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From: =?utf-8?Q?Dag-Erling_Sm=C3=B8rgrav?= <des@FreeBSD.org>
To: Frank Leonhardt <freebsd-doc@fjl.co.uk>
Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject: Re: Stop console going blank (if it is)
In-Reply-To: <c231768f-33fc-4a22-9587-0078f9c1d559@fjl.co.uk> (Frank
	Leonhardt's message of "Tue, 1 Oct 2024 10:31:55 +0100")
References: <c231768f-33fc-4a22-9587-0078f9c1d559@fjl.co.uk>
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Date: Wed, 02 Oct 2024 13:33:29 +0200
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Frank Leonhardt <freebsd-doc@fjl.co.uk> writes:
> I've just asked someone to plug in a monitor and send me a photo of
> the screen. "It's blank".

By default FreeBSD blanks the console after 300 seconds of inactivity.
You can disable this by adding `blanktime=3D"NO"` to /etc/rc.conf or
/etc/rc.conf.d/syscons.  If you can log into the machine remotely, you
can unblank it by typing `vidcontrol -t off </dev/ttyv0` in a root shell
(sudo won't work because you'd still be trying to open /dev/ttyv0 as
yourself before passing it to sudo).  Or ask the person who plugged in
the monitor to also plug in a keyboard and press any key, preferably
Shift or Ctrl as that won't actually do anything other than unblank.  If
it doesn't react to Shift or Ctrl then pressing Caps Lock or Num Lock
and checking if the corresponding LED lights up will let you know if at
least the kernel is still responding.

DES
--=20
Dag-Erling Sm=C3=B8rgrav - des@FreeBSD.org