I cannot disable screen blanking with MagicMirrorOS

[smegbadger]

Hi

I am running MM via MagicMirrorOS on a RPi4B with an RPi monitor in portrait. I use MMM-Universal-Pir to turn the screen on and off during the day (with wlr-randr commands) which works great but the screen switches off for good overnight, the PIR cannot wake it up. I have disabled Screen Blanking with raspi-config but that makes no difference.

If I run wlr-randr in the labwc container (access via docker exec -it labwc bash) I normally get (some resolutions removed for brevity):

HDMI-A-1 "Raspberry PI RPI MON156 81005568472 (HDMI-A-1)"
  Make: Raspberry PI
  Model: RPI MON156
  Serial: xxxxxxxxxxxx
  Physical size: 350x190 mm
  Enabled: yes
  Modes:
    1920x1080 px, 60.000000 Hz (preferred, current)
...
    640x480 px, 59.939999 Hz
  Position: 0,0
  Transform: 90
  Scale: 1.000000
  Adaptive Sync: disabled

However, once the display has gone to sleep that same wlr-randr command gives

failed to connect to display

this make me feel it is something in the docker set up but i see nothing in the docker logs

Note that I also have RANDR_PARAMS="--output HDMI-A-1 --transform 90" in the .env file to rotate the display at boot.

Cheers
Steve

[karsten13]

@smegbadger said in I cannot disable screen blanking with MagicMirrorOS:

@karsten13 thank you for all the effort you are putting into this issue.

Well, it is a pleasure to have such a good tester as you

I agree, let’s go back to the version that will kill and restart the container if the display doesn’t respond to wlr-randr (and then waits for a MMM-Universal-Pir cycle to sleep it again).

for now I did exactly this, but this issue is still working in my brain …

So to revert all the changes done before:

cd /opt/mm
git switch master
git pull

Change the images back to latest in .env:

MM_IMAGE="karsten13/magicmirror:latest"
LABWC_IMAGE="karsten13/labwc:latest"

Get new images and restart:

cd /opt/mm/run
docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

Last point: You should add the --transform 90 to the onCommand of the MMM-Universal-Pir config:

                {
                        module: "MMM-Universal-Pir",
                        position: "top_right",
                        config: {
                                deactivateDelay: 30000,
                                onCommand: "wlr-randr --output HDMI-A-1 --transform 90 --on",
                        }
                }

[sdetweil]

@smegbadger have you turned off screen blanking on the docker host? ubuntu or whatever owns the actual display?

[smegbadger]

Hi

I don’t know where that would be. The RPi boots to a login prompt. Then docker takes over and launches MM in electron. There is no GUI for me to fiddle with

Steve

[sdetweil]

@smegbadger @karsten13 will have to advise

[karsten13]

@sdetweil

the setup is “Raspberry Pi OS Lite” with the normal docker setup and an additional labwc container

@smegbadger

I have no idea what is happening. Sounds like the monitor totally cuts the connection to the pi after a while.

Maybe this post contains something helpful.

What is your wlr-randr command for waking up?

[sdetweil]

@smegbadger if you stop mmos does the screen still turn off overnight?

[smegbadger]

@sdetweil I stopped docker at 9:30 last night with docker compose down leaving the screen at the magicmirror login prompt. This morning the screen was still showing the login prompt . MM was reinstated perfectly with docker compose up -d --force-recreate. @karsten13 I notice there are now four objects that start:

[+] Running 4/4
 ✔ Network magicmirror_default  Created                                                                            0.1s
 ✔ Container mm                 Started                                                                            0.9s
 ✔ Container init               Started                                                                            1.0s
 ✔ Container labwc              Started                                                                            1.0s

Steve

[karsten13]

@smegbadger

the 4 objects are o.k., one network and 3 containers (init is only for setting correct permissions in the mount folders, it runs for a very short time, you can disable it in the .env file if wanted).

Question: When the failed to connect to display occurs, how do you get the screen back working? Is a docker rm -f labwc && docker compose up -d sufficient or a docker compose up -d --force-recreate? Or do you have do reboot? Or do you switch the monitor off and on?

Other idea is to implement a wlr-randr call every 30min. in the labwc container.

[smegbadger]

@karsten13 i have disabled the init container as suggested.

When the display fails I can get it back with docker rm -f labwc && docker compose up -d (docker compose up -d --force-recreate also works but docker compose up -d on it’s own doesn’t). I am running it today with the MMM-Universal-Pir module disabled as another test (although when sitting at a login prompt it never went off).

Note that the display fails after a few hours of no PIR trigger, it doesn’t have to be overnight.

Steve

[karsten13]

@smegbadger said in I cannot disable screen blanking with MagicMirrorOS:

I can get it back with docker rm -f labwc && docker compose up -d

so restarting only the labwc container solves the problem …

I will try to build a labwc container which executes wlr-randr e.g. every 30min. so we can see if this helps.

[karsten13]

@karsten13 said in I cannot disable screen blanking with MagicMirrorOS:

I will try to build a labwc container which executes wlr-randr e.g. every 30min. so we can see if this helps.

you can now test with a new labwc container which does the wlr-randr call every 15min. but I’m not sure this helps …

For testing change this line in the .env file

LABWC_IMAGE="karsten13/labwc:develop"

and then do a docker compose pull && docker compose up -d

[smegbadger]

@karsten13 unfortunately that change did not prevent the display from dropping. There’s no time timestamp in the docker logs for labwc but when i looked this morning there were some 40 calls to wlr-randr that had failed. If they are every 15mins that’s about 10:00 it failed. I will make a more accurate observation tonight

[karsten13]

@smegbadger

unfortunately that change did not prevent the display from dropping

I expected this already …

can you post the exact error message of wlr-randr when it fails?

Other point: What happens if you disable MMM-Universal-Pir for a test? Are you still getting the errors or does mm runs correctly over night?

[karsten13]

for testing I added wlopm to the current mm-develop docker image.

So for another test use this lines in the .env file

MM_IMAGE="karsten13/magicmirror:develop"
LABWC_IMAGE="karsten13/labwc:develop"

Then change the on/off commands in the config.js

                        module: "MMM-Universal-Pir",
                        position: "top_right",
                        config: {
                                onCommand: "wlopm --on HDMI-A-1",
                                offCommand: "wlopm --off HDMI-A-1",
                        }

and then do a docker compose pull && docker compose up -d

[smegbadger]

@karsten13 I left it running overnight with the MMM-Universal-Pir config lines commented out and the monitor physically switched off and this morning MM was still working fine when I switched the monitor back on again. When I looked at docker logs labwc the wlr-randr command was failing (still being triggered every fifteen mins) which suggests the connection between the MMM-Universal-Pir and the display driver is the issue rather than the display actually going off. I will try your new build today although i will have to add --transform 90 to the onCommand to get my screen rotation.

magicm@magicmirror:/opt/mm/mounts/config $ docker logs labwc
HDMI-A-1 "Raspberry PI RPI MON156 81005568472 (HDMI-A-1)"
  Make: Raspberry PI
  Model: RPI MON156
  Serial: 81005568472
  Physical size: 350x190 mm
  Enabled: yes
  Modes:
    1920x1080 px, 60.000000 Hz (preferred, current)
    1920x1080 px, 60.000000 Hz
    1920x1080 px, 59.939999 Hz
    1920x1080 px, 50.000000 Hz
    1920x1080 px, 48.000000 Hz
    1920x1080 px, 47.952000 Hz
    1280x720 px, 60.000000 Hz
    1280x720 px, 60.000000 Hz
    1280x720 px, 59.939999 Hz
    1280x720 px, 50.000000 Hz
    1280x720 px, 48.000000 Hz
    1280x720 px, 47.952000 Hz
    720x576 px, 50.000000 Hz
    720x480 px, 60.000000 Hz
    720x480 px, 59.939999 Hz
    640x480 px, 60.000000 Hz
    640x480 px, 59.939999 Hz
    640x480 px, 59.939999 Hz
  Position: 0,0
  Transform: 90
  Scale: 1.000000
  Adaptive Sync: disabled
failed to connect to display
failed to connect to display
failed to connect to display
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failed to connect to display
failed to connect to display
failed to connect to display
failed to connect to display
failed to connect to display
failed to connect to display
failed to connect to display
failed to connect to display
failed to connect to display
failed to connect to display
failed to connect to display
failed to connect to display
failed to connect to display
failed to connect to display
failed to connect to display
magicm@magicmirror:/opt/mm/mounts/config $ docker exec -it labwc bash
pi@c7c64f70849e:/$ wlr-randr
failed to connect to display
pi@c7c64f70849e:/$

Steve

[smegbadger]

@karsten13 my apologies, I see the transform is not needed as you have taken the rotation into account

[smegbadger]

@karsten13 the display failed today as before but we have timestamps in the labwc docker logs

magicm@magicmirror:~ $ docker logs labwc
00:00:00.000 [INFO] [seatd/seat.c:48] Created VT-bound seat seat0
00:00:00.000 [INFO] [seatd/seatd.c:194] seatd started
00:00:00.052 [INFO] [seatd/server.c:145] New client connected (pid: 17, uid: 1000, gid: 1000)
00:00:00.052 [INFO] [seatd/seat.c:239] Added client 1 to seat0
00:00:00.052 [INFO] [seatd/seat.c:563] Opened client 1 on seat0
00:00:00.120 [ERROR] [EGL] command: eglQueryDeviceStringEXT, error: EGL_BAD_PARAMETER (0x300c), message: "eglQueryDeviceStringEXT"
00:00:00.120 [ERROR] [EGL] command: eglQueryDeviceStringEXT, error: EGL_BAD_PARAMETER (0x300c), message: "eglQueryDeviceStringEXT"
executing: wlr-randr --output HDMI-A-1 --transform 90
Sat Mar 29 08:14:25 UTC 2025
HDMI-A-1 "Raspberry PI RPI MON156 81005568472 (HDMI-A-1)"
  Make: Raspberry PI
  Model: RPI MON156
  Serial: 81005568472
  Physical size: 350x190 mm
  Enabled: yes
  Modes:
    1920x1080 px, 60.000000 Hz (preferred, current)
    1920x1080 px, 60.000000 Hz
    1920x1080 px, 59.939999 Hz
    1920x1080 px, 50.000000 Hz
    1920x1080 px, 48.000000 Hz
    1920x1080 px, 47.952000 Hz
    1280x720 px, 60.000000 Hz
    1280x720 px, 60.000000 Hz
    1280x720 px, 59.939999 Hz
    1280x720 px, 50.000000 Hz
    1280x720 px, 48.000000 Hz
    1280x720 px, 47.952000 Hz
    720x576 px, 50.000000 Hz
    720x480 px, 60.000000 Hz
    720x480 px, 59.939999 Hz
    640x480 px, 60.000000 Hz
    640x480 px, 59.939999 Hz
    640x480 px, 59.939999 Hz
  Position: 0,0
  Transform: 90
  Scale: 1.000000
  Adaptive Sync: disabled
Sat Mar 29 08:29:25 UTC 2025
HDMI-A-1 "Raspberry PI RPI MON156 81005568472 (HDMI-A-1)"
  Make: Raspberry PI
  Model: RPI MON156
  Serial: 81005568472
  Physical size: 350x190 mm
  Enabled: yes
  Modes:
    1920x1080 px, 60.000000 Hz (preferred, current)
    1920x1080 px, 60.000000 Hz
    1920x1080 px, 59.939999 Hz
    1920x1080 px, 50.000000 Hz
    1920x1080 px, 48.000000 Hz
    1920x1080 px, 47.952000 Hz
    1280x720 px, 60.000000 Hz
    1280x720 px, 60.000000 Hz
    1280x720 px, 59.939999 Hz
    1280x720 px, 50.000000 Hz
    1280x720 px, 48.000000 Hz
    1280x720 px, 47.952000 Hz
    720x576 px, 50.000000 Hz
    720x480 px, 60.000000 Hz
    720x480 px, 59.939999 Hz
    640x480 px, 60.000000 Hz
    640x480 px, 59.939999 Hz
    640x480 px, 59.939999 Hz
  Position: 0,0
  Transform: 90
  Scale: 1.000000
  Adaptive Sync: disabled
  
  ...
  
Sat Mar 29 13:14:26 UTC 2025
HDMI-A-1 "Raspberry PI RPI MON156 81005568472 (HDMI-A-1)"
  Make: Raspberry PI
  Model: RPI MON156
  Serial: 81005568472
  Physical size: 350x190 mm
  Enabled: yes
  Modes:
    1920x1080 px, 60.000000 Hz (preferred, current)
    1920x1080 px, 60.000000 Hz
    1920x1080 px, 59.939999 Hz
    1920x1080 px, 50.000000 Hz
    1920x1080 px, 48.000000 Hz
    1920x1080 px, 47.952000 Hz
    1280x720 px, 60.000000 Hz
    1280x720 px, 60.000000 Hz
    1280x720 px, 59.939999 Hz
    1280x720 px, 50.000000 Hz
    1280x720 px, 48.000000 Hz
    1280x720 px, 47.952000 Hz
    720x576 px, 50.000000 Hz
    720x480 px, 60.000000 Hz
    720x480 px, 59.939999 Hz
    640x480 px, 60.000000 Hz
    640x480 px, 59.939999 Hz
    640x480 px, 59.939999 Hz
  Position: 0,0
  Transform: 90
  Scale: 1.000000
  Adaptive Sync: disabled
Sat Mar 29 13:29:26 UTC 2025
failed to connect to display
Sat Mar 29 13:44:26 UTC 2025
failed to connect to display
Sat Mar 29 13:59:26 UTC 2025
failed to connect to display
Sat Mar 29 14:14:26 UTC 2025
failed to connect to display
Sat Mar 29 14:29:26 UTC 2025
failed to connect to display
Sat Mar 29 14:44:26 UTC 2025
failed to connect to display
Sat Mar 29 14:59:26 UTC 2025
failed to connect to display
Sat Mar 29 15:14:26 UTC 2025
failed to connect to display
Sat Mar 29 15:29:26 UTC 2025
failed to connect to display
Sat Mar 29 15:44:26 UTC 2025
failed to connect to display
Sat Mar 29 15:59:26 UTC 2025
failed to connect to display
Sat Mar 29 16:14:26 UTC 2025
failed to connect to display

There's also a new item in the `mm` docker logs when I restarted the docker containers on my return
Gdk-Message: 16:25:24.348: Error reading events from display: Broken pipe
[entrypoint 16:25:25.533] [INFO]   ***WARNING*** could write to /etc/localtime
[entrypoint 16:25:25.539] [INFO]   copy default modules
[entrypoint 16:25:25.603] [INFO]   copy css files

Steve

[karsten13]

@smegbadger

I build another new labwc image. You can revert the changes done to MM_IMAGE and the on-/offCommand in your setup.

The new karsten13/labwc:develop now runs labwc with pid=1 (I thought that was already the case) and additionally kills labwc if the wlr-randr command fails with failed to connect to display.

Now the container will restart if labwc is terminated inside the container. This does not address the root issue but should be a good workaround (hopefully).

So please do again a docker compose pull && docker compose up -d to get the latest changes …

[smegbadger]

@karsten13, thank you for this. It worked well overnight last night. One question: when the wlr-randr command fails, the labwc container is then killed and then automatically restarts - will the screen be turned on then until the next PIR activity and subsequent timeout of MMM-Universal-Pir?

Steve

[karsten13]

@smegbadger said in I cannot disable screen blanking with MagicMirrorOS:

the labwc container is then killed and then automatically restarts - will the screen be turned on then until the next PIR activity and subsequent timeout of MMM-Universal-Pir?

yes, I tested this by killing and restarting the labwc-container from outside.

Not nice but I have no idea how to solve this.