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The current login screen in Ubuntu Gnome Shell Remix is very ugly...

How can I setup another appearance for the login sreen ?

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This is an unofficial ubuntu distro - as such, it is off-topic for Ask Ubuntu. It is on-topic for our fellow SE site - Unix & Linux – fossfreedom♦ Jul 9 '12 at 18:44

closed as off topic by fossfreedom♦ Jul 9 '12 at 18:44

Questions on Ask Ubuntu are expected to relate to Ubuntu within the scope defined in the FAQ. Consider editing the question or leaving comments for improvement if you believe the question can be reworded to fit within the scope. Read more about closed questions here.

1 Answer

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I presume you are using Gnome 3.

You can get a screen like Ubuntu by installing the ubuntu-artwork package.

Type in terminal:

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-artwork

Second Option:

To install a custom background/theme type the following command, again in Terminal:

su -
su - gdm -s /bin/bash
`dbus-launch | sed "s/^/export /"`
GSETTINGS_BACKEND=dconf gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background picture-uri "file:///usr/share/backgrounds/YOUR_FILE.JPG"

In the last command, replace "YOUR_FILE.JPG" with the picture you want to use as the background of the login screen.

Please note that you must specify a file which user "gdm" has permission to read, that's why I've used file:///usr/share/backgrounds/. For instance, user "gdm" cannot read files in your home directory.

In the same way you can install GTK+ Themes:

su -
su - gdm -s /bin/bash
`dbus-launch | sed "s/^/export /"`
GSETTINGS_BACKEND=dconf gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.interface gtk-theme "THEME_NAME"

Where "THEME_NAME" is the name of the theme, e.g.: "Zukitwo". The themes must be placed under /usr/share/themes/.

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Hi Nick, thanks for helping. Sorry I've edited my comment a few times because it saves too easily :-) I gave a try to your first (easy) suggestion, installing ubuntu-artwork. Nothing has changed. I have noticed that the Ambiance theme had been added. Even using it, the screen login appearance remains the same, ugly... Anything to change in /etc/lightdm/lightdm.conf ? Sure I've restarted after each attempt. – flips Jul 9 '12 at 18:45
May sound stupid but did you restart? – Nick Jul 9 '12 at 18:47
Why the topic has been closed ? Any idea how to use ubuntu-artwork to change the login screen ? Thanks a lot. – flips Jul 9 '12 at 18:55
A good idea would be to take a look at ubuntu-art.org ,download the login screen theme from there and install it using the second option. – Nick Jul 9 '12 at 18:57
Thanks for your help but nothing worked, I will stick to the ugly login screen. I will try to report that to Ubuntu Gnome-Shell Remix directly. Cheers Nick – flips Jul 10 '12 at 10:18

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