This has been scratching my head for the last few months.
I think this has to do with Dolphin. When I have Dolphin running, the screen never goes into power save mode. But If I close it and wait ~15 minutes, the screen will go to sleep fine.
Here is my Power Management settings: https://ibb.co/swcddvN
Anyone know about this?
Anyone?
I did an exhaustive search via Google and Duck Duck Go and found nothing. Is there a reason to keep Dolphin open?
Regardless, maybe change this setting to the desired time instead of “Do Nothing”?
Search for “inhibit” in KDE Settings. Look for any settings that may be of relevance, like “Allow apps to inhibit sleep”.
If you see one specific to Dolphin or just something in general, turn it off.
It may be found under “Display” I think, but you can type “inhibit” in the search box.
Also, are you sure it’s Dolphin? Have you tested other apps, like your web browser?
Reason why I’m asking, because I couldn’t find anything elsewhere either.
Sometimes, I leave it on for no reason. I’d just forget to close it. And with Dolphin running, it somehow stops the screens from going into sleep mode.
I don’t want to suspend the session. I want to turn off the screens after X minutes. So with a shake of the mouse, the screens turn back on.
I typed “inhibit” nothing showed up.
Just a few minutes ago, my monitors went into safe mode. As it should.
I know it’s Dolphin, because it doesnt go to sleep when I have it open. If I leave the computer for ~20 minutes, the monitors never turn off. But without dolphin open, it does it fine.
I didn’t realize you had multiple monitors, since in your original post (as well as the thread title) you said “screen” and have since said “screens”. I tried on my PC (I only have one monitor) and it shut off as expected. Perhaps this is a multiple monitor issue as opposed to a Dolphin issue.
EDIT: Have you tried in both sessions, X and Wayland?
EDIT 2: Have you tried the Screen Locking option…
Dual screens has nothing to do with it.
The problem here is software bound, not hardware.
I am currently running Wayland. I haven’t run it in X.
I have screen locking disabled right now. I’m at home, not in an office setting. I’m not worried about anyone getting into my system.
Nothing, folks?
There is no solution, it seems. So report it to KDE or Arch.
Haven’t tested it myself, and it may not happen on my system since I have Dolphin installed, but I don’t have KDE.
It could well be a Dolphin + KDE issue.
You could test it yourself. Install a WM, like i3 or Openbox, log in, open Dolphin, and then leave it for a bit. Of course, with i3 or Openbox, you’d need to install the other packages that enable them to sleep. Check the Arch wiki for those.
Dolphin is a part of KDE. I’d really re-install if I could, but I plan to build a new system early next year.
So I’ll just install it on the new system.
KDe Forums isn’t helping me rn… Could be a fluke, who knows.
Yeah, I know. But you don’t need to install KDE to install Dolphin. Also, when not using KDE, there are sometimes benefits to that, while also having drawbacks.
For instance, I get to use Dolphin (the best file manager known to man), and I don’t have to worry that every KDE-related update may have a bug that will bork my system.
On the flip side, right now I am forced to use a light theme for Dolphin because no matter which dark theme I use, the text is also dark, which means I can’t see anything but thumbnails and icons. This has been my issue for the last 3 weeks.
Pros and cons.
Always 
