Subject: Enable mouse to disable screen
To: NetBSD mailing list <port-i386@netbsd.org>
From: Yasir Malik <ymalik@cs.stevens.edu>
List: port-i386
Date: 12/27/2005 10:16:48
Hi all,

When I have my laptop plugged in and the screen grays out, I am able to 
use my MS Basic Optical Mouse to re-enable the screen.  However, when I am 
running on my battery and the screen turns off, I cannot use the mouse to 
re-enable the screen.  I can use the keyboard, however.  Also, using the 
mouse does not effect whether the screen turns off.  I am running apmd(8). 
Please note that when I am running on battery, the screen never grays out. 
How can I have the mouse re-enable the screen?  I am still running NetBSD 
2.0_BETA.

I have tried running screenblank(1), but this does not do anything; maybe 
it's because I don't have the correct frame buffer device, but I can't 
find any frame buffer device in dmesg.  I am not sure if "disabling" the 
framebuffer is the same as turning off the screen, and if isn't, I don't 
think screenblank(1) would work anyway.

I asked this question before as part of other mouse related questions, and 
I was told by someone to add the mouse to the BIOS.  I did not know how to 
do this, and out of embarrassment, I didn't ask how.  Back then the screen 
turning off wasn't so much of a problem, but now since I working on a 
curses program now, it is.  I guess the thing to do would be to add the 
mouse as one of the devices for apmd to monitor, but I can't find any 
documentation on this.

Thanks,
Yasir