Add Xscreensavers to Mate

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zektor

Add Xscreensavers to Mate

Post by zektor »

Since I am a screensaver kind of guy (I love them) and it seems there is very little love for them anymore (hence the lack of them in the Mate release), here are the steps to add the 200 or so great screensavers to Mint Mate 17:

From terminal:

Code: Select all

sudo apt-get install xscreensaver-data-extra xscreensaver-gl-extra

Code: Select all

cd /usr/share/applications/screensavers

Code: Select all

sudo perl -p -i -e 's/OnlyShowIn=GNOME;/OnlyShowIn=GNOME;MATE;/g' *.desktop
Enjoy the screensavers! My little girl can't live without the bouncing cow, so luckily she does not have to :)
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darkstrike
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Re: Add Xscreensavers to Mate

Post by darkstrike »

Sorry to bring this thread back from the dead, but I am curious about this same question - the few default screensavers added to MATE are nice, but there isn't much choice. I was curious how to do this, so thanks for the steps, but...do these steps for adding Xscreensavers ALSO add them to the Lock Screen function as well...?

I rarely use the screensavers for "just sreensavers", but I do lock my screen all the time to keep prying eyes away while I am at work and AFK and it is there that I would like them to appear, and then move the mouse / hit a key to bring up my password login box?

Also, if I can't get them to work....how hard would it be to get the MATE screensavers back...?

Thanks!
Image
Image
Mack

Re: Add Xscreensavers to Mate

Post by Mack »

Mate-Screensaver (Using XScreensavers)

Linux Mint 17.1 / Mate 1.8.1

1. Download [mate-screensaver-hacks-5.26-1-any.pkg.tar.xz] package, unpack it and hold for later.


2. Install packages with additional screensavers:
xscreensaver-data
xscreensaver-data-extra
xscreensaver-gl
xscreensaver-gl-extra
xscreensaver
[Note: xscreensaver is ONLY installed to load the {.xscreensaver} file into the /home directory and to set your initial image directory. To change image directory: See Below]


3. Run: xscreensaver to load the {.xscreensaver} file into the /home directory.
[Note: Do Not start the xscreensaver daemon. I don't know what will happen if you do.]

For GLSlideshow- click the Advanced-TAB in the upper left and select [Choose Random Image] then browse to the image directory you want to use and open it, then close Xscreensaver.


4. Use Synaptic Package Manager and do a Complete Removal of (xscreensaver) ONLY.


5. Open: {/usr/share/applications/screensavers} as Administrator and delete all the screensaver files. While still in Administrator mode go to the mate-screensaver-hacks directory and copy all the new screensavers into the directory you just deleted all the old ones from, then close the directory.

6. Open Mate-Screensaver and you should have all the Xscreensavers available for use.


For GLSlideshow- open Text Editor as Administrator and then open /usr/share/applications/screensavers/glslideshow.desktop .

Look for the following entry:
Exec=glslideshow -root

Modify this line to instead read:
Exec=glslideshow -root -duration 15 -pan 15 -fade 5 -zoom 75

Where:
duration represents the amount of time (in seconds) to display an image for
pan represents the amount of time (in seconds) to run the pan effect on this image
fade represents the transition time (in seconds) to fade between images
zoom represents the amount to zoom and pan as a percentage. Default: 75, meaning that 75% or more of each image will always be visible. If set to 100%, then the images will always fill the screen, and no panning or zooming will occur. Images will still smoothly fade from one to another, however, assuming -fade is non-zero.

Note: With the settings of -pan 6 -duration 30, each image will be displayed five times (30/6), and then a new image will be loaded. If you want a new image to be loaded at each fade, then set -pan and -duration to the same value.


~~~ IMPORTANT ~~~


If GLSlideshow doesn't load after the set amount of time, follow these instructions:

Run: $ sudo pluma /usr/share/applications/screensavers/personal-slideshow.desktop
Enter: Password

Text Editor will open as -Superuser- and the personal-slideshow.desktop file will be blank.

In same window click-Open and select File System, then open {/usr/share/applications/screensavers/glslideshow.desktop} file.

Click: Edit and Select All, then copy and paste to personal-slideshow.desktop file.

In the personal-slideshow.desktop file look for the following entry:
Name=GLSlideshow

Change it to a new name:
Name=whatever you want

Save and Exit

Open Mate-Screensaver and select your new slideshow screensaver. It should work just fine.

Use the same info above to adjust the settings. Just make sure you open personal-slideshow.desktop instead of glslideshow.desktop...


For GLSlideshow- to change the image directory open home/.xscreensaver in Text Editor. (Hidden file - mark Show hidden files.)

Look for the following entry:
imageDirectory: /home/whatever/whatever

Modify this line by replacing the current directory path with your new one. Save and exit.

Enjoy!!!
unkilbeeg
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Re: Add Xscreensavers to Mate

Post by unkilbeeg »

Where do you get mate-screensaver-hacks-5.26-1-any.pkg.tar.xz? Link or even a description of where that file lives would be nice.

Is there anything to it other than the existing .desktop files with the OnlyShowIn line amended to add MATE to it?

I haven't had any luck with modifying those files in LMDE.
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