No opengl screensavers after KDE4.8.3 upgrade(Answered)

[T6]

"but whats the point of having a 6 cell or more battery if you can not use it unnecessarily"

i have a 3 cell battery 

and already dying 

[Archie]

Just thought I'd post this in hopes that someone has an answer. Synaptic shows that they are installed but when trying to use them nothing appears in the preview area.

I thought I already had. The KDE devs are no longer using xscreensaver and are developing their own client. Hence, you cannot set it up on KDE anymore whether the modules still register on the display and monitor kcm. xscreensaver can still be used with other DEs just not with KDE. The workaround I posted should be OK for use but it just can't be controlled via the KDE interface.

Even the xscreensaver developer was furious of the KDE drop of support but there was a poll over at the KDE forum the resulted with the devs' final decision to discontinue support for xscreensaver.

[gandy]

Thanks Archie
I went to the link you provided and started to read the thread but I didn't see a clear answer there. I tried to access that page today to reread it but it times-out. It seems the forum is not currently available.

Your last post explains it very clearly. All I wanted was a simple explanation. Thanks again

[Archie]

Found this other link this time from XScreenSaver.

[GOTHBITES]

Found this other link this time from XScreenSaver.

Then, in 2005, the next generation of idiots took over GNOME, and went back to the "bad old days" by introducing "gnome-screensaver", so now the GNOME users are screwed again, too.

Will the KDE people ever wise up? Will the GNOME people wise up a second time? Only time will tell. I encourage you to encourage them to stop this "Not Invented Here" madness.

hmm tell us how you really feel lol. I kinda agree with the author the devs do have a lot of work to keep a an OS going so why heap more work on themselves if they can not provide a reasonable or comparative functioning alternative, while there is somebody who is happy to do the work for them.

[Cris70]

I read all the thread but I still think something is unclear:
1) if the problem is xscreensaver, then why _only_ the OpenGL modules stopped working?
2) I don't want to have non-functional parts in the system, so I removed everything related to xscreensaver with Synaptic. I still have ALL the modules listed in the "Display and Monitor" Screen Saver section; why? And they are still working (let alone the OpenGL ones)!!

BTW, Linux has always been about choice... all this sudden hostility towards screen savers seems quite ridiculous to me. If someone wants to have his CPU cycles wasted by a screen saver, so be it! I have enough of M$ telling me how do I have to use my computer.

Bye
Cris

[gandy]

The opengl screensavers do still work. What has changed is the ability to start them from the KDE Control Panel. Archie kindly provided a workaround in this thread.

Xscreensaver to working normally? I am quite happy without it. Xscreensaver waste unnecessary CPU cycles. I'd rather just use the Lock Screen. But yes, there is a way. Follow the instructions explicitly.

(A) You should at minimum have the following installed:

    xscreensaver
    xscreensaver-base
    xscreensaver-common


(B) Open Konsole and type,
Code:

[user@localhost ~] $ xscreensaver-demo


When Warning: The XscreenSaver daemon doesn't seem to be running on display ":0". Launch it now? Click OK.

On the Display Modes tab, set your preferences accordingly. Do the same with the Advanced tab (if you have anything to set). Once done, select File > Quit.

(C) Test your xscreensaver module selection with the following command:
Code:

[user@localhost ~] $ xscreensaver-command --activate


Xscreensaver should display your selected module

(D) Still on the konsole, type,
Code:

[user@localhost ~] $  xset s on


This should be OK for your session and launch xscreensaver on its designated timeout ... but when you shutdown and bootup, you will need to restart the daemon, etc. again. To make it permanent, do the following:

First,  repeat the instructions on (B).

You should also disable KDE screensaver if you have it turned on. Open SystemSettings > Hardware > Display and Monitor > Screen Saver. Uncheck everything on the Settings.

Next, use your favorite text editor to create an xscreensaver.desktop file in your ~/.config/autostart directory that contains the following five lines:

Quote
[Desktop Entry]
Exec=xscreensaver
Name=XScreenSaver
Type=Application
X-KDE-StartupNotify=false

Then save the file and exit. The next time you reboot, xscreensaver will autostart.

As an added bonus, the following is how you'd change the right-click of your mourse button and selecting Lock Screen.

Open your konsole and su to root.

Quote
# cp /usr/lib/kde4/libexec/kscreenlocker /usr/lib/kde4/libexec/kscreenlocker.kde
# touch /usr/lib/kde4/libexec/kscreenlocker
# cat > /usr/lib/kde4/libexec/kscreenlocker << EOF
#!/bin/sh
xscreensaver-command -lock
EOF

When you are returned to the # prompt, type chmod a+x /usr/lib/kde4/libexec/kscreenlocker .

You should be able to use the right-click > Lock Screen with xscreensaver. The Unlock screen is pretty ugly!

Repeated warning:  In my own personal experience, xscreensaver WILL waste a terrible amount of CPU cycles which can cause CPU temperature to rise. Blank your screen after 5 or 10 minutes of xscreensaver. Use at your own risk.

   

[Cris70]

Gandy, thank you for your reply.
I DID read the whole thread and I saw Archie's how-to.
However, your reply does not answer any of my questions.

Bye
Cris

[gandy]

1) if the problem is xscreensaver, then why _only_ the OpenGL modules stopped working?

There are kscreensavers and  xscreensavers.
The kscreensavers can be initiated in the KDE Control Center.
The xscreensavers can not. This was a decision made by the KDE developers. The opengl screensavers are part of xscreensavers.

I still have ALL the modules listed in the "Display and Monitor" Screen Saver section; why?

If you're asking why the opengl entries weren't removed when you uninstalled them with synaptic, I don't know.

[dangbert]

As my grandson, "That makes sense."  Thanks.

However, it would have helped if "Xscreensaver" had been included on the Menu selection list. 

Something a lot of very experienced users forget, or worse, view with disdain, is that most of us are not "Very Experienced Users." 

Please keep that in mind when bringing out a new release.  I am not asking that the system be bloated, but at least, as here, if there is going to be a change in the way something is handled, include all necessary apps on the Menu so the rest of us can have a bit of a clue. 

In this instance, you have to run Xscreensaver from the command line.  While that is easy enough, once you KNOW you need to do it.  Its just that it would not have taken much to put it on the Menu.  Along with the useless list of screensavers available (Menu/System/Screensavers).

Deb

[Cris70]

Sorry to resurrect this (somewhat) old thread, but I still feel there is something wrong with our kscreensaver package, and the problems are NOT related to the now missing support for xscreensaver:

1) As I wrote earlier I removed every trace of xscreensaver from my system, but I still have OpenGL screen saver modules in the "Screen Saver Settings" panel.
2) At the office I am using Mint-KDE instead of PCLOS. The latest release of Mint-KDE comes with KDE 4.9 (with the latest upgrades). At the office kscreensaver NEVER stopped working with the OpenGL modules.
3) After some reading I discovered native kscreensaver modules are in /usr/bin/*.kss. I looked on my disk and I see that those OpenGL modules that still appear in my system are in fact native kscreensaver modules.
4) I tried kscreensaver from the command line (kscreenlocker) and found the --graphicssystem option. Launching with "kscreenlocker --graphicssystem opengl" gives this reply: "Unable to load graphicssystem "opengl"".
5) OpenGL works perfectly well on my system (easily tested with glxgears).

Given (2), (3) and (4) I'd say our kscreensaver package is somehow broken.

Bye
Cris

[dangbert]

It is and what worries me is that it may well be broken by design.  A bit further up this thread, or maybe a related thread, the whole idea of screensavers was "poo-poo'd"   The whole tone of the "poo-poo" was rather reeking of a geeky elitism.  Folks seem to forget that there are other systems out there.  One of the things I like about PCLinuxOS is that it always worked.  True, it is a bit behind having the latest and greatest in all the apps, but they hit the repository, they work.  Then along comes something like this.  Its a simple thing, but one that can become a major irritant.  Major irritants cause folks to go to other distros.  Somehow, I do not think that is what the Team wants.

What makes this whole issue even more inane is what is at "Menu/System/Screensavers" (a list of screensavers, with absolutely no way to use them) I do not know what put that there, but it was not the greatest moment in the life of the development team. 

As for Xscreensaver, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't and sometimes it just messes up Kscreensaver. 

Deb

[dangbert]

Up this thread a bit, there was a comment that you need to run "Xscreensaver-demo" and the "Xscreensaver", both from the command line.  The, having gotten the secret formula correct, "Poof" you have your screensaver.   Of course, there is no documentation that tells you this. 

I got Xscreensaver to run, but it proved flaky and did not always work.  So I disabled it and am running the slide show from Kscreensaver.

But like  you, I would much prefer to run the GL screensavers, the way we could before "Someone" IMPROVED the system.


Deb

[KernelKarter]

I read all the thread but I still think something is unclear:
1) if the problem is xscreensaver, then why _only_ the OpenGL modules stopped working?

Could this possibly be related to a completely different different problem I'm having here: http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,109262.msg933678.html#msg933678

-- Eddie

[George Underwood Edwards]

I got Xscreensaver to run, but it proved flaky and did not always work. So I disabled it and am running the slide show from Kscreensaver.

But like you, I would much prefer to run the GL screensavers, the way we could before "Someone" IMPROVED the system.

Deb

I have totally given up on the new ss, and have relegated myself to using the few that actually do work.

There are several things in the new system that need to be fixed. And these will most likely be taken care of in future developments. Since this is a new setup it's not at all surprising to find there are many things that don't work correctly.

I recently discovered that one configuration setting doesn't even have a working "Apply" button - it's greyed out. And VLC Media Player shuts off my monitor after 10 minutes, even when it's not running.