screensaver without changing the screen
Forum: X and Fluxbox
Topic: screensaver without changing the screen
started by: robc
Posted by robc on July 16 2007,19:43
I want to be able to use a screensaver, like xscreensaver, that requires a password to get out of it but I don't want it to change the screen. I want to be able to see what the computer is doing but not have the function of the mouse/keyboard unless I type in a password.I'm not sure if this is the right place to put this thread but what I am looking for is similar to a screensaver.
Does anyone have any ideas on how to do this or know of any commands or programs that have this ability?
Posted by curaga on July 17 2007,08:23
Well, there is one for console, vlock, but you seem to want one for X..
Posted by ^thehatsrule^ on July 17 2007,15:06
| Quote |
| I want to be able to see what the computer is doing but not have the function of the mouse/keyboard unless I type in a password. |
Anyways, there's xscreensaver (as you mentioned).. and xlock..
I'm not too sure what you're looking for.
Posted by robc on July 17 2007,19:57
| Quote |
| Wouldn't that... not work? |
lol....you have a point there
I guess I should be more thorough in my explanation:
When this program is running, all mouse and keyboard events will not be recognized by any programs besides itself. Once an event is generated then a window will pop up prompting to enter a password and mouse/keyboard functions will still only be available to itself. If a password is not entered in a certain amount of time then the window will close and go back to where it started (where this explanation started). If a password is entered then the window will close and the mouse/keyboard are free to use normally. After another certain (different?) amount of time where no mouse/keyboard events were produced then it returns to the state at the beginning of this explanation.
basically its just a locker for x
Huh, after explaining it that way I may be able to just write a script file to do this??
anyway, i looked into xscreensaver and xlock, but couldnt figure out a way for them not to either run a screensaver or turn the screen blank.
Posted by ^thehatsrule^ on July 18 2007,00:10
Perhaps asking in xscreensaver or related sites might yield better results?Afaik xscreensaver draws a virtual root window over everything... maybe there is a hack to mirror the actual desktop. Do you have a specific thing you want to view? Or you could set it up to take timed screenshots of your current desktop... (not sure about video).
Posted by lucky13 on July 18 2007,08:50
| Quote |
| i looked into xscreensaver and xlock, but couldnt figure out a way for them not to either run a screensaver or turn the screen blank. |
I don't remember which screensavers are included in the MyDSL extension for xscreensaver, but I seem to recall one of them being a static desktop (I do recall versions that warp the desktop, etc.). You might want to download it and go through the choices yourself and see if there's one you can live with. The thing about xscreensaver is that it is NOT a lock -- ctrl-alt-backspace kills X and it doesn't require a password to startx again.
Posted by william99 on July 25 2007,11:14
for ctrl alt bs can i use option dont zap to disable alt ctrl bs ?
Posted by curaga on July 25 2007,11:22
for full X, yes..
Posted by robc on Aug. 16 2007,17:52
So after searching off and on here and there I came across an X locker by the name of xtrlock. It does exactly what I am looking for in this post though it does not monitor the keyboard/mouse, to do that xautolock was also included. So I added these 2 packages and played around a little bit until I got it to work the way I wanted it to.Thanks for the tips and suggestions
I hope someone will find this post useful
