Computer not following Power Management Settings

[drmdub]

I'm not sure if I'm even posting this in the correct spot, so if I'm not I apologize. I'm posting here because I'm almost positive this is a software problem.

For whatever reason, my Kubuntu (18.04) installation will not follow the power management setting's I've enabled. In other words, it won't blank the screen after the set 15 minutes, which leads to the monitors just staying on forever.

The only solution I've found so far that fixes this is a complete reboot. After which, the settings kick in fine for a few hours, and then it goes back to the screens staying on forever.

Now I've seen this before on other distros and DEs, but normally it's a certain app or maybe a browser tab that is keeping the screen on. That's not the case here as I've disabled every app that I've installed immediately after a fresh reboot, and it still does it. that includes apps that I have that run in the background like Albert and Plex Media Server.

I considered that this might be a hardware issue. Perhaps it was the external hard drive that kept the screen on. So I unplugged it, rebooted, and after the few hours that it worked properly, it went right back to ignoring the PM settings.

This started for whatever reason either after an update day or after I ran Bleachbit using standard settings (non sudo).

I really don't want to burn out my monitors, so if anyone has any clue as to how to either diagnose or fix this problem I'd appreciate it. I really hate the idea of having to switch to another distro. Kubuntu 18.04 has been so stable up until this problem.

[jglen490]

Two questions:
1) What were you trying to accomplish with Bleachbit?
2) Can you install the inxi command line application? If so, run inxi -Fxz in a konsole copy the output and place that in a code box in a reply to this thread (code box = "#" button in the reply tool bar).

[drmdub]

1. I used it as an alternative to apt autoclean, cleaned out Bash history and cleaned out everything from the Chromium cache. Also deleted temporary files. It's just easier for me to do it here as it's one stop instead of using commands and then using chrome to clear its cache.

2.

System:    Host: athena Kernel: 4.15.0-24-generic x86_64 bits: 64 gcc: 7.3.0           Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.12.6 (Qt 5.9.5) Distro: Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
Machine:   Device: desktop System: Hewlett-Packard product: p6754y serial: N/A
          Mobo: FOXCONN model: 2AB1 v: 1.00 serial: N/A BIOS: American Megatrends v: 6.05 date: 01/18/2011
CPU:       Quad core AMD Athlon II X4 640 (-MCP-) arch: K10 rev.3 cache: 2048 KB
          flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4a svm) bmips: 23999
          clock speeds: max: 3000 MHz 1: 800 MHz 2: 1800 MHz 3: 800 MHz 4: 1800 MHz
Graphics:  Card: NVIDIA GF119 [GeForce GT 610] bus-ID: 01:00.0
          Display Server: x11 (X.Org 1.19.6 ) drivers: nvidia (unloaded: modesetting,fbdev,vesa,nouveau)
          Resolution: 1920x1080@60.00hz, 1920x1080@60.00hz
          OpenGL: renderer: GeForce GT 610/PCIe/SSE2 version: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 390.48 Direct Render: Yes
Audio:     Card-1 NVIDIA GF119 HDMI Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 01:00.1
          Card-2 Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] SBx00 Azalia (Intel HDA)
          driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:14.2
          Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture v: k4.15.0-24-generic
Network:   Card-1: Ralink RT3090 Wireless 802.11n 1T/1R PCIe driver: rt2800pci v: 2.3.0 bus-ID: 02:00.0
          IF: wlp2s0 state: down mac: <filter>
          Card-2: Realtek RTL8101/2/6E PCI Express Fast/Gigabit Ethernet controller
          driver: r8169 v: 2.3LK-NAPI port: e800 bus-ID: 03:00.0
          IF: enp3s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 5001.0GB (46.4% used)
          ID-1: /dev/sda model: WDC_WD10EADS size: 1000.2GB temp: 35C
          ID-2: USB /dev/sdb model: My_Book_1230 size: 4000.8GB temp: 0C
Partition: ID-1: / size: 388G used: 41G (12%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda5
RAID:      No RAID devices: /proc/mdstat, md_mod kernel module present
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 32.5C mobo: N/A gpu: 0.0:65C
          Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info:      Processes: 225 Uptime: 1 day Memory: 5930.7/16040.8MB Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Gcc sys: 7.3.0
          Client: Shell (bash 4.4.191) inxi: 2.3.56

[GreyGeek]

...
I really don't want to burn out my monitors, ....

Unless you are using 20+ year old monitors or CRTs there's not much chance of doing that. LCD's use a white backlight and filters to produce images, and they are not susceptible to image burn. Not even image persistence is a problem these days.

Take a look at the panel at the bottom of your Kubuntu desktop. While the rest of the screen changes constantly because of the various apps you use, the bottom panel does not. My laptop is on 10-12 hours per day, yet I do not see any image burn or image persistence with that panel. At times I've left it on all weekend while running a task that took a long time (checking the 256GB USB Sticks that Amazon sold me for $27 They were phony and Bezos gave me a refund) and no burn or persistence was noted.

If I left this Acer V3-771G on for 24/7/365 showing the same screen I wouldn't be concerned with image burn or persistence. Nor would I be concerned with pixel burnout. The hardest thing you can do to your computer is turn it on or turn it off.

[drmdub]

One of them is an OLED, so the burn-in is an issue, though not much. Mostly I don't like them on because they are in my bedroom, which means I have a built-in night light unless I turn them off manually