erict@flatline.UUCP (eric townsend) (04/28/88)
More silly questions that I couldn't find a quick and easy answer to: 1. Any simple way to make an on/off switch for the monitor? I get tired of using the little wheelie-dealie to postpone terminal phosphor-burn. (I'm *not* going to experiment on *my* machine, dammit. :-) 2. Problem: the Sys V ver 3.0 manuals, for all intents and purposes, suck. Any good suggestion as to a companion set of manuals that give better explinations in more detail? I like the Motorola 5.2 or so manuals... the big 8.5x11 monsters. But those cost ~$150. 3. Anybody know of "The Right Uses" for the mouse buttons? I figured that B1 meant 'what ever is under the pointer', and B2 *should* be 'list of commands related to active window', but what about B3, B1+B2 and B2+B3? email me, and I'll summarize if I feel like it.... -- Just another journalist with too many spare MIPS... "The truth of an opinion is part of its utility." -- John Stuart Mill J. Eric Townsend ->uunet!nuchat!flatline!erict smail:511Parker#2,Hstn,Tx,77007
loci@killer.UUCP (Chuck Brunow) (04/29/88)
In article <585@flatline.UUCP>, erict@flatline.UUCP (eric townsend) writes: > > More silly questions that I couldn't find a quick and easy answer to: > > 1. Any simple way to make an on/off switch for the monitor? I get tired > of using the little wheelie-dealie to postpone terminal phosphor-burn. > (I'm *not* going to experiment on *my* machine, dammit. :-) I like the name "wheelie-dealie", but more to the point if you want someone else to experiment with YOUR machine, send it up here and I'll do it for you. ;-) > > 2. Problem: the Sys V ver 3.0 manuals, for all intents and purposes, suck. > Any good suggestion as to a companion set of manuals that give better > explinations in more detail? I like the Motorola 5.2 or so manuals... > the big 8.5x11 monsters. But those cost ~$150. I was very pleased with the (v2) manuals: they're just like the version 7 manuals that i originally learned unix from. I can't understand why you don't like them. I agree that it doesn't come easy, but you have lots of functionality, and that much power just can't be summarized adequately. I know from my own experience that the manuals are adequate to learn the system. And i know that manual writing is very hard. > > 3. Anybody know of "The Right Uses" for the mouse buttons? I figured that > B1 meant 'what ever is under the pointer', and B2 *should* be 'list I think your problems are caused by UA. I don't use it, and many stuff is nice to "wow" visitors, but it's not really useful. > J. Eric Townsend ->uunet!nuchat!flatline!erict smail:511Parker#2,Hstn,Tx,77007 Charles Brunow clb@loci.UUCP
pjh@mccc.UUCP (Pete Holsberg) (04/29/88)
In article <585@flatline.UUCP> erict@flatline.UUCP (eric townsend) writes:
...
...More silly questions that I couldn't find a quick and easy answer to:
...
...1. Any simple way to make an on/off switch for the monitor? I get tired
...of using the little wheelie-dealie to postpone terminal phosphor-burn.
...(I'm *not* going to experiment on *my* machine, dammit. :-)
Pop into PREFERENCES - Office, I believe, and you will find a built-in
screen blanker. Just provide the time interval and the rest is automatic.
...2. Problem: the Sys V ver 3.0 manuals, for all intents and purposes, suck.
...Any good suggestion as to a companion set of manuals that give better
...explinations in more detail? I like the Motorola 5.2 or so manuals...
...the big 8.5x11 monsters. But those cost ~$150.
Try "UNIX Sys V Bible" From SAMS & Co., or "A User Guide to the UNIX
System" from Osborne/McGraw-Hill.pjc@pcbox.UUCP (Paul J. Condie) (04/30/88)
In article <585@flatline.UUCP> erict@flatline.UUCP (eric townsend) writes: > >More silly questions that I couldn't find a quick and easy answer to: > >1. Any simple way to make an on/off switch for the monitor? I get tired >of using the little wheelie-dealie to postpone terminal phosphor-burn. >(I'm *not* going to experiment on *my* machine, dammit. :-) > Select Preferences then Office in your Office Menu, and set the "Turn Screen Off" to number of seconds. (screen saver) >3. Anybody know of "The Right Uses" for the mouse buttons? I figured that >B1 meant 'what ever is under the pointer', and B2 *should* be 'list >of commands related to active window', but what about B3, B1+B2 and B2+B3? > Again, page 2-20 of Owners Manual o The left button, B1, acts like the Enter key. It is used for selecting objects and commands .... o The middle button, B2, acts like the Cmd key. It is used for displaying the Commands menu or options windows. o The right button, B3, acts like the Mark key. It is used for selecting and marking multiple objects that will be affected by the next command.
roger@marque.mu.edu (Roger Abrahams) (04/30/88)
In article <605@mccc.UUCP> pjh@mccc.UUCP (Pete Holsberg) writes: <In article <585@flatline.UUCP> erict@flatline.UUCP (eric townsend) writes: <... <...More silly questions that I couldn't find a quick and easy answer to: <... <...1. Any simple way to make an on/off switch for the monitor? I get tired <...of using the little wheelie-dealie to postpone terminal phosphor-burn. <...(I'm *not* going to experiment on *my* machine, dammit. :-) < <Pop into PREFERENCES - Office, I believe, and you will find a built-in <screen blanker. Just provide the time interval and the rest is automatic. < Sorry, but the screen blanker is a feature of versions 3.50 and later. There is a man page in the 3.0 distribution, but the command is missing. - Roger
pjh@mccc.UUCP (Pete Holsberg) (05/02/88)
In article <107@marque.mu.edu> roger@marque.UUCP (Roger Abrahams) writes:
...Sorry, but the screen blanker is a feature of versions 3.50 and later. There
...is a man page in the 3.0 distribution, but the command is missing.
... - Roger
Too bad. But why haven't you (he?) upgraded to 3.5 or 3.51 yet??? :-)jon@jonlab.UUCP (Jon LaBadie) (05/02/88)
In article <107@marque.mu.edu>, roger@marque.mu.edu (Roger Abrahams) writes: > Sorry, but the screen blanker is a feature of versions 3.50 and later. There > is a man page in the 3.0 distribution, but the command is missing. > - Roger The capability was present in 3.0 software also. I stumbled across it while reading some header files (window.h). To demonstrate, the little program that follows (screen_saver.c) would document your PC's ability to timeout the screen. Be sure to read the HOWEVER after the program if you are using 3.0. ------------------------------------------ #include <sys/window.h> #define DFLT_SEC (600) #define STDOUT (1) main(argc, argv) int argc; char **argv; { int new_seconds, old_seconds; if ( argc == 1 || (new_seconds = atoi(argv[1])) == 0 ) new_seconds = DFLT_SEC; old_seconds = ioctl(STDOUT, WIOCSCR, new_seconds); printf("Set screen saver to %d seconds, ", new_seconds); printf("old setting was %d seconds.\n", old_seconds); return (old_seconds == -1) ? -1 : 0; } ---------------------------------- However!!! The reason no one was told of this little goodie, is the presence of a hardware?/software? problem on some early PC's. It seems that if the screen was left blanked for a long time (long being about 1 to 2 hours on the machine I was using), the keyboard would die. I guess it was lonely or something. Anyway, the only way to get the system back was to reboot. I believe that remote operations continued to operate, only the console died. If you are using 3.0 (WHY?) try the screen saver program above. Leave the screen blanked overnight. If the keyboard is active in the morning, you've got a screen saver. Jon LaBadie {ihnp4, ulysses, ihnp4}!jonlab!jon
wtm@neoucom.UUCP (Bill Mayhew) (05/02/88)
One may do screen blanking via the software. This feature became
available with relase 3.0 of the Unix PC software (not to be
confused with Sys V, r3!!). To quote from scrset(1):
scrset(1)
Name: scrset - set screen save time
Synopsis: scrset { n }
Description: Scrset enables and disables the screen save feature.
When enabled, this feature causes the screen to go blank after a
given interval of time has elapsed with no keyboard or mouse input;
the next keystroke or mouse motion restores the screen display.
This is a new feature of the UNIX PC 3.0 release.
The parameter n, if greater than 0, is the number of seconds to
delay before turning off the screen. N equal to 0 turns off the
screen save feature (this is the default condition). If n is less
than 0, the screen is immediately turned off.
----
Here are two limitations I've found. Software writing to a
currently visible window doesn't reset the timeout, thus if one is
passively watching the screen, an occasional mouse movement is
needed. Limitation two is that the keyboard unblanking requires
pressing one of the typable keys. Just a shift or alt is not
picked up, thus a careless operator might be apt to enter an
untentional keystroke by lingering on the key too long or whatever.
Limitation two really is nitpicking.
----
As for switching the monitor off; I would have desired being able
to switch it off when the 3b1 is going to be unattended for long
periods of time. We have had several of our terminals here at work
develop shorted horitonal drive cooupling capacitors in the CRT.
In one case it caused a minor non-serious fire in the monitor.
Since my 3b1 is at home, and nobody is there to keep an eye on it
about 18 hours out of the day, I took the liberty of connecting the
12 volt power input through a toggle switch that I installed on the
bottom of the monitor case. Naturally, I waited until the warranty
expired before I attacke the computer. I switch the monitor off
while I am at work. Since the monitor 12 volt power comes from the
computer power pack, switching the monitor off also cuts down on
the heat inside the computer. (The monitor draws about 1 amp.)
My next hardware project that is in the planning stages is to
instll an air flow sensor on the fan that will permanantly cut 110
volt input. Right now, if the fan fails, the power supply will
overhead and trip a thermal sensor; when the power supply cools
down after a few minutes, the computer comes back on. The repeated
on-off cycle plays hell with fsck and tends to scramble the disk.
It also doesn't prevent the plastic case from warping due to the
heat.
--Bill