5.2. Setting Screensaver Preferences

Default screensaver preferences are stored in a file that is called XScreenSaver. This file is stored in different locations, depending on the platform, as follows:

Platform

File Location

RedHat Linux

/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/app-defaults/XScreenSaver

Solaris Operating Environment

/usr/openwin/lib/app-defaults/XScreenSaver

To modify screensaver application preferences, users can right-click on the Lock button, then choose Properties. The user can then modify preferences in the XScreenSaver dialog. When a user modifies the screensaver preferences, the preferences are stored in the home directory of the user, in the $HOME/.xscreensaver file. For information on screensaver preferences, see GNOME 2.2 Desktop User Guide.

Users can also run the command /usr/X11R6/bin/xscreensaver-demo to open the XScreenSaver dialog.

To set default screensaver preferences for all users, modify the XScreenSaver file. You can also use the XScreenSaver dialog to create a $HOME/.xscreensaver file, then copy the file to the location of the XScreenSaver file.

To restore the default settings for a user, delete the $HOME/.xscreensaver file from the home directory of the user. If no $HOME/.xscreensaver file is present, the default preferences in the XScreenSaver file are used.

Note

The default display behavior of XScreenSaver is to display a blank screen. The blank screen might confuse users. You might want to change this default display behavior.

To activate changes to the screensaver preferences, use the following command to reload screensaver preferences:

# xscreensaver-command -restart

Note

The xset application does not work with XScreenSaver at the time of publication of this guide. To modify screensaver preferences, modify the XScreenSaver file or the $HOME/.xscreensaver file.