setterm -blank 0. To make this setting permanent, just add it to your .xsession file in your home directory.

To disable X-Server screen blanking:

xset s off

To make this setting permanent, just add it to your .xsession file in your home directory.

Turning off PING reply:

PING ( Packet Internet Groper ) is a service used most commonly to figure out the network status of your machine. Many a time the useful service provided by it could be used for a D.O.S. (Denial Of Service) attack against you.

A simple 'echo 1 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/icmp_echo_ignore_all' will do the trick. To turn it back on, simply 'echo 0 > /proc/sys/net/ipv4/icmp_echo_ignore_all' to turn off the service.

Killing a Virtual Console without rebooting:

Log in as root, type 'lsof /dev/ttyx' where the 'x' in /dev/ttyx is the terminal number of the hung virtual console. This will show you the process that occupies this tty. Kill it and the getty process for that virtual console should respawn.

That's all for now. We will keep you all posted as and when we find some more good tips to add to this list. By the way, do mail us your tips and we will include them in here.