Looking for a screensaver or screen blanker that does not totally stop sending signal

[bullwinkle2]

EDIT: I am redefining my request, since the word "screensaver" seems to have some negative connotations. So now I am looking for something that will let me launch a full screen static image (.png or .jpeg or similar file) and display it until I come back and hit a key or something. That will do what I need and in particular it will not lock the screen or turn off the signal to the display or activate power management or anything like that.

(This is what I had written previously, please ignore it as it seems to inspire "solutions" that won't work for me and that kind of miss the whole point, I am only leaving it here so the discussion that follows in the first few messages makes sense and because some of the proposed solutions may work for other, even if they don't work for me).

I just started using Ubuntu 24.04 as my main desktop computer and I am looking for a screensaver that turns the full screen area black (or very dark grey) after some period of inactivity but does NOT completely turn off the signal to the display, and that still allows popup notifications to be displayed. So nothing involving lock screens, power management or anything like that, just something that sends a static black or dark grey image to the full screen area until there some activity with the keyboard or mouse. The privacy/security setting in Ubuntu isn't suitable because it stops sending any signal at all; I need it to send an all-black or very dark image to the display.

[TheFu]

xscreensaver doesn't work?
Run the xscreensaver-demo to tweak the settings. https://www.jwz.org/xscreensaver/ has more details, if you need them. The trick is the "Advanced tab" and choosing the glSlideShow screen saver.

To be clear, Wayland probably won't work with xscreensaver.

[ActionParsnip]

Could just turn the monitor off.....

[bullwinkle2]

xscreensaver doesn't work?
Run the xscreensaver-demo to tweak the settings. https://www.jwz.org/xscreensaver/ has more details, if you need them. The trick is the "Advanced tab" and choosing the glSlideShow screen saver.

To be clear, Wayland probably won't work with xscreensaver.

Ubuntu 24.04 runs Wayland, And yes I know it is possible to boot into X but that increases the bootup time significantly and I am not sure what else it might break. There's no screensaver or screen blanker that works with Wayland?

[Holger_Gehrke]

Most - if not all - screen savers and screen lockers are meant for an environment where there are people around who are not meant to read your screen, so they hide notifications by basically putting an undecorated window on top of everything. Letting notifications get on top of that window would be considered a security breach in such an environment (think of an email notification giving the sender and topic of the mail ...).

Holger

[TheFu]

https://www.jwz.org/blog/2023/09/way...screen-savers/ has some statements about Wayland and screen savers.

[bullwinkle2]

Most - if not all - screen savers and screen lockers are meant for an environment where there are people around who are not meant to read your screen, so they hide notifications by basically putting an undecorated window on top of everything. Letting notifications get on top of that window would be considered a security breach in such an environment (think of an email notification giving the sender and topic of the mail ...).

Holger

I have no idea why you would assume that, I know plenty of home users that run screensavers. That said I could live without the notifications being visible, as long as it sends some kind of signal to the display so I don't get the bouncing warning that there is no signal.

[bullwinkle2]

https://www.jwz.org/blog/2023/09/way...screen-savers/ has some statements about Wayland and screen savers.

Well I almost wish you had not posted that, because I did not understand much of it (the technical parts - I am not a programmer so those are pretty meaningless to me) but the rest of it just kind of made me angry. Why are the Gnome developers on such high horses about screensavers? That is the sort of thing that turns people into distro hoppers. I have been using Ubuntu on my home theater PC for years and always had to turn off the screensaver on it, now I finally decide to make the jump to using Ubuntu on the desktop (having left MacOS) and I keep running into these little issues where the problem always seems to be Wayland, OR the combination of Gnome and Wayland. I'm starting to feel really sorry I did not choose Linux Mint with the Cinnamon desktop; only reason I didn't was because I don't like the "Windows look" of Mint and I don't like that it comes pre-loaded with all kinds of software I'd never use. I think Gnome with X Windows would have been fine (and still would be if it didn't take so damn long to boot, what's with that?) or maybe Wayland and some other desktop, but it seems to me that the combination of Wayland and Gnome is kind of toxic and now from what I have been reading I think that may be more on Gnome than on Wayland.

That said, even though I am not a programmer, I really don't see why a screen blanker should be so difficult. I could probably figure out some way to make a very long, low res video that is solid black with no sound and play it full screen in VLC, but seems like that would waste a lot of power just to turn the screen black But if VLC can go full screen and Firefox can go full screen, isn't there anything that can just display an image file full screen? I can create a solid black image in GIMP, if it comes to that. Maybe because I used the term "screensaver" people are overthinking this, I just want a way to turn the screen black for short periods. Other people might want a way to put up a particular picture on their screen while they are away. Are you seriously saying there is no way to do that in Ubuntu, and that it is because the Gnome developers have some kind of bug up their butts about screensavers?

[1fallen]

Well this thread looks fun, but as others have already mentioned, Wayland does not support screensavers or screen blankers in the same way that X11 does. The xscreensaver package, which is designed for X11, does not work natively with Wayland.


Wayland “does not have any provision that allows screen savers to even exist in any meaningful way.” This suggests that the architecture of Wayland does not provide the necessary hooks or APIs for screensavers to function. (Yet!)
I see TheFu already posted the Link.


I can't see why your short with folks trying to help you.... It is what it is.

EDIT: the best I can do on Wayland is to use [Super+L] to lock screen it works on Plasma tested, I'm no Gnome user so you will have to confirm that.
Or just a blank black screen:

gnome-screensaver-command --lock

Providing that "xscreensaver" is installed.

[bullwinkle2]

Well this thread looks fun, but as others have already mentioned, Wayland does not support screensavers or screen blankers in the same way that X11 does. The xscreensaver package, which is designed for X11, does not work natively with Wayland.

Part of why I am a little bent out of shape about this is that everyone seems to think that this is just normal. It's like the dog in the "this is fine" meme, except the flame around him are the flaming file of rubbish that is Wayland. Okay, that may be a little unfair, I know that there are good reasons to move away from X but dammit, Wayland isn't ready yet! And I am partly kicking myself for installing Ubuntu 24.04 but I really did not realize how poor the combination of Gnome+Wayland is. I do appreciate that people have enlightened me on this but there are so many distros to choose from and people still say Ubuntu is one of the best for new users (which in a way I am, because I have never attempted to use Linux on my primary desktop system before). And I think that was probably absolutely true when 18.04 or 20.04 was the current Ubuntu version, but all I can say is if I had known about some of the little details that make 24.04 such a pain in the posterior I would have run away!

Wayland “does not have any provision that allows screen savers to even exist in any meaningful way.” This suggests that the architecture of Wayland does not provide the necessary hooks or APIs for screensavers to function. (Yet!)
I see TheFu already posted the Link.

Right, and again to me that should have been a good indication that Wayland isn't ready yet. It's one of those situations where some folks would never have a problem because they don't feel the need to run anything that isn't working with Wayland, but I have to tell you, this is about the fifth thing I have run into that makes my think Wayland sucks in about the space of two weeks (prior to which I barely understood what the difference was between X and Wayland, or why it would matter which was used). And why Ubuntu folks just go "this is fine" is what I don't get. Is everyone too afraid to say that there are things about Linux that suck compared to MacOS or even maybe Windows? I mean just the simple act of copying and pasting text is such a hit-or-miss proposition it makes me want to scream sometimes.

I can't see why your short with folks trying to help you.... It is what it is.

And that's EXACTLY why I'm that way. That attitude, right there. The acceptance of rubbish. It just belies everything I have ever heard about how great Linux is!

I have a feeling if this problem were entirely confined to some other distro, Ubuntu users would be much more inclined to see how bad it is that you can't do simple ordinary things because "the Gnome developers..." or "Wayland doesn't yet..." (despite the fact that Wayland has been around for how long now?). But to me this is exactly why people will turn away from Ubuntu, maybe not today or tomorrow, but soon. Honestly, I had held off on switching for as long as I could because the way all the YouTubers were talking, the Cosmic desktop was going to be the next big thing. But it is like everything else, it takes time, and I did not want to mess with alpha software. But they have been making progress, I just wonder if they will have the same issues with Wayland as Gnome does. I never understood why some of the YouTube Linux channels had so much hate for Gnome, but I am starting to see understand now. Last time I updated my media center I put Debian and XFCE on it and in some respects that's working a whole lot better than my desktop system, but then again, that's still running X!

EDIT: the best I can do on Wayland is to use [Super+L] to lock screen it works on Plasma tested, I'm no Gnome user so you will have to confirm that.

Again, the issue with a lock screen (besides the fact that locking the screen is something I specifically wanted to avoid) is that it stops sending any signal at all to the monitor. And then I get this bright blue box traveling around the screen complaining of no HDMI signal.

Or just a blank black screen:

gnome-screensaver-command --lock

Providing that "xscreensaver" is installed.

Really I am realizing that I didn't ask the right question. The question I SHOULD have asked is, how can I display a full screen image (such as a 1920x1080 .png or ,jpeg) static image on the screen just by launching a script or program, that will work in Wayland. I cannot believe that is totally impossible. Maybe some people would use that to display a picture of their family, or a relaxing beach scene, or a mountain lake, or the night sky. Me, I would just display a totally black or a dark gray image. I have no problem with triggering it manually, but it MUST send some signal to the monitor so I don't get the damn blue box. This thread has been helpful in that regard, I have learned that there is a negative connotation to the word "screensaver" for some unfathomable reason, so I am NOT asking for a screensaver anymore!