Finally I got it to work.
Thanks a lot everyone for the help!!

How did you get it solved? I wish to know.

Gigsvoo,

I installed the xscreensaver as you said, but I did not get it to work at first. Then I remembered that I was not supposed to be logged in as root, which I was not on the machine but on the shell. So in the shell I logged out and as my normal user I could start it.

But I am a bit disappointed with it. I have to log out from the shell everytime and start this xscreensaver dialoge box everytime I wish to use it. It would have been easier with just a "lock screen" button or something.

thanks again!

Which window manager you are running? KDE or GNOME?

If you are using KDE prior 3.0.4, this is a bug where neither you are a root (0) or user (500), this is a non-working xscreensaver where you can see the preview but the screensaver never starts but give you a blank screen.

If you are running GNOME, root is not allow to do so, by design this is for security purpose, dun ask me why simply this is my scar.

Gigsvoo

I am using KDE, but which version I do not know. The "lock console" is working but when I always have to log out as root to start it, it is a bit annoying. I do all my configurations as root. And I want to have this lock to keep my noosy colleague out from my computers when I am not around...

To find out which version of KDE, just do this if you are using RPM:

$ rpm -qa | grep kde*

then there will be a list of KDE related files/packages, see from there maybe pick "kde-base"?

Gigsvoo

My KDE-base says 3.0.3-77

You need either 3.0.4 or 3.0.5, which are stable release. Otherwise wait till 3.1 release.

Make sure you read enough to install.

Gigsvoo

This came with the suse 8.1 software. How do I upgrade? Is it really worth it? What happens with my configurations if I upgrade the KDE

I would suggest logging in as a user, then "su" to do root stuff. If you need a GUI to configure things, just start the app and if you need to be root it should prompt you for the password.

KaktusKnight,

This is from my experiences. I first had Redhat 8 installed shipped with KDE 3.0.3 (same as yours), then I went to KDE.org website, downloaded KDE 3.0.4-1 with all the RPMS that needed (your case I m not sure whether SuSE runs RPMS)?

Just run the command # rpm -Uvh *.rpm under the directory that stores my RPMS. For God bless, so far have not had lost any KDE configurations that I previously run on KDE 3.0.3. But nevertheless, if your distro may have different layout of KDE with Redhat, then some features may removed or some additional features added. Make sure you read the change log at KDE.org.

Also, I did the same thing on KDE 3.0.4

Good luck man and Merry X'mas!

I am currently using SUSE 8.0 and have experienced times when my computer will not lock without logging out and back in again. I was able to solve this problem by running top when I can't lock my screen. I search for Kdesktop using top (it is running under my own login). The process Kdesktop is always running when I cannot lock my screen. In order to correct, I simply just have to kill the Kdesktop process.

Gigsvoo,

I am not concerned about KDE configurations. I am worried that my apache-, tomcat-, and ‘engine’ configurations will be messed up. I have noticed that files change locations and names only when I am upgrading from one SUSE distribution to another. Also it is a bit different between the different distributions too.

But perhaps upgrading KDE do not make changes to my configurations at all? Weather SUSE 8.1 runs with RPMs I do not know, but I am not really using the KDE so very much. I do all my configurations in the shell. I start my apache, tomcat and ‘engine’ in the shell too.



slick185a
I have managed to start the xscreensaver. I just have to make sure I open a new shell as my normal user, which I am logged in as, and then I type
xscreensaver-command –lock
as some kind soul told me and the screensaver and lock is working..

Bulliver
Perhaps I was unclear, but I am never logged in as root on the machine, only in the shell when I am working.

I understand the concern, so far from my experiences there are no problem with Konsole.

Gigsvoo

Thanks again and MERRY XMAS!!