Medley prevents monitors from sleeping in Windows 11 Pro host

[Michele31415]

Describe the bug
Run WSL. Run medley in WSL. Your monitors will no longer go to sleep after the screensaver timeout set in the host..

Expected behavior
Monitors should sleep even though the host CPU isn't sleeping.

Screenshots
If applicable, add screenshots to help explain your problem.

Context (please complete the following information):

• OS:Windows
• OS Version11 Pro
• Host arch: x86_64]
• Maiko version: [e.g. commit ID from git log | head]
• IL:MAKESYSDATE: [ date ]

[masinter]

microsoft/wslg#380
"Displays do not go to sleep when WSLg is enabled after unlocking Windows lock screen using modifier key (such as left-ctrl) "

is still Open. The discussion points to reasons and a work-around. This belong in the Medley "Running on Windows with WSL" page though.

[Michele31415]

I have no lock screen enabled. Just moving the mouse wakes up the displays. Putting the entire computer in hibernate mode is not an option since I have other programs that need to continue running even though the displays are blanked.

[rmkaplan]

I did an experiment on the Mac (M2 Air) to see whether there is power drain when Medley is running and the system goes to sleep.

So:

3 Medley's running, disconnect power, leave it alone for eight hours. Battery went from 100% to 81%.

No Medley's running, disconnect power, leave it alone for eight hours. Battery still went from 100% to 81%.

Medley itself appears to be a good citizen (although I did not stop the X server (XQuartz).

[masinter]

when PR #948 is merged, you can set your IDLE.PROFILE to have a LOGOUT after N minutes of idle.
Then medley won't be running. I have that set, and my screens blank, but the machine doesn't sleep and it used to (even with medley was running!).

My impression is that lots of random things can cause your machine not to sleep, and that figuring out which one is affecting any particular situation is hard.
if you run WSL and don't start medley, will it sleep? Is this just the display or do you really mean "sleep"? If you run medley and then quit medley, does it sleep then?

[Michele31415]

if you run WSL and don't start medley, will it sleep?
Yes.
Is this just the display or do you really mean "sleep"?
It's just the display. The screen goes black and the backlight shuts off but the PC continues to run.

If you run medley and then quit medley, does it sleep then?
Yes.

[nbriggs]

Medly does nothing special to prevent the system from sleeping, so I’m not sure what more we could do.

[masinter]

if you run xterm and leave that running... does it turn off the monitor then?
if you run xclock?

if those sleep OK and Medley doesn't,

Try (SETQ BACKGROUND-YIELD (ITIMES BACKGROUND-YIELD 10))

[Michele31415]

I didn't even need to run any X app. Just opening an X server (lxde in this case since startx wouldn't start x) caused the monitors to stay awake. So Nick is, of course correct. This seems to be a Windows X problem. Lisp in Solaris does not have this problem.

I tried saying xset s blank in WSL before running startlxde but that didn't help.

I tried setting the prefs for screensaver inside lxde. Using "blank" or a random screensaver in lxde does kick in after the timeout, but it runs on the entire display, not just inside the lxde window. And PC windows that have the "stay on top" property are not blanked.

I tried using "No screensaver" in lxde. That resulted in the monitors not blanking. I'm about out of ideas.

[masinter]

The X server doesn't run in WSL. It runs in Windows. WSL is a different virtual machine with its own Ethernet MAC and IP address. When I start WSL it sets DISPLAY and so on. How you start the X server depends on what X server you have installed on the Windows side.

[masinter]

web site running on windows mentions problem and offers a solution (actually needs PR #948 )

[Michele31415]

The X server I'm using in Windows is VcXsrv. Just starting xlaunch.exe in Windows does not prevent the monitors from sleeping. Just starting wsl does not prevent the monitors from sleeping. But as soon as I run startlxde from a wsl prompt, the monitors no longer sleep.

Do you have a link to this web site?