Ubuntu – How to prevent the screens from turning off, when the screen is locked

There are multiple different layers, that influence the behavior of the monitor. To completely disable any suspension of the monitor you need to disable it in every of those layers:

1. layer: virtual consoles

Sets the interval of inactivity, in minutes, after which the screen will be automatically blanked:

setterm -blank 0

Sets the VESA powerdown interval in minutes:

setterm -powerdown 0 

2. layer: X

Turn the screen saver function off. The s option lets you set the screen saver parameters.

xset s off

Disable DPMS if enabled:

xset -dpms

To find out which values are set type xset -q in a terminal. A part of the output should look like this:

Screen Saver:
  prefer blanking:  yes    allow exposures:  yes
  timeout:  0    cycle:  0

and this:

DPMS (Energy Star):
  Standby: 0    Suspend: 0    Off: 0
  DPMS is Disabled

3. layer: Last but not least; the application layer (XScreenSaver)

xscreensaver-demo

Choose Disable Screen Saver:

And deactivate screensaver in System Settings -> Brightness & Lock (depends on your desktop environment):

Turn screen of when inactive for: Never

If you need or want a solution that prevents the screen to fall asleep, but that does dim/lock the screen after a while, there is another solution: instead of the system's own dim/lock option, use the script below to run in the background. You will need to install xprintidle.

How to set up:

• Disable all dim / lock options in System Settings. (In Brightness & lock AND in "Energy" settings)

• install xprintidle:

  sudo apt-get install xprintidle
  

• Find your screen name; run in a terminal:

  xrandr
  

  Look for the name in the line where it says "connected". Your screen name could be for example VGA-1 or DVI-I-1.

• Copy the script below, set the correct screen_name, the idle time before it should lock/dim the screen, and paste it into an empty file. Save it aslock_dim.py

The script

#!/usr/bin/env python3

import subprocess
import time

seconds = 600 # number of seconds to wait before lock/dim the screen
screen_name = "DVI-I-1" # example, replace it with your screen's name

awake = True

while True:
    curr_idle = subprocess.check_output(["xprintidle"]).decode("utf-8").strip()
    if awake == True:
        if int(curr_idle) > seconds*1000:
            command1 = "gnome-screensaver-command -l"
            command2 = "xrandr --output "+screen_name+" --brightness 0.1"
            subprocess.call(["/bin/bash", "-c", command1])
            subprocess.call(["/bin/bash", "-c", command2])
            awake = False
        else:
            pass
    elif awake == False:
        if int(curr_idle) > seconds*1000:
            pass
        else:
            command3 = "xrandr --output "+screen_name+" --brightness 1"
            subprocess.call(["/bin/bash", "-c", command3])
            awake = True
    time.sleep(2)

Test the script by opening a terminal and type:

python3 /path/to/lock_dim.py

If it works as you like, add it to your startup applications: Open Dash > "Startup Applications" > "Add", add the command:

python3 /path/to/lock_dim.py