How can I change or install screensavers?

Question

I want to change the default screen saver in ubuntu 11.10/12.04. On 11.04 i just did a

sudo apt-get install xscreensaver-data-extra xscreensaver-screensaver-bsod 

and then i could change it in the control center -> screen saver options.

But now there seems to be no other option to change the default screen saver.

Answer 1

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

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

Now remove gnome-screensaver

sudo apt-get remove gnome-screensaver

Now start the xscreensaver configuration tool - from a terminal:

xscreensaver-demo

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

sudo ln -s /usr/bin/xscreensaver-command /usr/bin/gnome-screensaver-command

Logout or reboot for all changes to take effect.

Answer 2

If you want to experiment, then check out these links

Link to ubuntuupdates

Link to GnomeScreensaver home page

Remember, this is at your own risk

Regards

Answer 3

Try installing gnome-tweak-tool. It's like Ubuntu Tweak, except that it's more focused towards GNOME 3, and it isn't only for Ubuntu. It might have the Screensaver setting you are looking for.
EDIT: Use xscreensaver-demo

Answer 4

Ubuntu 11.10 doesn’t come with screensaver package installed. You must install xscreensaver if you want screensavers activated when your computer becomes idled.

1. sudo apt-get remove gnome-screensaver
2. sudo apt-get install xscreensaver xscreensaver-gl-extra xscreensaver-data-extra

Links

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screensaver
2. http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1860551
3. http://www.liberiangeek.net/2011/10/enable-screensavers-in-ubuntu-11-10-oneiric-ocelot/
4. http://www.liberiangeek.net/2011/10/enable-screensavers-in-ubuntu-11-10-oneiric-ocelot/

Disclaimer

Above method works in 11.10 ,i didn't tried in 12.04

Answer 5

There is no screensaver by default in Ubuntu. You can install xscreensaver from the archives.

I'm not entirely sure screensavers actually do save screens anymore, though I'm inclined to think they don't. But they do consume large amounts of energy that could be better used for other things.

Answer 6

Please take note that, for Ubuntu 12.04 and in order to be able to run several screensavers using images from the harddisk (e.g., Carousel, Gleidescope, GLSlideshow, Jigsaw, or XAnalogTV) , I had to install some additional packages.

These are:

• libxss-dev
• libxss1-dbg
• libxss1
• kdelibs-bin
• kdelibs5-data
• kdelibs5-plugin

Many others might get installed automatically together with the ones listed, particularly KDE libraries.

I found the instructions in this blog.

Answer 7

If you sudo apt-get remove gnome-screensaver but then sudo apt-get install rss-glx (see this Ubuntu Forums post and this one), the Really Slick Screensaver (GLX) effects will run on top of a screen that has not been blanked under Unity in Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, not just in xscreensaver-demo but also when the real screensaver kicks in.

Hence, a solution is required that does (even in the absence of gnome-screensaver) blank the screen prior to running the xscreensaver (which does work fine under LXDE for one thing).