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[MattC]

Hi.  I have Lite 3.8 installed on my old Samsung NP-N110 laptop and it seems to work fine.  When I close the lid and reopen after a time, it asks for a password.  This is fine - although I can't figure out how to stop this - but when I enter the password, the screen goes blank and remains blank.  I am unable to do anything with it except for hitting the power button to shut it off.  It seems to close down OK, as when I hit the power button it chugs for a while then shuts down.

So if anyone has an answer to either of the following I'd be grateful:

1. How do I stop the p/w request from appearing when I've closed the lid for a time? (This is on mains as well as battery.)

2. What's happening and how do I prevent the blank screen after I've entered the p/w?

Thank you.

Matt

[Keith]

Hi Matt.

1. How do I stop the p/w request from appearing when I've closed the lid for a time? (This is on mains as well as battery.)

Have you set your PC to ask for a password at boot time?  If so then that might be the reason for requesting a pswd when you raise the lid after a while. 
As for item 2:  I can't help you with that - sorry. 

Keith

[MattC]

Although it is now asked at boot time, it hasn't been.

[Keith]

I'm not familiar with Lite but as it's based on Ubuntu you will probably be able to change to "auto login" by going to System-Settings/Details/Users (or the equivalent path in Linux Lite) and entering your password to unlock the switch. 
Let us know how you get on. 

Keith

[MattC]

Sorry, I obviously didn't make myself clear.  When the problem was first occurring, the system was set to auto-login.  I have since turned that off due to security, but the problem remains.  What I need to do is turn the pw-entry after opening the lid if this is going to be a persistent problem.

Matt

[Keith]

Have you tried altering the power settings so that it doesn't go into hibernate or sleep  mode when you close the lid?

Keith

[MattC]

In 'Power Management', 'General' tab, 'Laptop Lid' section, 'When laptop lid is closed:' is on 'Switch off display' on both batt and plugged.  In the 'System' tab, 'System power saving' section, batt and plugged are 'Suspend', inactive: never.  Is this what you were referring to?

Also, as aside, the numlock keeps turning on.  How do I get it to stay off on boot up?

Matt

[Keith]

In 'Power Management', 'General' tab, 'Laptop Lid' section, 'When laptop lid is closed:' is on 'Switch off display' on both batt and plugged.  In the 'System' tab, 'System power saving' section, batt and plugged are 'Suspend', inactive: never.  Is this what you were referring to?

Yes; that's what I meant.  You might be able to change the behaviour using one of those controls.

Also, as aside, the numlock keeps turning on.  How do I get it to stay off on boot up?

You might find an option in the BIOS to toggle the auto numlock.  If not then you could try using a Fn key command.  I found the following from https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/other-17/disable-numlock-on-startup-in-linux-lite/
Most laptops have a Fn key you can press in conjunction with other keys to turn off the NumLock feature. But the precise way to disable NumLock varies depending on your laptop model. The Number Lock indicator will light up when the NumLock is enabled and will be unlit whenever the NumLock is disabled. Here are the most common keyboard shortcuts to enable/disable NumLock:

Fn + F11 (Acer, Toshiba, Samsung)
Shift + Num Lock
Fn + Num Lock (Sony, Gateway)
Fn + F11 + Scroll lock
Fn + F8 (HP)
Ctrl + F11
Fn + Shift + Num Lock
Fn + F4 (Dell)
Fn + Nmlk (Lenovo, ASUS)

After pressing the keyboard shortcuts to enable the NumLock, press the shortcuts again and it will disable NumLock."

Fn+F11 works on my Lenovo Thinkpad as well as Fn + Nmlk. 

Keith

[MattC]

Thanks.

I've tried the various options and nothing seems to change. The screen blanks after closing the lid (which I have no problem with) and, after some time, the 'Enter PW' comes up.  I can't see anything else to change.  The system does not seem to lock itself into one state, as the options I set seem to stay set.

Thanks for the link re numlock.  Unfortunately, I have already tried all these options, as well.  There is an option for numlock state in the BIOS which is set to 'off', and the 'Restore Num Lock State on Startup' has been set to both with the same result, that of the numlock being 'on' at 'Enter PW', at boot up or on opening the lid.  Turning 'numlock' off is easy, but continually frustrating - particularly, considering I know it shouldn't be the case.

Any other suggestions would be appreciated.

Matt

[SeZo]

Not familiar with Lite, but I believe it uses XFCE, so you may have something similar to other users.

Have a look in Power Manager -> Security, see if Lock screen enabled when Screensaver is activated.

Also have a look at Screensaver settings, the lock might be initiated by that

[MattC]

Thanks SeZo,

Under the Security tab, the 'Automatic lock the session:' is set to 'When the screensaver is activated'.  (The other option is 'When the screensaver is deactivated'.)
The 'Delay locking after the screensaver for' = 1 second.
The 'Lock screen when system of going for sleep' is unchecked.

I don't know where to find the screensaver settings.  There're not in Power Management or Display, or any of the other settings that I can find.

Matt

[DavidMcCann]

I've just been trying Linux Lite. In the menu, the Settings - Power Manager tool has an option to disable locking the screen when blanking it. Evidently your version doesn't. Looking more closely, I see that the current version is 5.6 and you are using 3.8, so it seems that your problem was addressed. I also see that 3.8 is no longer supported — running an OS past the end-of-life is not generally a good idea and it also means that there are not many people who can help you, since they will have all moved on.

[MattC]

I've had a prompt to update the thread - thanks Keith.  I have got no further with the problems.  I needed the laptop to take away a few weeks ago, so I just worked around it, then.  Since then I haven't used it as such.  I did try asking the question on the Linux Lite Forum, but got a bit of a frosty response from the creator, I believe.  I think the reason was that 3.8 isn't supported now and he didn't want others helping me with an out dated OS.  (Understandable, to a point.)  It was also suggested that I update it to v5, but the laptop won't hold v5.

Thanks

[steve57]

If that had been me I would immediately be looking for an alternative distro, purely on principle. You simply went on a forum and asked a question, you didn't deserve any sort of "frosty" reception. Although I've not experienced it myself, some of the stuff I've seen written on forums I think is appalling. I wonder if this is the only response they can manage when they don't know the answer?

Anyway, now I've got that off my chest, what exactly do you mean by "the laptop won't hold v5"? Lack of RAM, lack of storage space, only 32 bit, processor not up to the job? Or something else? There's almost always an answer to any problem, we just have to find it.

Thanks

[Brian000]

Mattc & Steve57,

I agree...  so, without dwelling on other forums - welcome to a community that will try to help, regardless of warranty periods, etc 

Assuming you may be thinking to switch Distros, I've had quick poke about and found a few similar queries - people searching for a suitable distro. 
https://www.linux.org/threads/linux-on-samsung-nc110.27221/    this suggest that Lubuntu should be OK.

Unfortunately, the Lubuntu site is having issues so I couldn't confirm the requirements - but consider also searching for the N10 model too, which I understand has similar specs to your N110.

Not an endorsement - but I'm using Lubuntu at the moment, on my 2008 Toshiba (2gb, dual-core) - it can be slow but it's certainly functional, although I'm not a heavy desktop user!

Hope this helps,