[SOLVED] xscreensaver keeps turning off monitor -current.

Gordie · 03-27-2023, 10:45 PM

I used the search function of this forum to find this thread. For the past couple of weeks this problem has been making me crazy. From the looks of things this is not a rare or isolated situation.
My first try to regain control over my screensavers was to uninstall the XFCE Screensaver and then to Blacklist it but that was not effective for me. The reply to this thread from elcore proved to be the answer. I made the change to my system that elcore recommended and rebooted to the last few hours of trouble free computing

henca · 03-28-2023, 01:05 AM

Another thing to look at is the file /etc/X11/app-defaults/XScreenSaver, it has some lines which might looks something like this:

Code:

*dpmsEnabled:           False
*dpmsQuickoffEnabled:   False
*dpmsStandby:           2:00:00
*dpmsSuspend:           2:00:00
*dpmsOff:               4:00:00

Those lines can be tinkered with to choose if and when xscreensaver should shut down the monitor with dpms. Unfortunately, every now and then the xscreensaver package gets updated and those updated xscreensaver packages will overwrite any customizations of /etc/X11/app-defaults/XScreenSaver. There is also a file ~/.xscreensaver, but adding customizations to that file means that you will have to customize files in the home directory of every user.

regards Henrik

metaed · 03-28-2023, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by henca

Unfortunately, every now and then the xscreensaver package gets updated and those updated xscreensaver packages will overwrite any customizations of /etc/X11/app-defaults/XScreenSaver. There is also a file ~/.xscreensaver, but adding customizations to that file means that you will have to customize files in the home directory of every user.

Local customizations that you want set for every user can also be loaded from an arbitrary file during session standup, using xrdb.

henca · 03-30-2023, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by metaed

Local customizations that you want set for every user can also be loaded from an arbitrary file during session standup, using xrdb.

Thanks for that tip, it really works great!

Instead of modifying /etc/X11/app-defaults/XScreenSaver I have now created a file /etc/X11/xinit/.Xresources with the following contents:

Code:

*dpmsEnabled:           True
*dpmsStandby:           0:10:00
*dpmsSuspend:           0:20:00
*dpmsOff:               0:30:00
*unfade:                False
*dateFormat:            %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S
*newLoginCommand:       /opt/tde/bin/tdmctl reserve

The above lines contain my prefered dpms settings, no slow unfade for quick unlock, a date/time format which is prefered here in Sweden and my fix to allow new sessions with tdm (TDE is a fork of KDE3 which still includes a good login manager).

The file /etc/X11/xinit/.Xresources is not only called from my local installation of /opt/tde/share/config/tdm/Xsession but also from standard files in Slackware like /etc/X11/xinit/xinitrc (for those using startx) or /etc/X11/xdm/Xsession (for those using xdm).

regards Henrik