screensaver doesn't work in Mint7

KlausG · 05-31-2009, 06:29 PM

Hello,
coming from mint 6, i migrated successfully to Mint 7 (Gloria)
Great OS.
The only problem is that the screensaver will not activate itself.
I am using Gnome screensaver and it worked fine in Mint 6 with the same settings (afaik) as i am using now in Mint7.

It probably is a trivial thing, but can't figure it out. Has anyone any ideas or even the same problem?
Thx in advance.

KlausG

jamescondron · 05-31-2009, 07:36 PM

What does

Code:

 gnome-screensaver-preferences

Do for you? This should bring up the configuration dialog. Also, try running

Code:

 gnome-screensaver

And see if you get the error message

Code:

jc@jcmain:~$ gnome-screensaver

** (gnome-screensaver:24789): WARNING **: screensaver already running in this session

KlausG · 06-01-2009, 03:12 AM

Thx for ur reply.
Yes, this is what i get as well.
But the interesting thing is that after i close firefox, the screensaver works fine. This was not the case in mint 6. There i could have left it open and the screensaver would have kicked in anyway.
In other words as long as the browser is open, the computer is not considered as being 'idle'? (where it says: “activate screensaver when computer is idle”)
Is this a bug in Mint7? (which i can hardly imagine, but anyway)
Any ideas?
Thx again.
Regards
KlausG

rikxik · 06-01-2009, 06:20 AM

Start firefox in safe mode:

Code:

firefox -safe-mode

This will start a firefox session with all add-ons disabled (temporarily). Just keep one single tab open (say, www.google.com). Then see if it makes any difference.

If your screensaver kicks-off, then the culprit is some add-on. Identify the issue by disabling them one by one and retrying.

If your screensaver stil refuses to kick-of, check $HOME/.xsession-errors (I can't remember the filename exactly).

You can also kick-off firefox with -console option for debugging info. Also check the /var/log/syslog & /var/log/messages + any gnome-screensaver specific logs (if any).

You may also want to find out if you can start gnome-screensaver with some debug flag on.

Can't think of anything else

KlausG · 06-02-2009, 02:50 AM

thx alot for answering.
As a music lover i tend to have the webradio running in the background while i am working. The screensaver in Mint6 worked just fine while the application in FF was on, but in Mint7 that is not the case.
Apparently in Mint7 the computer is not being considered 'idle' while the webradio is on.
I found out by testing various possibilities. It's no real problem of course, but at least now i know that it doesn't concern a major flaw.
I still think Mint7 is a great OS.
Thx again.
regards
KlausG

rikxik · 06-03-2009, 12:19 AM

Good to know that you put in some effort in testing and isolated the issue and didn't just shout "Mint 7 is crap!!!"

I'm not sure if this issue qualifies as a bug - you may consider logging it as a bug report anyway (if only to get some feedback/wider opinion).

KlausG · 06-04-2009, 04:20 AM

thx for ur recommendation and reply.
Someone else recently also mentioned the streaming 'problem'.
But honestly, i already feel like a nitpicker with this trivial item. Therefore i will not report it as a bug, the OS is too good to mention this as a real problem that needs to be fixed. If others read this topic (again) it maybe helpful as it is.
My workaround is initiating the 'preview' of the screensaver for as long as needed.
I am still glad having decided to use Linux. :-)

regards
KlausG