Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Does anyone know how to get xlock set-up to work in fossapup? The tiny password box that used to appear doesn't any more.

Or is there a way to set up xlock from the command line?

Or is there an alternative screen-locking application I could try instead of xlock?

Or is there actually such a thing in Linux as logging out (as distinct from merely locking the screen) and logging in again with a password required?

doomcur wrote:

Or is there actually such a thing in Linux as logging out (as distinct from merely locking the screen) and logging in again with a password required?

most larger Linux distro's require logging in an out and are "true" multi-user systems. Most Puppy Linux's are not. These systems are single user (root) systems with pseudo multi-user capabilities. That's why the screen locking would be good to have working.

The DebianDogs, KLV and KLA are true multi-user systems though they are set up to act as single user systems. Also FatDog is multi-user capable.

This is actually a feature that draws some people to use Puppy Linux, those who do not want to constantly login as a non-root user and have to use sudo or su every time they want to do a system operation and want the single user method and complete control of all aspects of the operating system and machine.

Linux and it's permissions system is very secure and Puppy Linux has a user called "spot" which is non-privileged to emulate the multi-user design. Many modern applications will not run as the root user or will throw warnings and complain about it. There is a script in Puppy Linux called run-as-spot to use for such cases.

I also noticed some buggy behavior with xlock in Fossapup64 and we will have to take a look and see what is going on. Might just be the method used to create the GUI, like a gtk2 - gtk3 conflict.

Maybe you're hit by the bug fixed in https://github.com/puppylinux-woof-CE/woof-CE/pull/2953, after Fossapup was released. Try to delete ~/.xlockrc (rm ~/.xlockrc in the terminal).

@dimkr Do you think a small script in the ~/Startup directory that checks if the ~/.xlockrc file exists and IF yes then deletes it would be a quick workaround?

rockedge wrote: ↑Thu Nov 10, 2022 1:27 pm

@dimkr Do you think a small script in the ~/Startup directory that checks if the ~/.xlockrc file exists and IF yes then deletes it would be a quick workaround?

Maybe, but I'd start with manual deletion to see if that's really the problem. (And 9.6 won't need any workaround because the xlockmore petbuild is patched, so I wouldn't rush to write a more permanent fix for 9.5)

Have you tried fred's Screener?
viewtopic.php?t=4270&hilit=screener

dimkr wrote: ↑Thu Nov 10, 2022 4:47 pm

.....9.6 won't need any workaround because the xlockmore petbuild is patched, so I wouldn't rush to write a more permanent fix for 9.5

Totally makes sense. I am about to run a build for a F96-CE (fossapup64-9.6-CE) with the kernel huge-6.0.5-lxpup64.tar.bz2

Thanks to all who replied.

I think I'll try deleting that file first...bad news, deleting /root/.xlockrc and rebooting didn't fix the problem.

And fred's Screener isn't available through ppm.

Any other software out there for this purpose?

how to get xlock set-up

The config files are

/root/.xlockrc (the password hash)

/root/.config/Xlock/xlockrootparams

/root/.config/Xlock/xlockscreenparams

Maybe deleting all 3 files? (good to backup the files first and no need to reboot.)

is there a way to set up xlock from the command line?

Yes. for example:

xlock --help
xlock -help
# -nolock means  password not required
xlock -nolock -mode matrix
xlock -nolock -mode random

You can run xlock after the computer wakes from suspend
by editing the file /etc/acpi/actions/suspend.sh
and changing this:

rm -f "$LOCKFILE"

to this:

rm -f "$LOCKFILE"
xlock

add xlock cli parameters if you like.

You can use the Xorg screensaver if you like.

xset --help

EDIT; put the xlock line at the end of the suspend.sh file
so usb keyboard and mouse should work.

doomcur, "And fred's Screener isn't available through ppm."

Only a couple people can upload files to the repository PPM uses. That's one of the reasons we have the Additional Software Section whose posts may have links to pets, SFSes and other files you can download. With pets, you just download them and Left-Click to install. Puppy will do the rest.

Caution: Often the title or OP of a thread will identify the Puppy a pet has been built to work with. Sometimes a pets name provides a glue, e.g. amd64 or i?86 only for 64bit or 32bit respectively.Many pets however are just bash-scripts which will work with all Puppies. When in doubt it is best to either run as PupMode13 (installs are to RAM not your SaveFile/Folder) or first backup your SaveFile/Folder before installing. Under PupMode13, after installing --but before Saving-- you can test by Menu>Exit>Restart Graphical Server which causes a Puppy to re-catalog what's make up its system. SFSes can always be safely SFS-loaded s they aren't installed. If there's a problem you just SFS-(un)load; its a toggle.

Thanks to all who took an interest, but especially to williams2 -- simply deleting those three files brought xlock back from the dead.

I should probably have been able to work that out for myself, but bit by bit, day by day, computers are destroying my brain.