[TriLUG] Monitor Auto Power Weirdness

Randall Barlow randall_barlow at ncsu.edu
Tue Feb 28 09:54:10 EST 2006


Owen Berry wrote:
> Great! Would you mind posting what you did to gdm.conf? I'm interested.
> Thanks,
> Owen
I actually already sent a reply to this, but never saw it come across 
the list...  Here goes another try :)

Sure - I just followed the instructions from the XScreenSaver manual at: 
http://www.jwz.org/xscreensaver/man1.html

The relevant section says:

Using xscreensaver with

    /_gdm (1)_/ is easy, because gdm has a configuration tool. Just fire
    up /_gdmconfig (1)_/ and on the /Background/ page, type
    *"xscreensaver -nosplash"* into the /Background Program/ field. That
    will cause gdm to run xscreensaver while nobody is logged in, and
    kill it as soon as someone does log in. (The user will then be
    responsible for starting xscreensaver on their own, if they want.)

    Another way to accomplish the same thing is to edit the file
    //etc/X11/gdm/gdm.conf
    <imap://rpbarlow@rpbarlow.mail.ncsu.edu:143/fetch%3EUID%3E.INBOX.Sent%3E2295?part=1.1.2&filename=gdm.conf>/
    to include:

          BackgroundProgram=xscreensaver -nosplash
          RunBackgroundProgramAlways=true

    In this situation, the /xscreensaver/ process will probably be
    running as user /gdm/ instead of /root/. You can configure the
    settings for this nobody-logged-in state (timeouts, DPMS, etc.) by
    editing the /~gdm/.xscreensaver/ file.

    To get gdm to run the BackgroundProgram, you may need to switch it
    from the "Graphical Greeter" to the "Standard Greeter".

I am using the graphical greeter currently, so I don't actually see any 
screen savers currently (as the last sentence suggests), but it did seem 
to solve my monitor power issues.  I think I might try and see how 
xscreensaver does with the standard greeter, mostly because xscreensaver 
is really cool :)

-- 
Randy Barlow
Research Assistant
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC
randall_barlow at ncsu.edu
http://www.electronsweatshop.com



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