Re: X dies while I'm not looking...

[Tovar <tvr@usermail.com>]

    > Here is what syslog showed when it happened:
    > 
    > Apr  8 08:45:28 ludwig kdm[221]: Server for display :0 terminated unexpectedly: 1536
    > 
    > This is bizarre, and quite annoying.  I have no idea what could be causing
    > this.  Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
    > -- 
    Oh good, it isn't only me. ;-/
    When the screensaver activates X server dies.
    To kill it try:
    % xset s activate
    To avoid it getting killed:
    % xset s noblank

More to the point, from /var/log/xdm.log :

    Fatal server error:
    fbdevUpdateColormap: FBIOPUTCMAP failed (Function not implemented)


    When reporting a problem related to a server crash, please send
    the full server output, not just the last messages

    xdm error (pid 1347): Server for display :0 terminated unexpectedly: 1

You're right about the fix. I wonder if this just occurs with 'video=ofonly'
or it afflicts video cards operating in native mode as well.

Actually, if you're in the Western States and your display supports it,
PLEASE try turning on DPMS.  I'm currently using

        xset dpms 300 600 900
	xset s noblank
        xset s 800 900

The first line puts it into deeper power saving modes at 5, 10 and 15 
minutes.  The second two lines work around a bug in my display card 
which draws speckles on the screen in the third level of DPMS operation.
Test it first at 1/10 of the numbers to make sure it works for you.  You
can also include similar commands on your XF86Config file(s).

	                        -- Tovar