XScreenSaver(r) XScreenSaver(r) NAME xscreensaver - graphics hack and screen locker, launched when the user is idle SYNOPSIS xscreensaver [-display host:display.screen] [-timeout int] [-cycle int] [-lock-mode] [-no-lock-mode] [-lock-timeout int] [-visual visual] [-install] [-no-install] [-verbose] [-silent] [-timestamp] [-capture-stderr] [-no-cap- ture-stderr] [-splash] [-no-splash] [-nice int] [-mit-extension] [-no-mit-extension] [-sgi-extension] [-no-sgi-extension] [-xidle-extension] [-no-xidle-exten- sion] [-proc-interrupts] [-no-proc-interrupts] [-xrm resources] DESCRIPTION The xscreensaver program waits until the keyboard and mouse have been idle for a period, and then runs a graph- ics demo chosen at random. It turns off as soon as there is any mouse or keyboard activity. This program can lock your terminal in order to prevent others from using it, though its default mode of operation is merely to display pretty pictures on your screen when it is not in use. The benefit that this program has over the combination of the xlock(k) and xautolock(k) programs is the ease with which new graphics hacks can be installed. You don't need to recompile (or even re-run) this program to add a new display mode. GETTING STARTED For the impatient, try this: xscreensaver & xscreensaver-demo The xscreensaver-demo(o) program should pop up a dialog box that lets you experiment with the xscreensaver set- tings and graphics modes. Note: unlike xlock(k), xscreensaver has a client-server model: the xscreensaver program is a daemon that runs in the background; it is controlled by the foreground xscreensaver-demo(o) and xscreensaver-command(d) programs. CONFIGURATION The easiest way to configure xscreensaver is to simply run the xscreensaver-demo(o) program, and change the settings through the GUI. The rest of this manual page describes lower level ways of changing settings. Options to xscreensaver are stored in one of two places: in a .xscreensaver file in your home directory; or in the X resource database. If the .xscreensaver file exists, it overrides any settings in the resource database. The syntax of the .xscreensaver file is similar to that of the .Xdefaults file; for example, to set the timeout paramter in the .xscreensaver file, you would write the following: timeout: 5 whereas, in the .Xdefaults file, you would write xscreensaver.timeout: 5 If you change a setting in the .xscreensaver file while xscreensaver is already running, it will notice this, and reload the file. (The file will be reloaded the next time the screen saver needs to take some action, such as blank- ing or unblanking the screen, or picking a new graphics mode.) If you change a setting in your X resource database, or if you want xscreensaver to notice your changes immediately instead of the next time it wakes up, then you will need to tell the running xscreensaver process to re-initialize itself, like so: xscreensaver-command -restart Note that if you changed the .Xdefaults file, you might also need to run xrdb(b): xrdb < ~/.Xdefaults If you want to set the system-wide defaults, then make your edits to the xscreensaver app-defaults file, which should have been installed when xscreensaver itself was installed. The app-defaults file will usually be named /usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/XScreenSaver, but different sys- tems might keep it in a different place (for example, /usr/openwin/lib/app-defaults/XScreenSaver on Solaris.) When settings are changed in the Preferences dialog box (see above) the current settings will be written to the .xscreensaver file. (The .Xdefaults file and the app- defaults file will never be written by xscreensaver itself.) timeout (class Time) The screensaver will activate (blank the screen) after the keyboard and mouse have been idle for this many minutes. Default 10 minutes. cycle (class Time) After the screensaver has been running for this many minutes, the currently running graphics-hack sub-process will be killed (with SIGTERM), and a new one started. If this is 0, then the graphics hack will never be changed: only one demo will run until the screensaver is deactivated by user activity. Default 10 minutes. lock (class Boolean) Enable locking: before the screensaver will turn off, it will require you to type the password of the logged-in user (really, the person who ran xscreensaver), or the root password. (Note: this doesn't work if the screensaver is launched by xdm(m) because it can't know the user-id of the logged-in user. See the ``Using XDM(M)'' section, below. lockTimeout (class Time) If locking is enabled, this controls the length of the ``grace period'' between when the screensaver activates, and when the screen becomes locked. For example, if this is 5, and -timeout is 10, then after 10 minutes, the screen would blank. If there was user activity at 12 minutes, no password would be required to un-blank the screen. But, if there was user activity at 15 minutes or later (that is, -lock-timeout minutes after activation) then a password would be required. The default is 0, meaning that if locking is enabled, then a password will be required as soon as the screen blanks. passwdTimeout (class Time) If the screen is locked, then this is how many seconds the password dialog box should be left on the screen before giving up (default 30 seconds.) This should not be too large: the X server is grabbed for the duration that the password dialog box is up (for security purposes) and leaving the server grabbed for too long can cause problems. dpmsEnabled (class Boolean) Whether power management is enabled. dpmsStandby (class Time) If power management is enabled, how long until the monitor goes solid black. dpmsSuspend (class Time) If power management is enabled, how long until the monitor goes into power-saving mode. dpmsOff (class Time) If power management is enabled, how long until the monitor powers down completely. Note that these settings will have no effect unless both the X server and the display hardware support power man- agement; not all do. See the Power Management section, below, for more information. visualID (class VisualID) Specify which X visual to use by default. (Note carefully that this resource is called visualID, not merely visual; if you set the visual resource instead, things will malfunction in obscure ways for obscure reasons.) Legal values for the VisualID resource are: default Use the screen's default visual (the visual of the root window.) This is the default. best Use the visual which supports the most colors. Note, however, that the visual with the most colors might be a TrueColor visual, which does not support colormap animation. Some programs have more inter- esting behavior when run on PseudoColor visuals than on TrueColor. mono Use a monochrome visual, if there is one. gray Use a grayscale or staticgray visual, if there is one and it has more than one plane (that is, it's not monochrome.) color Use the best of the color visuals, if there are any. GL Use the visual that is best for OpenGL programs. (OpenGL programs have somewhat different requirements than other X pro- grams.) class where class is one of StaticGray, Static- Color, TrueColor, GrayScale, PseudoColor, or DirectColor. Selects the deepest visual of the given class. number where number (decimal or hex) is inter- preted as a visual id number, as reported by the xdpyinfo(o) program; in this way you can have finer control over exactly which visual gets used, for example, to select a shallower one than would other- wise have been chosen. Note that this option specifies only the default visual that will be used: the visual used may be overridden on a program-by-program basis. See the description of the programs resource, below. installColormap (class Boolean) Install a private colormap while the screensaver is active, so that the graphics hacks can get as many colors as possible. This is the default. (This only applies when the screen's default visual is being used, since non-default visuals get their own colormaps automatically.) This can also be overridden on a per-hack basis: see the discussion of the default-n name in the section about the programs resource. verbose (class Boolean) Whether to print diagnostics. Default false. timestamp (class Boolean) Whether to print the time of day along with any other diagnostic messages. Default false. splash (class Boolean) Whether to display a splash screen at startup. Default true. splashDuration (class Time) How long the splash screen should remain visible; default 5 seconds. helpURL (class URL) The splash screen has a Help button on it. When you press it, it will display the web page indi- cated here in your web browser. loadURL (class LoadURL) This is the shell command used to load a URL into your web browser. The default setting will load it into Netscape if it is already running, otherwise, will launch a new Netscape looking at the helpURL. demoCommand (class DemoCommand) This is the shell command run when the Demo button on the splash window is pressed. It defaults to xscreensaver-demo. prefsCommand (class PrefsCommand) This is the shell command run when the Prefs but- ton on the splash window is pressed. It defaults to xscreensaver-demo -prefs. nice (class Nice) The sub-processes created by xscreensaver will be ``niced'' to this level, so that they are given lower priority than other processes on the system, and don't increase the load unnecessarily. The default is 10. (Higher numbers mean lower priority; see nice(e) for details.) memoryLimit (class MemoryLimit) The sub-processes created by xscreensaver will not be allowed to allocate more than this much memory (more accurately, this is the maximum size their address space may become.) If any sub-process tries to allocate more than this, malloc(c) will fail, and the process will likely exit (or safely crash) rather than going forth and hogging memory. The assumption here is that if one of the screen- hacks is trying to use a lot of memory, then some- thing has gone wrong, and it's better to kill that program than to overload the machine. Default: 50M. fade (class Boolean) If this is true, then when the screensaver acti- vates, the current contents of the screen will fade to black instead of simply winking out. This only works on displays with writable colormaps, that is, if the screen's default visual is a Pseu- doColor visual. A fade will also be done when switching graphics hacks (when the cycle timer expires.) Default: true. unfade (class Boolean) If this is true, then when the screensaver deacti- vates, the original contents of the screen will fade in from black instead of appearing immedi- ately. This only works on displays with writable colormaps, and if fade is true as well. Default false. fadeSeconds (class Time) If fade is true, this is how long the fade will be in seconds (default 3 seconds.) fadeTicks (class Integer) If fade is true, this is how many times a second the colormap will be changed to effect a fade. Higher numbers yield smoother fades, but may make the fades take longer than the specified fadeSeconds if your server isn't fast enough to keep up. Default 20. captureStderr (class Boolean) Whether xscreensaver should redirect its stdout and stderr streams to the window itself. Since its nature is to take over the screen, you would not normally see error messages generated by xscreensaver or the sub-programs it runs; this resource will cause the output of all relevant programs to be drawn on the screensaver window itself, as well as being written to the control- ling terminal of the screensaver driver process. Default true. font (class Font) The font used for the stdout/stderr text, if cap- tureStderr is true. Default *-medium-r-*-140-*-m-* (a 14 point fixed-width font.) programs (class Programs) The graphics hacks which xscreensaver runs when the user is idle. The value of this resource is a string, one sh-syntax command per line. Each line must contain exactly one command: no semicolons, no ampersands. When the screensaver starts up, one of these is selected at random, and run. After the cycle period expires, it is killed, and another is selected and run. If a line begins with a dash (-) then that partic- ular program is disabled: it won't be selected at random (though you can still select it explicitly using the xscreensaver-demo(o) program.) If all programs are disabled, then the screen will just be made blank. To disable a program, it's better to mark it as disabled with a dash than to remove it from the list. This is because the system-wide (app- defaults) and per-user (.xscreensaver) settings are merged together, and if a user just deletes an entry from their programs list, but that entry still exists in the system-wide list, then it will come back. However, if the user disables it, then their setting takes precedence. If the display has multiple screens, then a dif- ferent program will be run for each screen. (All screens are blanked and unblanked simultaniously.) Note that you must escape the newlines; here is an example of how you might set this in your ~/.xscreensaver file: programs: \ qix -root \n\ ico -r -faces -sleep 1 -obj ico \n\ xdaliclock -builtin2 -root \n\ xv -root -rmode 5 image.gif -quit \n Make sure your $PATH environment variable is set up correctly before xscreensaver is launched, or it won't be able to find the programs listed in the programs resource. To use a program as a screensaver, two things are required: that that program draw on the root win- dow (or be able to be configured to draw on the root window); and that that program understand ``virtual root'' windows, as used by virtual win- dow managers such as tvtwm(m). (Generally, this is accomplished by just including the "vroot.h" header file in the program's source.) If there are some programs that you want to run only when using a color display, and others that you want to run only when using a monochrome dis- play, you can specify that like this: mono: mono-program -root \n\ color: color-program -root \n\ More generally, you can specify the kind of visual that should be used for the window on which the program will be drawing. For example, if one pro- gram works best if it has a colormap, but another works best if it has a 24-bit visual, both can be accommodated: PseudoColor: cmap-program -root \n\ TrueColor: 24bit-program -root \n\ In addition to the symbolic visual names described above (in the discussion of the visualID resource) one other visual name is supported in the programs list: default-n This is like default, but also requests the use of the default colormap, instead of a private colormap. (That is, it behaves as if the -no-install command-line option was spec- ified, but only for this particular hack.) This is provided because some third-party programs that draw on the root window (notably: xv(v), and xearth(h)) make assump- tions about the visual and colormap of the root window: assumptions which xscreensaver can violate. If you specify a particular visual for a program, and that visual does not exist on the screen, then that program will not be chosen to run. This means that on displays with multiple screens of different depths, you can arrange for appropriate hacks to be run on each. For example, if one screen is color and the other is monochrome, hacks that look good in mono can be run on one, and hacks that only look good in color will show up on the other. Normally you won't need to change the following resources: pointerPollTime (class Time) When server extensions are not in use, this con- trols how frequently xscreensaver checks to see if the mouse position or buttons have changed. Default 5 seconds. windowCreationTimeout (class Time) When server extensions are not in use, this con- trols the delay between when windows are created and when xscreensaver selects events on them. Default 30 seconds. initialDelay (class Time) When server extensions are not in use, xscreen- saver will wait this many seconds before selecting events on existing windows, under the assumption that xscreensaver is started during your login procedure, and the window state may be in flux. Default 0. (This used to default to 30, but that was back in the days when slow machines and X ter- minals were more common...) sgiSaverExtension (class Boolean) There are a number of different X server exten- sions which can make xscreensaver's job easier. The next few resources specify whether these extensions should be utilized if they are avail- able. This resource controls whether the SGI SCREEN_SAVER server extension will be used to decide whether the user is idle. This is the default if xscreensaver has been compiled with support for this extension (which is the default on SGI systems.). If it is available, the SCREEN_SAVER method is faster and more reliable than what will be done otherwise, so use it if you can. (This extension is only available on Silicon Graphics systems, unfortunately.) mitSaverExtension (class Boolean) This resource controls whether the MIT-SCREEN-SAVER server extension will be used to decide whether the user is idle. However, the default for this resource is false, because even if this extension is available, it is flaky (and it also makes the fade option not work properly.) Use of this extension is not recommended. xidleExtension (class Boolean) This resource controls whether the XIDLE server extension will be used to decide whether the user is idle. This is the default if xscreensaver has been compiled with support for this extension. (This extension is only available for X11R4 and X11R5 systems, unfortunately.) procInterrupts (class Boolean) This resource controls whether the /proc/inter- rupts file should be consulted to decide whether the user is idle. This is the default if xscreen- saver has been compiled on a system which supports this mechanism (i.e., Linux systems.) The benefit to doing this is that xscreensaver can note that the user is active even when the X con- sole is not the active one: if the user is typing in another virtual console, xscreensaver will notice that and will fail to activate. For exam- ple, if you're playing Quake in VGA-mode, xscreen- saver won't wake up in the middle of your game and start competing for CPU. The drawback to doing this is that perhaps you really do want idleness on the X console to cause the X display to lock, even if there is activity on other virtual consoles. If you want that, then set this option to False. (Or just lock the X console manually.) The default value for this resource is True, on systems where it works. overlayStderr (class Boolean) If captureStderr is True, and your server supports ``overlay'' visuals, then the text will be written into one of the higher layers instead of into the same layer as the running screenhack. Set this to False to disable that (though you shouldn't need to.) overlayTextForeground (class Foreground) The foreground color used for the stdout/stderr text, if captureStderr is true. Default: Yellow. overlayTextBackground (class Background) The background color used for the stdout/stderr text, if captureStderr is true. Default: Black. bourneShell (class BourneShell) The pathname of the shell that xscreensaver uses to start subprocesses. This must be whatever your local variant of /bin/sh is: in particular, it must not be csh. COMMAND-LINE OPTIONS xscreensaver also accepts the following command line options. Except for the -display option, these command- line options are all simply shorthand for the X resources described in the Configuration section, above. -display host:display.screen The X display to use. For displays with multiple screens, XScreenSaver will manage all screens on the display simultaniously; the screen argument (the ``default'' screen) says which screen should be used for dialog boxes (the password window, Demo Mode, etc.) -timeout minutes Same as the timeout resource. -cycle minutes Same as the cycle resource. -lock-mode Same as setting the lock resource to true. -no-lock-mode Same as setting the lock resource to false. -lock-timeout minutes Same as the lockTimeout resource. -visual visual Same as the visualID resource. -install Same as setting the installColormap resource to true. -no-install Same as setting the installColormap resource to false. -verbose Same as setting the verbose resource to true. -silent Same as setting the verbose resource to false. -timestamp Same as setting the timestamp resource to true. -capture-stderr Same as setting the captureStderr resource to true. -no-capture-stderr Same as setting the captureStderr resource to false. -splash Same as setting the splash resource to true. -no-splash Same as setting the splash resource to false. -nice integer Same as the nice resource. -sgi-extension Same as setting the sgiSaverExtension resource to true. -no-sgi-extension Same as setting the sgiSaverExtension resource to false. -mit-extension Same as setting the mitSaverExtension resource to true. -no-mit-extension Same as setting the mitSaverExtension resource to false. -xidle-extension Same as setting the xidleExtension resource to true. -no-xidle-extension Same as setting the xidleExtension resource to false. -proc-interrupts Same as setting the procInterrupts resource to true. -no-proc-interrupts Same as setting the procInterrupts resource to false. -xrm resource-specification As with all other Xt programs, you can specify X resources on the command-line using the -xrm argu- ment. Most of the interesting resources have com- mand-line equivalents, however. HOW IT WORKS When it is time to activate the screensaver, a full-screen black window is created on each screen of the display. Each window is created in such a way that, to any subse- quently-created programs, it will appear to be a ``virtual root'' window. Because of this, any program which draws on the root window (and which understands virtual roots) can be used as a screensaver. When the user becomes active again, the screensaver win- dows are unmapped, and the running subprocesses are killed by sending them SIGTERM. This is also how the subpro- cesses are killed when the screensaver decides that it's time to run a different demo: the old one is killed and a new one is launched. Before launching a subprocess, xscreensaver stores an appropriate value for $DISPLAY in the environment that the child will receive. (This is so that if you start xscreensaver with a -display argument, the programs which xscreensaver launches will draw on the same display; and so that the child will end up drawing on the appropriate screen of a multi-headed display.) When the screensaver turns off, or is killed, care is taken to restore the ``real'' virtual root window if there is one. Because of this, it is important that you not kill the screensaver process with kill -9 if you are run- ning a virtual-root window manager. If you kill it with -9, you may need to restart your window manager to repair the damage. This isn't an issue if you aren't running a virtual-root window manager. For all the gory details, see the commentary at the top of xscreensaver.c. You can control a running screensaver process by using the xscreensaver-command(d) program (which see.) POWER MANAGEMENT Modern X servers contain support to power down the monitor after an idle period. If the monitor has powered down, then xscreensaver will notice this (after a few minutes), and will not waste CPU by drawing graphics demos on a black screen. An attempt will also be made to explicitly power the monitor back up as soon as user activity is detected. As of version 3.28, the ~/.xscreensaver file controls the configuration of your display's power management settings: if you have used xset(t) to change your power management settings, then xscreensaver will override those changes with the values specified in ~/.xscreensaver (or with its built-in defaults, if there is no ~/.xscreensaver file yet.) To change your power management settings, run xscreen- saver-demo(o) and change the various timeouts through the user interface. Alternately, you can edit the ~/.xscreen- saver file directly. If the power management section is grayed out in the xscreensaver-demo(o) window, then that means that your X server does not support the XDPMS extension, and so con- trol over the monitor's power state is not available. If you're using a laptop, don't be surprised if changing the DPMS settings has no effect: many laptops have monitor power-saving behavior built in at a very low level that is invisible to Unix and X. On such systems, you can typi- cally only adjust the power-saving delays by changing set- tings in the BIOS in some hardware-specific way. USING XDM(M) You can run xscreensaver from your xdm(m) session, so that the screensaver will run even when nobody is logged in on the console. The trick to using xscreensaver with xdm is this: keep in mind the two very different states in which xscreensaver will be running: 1: Nobody logged in. If you're thinking of running xscreensaver from XDM at all, then it's probably because you want graph- ics demos to be running on the console when nobody is logged in there. In this case, xscreensaver will function only as a screen saver, not a screen locker: it doesn't make sense for xscreensaver to lock the screen, since nobody is logged in yet! The only thing on the screen is the XDM login prompt. 2: Somebody logged in. Once someone has logged in through the XDM login window, the situation is very different. For exam- ple: now it makes sense to lock the screen (and prompt for the logged in user's password); and now xscreensaver should consult that user's ~/.xscreen- saver file; and so on. The difference between these two states comes down to a question of, which user is the xscreensaver process run- ning as? For the first state, it doesn't matter. If you start xscreensaver in the usual XDM way, then xscreensaver will probably end up running as root, which is fine for the first case (the ``nobody logged in'' case.) However, once someone is logged in, running as root is no longer fine: because xscreensaver will be consulting root's .xscreensaver file instead of that of the logged in user, and won't be prompting for the logged in user's password, and so on. (This is not a security problem, it's just not what you want.) So, once someone has logged in, you want xscreensaver to be running as that user. The way to accomplish this is to kill the old xscreensaver process and start a new one (as the new user.) The simplest way to accomplish all of this is as follows: 1: Launch xscreensaver before anyone logs in. To the file /usr/lib/X11/xdm/Xsetup, add the lines xhost +localhost xscreensaver-command -exit xscreensaver & This will run xscreensaver as root, over the XDM login window. Moving the mouse will cause the screen to un-blank, and allow the user to type their password at XDM to log in. 2: Restart xscreensaver when someone logs in. Near the top of the file /usr/lib/X11/xdm/Xsession, add those same lines: xscreensaver-command -exit xscreensaver & When someone logs in, this will kill off the exist- ing (root) xscreensaver process, and start a new one, running as the user who has just logged in. If the user's .xscreensaver file requests locking, they'll get it. They will also get their own choice of timeouts, and graphics demos, and so on. Alternately, each user could just put those lines in their personal ~/.xsession files. Make sure you have $PATH set up correctly in the Xsetup and Xsession scripts, or xdm won't be able to find xscreensaver, and/or xscreensaver won't be able to find its graphics demos. (If your system does not seem to be executing the Xsetup file, you may need to configure it to do so: the tradi- tional way to do this is to make that file the value of the DisplayManager*setup resource in the /usr/lib/X11/xdm/xdm-config file. See the man page for xdm(m) for more details.) It is safe to run xscreensaver as root (as xdm is likely to do.) If run as root, xscreensaver changes its effec- tive user and group ids to something safe (like "nobody") before connecting to the X server or launching user-speci- fied programs. An unfortunate side effect of this (important) security precaution is that it may conflict with cookie-based authentication. If you get "connection refused" errors when running xscreensaver from xdm, then this probably means that you have xauth(h) or some other security mechanism turned on. One way around this is to add "xhost +localhost" to Xsetup, just before xscreensaver is launched. Note that this will give access to the X server to anyone capable of logging in to the local machine, so in some environments, this might not be appropriate. If turning off file-system-based access control is not acceptable, then running xscreensaver from the Xsetup file might not be possible, and xscreensaver will only work when running as a normal, unprivileged user. For more information on the X server's access control mechanisms, see the man pages for X(X), Xsecurity(y), xauth(h), and xhost(t). USING GDM(M) The instructions for using xscreensaver with gdm(m) are almost the same as for using xdm(m), above. There are only two differences, really: instead of editing /usr/lib/X11/xdm/Xsetup, edit the file /etc/X11/gdm/Init/Default; and instead of editing /usr/lib/X11/xdm/Xsession, edit one or all of the files in the /etc/X11/gdm/Sessions/ directory. (Note that the default session (/etc/X11/gdm/Sessions/Default) usually simply executes /usr/lib/X11/xdm/Xsession, so be careful you aren't initializing xscreensaver twice.) All the same caveats apply for gdm(m) as for xdm(m). USING CDE (COMMON DESKTOP ENVIRONMENT) The easiest way to use xscreensaver on a system with CDE is to simply switch off the built-in CDE screensaver, and use xscreensaver instead; and second, to tell the front panel to run xscreensaver-command(d) with the -lock option when the Lock icon is clicked. To accomplish this involves five steps: 1: Switch off CDE's locker Do this by turning off ``Screen Saver and Screen Lock'' in the Screen section of the Style Manager. 2: Edit sessionetc Edit the file ~/.dt/sessions/sessionetc and add to it the line xscreensaver & And make sure the sessionetc file is executable. This will cause xscreensaver to be launched when you log in. (As always, make sure that xscreen- saver and the graphics demos are on your $PATH; the path needs to be set in .cshrc and/or .dtprofile, not .login.) 3: Create XScreenSaver.dt Create a file called ~/.dt/types/XScreenSaver.dt with the following contents: ACTION XScreenSaver { LABEL XScreenSaver TYPE COMMAND EXEC_STRING xscreensaver-command -lock ICON Dtkey WINDOW_TYPE NO_STDIO } This defines a ``lock'' command for the CDE front panel, that knows how to talk to xscreensaver. 4: Create Lock.fp Create a file called ~/.dt/types/Lock.fp with the following contents: CONTROL Lock { TYPE icon CONTAINER_NAME Switch CONTAINER_TYPE SWITCH POSITION_HINTS 1 ICON Fplock LABEL Lock PUSH_ACTION XScreenSaver HELP_TOPIC FPOnItemLock HELP_VOLUME FPanel } This associates the CDE front panel ``Lock'' icon with the lock command we just defined in step 3. 5: Restart Select ``Restart Workspace Manager'' from the popup menu to make your changes take effect. If things seem not to be working, check the file ~/.dt/error- log for error messages. USING HP VUE (VISUAL USER ENVIRONMENT) Since CDE is a descendant of VUE, the instructions for using xscreensaver under VUE are similar to the above: 1: Switch off VUE's locker Open the ``Style Manager'' and select ``Screen.'' Turn off ``Screen Saver and Screen Lock'' option. 2: Make sure you have a Session Next, go to the Style Manager's, ``Startup'' page. Click on ``Set Home Session'' to create a session, then on ``Return to Home Session'' to select this session each time you log in. 3: Edit vue.session Edit the file ~/.vue/sessions/home/vue.session and add to it the line vuesmcmd -screen 0 -cmd "xscreensaver" This will cause xscreensaver to be launched when you log in. (As always, make sure that xscreen- saver and the graphics demos are on your $PATH; the path needs to be set in .cshrc and/or .profile, not .login.) 3: Edit vuewmrc Edit the file ~/.vue/vuewmrc and add (or change) the Lock control: CONTROL Lock { TYPE button IMAGE lock PUSH_ACTION f.exec "xscreensaver-command -lock" HELP_TOPIC FPLock } This associates the VUE front panel ``Lock'' icon with the xscreensaver lock command. ADDING TO MENUS The xscreensaver-command(d) program is a perfect candidate for something to add to your window manager's popup menus. If you use mwm(m), 4Dwm(m), twm(m), or (probably) any of twm's many descendants, you can do it like this: 1. Create ~/.mwmrc (or ~/.twmrc or ...) If you don't have a ~/.mwmrc file (or, on SGIs, a ~/.4Dwmrc file; or, with twm, a ~/.twmrc file) then create one by making a copy of the /usr/lib/X11/sys- tem.mwmrc file (or /usr/lib/X11/twm/system.twmrc, and so on.) 2. Add a menu definition. Something like this: menu XScreenSaver { "Blank Screen Now" !"sleep 3; xscreensaver-command -activate" "Lock Screen Now" !"sleep 3; xscreensaver-command -lock" "Screen Saver Demo" !"xscreensaver-demo" "Screen Saver Preferences" !"xscreensaver-demo -prefs" "Reinitialize Screen Saver" !"xscreensaver-command -restart" "Kill Screen Saver" !"xscreensaver-command -exit" "Launch Screen Saver" !"xscreensaver &" } 3. Add the menu For mwm(m) and 4Dwm(m), find the section of the file that says Menu DefaultRootMenu. For twm(m), it will probably be menu "defops". If you add a line somewhere in that menu definition that reads "XScreenSaver" f.menu XScreenSaver then this will add an XScreenSaver sub-menu to your default root-window popup menu. Alternately, you could just put the xscreensaver menu items directly into the root menu. For Fvwm2, the process is similar: first create a ~/.fvwm2rc file if you don't already have one, by making a copy of the /etc/X11/fvwm2/system.fvwm2rc file. Then, add a menu definition to it: AddToMenu XScreenSaver "XScreenSaver" Title + "Blank Screen Now" Exec xscreensaver-command -activate + "Lock Screen Now" Exec xscreensaver-command -lock + "Screen Saver Demo" Exec xscreensaver-command -demo + "Screen Saver Preferences" Exec xscreensaver-command -prefs + "Reinitialize Screen Saver" Exec xscreensaver-command -restart + "Kill Screen Saver" Exec xscreensaver-command -exit + "Launch Screen Saver" Exec xscreensaver + "Run Next Demo" Exec xscreensaver-command -next + "Run Previous Demo" Exec xscreensaver-command -prev # To put the XScreenSaver sub-menu at the end of the root menu: AddToMenu RootMenu "XScreenSaver" Popup XScreenSaver The Enlightenment window manager keeps each of its menus in a separate file. So, you need to create a file named ~/.enlightenment/xscreensaver.menu with the contents: "XScreenSaver Commands" "Blank Screen Now" NULL exec "xscreensaver-command -activate" "Lock Screen Now" NULL exec "xscreensaver-command -lock" "Screen Saver Demo" NULL exec "xscreensaver-command -demo" "Screen Saver Prefs" NULL exec "xscreensaver-command -prefs" "Reinitialize Saver" NULL exec "xscreensaver-command -restart" "Kill Screen Saver" NULL exec "xscreensaver-command -exit" "Launch Screen Saver" NULL exec "xscreensaver" then add "XScreenSaver" NULL menu "xscreensaver.menu" to ~/.enlightenment/file.menu to put the XScreenSaver sub- menu on your left-button root-window menu. As you see, every window manager does this stuff gratu- itously differently, just to make your life difficult. You are in a maze of twisty menu configuration languages, all alike. BUGS Bugs? There are no bugs. Ok, well, maybe. If you find one, please let me know. http://www.jwz.org/xscreen- saver/bugs.html explains how to construct the most useful bug reports. Locking and XDM If xscreensaver has been launched from xdm(m) before anyone has logged in, you will need to kill and then restart the xscreensaver daemon after you have logged in, or you will be confused by the results. (For example, locking won't work, and your ~/.xscreensaver file will be ignored.) When you are logged in, you want the xscreensaver daemon to be running under your user id, not as root or some other user. If it has already been started by xdm, you can kill it by sending it the exit command, and then re-launching it as you, by putting something like the following in your personal X startup script: xscreensaver-command -exit xscreensaver & The ``Using XDM(M)'' section, above, goes into more detail, and explains how to configure the system to do this for all users automatically. Locking and root logins In order for it to be safe for xscreensaver to be launched by xdm, certain precautions had to be taken, among them that xscreensaver never runs as root. In particular, if it is launched as root (as xdm is likely to do), xscreensaver will dis- avow its privileges, and switch itself to a safe user id (such as nobody.) An implication of this is that if you log in as root on the console, xscreensaver will refuse to lock the screen (because it can't tell the differ- ence between root being logged in on the console, and a normal user being logged in on the console but xscreensaver having been launched by the xdm(m) Xsetup file.) The solution to this is simple: you shouldn't be logging in on the console as root in the first place! (What, are you crazy or something?) Proper Unix hygiene dictates that you should log in as yourself, and su(u) to root as necessary. People who spend their day logged in as root are just begging for disaster. XAUTH and XDM For xscreensaver to work when launched by xdm(m), programs running on the local machine as user "nobody" must be able to connect to the X server. This means that if you want to run xscreensaver on the console while nobody is logged in, you may need to disable cookie-based access control (and allow all users who can log in to the local machine to connect to the display.) You should be sure that this is an acceptable thing to do in your environment before doing it. See the ``Using XDM(M)'' section, above, for more details. If anyone has suggestions on how xscreensaver could be made to work with xdm(m) without first turning off .Xauthority-based access control, please let me know. Passwords If you get an error message at startup like ``couldn't get password of user'' then this proba- bly means that you're on a system in which the getpwent(t) library routine can only be effec- tively used by root. If this is the case, then xscreensaver must be installed as setuid to root in order for locking to work. Care has been taken to make this a safe thing to do. It also may mean that your system uses shadow passwords instead of the standard getpwent(t) interface; in that case, you may need to change some options with configure and recompile. If you change your password after xscreensaver has been launched, it will continue using your old password to unlock the screen until xscreensaver is restarted. So, after you change your password, you'll have to do xscreensaver-command -restart to make xscreensaver notice. PAM Passwords If your system uses PAM (Pluggable Authentication Modules), then in order for xscreensaver to use PAM properly, PAM must be told about xscreensaver. The xscreensaver installation process should update the PAM data (on Linux, by creating the file /etc/pam.d/xscreensaver for you, and on Solaris, by telling you what lines to add to the /etc/pam.conf file.) If the PAM configuration files do not know about xscreensaver, then you might be in a situation where xscreensaver will refuse to ever unlock the screen. This is a design flaw in PAM (there is no way for a client to tell the difference between PAM responding ``I have never heard of your module,'' and responding, ``you typed the wrong password.'') As far as I can tell, there is no way for xscreen- saver to automatically work around this, or detect the problem in advance, so if you have PAM, make sure it is configured correctly! Colormap lossage: TWM The installColormap option doesn't work very well with the twm(m) window manager and its descen- dants. There is a race condition between the screensaver and this window manager, which can result in the screensaver's colormap not getting installed prop- erly, meaning the graphics hacks will appear in essentially random colors. (If the screen goes white instead of black, this is probably why.) The mwm(m) and olwm(m) window managers don't have this problem. The race condition exists because X (really, ICCCM) does not provide a way for an OverrideRedirect window to have its own colormap, short of grabbing the server (which is neither a good idea, nor really possible with the current design.) What happens is that, as soon as xscreensaver installs its colormap, twm responds to the resultant ColormapNotify event by re- instaling the default colormap. Apparently, twm doesn't always do this; it seems to do it regu- larly if the screensaver is activated from a menu item, but seems to not do it if the screensaver comes on of its own volition, or is activated from another console. Attention, window manager authors! You should only call XInstallColormap(p) in response to user events. That is, it is appropriate to install a colormap in response to FocusIn, FocusOut, EnterNotify, and LeaveNotify events; but it is not appropriate to call it in response to ColormapNotify events. If you install colormaps in response to application actions as well as in response to user actions, then you create the situation where it is impossible for override-redirect applications (such as xscreensaver) to display their windows in the proper colors. Colormap lossage: XV, XAnim, XEarth Some programs don't operate properly on visuals other than the default one, or with colormaps other than the default one. See the discussion of the magic "default-n" visual name in the descrip- tion of the programs resource in the Configuration section. When programs only work with the default colormap, you need to use a syntax like this: default-n: xv -root image-1.gif -quit \n\ default-n: xearth -nostars -wait 0 \n\ It would also work to turn off the installColormap option altogether, but that would deny extra col- ors to those programs that can take advantage of them. Machine Load Although this program ``nices'' the subprocesses that it starts, graphics-intensive subprograms can still overload the machine by causing the X server process itself (which is not ``niced'') to suck a lot of cycles. Care should be taken to slow down programs intended for use as screensavers by inserting strategic calls to sleep(p) or usleep(p) (or making liberal use of any -delay options which the programs may provide.) Note that the OpenGL-based graphics demos are real pigs on machines that don't have texture hardware. Also, an active screensaver will cause your X server to be pretty much permanently swapped in; but the same is true of any program that draws periodically, like xclock(k) or xload(d). Latency and Responsiveness If the subprocess is drawing too quickly and the connection to the X server is a slow one (such as an X terminal running over a phone line) then the screensaver might not turn off right away when the user becomes active again (the ico(o) demo has this problem if being run in full-speed mode). This can be alleviated by inserting strategic calls to XSync(c) in code intended for use as a screensaver. This prevents too much graphics activity from being buffered up. XFree86's Magic Keystrokes The XFree86 X server traps certain magic keystrokes before client programs ever see them. Two that are of note are Ctrl+Alt+Backspace, which causes the X server to exit; and Ctrl+Alt+Fn, which switches virtual consoles. The X server will respond to these keystrokes even if xscreen- saver has the screen locked. Depending on your setup, you might consider this a problem. Unfortunately, there is no way for xscreensaver itself to override the interpretation of these keys. If you want to disable Ctrl+Alt+Backspace globally, you need to set the DontZap flag in your /etc/X11/XF86Config file. See the XF86Config(g) manual for details. There is no way (as far as I can tell) to disable the VT-switching keystrokes. Some Linux systems come with a VT_LOCKSWITCH ioctl, that one could theoretically use to prevent VT-switching while the screen is locked; but unfortunately, this ioctl can only be used by root, which means that xscreensaver can't use it (since xscreensaver disavows its privileges shortly after startup, for security reasons.) Any suggestions for other solutions to this prob- lem are welcome. XView Clients Apparently there are some problems with XView pro- grams getting confused and thinking that the screensaver window is the real root window even when the screensaver is not active: ClientMessages intended for the window manager are sent to the screensaver window instead. This could be solved by making xscreensaver forward all unrecognised ClientMessages to the real root window, but there may be other problems as well. If anyone has any insight on the cause of this problem, please let me know. (XView is an X11 toolkit that implements the (quite abominable) Sun OpenLook look-and- feel.) MIT Extension and Fading The MIT-SCREEN-SAVER extension is junk. Don't use it. When using the MIT-SCREEN-SAVER extension in con- junction with the fade option, you'll notice an unattractive flicker just before the fade begins. This is because the server maps a black window just before it tells the xscreensaver process to activate. The xscreensaver process immediately unmaps that window, but this results in a flicker. I haven't figured a way to get around this; it seems to be a fundamental property of the (mis-) design of this server extension. It sure would be nice if someone would implement the SGI SCREEN_SAVER extension in XFree86; it's dead simple, and works far better than the overengineered and broken MIT-SCREEN-SAVER exten- sion. SGI Power Saver If you're running Irix 6.3, you might find that your monitor is powering down after an hour or two even if you've told it not to. This is fixed by SGI patches 2447 and 2537. If you're running Irix 6.5, this bug is back. I don't know a fix. MesaGL and Voodoo Cards If you have a 3Dfx/Voodoo card, the default set- tings for xscreensaver will run the GL-based graphics demos in such a way that they will not take advantage of the 3D acceleration hardware. The solution is to change the programs entries for the GL hacks from this: gears -root \n\ to this: MESA_GLX_FX=fullscreen gears \n\ That is, make sure that $MESA_GLX_FX is set to fullscreen, and don't tell the program to draw on the root window. This may seem strange, but the setup used by Mesa and these kinds of cards is strange! For those who don't know, these cards work by sit- ting between your normal video card and the moni- tor, and seizing control of the monitor when it's time to do 3D. But this means that accelerated 3D only happens in full-screen mode (you can't do it in a window, and you can't see the output of 3D and 2D programs simultaniously), and that 3D will probably drive your monitor at a lower resolution, as well. It's bizarre. If you find that GL programs only work properly when run as root, and not as normal users, then the problem is that your /dev/3dfx file is not configured properly. Check the Linux 3Dfx FAQ. Keyboard LEDs If procInterrupts is on (which is the default on Linux systems) and you're using some program that toggles the state of your keyboard LEDs, xscreen- saver won't work right: turning those LEDs on or off causes a keyboard interrupt, which xscreen- saver will interpret as user activity. So if you're using such a program, set the procInter- rupts resource to False. Extensions If you are not making use of one of the server extensions (XIDLE, SGI SCREEN_SAVER, or MIT- SCREEN-SAVER), then it is possible, in rare situa- tions, for xscreensaver to interfere with event propagation and make another X program malfunc- tion. For this to occur, that other application would need to not select KeyPress events on its non-leaf windows within the first 30 seconds of their existence, but then select for them later. In this case, that client might fail to receive those events. This isn't very likely, since pro- grams generally select a constant set of events immediately after creating their windows and then don't change them, but this is the reason that it's a good idea to install and use one of the server extensions instead, to work around this shortcoming in the X protocol. In all these years, I've not heard of even a sin- gle case of this happening, but it is theoreti- cally possible, so I'm mentioning it for complete- ness... Red Hot Lava There need to be a lot more graphics hacks. In particular, there should be a simulation of a Lavalite (tm). ENVIRONMENT DISPLAY to get the default host and display number, and to inform the sub-programs of the screen on which to draw. PATH to find the sub-programs to run. HOME for the directory in which to read and write the .xscreensaver file. XENVIRONMENT to get the name of a resource file that overrides the global resources stored in the RESOURCE_MAN- AGER property. UPGRADES The latest version can always be found at http://www.jwz.org/xscreensaver/ SEE ALSO X(X), xscreensaver-demo(o), xscreensaver-command(d), xscreensaver-gl-helper(r), xdm(m), xset(t), Xsecurity(y), xauth(h), xhost(t). ant(t), atlantis(s), attraction(n), blitspin(n), bouboule(e), braid(d), bsod(d), bubble3d(d), bubbles(s), cage(e), compass(s), coral(l), critical(l), crystal(l), cynosure(e), decayscreen(n), deco(o), deluxe(e), demon(n), discrete(e), distort(t), drift(t), epicycle(e), fadeplot(t), flag(g), flame(e), flow(w), for- est(t), galaxy(y), gears(s), glplanet(t), goop(p), grav(v), greynetic(c), halo(o), helix(x), hopalong(g), hypercube(e), ifs(s), imsmap(p), interference(e), jig- saw(w), julia(a), kaleidescope(e), kumppa(a), lament(t), laser(r), lightning(g), lisa(a), lissie(e), lmorph(h), loop(p), maze(e), moebius(s), moire(e), moire2(2), morph3d(d), mountain(n), munch(h), noseguy(y), pedal(l), penetrate(e), penrose(e), petri(i), phosphor(r), pipes(s), pulsar(r), pyro(o), qix(x), rd-bomb(b), rocks(s), rorschach(h), rotor(r), rubik(k), sierpinski(i), slidescreen(n), slip(p), sonar(r), sphere(e), spiral(l), spotlight(t), sproingies(s), squiral(l), stairs(s), starfish(h), strange(e), superquadrics(s), swirl(l), t3d(d), triangle(e), truchet(t), vines(s), wander(r), worm(m), xflame(e), xjack(k), xlyap(p), xmatrix(x), bongo(o), ico(o), xaos(s), xbouncebits(s), xcthugha(a), xdaliclock(k), xfishtank(k), xmountains(s), xsplinefun(n), xswarm(m), xtacy(y), xv(v), chbg(g), xwave(e). COPYRIGHT Copyright (C) 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 by Jamie Zawinski. Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this software and its documentation for any purpose is hereby granted with- out fee, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation. No representations are made about the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty. AUTHOR Jamie Zawinski <jwz@jwz.org>. Written in late 1991; first posted to comp.sources.x on 13-Aug-1992. Please let me know if you find any bugs or make any improvements. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks to Angela Goodman for the XScreenSaver logo. Thanks to the many people who have contributed graphics demos to the package. Thanks to David Wojtowicz for implementing lockTimeout. Thanks to Martin Kraemer for adding support for shadow passwords and locking-disabled diagnostics. Thanks to Patrick Moreau for the VMS port. Thanks to Mark Bowyer for figuring out how to hook it up to CDE. Thanks to Nat Lanza for the Kerberos support. Thanks to Bill Nottingham for the initial PAM support. And thanks to Jon A. Christopher for implementing the Athena dialog support, back in the days before Lesstif or Gtk were viable alternatives to Motif. X Version 11 25-Oct-2001 (3.34) XScreenSaver(r)