Screener, a screensaver utility

[fredx181]

*** Screener, a screensaver utility ***

EDIT 23 oct, fixed setting password, see issue viewtopic.php?p=39782#p39782 and viewtopic.php?p=39868#p39868
The screener packages now separated for 64-bit and 32-bit, see below
EDIT 18 oct, 32-bit xlockmore pet package replaced, see EDIT below.

Written by rg66 and Geoffrey, in 2013 (as included in x-tahr)
I've put together pet packages, the only change I made is extended list of "savers" (/usr/share/screener/savers), contains all modes supported by xlock (with xlockmore version 5.43, see below) including "random" (EDIT: See here for a small "savers" list: viewtopic.php?p=39489#p39489):
32-bit screener pet;

screener-1.0.1_i386.pet

(13.86 KiB) Downloaded 122 times

64-bit screener pet;

screener-1.0.1_amd64.pet

(13.82 KiB) Downloaded 149 times

Requirements:
- xlock, provided by package xlockmore, pet packages version 5.43 (32-bit), version 5.31 (64-bit):
32-bit:

xlockmore-5.43-1_i386.pet

(389.43 KiB) Downloaded 105 times

64-bit:

xlockmore-5.31_amd64.pet

(273.39 KiB) Downloaded 113 times

Often xlock is already installed in Puppy, but may be another version, with different options / modes, so may not be compatible.
- yad for the (screener script) GUI, very old version probably won't work, if so, pet packages here: viewtopic.php?p=9063#p9063
- xautolock, can be installed from PPM (but perhaps only needed for locking when password required, not sure though)
EDIT: on second thought, I think xautolock is really required.

Fred

2021-10-18-095519_351x392_scrot.png (36.29 KiB) Viewed 3234 times

[fredx181]

Forgot to mention:
In x-tahr, .desktop files in ~/.config/autostart will be executed at login, not on JWM, so added "xscreener" symlink to ~/Startup (and renamed screener in ~/.config/autostart to .bak (so disabled)).

[mikewalsh]

@fredx181 :-

Hey, nice one, Fred.

I remember trying this out in Carolina a few years ago. I was quite impressed with it, since many of the mainstream distros didn't at that time seem to have anything to approximate it at all. I always think it's nice when a 'niche' distro can upstage the 'big boys'.....don't you?

Will this work outside the 'X'-series Pups?

Cheers for this, anyroad.

Mike.

[fredx181]

Will this work outside the 'X'-series Pups?

Yes, it should work on JWM too, independent of which window-manager in use.

[mikeslr]

Thanks, fred, for screener, a really nice screensaver.

One question: One of the controls is "Mins until Monitor Standby". I never want it to turn the Monitor off. Will a setting of "0" do that?

And one criticism: Too many display options. I wasted 20 minutes trying to decide which I wanted and only got about a third of the way through testing the choices. Finally gave up as I was getting a head-ache.

P.S. Oh yah, it didn't offer a cat running around the screen; had to settle for dolphins.

[fredx181]

One question: One of the controls is "Mins until Monitor Standby". I never want it to turn the Monitor off. Will a setting of "0" do that?

Not sure, but I guess it will only go in Standby if "Monitor Energy Saver" is checked (I'm on a laptop, so can't really test).

And one criticism: Too many display options. I wasted 20 minutes trying to decide which I wanted and only got about a third of the way through testing the choices. Finally gave up as I was getting a head-ache.

Yes, crazy amount of choices, here's the original list of display options as included in x-tahr (only 16 options):

savers.txt

(565 Bytes) Downloaded 114 times

Rename to "savers" and replace in /usr/share/screener/
I guess the developers chose these options as "best of" perhaps ?
EDIT: You can make your own list also of course, I would include "random" too.

Fred

[JASpup]

looks good will not activate set to 1 or 2 minutes in tahr or xenial

gui loads with just screener and yad installed with error message:

Code: Select all

/usr/sbin/screener: line 54: xautolock: command not found

all three packages installed,
tried with pupx and sscontrol off and on
with all three on, sscontrol will activate
with just screener and pupx, pupx did not activate
screener also will not activate alone

subjectively the new list is ovewhelming. 16 is plenty.

screener in tahr jwm:

[fredx181]

/usr/sbin/screener: line 54: xautolock: command not found

Installing xautolock (from PPM) is required.

[JASpup]

Installing xautolock (from PPM) is required.

I installed the dropbox version.

[fredx181]

Installing xautolock (from PPM) is required.

I installed the dropbox version.

That is "xlockmore", you also need xautolock.

[JASpup]

We have a winner!

kinks: the types are switching after short intervals and it doesn't seem to matter which one I choose. Is bat a bat? Can it stay on one chosen?

[fredx181]

We have a winner!

kinks: the types are switching after short intervals and it doesn't seem to matter which one I choose. Is bat a bat? Can it stay on one chosen?

Strange... for me it stays on the one I chose (after clicking Apply) only when I choose "random" it changes everytime.

[JASpup]

Strange... for me it stays on the one I chose (after clicking Apply) only when I choose "random" it changes everytime.

The saver I choose isn't even the one that runs. X-series matches. Perhaps if a more advanced user has the same problem we can identify it.

If sscontrol were removed, is there a way to make screener the default screen saver in jwmdesk and the other Puppy configuration utilities?

Can we compare system resource usage? I care less about disk space than ram usage.

Of the three packages required, I only see xautolock in lxtask, RSS of 636kb, VM 3.8mb used.

[JASpup]

screener error demonstration:

[fredx181]

@JASpup
You are right, sorry, my bad, the 32-bit version of xlockmore was wrong (i.e. not compatible with all display options), I tested mostly on 64-bit and assumed that the 32-bit xlock v5.43 had the same display options, turns out not (so e.g. "bat" wasn't found and switched therefore to "random") .
Can be fixed by installing new 32-bit xlockmore pet: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/uly ... 6.pet?dl=0 (edited first post too)
First uninstall the old version from PPM, then install the new, hope it's okay now.

Fred

[fredx181]

......, hope it's okay now.

@JASpup , Is it ?

[mikewalsh]

@fredx181 :-

It's working fine for me in all the 64-bitzers, Fred, and my two 32-bitzers as well. No issues here at all; I assume the 32-bit xlockmore .pet must have been updated before I downloaded, because at the time of my first reply I hadn't yet done so.....

Xenial 32-bit and Sailor's 5.7.1 'take' on Slacko 570 are both perfectly happy with it.

Thanks again for your work on this. It's a "good'un"..!

Mike.

[fredx181]

Thanks Mike ! Good to know.

[JASpup]

Screensavers worked upon selection with the package installed. That's a fix.

Then I tried the lock function within screener (looks just like Xlock). The screen locked and with no password set I couldn't get back in. I escaped out of X, issued the clear password, tried to set a new password, and the screen locked again. This time I could not escape out of X. Reboot.

Installing all the packages again I lost JWM. This happens similar for me in the pkg utility.

28K xautolock_2.2-4_i386.deb
16K screener-1.0.0_noarch.pet
1.1M xlockmore-5.43_i386.pet
72K yad-0.40-i686.pet
1.2M total

Remain issues being:
* screen lock function
* vast number of savers
* JWM corrupting
* footprint

I'm in 32 Tahr. Tinker if you will. I am mostly motivated by 1 minute increments with no conflicts.
http://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=4294

[fredx181]

Then I tried the lock function within screener (looks just like Xlock). The screen locked and with no password set I couldn't get back in. I escaped out of X, issued the clear password, tried to set a new password, and the screen locked again. This time I could not escape out of X. Reboot.

Mmm.. yes I see, setting password not working, I must admit that I tested only on X-tahr and assumed it would work the same, but the xlock from my xlockmore package is different.
No sure how to solve, found xlock option -allowroot, which makes it unlock with the root password (usually woofwoof) . Would that be okay for you ?
I'll investigate further, can't figure out yet how to handle it.

[JASpup]

Mmm.. yes I see, setting password not working, I must admit that I tested only on X-tahr and assumed it would work the same, but the xlock from my xlockmore package is different.
No sure how to solve, found xlock option -allowroot, which makes it unlock with the root password (usually woofwoof) . Would that be okay for you ?
I'll investigate further, can't figure out yet how to handle it.

For technical users who insist upon an excellent screensaver, I think they can adapt.

My perspective is X-Tahr is overall the best puppy I boot (small glitches not a big problem). The main reason it's the best: easiest to start using without adjustments.

I saw screener there and it works with no conflicts so I thought it would be nice for JWM. Alas, the more complicated getting it to work is, the more it would have to become builtin to be worthwhile.

FIRST before any preferences is no conflicts. A screensaver has to work.

I know there is money and structure in open source, but overall it is a willful collaboration.

woofwoof is fine for a password, but any user should not have to think about it.

If I were to choose how you used your time I it would be fixing conflicts in existing screensavers: http://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.php?t=2141

What makes sense to me, since pupx is most known for three tabs, is removing the Screensaver tab and making sscontrol available as an update with 1-minute increment control for any modern pup: http://forum.puppylinux.com/viewtopic.p ... 534#p39534

Where is sscontrol? A new one installs with JWMDesk but is not available alone?

[JASpup]

The other solution of course is to get rid of sscontrol and revert to pupx, including have it called by the configuration utilities like JWMDesk.

I am in 32 Xenial where this works:

On my 64 machine it doesn't in Mainline Xenial or the XFCE puplet.

[fredx181]

@JASpup
These pet packages should fix the set password issue for screener, edit: for 32-bit:

xlockmore-5.43-1_i386.pet

(389.43 KiB) Downloaded 94 times

screener-1.0.1_i386.pet

(13.86 KiB) Downloaded 91 times

The '/usr/bin/xlock' in xlockmore package I just copied from x-tahr and the screensaver display options in screener-1.0.1 match with it, so works exactly as in x-tahr.
Tested on Tahr puppy and Xenial puppy.

EDIT: Edited first post, attached 64-bit packages too with fixed password issue.

Fred

[JASpup]

I'll check it out back on 64.

It's default here in X-Tahr.

[fredx181]

I'll check it out back on 64.

It's default here in X-Tahr.

Perhaps misunderstanding, above attached packages are for 32-bit.

[twigboy]

Thank you very much. Works on my recent BionicPup64 (8.0). Already had xautolock installed and xlock configured with password. Set screener up to blank (turn off the display/standby turns off the laptop backlight) minutes before executing the screensaver (blank) and triggering the lock requiring the password.

I'd like to have an on-demand lock that triggers all of this also (blank screensaver, no-backlight/display off, secured) but running xlock or xautolock -locknow don't seem to turn off the backlight. Is there a way to turn off the screen and backlight, that I can add to a script when triggering xlock/xautolock?

*** Screener, a screensaver utility ***

...
32-bit screener pet; screener-1.0.1_i386.pet
64-bit screener pet; screener-1.0.1_amd64.pet
...
EDIT: on second thought, I think xautolock is really required.

Fred

2021-10-18-095519_351x392_scrot.png

[fredx181]

I'd like to have an on-demand lock that triggers all of this also (blank screensaver, no-backlight/display off, secured) but running xlock or xautolock -locknow don't seem to turn off the backlight. Is there a way to turn off the screen and backlight, that I can add to a script when triggering xlock/xautolock?

Sorry, don't know about that. And I'm just the "packager", the program is written by @rg66 and @Geoffrey .
(perhaps they can help (or anyone else)).

[twigboy]

Well, it is a nice package. Thank you. And a useful set of programming for Puppies.

[HerrBert]

....
I'd like to have an on-demand lock that triggers all of this also (blank screensaver, no-backlight/display off, secured) but running xlock or xautolock -locknow don't seem to turn off the backlight. Is there a way to turn off the screen and backlight, that I can add to a script when triggering xlock/xautolock?
...

xautolock can also run its locker on demand via option -corners, but the display is turned of seperately by xset.

To turn off the display instantly you can use xset dpms force off before xlock is started

EDIT:

From a separate script (without editing screener scripts) you can do something like:

Code: Select all

#!/bin/sh
sleep .5
xset dpms force off
xautolock -locknow

- added sleep to give time to release mouse

[mikewalsh]

@fredx181 :-

Just of curiosity, do you - or anybody else, for that matter! - have the faintest idea of where those individual "saver" files are located? I've been through the extracted .pet every which way I can think of, and don't see them anywhere.

Or are these somehow generated "on-the-fly" by a bunch of algorithms as-and-when they're selected? I'm curious as to just how this thing DOES work....

Mike.