About 50% of the time, when the screen blanks to activate a screen saver, all that comes are some error lines saying that a file (seems like a xscreensaver binary) couldn't be found. An example that can't be found is 'stonerview'. Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. 2. 3. I'm running gentoo on an amd64. xscreensaver has the following USE flags here: [ebuild R ] x11-misc/xscreensaver-4.20 -debug +gnome +gtk +jpeg -kerberos -krb4 +motif +offensive +opengl +pam -xinerama 0 kB Here's the output of emerge info: Portage 2.0.51.19 (default-linux/amd64/2004.3, gcc-3.4.3-20050110, glibc-2.3.4.20050125-r1, 2.6.11-gentoo-r3 x86_64) ================================================================= System uname: 2.6.11-gentoo-r3 x86_64 AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3000+ Gentoo Base System version 1.6.10 Python: dev-lang/python-2.3.5 [2.3.5 (#1, Mar 10 2005, 00:16:22)] dev-lang/python: 2.3.5 sys-devel/autoconf: 2.59-r6, 2.13 sys-devel/automake: 1.7.9-r1, 1.8.5-r3, 1.5, 1.4_p6, 1.6.3, 1.9.5 sys-devel/binutils: 2.15.92.0.2-r7 sys-devel/libtool: 1.5.14 virtual/os-headers: 2.6.8.1-r3 ACCEPT_KEYWORDS="amd64 ~amd64" AUTOCLEAN="yes" CFLAGS="-march=athlon64 -O2 -pipe -fomit-frame-pointer" CHOST="x86_64-pc-linux-gnu" CONFIG_PROTECT="/etc /usr/kde/2/share/config /usr/kde/3/share/config /usr/lib/X11/xkb /usr/lib/mozilla/defaults/pref /usr/share/config /usr/share/texmf/dvipdfm/config/ /usr/share/texmf/dvips/config/ /usr/share/texmf/tex/generic/config/ /usr/share/texmf/tex/platex/config/ /usr/share/texmf/xdvi/ /var/bind /var/qmail/control" CONFIG_PROTECT_MASK="/etc/gconf /etc/terminfo /etc/env.d" CXXFLAGS="-march=athlon64 -O2 -pipe -fomit-frame-pointer" DISTDIR="/usr/portage/distfiles" FEATURES="autoaddcvs autoconfig ccache distlocks sandbox" GENTOO_MIRRORS="http://open-systems.ufl.edu/mirrors/gentoo http://mirror.datapipe.net/gentoo" MAKEOPTS="-j2" PKGDIR="/usr/portage/packages" PORTAGE_TMPDIR="/var/tmp" PORTDIR="/usr/portage" SYNC="rsync://rsync.gentoo.org/gentoo-portage" USE="amd64 16bit X aac aalib acpi acpi4linux aim alsa apache2 asm avi bash-completion berkdb bitmap-fonts bluetooth bonobo bzlib cdr crypt cups curl dga divx4linux dvd esd exif fam font-server foomaticdb fortran ftp gd gdbm gif gnome gphoto2 gstreamer gtk gtk2 gtkhtml guile icq imagemagick imlib jabber java jp2 jpeg libwww lzw lzw-tiff maildir mikmod motif mozilla moznocompose moznoirc moznomail mp3 mpeg msn multilib ncurses nls nvidia offensive ogg oggvorbis opengl oss pam pam_console perl png ppds readline sasl sdl ssl tcpd tetex tiff truetype truetype-fonts type1-fonts usb userlocales xml xml2 xmms xpm xrandr xv xvid yahoo zlib" Unset: ASFLAGS, CBUILD, CTARGET, LANG, LC_ALL, LDFLAGS, PORTDIR_OVERLAY
Hi. Aparently, the USE flags I showed were the ones that would be in use if I recompiled (I must have added some of them after I installed). However, it still seems like a bug, as xscreensaver shouldn't try to load a screensaver that's not present. I know it can be disabled one by one in the preferences, but still... if it's random, it should check to see if it's present before trying to execute, shouldn't it?
Do you not demo the screensavers before choosing them?
Yes, of course I do. I don't know if this was the default, but on my setup, some screensavers are selected, others are not. Also, it is set to load a random screensaver. And some of the selected screensavers are not available. This is somehow annoying. A user shouldn't have to go to prefs to make sure all selected screensavers are available. Perhaps, a quick fix would be to check for all available screensavers before making that list, and disabling anything that is not available on the system.
Did you tryed with 4.21 version?
Did you tryed with 4.22 version? :-)
Did you tryed with 4.22-r1 version? :-| (Did you tryed to delete your $HOME/.xscreensaver?)
Yes, upgraded, rm'd ~/.xscreensaver and tried again. There are some screensavers that are greyed on the selection list, however I'm still able to select them. I didn't test random screen savers to see if one of the greyed ones appear, however, in my opinion, the greyed ones shouldn't even be listed. Why list something that's not installed? I can check for it anyway, and will post the result here later. One thing I tested was to select "only one screen saver", and select a greyed one. It still happens: black screen with text saying that the screen saver couldn't be run (No such file or directory). Just to make sure I'm being understood, this is not a problem with no workaround. I can just go there and make sure there aren't any greyed screensavers checked. This is more a usability issue, that should IMHO be fixed (upstream?).
have you tried editing /etc/X11/app-default/XScreenSaver ?
Just had a look there. From what I see, I can remove some of them from the list manually. From the package list, I see it comes with the xscreensaver package. There should be a way to take some of them out. For example, if I compile xscreensaver with -offensive or -opengl, I won't get some of them compiled. Perhaps a small change in the ebuild to take them out should solve this issue.
(In reply to comment #7) > Yes, upgraded, rm'd ~/.xscreensaver and tried again. > There are some screensavers that are greyed on the selection list, however I'm > still able to select them. That's not a bug, it's a feature! > I didn't test random screen savers to see if one of > the greyed ones appear But I did, and they does NOT apper if you dont select them explicitly. If you install one application supported by xscreensaver later, like x11-misc/xmountains and x11-misc/xearth (which are greyed on the list) or reinstall xscreensaver with opengl support, then -if you dont have a previusly configured user config file that overides the default behavior- (thing that appened to you) they will appear selected and non-grayed. > however, in my opinion, the greyed ones shouldn't even > be listed. Why list something that's not installed? Its a behavior that always have been present on xscreensaver. Take it like a reference of what applications (hacks) are supported by xscreensaver and does not come with the xscreensaver distribution and that you can install later (more examples: x11-misc/xaos x11-misc/xsnow x11-misc/xplanet) > I can check for it anyway, and will post the result here later. > One thing I tested was to select "only one screen saver", and select a greyed > one. It still happens: black screen with text saying that the screen saver > couldn't be run (No such file or directory). You are explicitly selecting a non-existent screensaver (and you know it because its greyed), so you are getting the spected result. > Just to make sure I'm being understood, this is not a problem with no > workaround. You are right, yes. It could be a possibility but it adds complexity to other applications (like the mencioned above) because they should edit /etc/X11/app-default/XScreenSaver everytime there are installed/uninstalled, Add a "xscreensaver" USE flag to those packages... etc, etc.. > I can just go there and make sure there aren't any greyed > screensavers checked. > This is more a usability issue, that should IMHO > be fixed (upstream?). * By default there are no greyed checked screen savers. * IMHO I think that this bug was opened by a confusion generated by an old config file and the default xscreensaver's behavior. (see statements on comment #3 and then on comment #7) :-)
see comment #10
