Specifying folder for screensaver to pull pictures from
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Distribution: Dabble, but latest used are Fedora 13 and Ubuntu 10.4.1
Posts: 425
Rep:
Specifying folder for screensaver to pull pictures from
I am running Fedora 10 with Gnome interface. I have several folders in my /home/<user>/Pictures directory, and I want the screensaver option under System>Preferences>Look and Feel>Screensaver>Pictures to use only one or two of the folders in there, not all of the folders.
How do I specify, or limit, where the screensaver program looks for photos to display in Gnome?
This depends on what versions you are running, but on my system you go to the folder/file:
/usr/share/applications/screensavers/personal-slideshow.desktop
And edit the line which says "Exec=slideshow" - shown below:
Code:
[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Pictures folder
Comment=Display a slideshow from your Pictures folder
Exec=slideshow
TryExec=slideshow
StartupNotify=false
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=GNOME;Screensaver;
OnlyShowIn=GNOME;
X-Ubuntu-Gettext-Domain=gnome-screensaver
Change it to this:
Code:
[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Pictures folder
Comment=Display a slideshow from your Pictures folder
Exec=slideshow --location=/home/<user>/Pictures
TryExec=slideshow
StartupNotify=false
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Categories=GNOME;Screensaver;
OnlyShowIn=GNOME;
X-Ubuntu-Gettext-Domain=gnome-screensaver
--------------------------
Well, I just tried my above and it didn't work. Seem that the file I edited gets re-written every time you select a new screensaver. I'll figure it out. Eventually.
Last edited by moxieman99; 05-25-2009 at 10:48 AM.
Do you have a file in your home-directory called .xscreensaver? I think some versions of gnome-screensaver reads this file, this is where I changed my slideshow prefs the last time I did it. There should be an option called "imageDirectory: /home/<user>/Pictures".
Do you by any chance have a folder called "/usr/share/backgrounds"? I've also seen Fedora users reporting that they remove the pictures in this folder, and symlink to their own backgrounds-folder from this folder. Not sure which version of Fedora they were using, though.
I've been working some time with this myself to make it work, and it really made me question the thought the Gnome developers had when they swapped a perfectly working screensaver interface (xscreensaver) with their own, (and IMHO limited, at best) interface. Seems like a bad idea to change something that works, if you ask me...
For me, the solutions have changed as I upgraded my system, now I am using the folder "/usr/share/wallpapers", which is a symlink to my pictures archive. This also seems to be the folder CentOS uses. I do not have a Fedora 10 system here, so I cannot verify if these are the correct folders for you, but one of them might provide you with a solution..
Distribution: Dabble, but latest used are Fedora 13 and Ubuntu 10.4.1
Posts: 425
Original Poster
Rep:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Retrievil_Knievil
Do you by any chance have a folder called "/usr/share/backgrounds"? I've also seen Fedora users reporting that they remove the pictures in this folder, and symlink to their own backgrounds-folder from this folder. Not sure which version of Fedora they were using, though.
I've been working some time with this myself to make it work, and it really made me question the thought the Gnome developers had when they swapped a perfectly working screensaver interface (xscreensaver) with their own, (and IMHO limited, at best) interface. Seems like a bad idea to change something that works, if you ask me...
For me, the solutions have changed as I upgraded my system, now I am using the folder "/usr/share/wallpapers", which is a symlink to my pictures archive. This also seems to be the folder CentOS uses. I do not have a Fedora 10 system here, so I cannot verify if these are the correct folders for you, but one of them might provide you with a solution..
Really like your tagline, btw
Right now I am searching for the "Cosmos" app to find out where it gets its pictures from and then maybe find out where the screensaver triggers Cosmos. If I can find that, and where its pictures are, then maybe I can backdoor where screensaver options get set for the Pictures folder.
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