-T2 dual 10 Gbps NIC, Noctua NH-D15S CPU cooler with the fan removed - ie. I'm passively cooling the APU . There are no case fans plugged in either. Right now the only fan is the PSU fan, which is kind of loud. I bought a silent SFX L PSU yesterday with ATX backplate adapter, but the included cables were too short, I'm going to install it later today once I receive the ATX extension cable set from Amazon, so the entire system will be fanless and completely silent.
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@madbrain said in How to blank the screen to save power ?:
@stephenw10 The system needs to handle 10 Gbps of traffic, which is why I chose this APU. If I wanted just 1 Gbps I agree it would be overkill. The 5700G is rated for 65W, but actually consumes much less at idle. In fact, the entire system, without the monitor, idles at 44 W. The specs include an Asus Prime X470 Pro motherboard, 2 x 8GB DDR4 2666, 1 x Intel X550-T2 dual 10 Gbps NIC, Noctua NH-D15S CPU cooler with the fan removed - ie. I'm passively cooling the APU . There are no case fans plugged in either. Right now the only fan is the PSU fan, which is kind of loud. I bought a silent SFX L PSU yesterday with ATX backplate adapter, but the included cables were too short, I'm going to install it later today once I receive the ATX extension cable set from Amazon, so the entire system will be fanless and completely silent.
Got the ATX extension. Replaced the Raidmax RX-735AP 735W PSU with its loud fan and bright blue LED with a BeQuiet BN639 SFX 600W . My pfSense system now idles at just 36.5W and is now completely silent.
I also installed a PCI serial bracket to the motherboard. Have nothing to connect on the other end though, would need an extra serial port on one of my other PCs, USB is probably OK.
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@madbrain said in How to blank the screen to save power ?:
I do need the console.
Why is that? Most all things can be done via the webgui - most users never access the console ever, other than say install..
If you want to do cli based stuff - just ssh in.. why would you need something plugged into console/monitor port unless you were installing or something went horrible wrong?
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Two reasons. "something went horribly wrong" case is one where I would need the console. I'm still experimenting with pfsense.
I am also experimenting with opensense. I go back & forth between the too with a SATA hotswap bay and some low capacity SSDs.
The console is probably not a long term need though, hopefully once I settle in the need for it will be reduced/eliminated. But for now I still need it.
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@madbrain said in How to blank the screen to save power ?:
"something went horribly wrong" case is one where I would need the console
Couldn't you just then plug it in? I have been using pfsense really since it first came out, and I don't recall ever anything going wrong where I needed console. Not saying it can't, I might of had a remote update go belly up once - which is why I didn't do remote updates during covid and not able to be local, etc..
The console isn't all that different then just sshing in - which I do all the time.. The only time I ever plug in a console is so I can watch it upgrade, etc. Or I do a clean install.
My point is if your having some issue with the monitor turning on when you don't want, etc. Seems to me the simple solution would just not plug it in to pfsense. The odds of you actually needing console are really slim, gui is where you do all your config - and if you want to play on a "console" you can just ssh in, etc.
The only reason I am on ssh all the time, is running commands to to show users stuff, like how long unbound is been running, unbound control commands, which really could be done from the gui for most of the stuff. But I am a command line guy at heart, etc.
