(In reply to comment #40)
> (In reply to comment #39)
> > (In reply to comment #38)
> > > How to do dpms cycle ?
> > 
> > On the console, just wait for the screen to blank.  In X:
> > xset dpms force off
> > will force a dpms cycle.
> 
> That would valid if we were able to log in X. Is there a way to do it if we
> are still in the console?

I think you can adjust the console blanking with setterm.  Can you start X and
force a dpms cycle even if the screen is garbled?