How to add screensavers to ubuntu 12.04
How do I configure the screensaver in Ubuntu? I can see that gnome-screensaver is running.
3 Answers 3
Starting with 12.04, Ubuntu doesn’t ship with any screensavers, just a black screen that appears when your system is idle. If you’d rather have screensavers, you can swap gnome-screensaver for XScreenSaver.
Screensavers were actually removed back in Ubuntu 11.10. Ubuntu uses gnome-screensaver and inherited the change from upstream GNOME. The GNOME developers think a black screen that puts your monitor into lower-power mode is optimal.
Installing XScreenSaver
Open a terminal and run the following command to uninstall gnome-screensaver:
Install XScreenSaver and some additional screensaver packages with the following command:
Configuring your screensaver
After installation, perform a search in the Dash for Screensaver. Launch the Screensaver utility and use it to configure XScreenSaver and select your screensaver settings.
The Screensaver utility will prompt you to stop the gnome-screensaver process and launch the xscreensaver background process when you start it.
By default, XScreenSaver will choose a random screensaver each time it starts. You can specify the screensavers it chooses from or enable “Only One Screensaver” mode to always use your favorite screensaver.
Adding to Startup
To actually use the screensavers, you’ll want XScreenSaver to start in the background each time you log in. If it doesn’t start, it can’t notice your system is idle and launch screensavers.
Get started by launching the Startup Applications utility from the Dash. Add a startup program with the following command. The name and comment here can be anything you like:
Reverting Your Changes
Reverting these changes is simple. Just run these commands to uninstall XScreenSaver and reinstall gnome-screensaver:
I want to change the default screen saver in Ubuntu 11.10/12.04. On 11.04 I just did a
And then I could change it in the control center -> screen saver options.
Now there seems to be no other option to change the default screen saver.
5 Answers 5
Background
The Gnome 3 Devs dumped the old gnome-screensaver . The replacement screensaver is just a blank screen.
The Canonical Devs thought it was a useful idea to continue and raised a blue-print for implementation in Oneiric.
A few ideas were raised such as a Compiz specific implementation or reusing a Lubuntu/Xubuntu screensaver implementation.
However, at the time of writing, no implementation has been started.
XScreenSaver
installation
Potential workaround – installing xscreensaver
Now remove gnome-screensaver
Now start the xscreensaver configuration tool – from a terminal:
or search from the Dash:
Click OK to both prompts asking to turn-off Gnome Daemon and to start xscreensaver-daemon respectively.
starting xscreensaver from login
Now to start the xscreensaver daemon on login you need to search in Dash for startup applications
Create a new entry running the command xscreensaver -nosplash
Locking the screen
If you want to manually lock the screen with the keyboard combination CTRL + ALT + L then you will need to run the following to repoint the old gnome-screensaver lock to xscreensaver
Logout or reboot for all changes to take effect.
When you install or upgrade to Ubuntu 12.04, you’ll notice that screensaver has been removed. Now a blank (dark) screen will kick in when your computer is idled. In previous versions of Ubuntu, when your computer becomes idled, a screensaver will start and begin displaying different patterns on your display. Not anymore. If you want to add or enable screensaver package in 12.04, then you must continue below to learn how to do it.
Enable Screensaver in Ubuntu 12.04 (Precise Pangolin)
To get started, press Ctrl – Alt – T on your keyboard to open terminal. When it opens, run the commands below to remove gnome-screensaver package.
Next, run the commands below to install xscreensaver packages
Next, run the commands below to create xscreensaver autostart file.
Then copy and paste the lines into the file and save it.
Restart and you’re done. To customize how often it launches, open Dash and search for screensaver, then open it and configure your settings.
Ubuntu 12.04 doesn’t ship with any screen savers, just a black screen that appears when your system is idle. If you’d rather have screensavers, you can swap gnome-screensaver for XScreenSaver.
Screensavers were actually removed back in Ubuntu 11.10. Ubuntu uses gnome-screensaver and inherited the change from upstream GNOME. The GNOME developers think a black screen that puts your monitor into lower-power mode is optimal.
Installing XScreenSaver
First, fire up a terminal from Ubuntu’s Dash.
Next, run the following command to uninstall gnome-screensaver:
sudo apt-get remove gnome-screensaver
Install XScreenSaver and some additional screensaver packages with the following command:
sudo apt-get install xscreensaver xscreensaver-data-extra xscreensaver-gl-extra
Configuring Your Screensaver
After installation, perform a search in the Dash for Screensaver. Launch the Screensaver utility and use it to configure XScreenSaver and select your screensaver settings.
The Screensaver utility will prompt you to stop the gnome-screensaver process and launch the xscreensaver background process when you start it.
By default, XScreenSaver will choose a random screensaver each time it starts. You can specify the screensavers it chooses from or enable “Only One Screensaver” mode to always use your favorite screensaver.
XScreenSaver doesn’t embrace gnome-screensaver’s minimalism — many XScreenSaver screensavers offer a large amount of options you can tweak by clicking the Settings button.
Adding to Startup
To actually use the screensavers, you’ll want XScreenSaver to start in the background each time you log in. If it doesn’t start, it can’t notice your system is idle and launch screensavers.
Get started by launching the Startup Applications utility from the Dash.
Add a startup program with the following command. The name and comment here can be anything you like.
Replacing Lock Screen
Unity calls gnome-screensaver when you click the Lock Screen option in the system menu or use the Ctrl+Alt+L keyboard shortcut. To lock your screen with XScreenSaver, you can create a custom keyboard shortcut that calls XScreenSaver instead.
First, open the Keyboard utility from the Dash.
Click the Shortcuts tab, select the Custom shortcuts section, and click the + button. Specify the following command for your custom shortcut:
Click the word “disabled” after creating your custom shortcut and key in your desired keyboard shortcut when the words “new accelerator” appear – Ctrl+Alt+L is the default shortcut that locks your computer. If you use the default combination, you’ll be prompted to reassign it away from the default gnome-screensaver shortcut.
Use the keyboard shortcut whenever you want to lock your system. Unfortunately, the Lock Screen option in Unity’s system menu doesn’t work with XScreenSaver.
Reverting Your Changes
Reverting these changes is simple. Just run these commands to uninstall XScreenSaver and reinstall gnome-screensaver:
sudo apt-get remove xscreensaver xscreensaver-data-extra xscreensaver-gl-extra
sudo apt-get install gnome-screensaver
If you reassigned the Ctrl+Alt+L keyboard shortcut, go back into the Keyboard configuration window, delete your custom shortcut, and reassign Ctrl+Alt+L to the Lock screen option under System.
Ubuntu’s developers plan on writing a new screensaver system to replace gnome-screensaver and adding it to Ubuntu by default. In the future, installing XScreenSaver will not be necessary.
My Ubuntu 12.04 doesn’t have classic screensaver. I noticed that developers removed it from compilation. There is only gnome-screensaver but I don’t know how to configure/use it. I decided to install screensaver in Ubuntu 12.04. So first you have remove gnome-screensaver package from the system:
After it you have to install xscreensaver package with additional packages:
That’s all! Now you need configure the screensaver. Go to the Applications -> System Tools -> Preferences -> Screensaver and you will see this window:
Now we need to do one thing – force Ubuntu use xscreensaver when we lock the screen. So go to System Settings -> Keyboard -> Shortcuts tab. Go to section “System” and find there “Lock screen”. Change the shortcut from “Ctrl +Alt + L” into some different shortcut, eg. Shift + Ctrl + Alt + L. Be sure that this shortcut doesn’t used in any other function. When you do it, go to section “Custom shortcuts” and add new one. In the “Name” field type any name eg. Xscreensaver, in the “Command” field type:
Now just click on “Disabled” next to your new shortcut and press Ctrl + Alt + L. After restart Ubuntu when you will press Ctrl + Alt + L
you will lock the screen and start the screensaver.
Screensavers are a computer program which comes up when your computer sits idle, it could blank the screen or fill it with moving patterns or images. The main aim of screensavers was to put a limit phosphor burn-in on CRT and plasma computer screens that’s why called Screensavers. With advanced technology and modern monitors, screensavers are not used for that purpose now, however, it is set up to give a fundamental layer of security, by asking password to access the device again. Some people also use screensavers for entertainment, provide either static or real-time information and more.
You get to apply screensavers on Windows, Mac but not Ubuntu. If you are an Ubuntu user, then you must know that the screen comes up blank as a screensaver. This is because, in the recent past, post GNOME 3, the developers chose to abandon the screensaver, keep screen blank instead.
Although, people who have been using Linux for a long time, knows about xscreensaver which exists for some time. Xscreensaver has cool hacks for a screensaver, yes you heard it, right?
In this post, we have listed steps to install or change the screensaver in Ubuntu 16.04, 18.04, 18.10, despite the support for the same is not provided anymore.
How to Install Screensaver in Ubuntu?
You need to run a set of commands in order to install xscreensaver in Ubuntu 16.04, 18.10, 18.04. Follow these steps:
Step 1: Launch terminal
Step 2: Install the packages by executing the commands below:
sudo apt-get install xscreensaver xscreensaver-gl-extra xscreensaver-data-extra
Step 3: In order to remove the GNOME screensaver, you need to type in the below command
sudo apt-get remove gnome-screensaver
Start The Screensaver via AutoStart
If you want to start the screensaver on its own, you need to add a command in startup applications.
Note: Open the startup applications via dock search.
You need to click on Edit and then on the following window, type Xscreensaver beside Name.
Type in the command: xscreensaver -nosplash beside the command box.
Image credit:
How To Configure
You need to follow these steps to configure.
Step 1: Locate your screensaver using application menu or dock search once the installation is completed.
Step 2: Now you can stipulate the timings of screensavers along with customizing several other settings in the meantime.
That’s it! Now, you can get rid of your black and boring screensaver as now you know how you can install or change screensaver on your Ubuntu desktop. If you have any issues while following these steps, mention it in the comments section below.
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This basic guide would help you to install, change and autostart screensavers in Ubuntu.
Screensavers are beautiful for desktops and should be available to everyone as part of their preferred OS. However, if you are Ubuntu user, you might be noticing a blank screen for screensaver. This is because, in recent past, post GNOME 3, the developers decided to drop the screensaver and keep a blank screen.
However, those are old in Linux universe, knows about xscreensaver which is around for a while and comes with some cool hacks for screensavers.
Though the support for screensaver dropped in Ubuntu recently, you can still install xscreensaver and enable it in Ubuntu 16.04, 18.04, 18.10. Here’s how you can do it.
Worth noting that, xscreensaver being a 26 years old software, it is still maintained and updated!
How to Install Screensaver in Ubuntu
To install xscreensaver in Ubuntu 16.04, 18.10, 18.04, 20.04 LTS, Linux Mint and other Ubuntu based distributions – run below series of commands.
- Open terminal.
- Install the packages via running below
- Remove the GNOME screensaver
- Now, to start the screensaver via autostart, add below as command in startup applications (open via dock search).
Configure and Change
Open screensaver via application menu or dock search after complete installation.
You can specify the timings of screensavers along with several options.
Summary
This is how you can install and activate screensavers in recent Ubuntu and its derivatives.
Disable Screensaver
To disable the screensaver, you can remove it from startup completely i.e. removing from startup application window. And then reboot.
However, if you are watching movies or doing important tasks and want to deactivate screensaver temporarily you can run below command to disable the screensaver immediately.
To activate again run:
Resources
- xscreensaver Home page
- xscreensaver source
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This tutorial intention is to show you how to add screen savers in Ubuntu 12.04 (although in other Ubuntu versions) which does not with any screen savers. But, many people new to computers and Linux, don’t know about the screensaver, what is a screensaver?
A screensaver is a computer program used primarily for security. This program blanks the screen or fills it with moving images or patterns when the computer is not in use. A screensaver can also be used for entertainment or to display system status information. It is a very good solution while you plan to leave your office and don’t want anybody to see what you working on.
How does a screensaver makes my computer secure?
A screensaver can be configured to ask users for a password before permitting the user to resume work, but be careful because if you have set set your account to automatically log in upon startup the attacker will be able to access your account simply by restarting the machine.
How to install a screensaver?
Fire up a new terminal like shown in Figure 1.
Before installing a new screensaver we have to remove the default one. Run the ‘sudo apt-get remove gnome-screensaver’ command shown in Figure 2 to uninstall gnome-screensaver.
Install XScreenSaver and some additional screensaver packages with the following command:
XScreenSaver will choose a random screensaver each time it starts. You can learn how to configure it here.
By default, your Ubuntu systems are running the Gnome Screensaver application. In recent past, the Gnome developers have altered the application in a way that it only runs a blank screen when your Ubuntu screen remains idle for a specific time. You can verify that this application is running on your system by entering the following command in your Ubuntu command line, the Terminal:
However, we are so used to running those moving patterns and images on our idle screens, such as on Windows and Mac, that we miss them on Ubuntu. Initially, these screensavers were your operating system’s way of limiting Phospor burning on plasma and CRTs. With modern display screens, this is not the case but when we miss something, there should be a way to get it back!
In this article, we will describe how you can install the Xscreensaver utility, automatically enable it at startup, and use it to set screensavers on your system depending on your specific requirements.
We have run the commands and procedures mentioned in this article on a Ubuntu 18.04 LTS system.
Install Xscreensaver
The Xscreensaver package is available in the official Ubuntu repositories (ubuntu-bionic-universe) and can easily be installed through the command line using the apt-get command.
Open your Terminal application either through the system Application Launcher Search or through the Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut.
The next step is to update your system’s repository index through the following command:
This helps you in installing the latest available version of a software from the Internet. Please note that only an authorized user can add, remove and configure software on Ubuntu.
Now you are ready to install the Xscreensaver, and some required packages; you can do so by running the following command as sudo:
The system might ask you the password for sudo and also provide you with a Y/n option to continue the installation. Enter Y and then hit enter; the software and the relevant packages will then be installed on your system. The process may, however, take some time depending on your Internet speed.
In order to verify that the software is indeed installed on your system and also to get the version information, run the following screensaver command:
Removing the default Ubuntu Screensaver
As mentioned above, the default Gnome Screensaver would only display a blank screen when your system is idle for a long time. For the system to not use this screensaver app anymore, let us remove it through the following command:
Important: For this screen saver application to be removed completely, you need to restart your system.
Add Xscreensaver to Autostart
The Xscreevsaver now appears in the Applications listing and can be launched anytime. However, we would not like starting it every time we reboot our system in order for the screen saver program to be active. Thus, it is best to add the Xscreensaver utility to your system startup.
Open the Startup Applications utility either by locating it in the Applications list or simply by searching for it through the system Application Launcher search as follows.
Note: Although I have been using the Startup Applications utility for a long time, I could not find it installed on my Ubuntu while working on this article. If you ever face a similar situation, you can add this app back to your system through the following command:
The application can also be launched through the Terminal by running the following command:
When the Startup Applications utility opens, click the Add button to add a new program to startup.
In the Add Startup Program dialog, enter the following information:
Name: screensaver
Command: xscreensaver -nosplash
The nosplash flag would mean that the application would run without the UI being displayed
Comment: start screensaver app at startup (or any other relevant comment)
Now click the Add button. Every time you boot the system, this startup program will start running the Xscreensaver utility so that your screensaver becomes active the way you have configured it.
How to Set up a Screensaver
In order to set a screensaver through the Xscreensaver utility, open the application either through the Application Launcher search as follows:
Or, through the following Terminal command:
The application will open in the following view when you open it for the first time:
Click OK, if you get a dialog as shown above in order to run Xscreensaver on your current display screen. By default, this screen saver utility will run random screensavers on your system when the screen is idle for 10 minutes. It will also change the screensavers randomly, after every 10 minutes.
Through the Mode drop-down, you can even configure the utility to set up only one screensaver and select that one screensaver from the list you can see under “Mode”. You can also set the idle time after which the screensaver will run through the ‘Blank After’ option. If you explore the utility some more, you will learn that there are many other configurations you can make to the behavior of your screensaver through the Xcreensaver.
Go Back to the Gnome-Screensaver
If for any reason, you want to remove the Xscreensaver utility and switch back to the default Gnome Screensaver application, please follow these steps:
1. Remove the Xscreensaver utility and the relevant packages, you added while installing the Xscreensaver, through the following command in your Terminal:
2. Install the Gnome Screensaver utility through the following command:
3. Remove Xscreensaver app from your Startup Applications.
You do not need to add the Gnome Screensaver to your system startup as the application is meant to automatically run at all times. You can verify this by running the following command:
4. Restart your system.
This was all you needed to know about installing the Xscreensaver application. You can now choose from a list of screensavers to run, whenever your Ubuntu screen is idle for a time specified by you.
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Karim Buzdar
About the Author: Karim Buzdar holds a degree in telecommunication engineering and holds several sysadmin certifications. As an IT engineer and technical author, he writes for various web sites. He blogs at LinuxWays.
