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Xfce Screensaver
- Building & Installation – Instructions for building and installing the screensaver.
- DBUS Interface – Interacting with the screensaver via DBUS.
- Frequently Asked Questions – Diagnose and resolve configuration issues.
Introduction
Xfce Screensaver is a screen saver and locker that aims to have simple, sane, secure defaults and be well integrated with the desktop.
This project is a port of MATE Screensaver, itself a port of GNOME Screensaver.
It has been tightly integrated with the Xfce desktop, utilizing Xfce libraries and the Xfconf configuration backend.
Features
- Integration with the Xfce desktop
- Support for the xdg-screensaver standard
- (optional) Integration with ConsoleKit and Systemd
- DBUS interface for limited control and querying screensaver status
- Idle time and inhibition state are based on the X11 Screensaver extension
- No GNOME or MATE dependencies. Requirements are lightweight and shared with Xfce.
Usage
The application combines two functions: a screensaver that blanks the screen or fills it with images when the computer is idle; a locker that provides session security.
Screensaver preferences |
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Enable Screensaver
- This is the master switch for the screensaver. Note that the screensaver will not actually run unless activation has been enabled at the bottom of the tab.
Theme
- The middle box consists of two parts: a list panel on the left and a small preview screen.
- The list panel displays available themes (also called “screensavers”). At the bottom of the list panel there is a small configuration button that can be clicked to change available theme traits.
- A full-screen preview can be seen by clicking the Preview button at the bottom of the tab.
- Only a small number of themes are available by default. But Xfce Screensaver uses Xscreensaver-compatible screensavers, and collections of such screensavers (xscreensaver-data, xscreensaver-gl, etc.) can usually be installed separately from the main Xscreensaver package.
- For troubleshooting information about themes, consult the FAQs.
Activate screensaver
- Click the slider to activate the screensaver when the computer is idle.
- Use the counter below the slider to set the time interval after the last screen activity before the computer is considered “idle.”
Lock Screen (Locker) |
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Enable Lock Screen
- This is the master switch for the locker. This also integrates with Xfce4 Power Manager, which can be launched using the button at the bottom of the tab.
- Note that the locker will not automatically run unless at least one activation listed below has been enabled, although manual locking remains available.
Lock Screen with Screensaver
- User has the option to decide how long the screensaver should run before the screen is locked.
Lock Screen with System Sleep
- Enable to allow Xfce4-screensaver to put the system to sleep (suspend).
On Screen Keyboard
- Enabling this triggers an on-screen keyboard for login. The keyboard’s visibility before the screen was locked is remembered; a small toggle on the right end of the login screen can be used to restore visibility if required.
- The command and any options to activate an installed on-screen keyboard may be entered in the command box. For example: onboard -e needs to be used to activate the onboard keyboard, if installed.
Session Status Messages
- When enabled, status messages will be shown despite the locked state.
Logout
- Enable to use Xfce4-screensaver to log out.
- Enter any required command, and use the counter below the slider to set the time interval before logout.
User switching
Latest Release
0.1.8 (2019/08/11)
Source code repository
Reporting Bugs
If you are experiencing a bug in xfce4-screensaver
, your way of helping things getting fixed is to report a bug about it in Xfce GitLab. Please note that to do this you will need to have / create an account.
Report a new bug
If your bug has not been reported before, please submit a new bug report.
When writing your bug report, try to be as descriptive as possible, but avoid verbosity; Mozilla has a nice guide on how to write a bug report.
For more information, see Bug Reporting and Fixing.
File a new bug or enhancement request
Open Bugs
Here's a list (updated daily) of open bug reports with the date that bug was reported in parenthesis.
- Lockscreen multi-monitor displaying desktop contents (2024/04/02 16:44)
- allow rescanning fingerprint without having to press escape twice (2024/03/10 20:11)
- Exclude slideshow screensaver from random option during locker (2024/02/03 15:41)
- Option to ignore input for a set amount of time after activating (2024/01/27 19:50)
- Unable to create new xfce4-screensaver entry with arbitrary Exec path (2024/01/02 21:00)
- Suggestion for enhancement on D-bus interface (2023/11/22 09:05)
- xfce4-screensaver doesn't honor "loginctl unlock-session" (2023/11/21 23:24)
- xfce4-screensaver crash allowing unlock without password (2023/11/21 22:09)
- Show unlock dialog on all monitors (2023/10/11 18:59)
- [Feature Request] Setting to allow media keys (2023/09/27 18:24)
- Does not re-engage DPMS if unlock dialog not triggered (2023/08/01 16:16)
- [feature request] Integration with xfce4-notifyd (2023/07/30 12:21)
- build: Improve PAM prefix handling or remove it (2023/03/14 21:37)