screen turns off after 20 minutes even when playing in fullscreen

After a little fiddling, I've discovered that gnome-screensaver is turning the screen off. This is despite the fact that totem is running in full screen, and despite the fact that the screensaver has been disabled ("Regard the computer as idle after: is set to "2 hours" , and "Activate screensaver when computer is idle" is unchecked.

Also, in gnome-power-manager, "Put display to sleep when inactive for:" is set to never.

I've determined this by running a video for 20 minutes without touching the mouse and noticing that the monitor goes to sleep kicks in.
I then ran "killall gnome-screensaver" and ran the video again. This time the monitor did not turn off.

A workaround seems to be to running the following two commands:
gconftool-2 -s -t boolean /apps/gnome_settings_daemon/screensaver/start_screensaver false
killall gnome-screensaver

Thank you for your bug. Do you use totem-gstreamer or totem-xine? Could you run dbus-monitor and note if there is any signal received when totem is switched to fullscreen mode then?

totem-gstreamer 2.18.0-0ubuntu2

I'll collect the dbus data shortly.

I ran dbus-monitor and logged its output. I then ran totem and instructed it to go full screen, then normal, then back and forth.

"method call sender=:1.43 -> dest=:1.40 path=/org/gnome/ScreenSaver; interface=org.gnome.ScreenSaver; member=Inhibit
   string "Totem"
   string "Playing a movie""

totem does its job, looks like a gnome-screensaver bug then

It's back!

Compiz set to 'none'. Fully updated 7.10. Screensaver set to 1 minute (I'm testing) with random visual.

Playing dvd with latest VLC player. 'Disable Screensaver' check box ticked.

After 10 minutes (exactly - measured) the screen goes blank. Can be repeated at every attempt.

The good news is I can turn Compiz 'Visual Effects' to 'Extra' and get the same effect.

I had this problem as well in Gutsy. I am running with an ATI Radeon X200 mobile chipset. I recently hosed my system and needed to reinstall. I installed the proprietary drivers from the restricted drivers manager but I have NOT enabled desktop effects again.... NOW the problem is NON-Existent I believe that the screensaver/power settings are being turned off by Compiz or are otherwise being disturbed in some form or way. I am sorry that I can't give any more info but it has to be the effects or a combination of the driver/effects. hopefully this will help the devs...

This problem does not exist in Hardy Heron beta

I got kubuntu 8.04 installed and get the same problem. First the screen-saver starts. If I disable the screen-saver then after 20 min. the screen turns off. I'm running Totem Movie Player 2.22.1. using xine-lib version 1.1.11.1.
If I run kaffeine I don't have this problem.

I'm playing '"mkv" movie with Totem 2.24.3 (Gstreamer 0.10.21, Ubuntu Intrepid 8.10). About for 20 minutes the movie hang up, but if I click the timeline the movie continues. Another problem. the "mkv" movie discursive when heavy movement.

as a more permanent workaround, one could rename /usr/bin/totem and place a script in its place, that disables the screensaver when totem is run.. such as the following (it's really simple, i'm sure there's a better way):

#!/bin/bash
# Assuming totem was renamed totem1, waits for gnome-screensaver to be killed, opens totem and waits for exit, then it runs the screensaver again
killall gnome-screensaver && totem1 $@ ; gnome-screensaver

Hi,
i just installed ubuntu of my girlfriend's pc, because i try to convince her to use it (she has xp...).
The problem is that pc go to sleep while she is watching fullscreen flash videos.

I remember that i had this problem a long time ago on ubuntu (on my pc) and i think this is more than a "low" issue.
After a search on internet, i didn't found any other fix than running a command or clicking on an applet to inhibit the screensaver EACH TIME i want to see a fullscreen video.

I don't want to be rude but ubuntu want to be a perfect linux desktop and this bug is really annoying for non-geek people.
Ubuntu has to be capable on running fullscreen videos / flash videos without disturbing the user. I mean, it need to be automatic because the argument "On windows, i can watch my videos quietly" is stronger than anything else.

BTW, her pc is running an up-to-date maverick. Do i need to report something ?

Either way i dont think you need to write the whole story like this in a bug report. Who cares what your girlfriend says, if she wants to go back to windows, let her.

There is a workaround, little applet called caffeine. It can automatically disable power saving features when watching a video, flash, etc. Try it.

Yes, you're right. I already knew the workaround.
Anyway, do you think this workaround sound anything like a solution ? i mean, this is a serious bug. New users do really need to seek for this workaround before to appreciate viewing fullscreen videos ?
This is a common task, like surfing with firefox or chatting with empathy.
I hope you'll fix it one day.

right, I also used to have this bug, but now I cannot reproduce it.

Totem should correctly disable gnome-screensaver in current releases of Ubuntu. I am closing this bug.

Please feel free to open a new bug if this issue can be reproduced with a current version of Ubuntu.

The bug seems to be back in GNOME 3, with no way to disable the screen saver.

I'm having this problem on LMDE, but only when I run without compiz. When I use compiz the screen stays on and turns off like ti should.

I am running Kubuntu Precise beta 64bit with the 3.2.0-22 generic kernel on an Acer 7739-6830 which uses an Intel HD3000 graphics chip. I do not have screen saver activated, and powersave is off. I do not use sleep or hibernation, but both are set to power down this laptop. Regardless of what I am doing or what app is open, if any, after about 5 minutes of no mouse movement the screen goes black.

I've tried "seterm" and "xset" to no avail.