i've been trying to get xdm to display an alternative background image because the one that comes with Debian sucks.

in the Xsetup file i have a line:

xsetbg -shrink /etc/X11/xdm/picture.jpg &

this will not work.

i can run xinit then run the above command and it works. it just won't work for xdm for some reason. i keep getting this god awful cross hatches.

i also tried using xli which does the same thing, it actually just makes the background white instead, but won't display the image.

Anybody have any suggestions?

Thanks.

Ive forgotten how to set an image background for xdm, but recently had it running with a screensaver background, maybe you want to try it. Just put:

/usr/X11R6/lib/xscreensaver/yourfavoritescreensaver -root &

in Xsetup

could someone try the xsetbg for me.

In Debian, you need to make sure the xloadimage package is installed.

Edit the /etc/X11/xdm/Xsetup and/or Xsetup_0 file(s) and put something like:

/usr/bin/xsetbg /path/to/image/image.jpg &

this will not work for me, and i want to pimp out the login screen, however i don't wanna clog up my box with all the Gnome stuff..

thanks much..