Xfce Forum

LibreGhost

Member

Registered: 2023-03-14

Posts: 5

Firefox stops the download when using lock screen (Mint XFCE Edition)

Hi before you go off on me, I'm new to XFCE and new to Linux, only been using it for a month, and yes I have been trying to google and look for YouTube videos for the answer, and nowhere is a explanation for it. Also sorry in advance if I posted this in the wrong section. Now to the question I have:

I am currently using Linux Mint XFCE Edition, here's the thing, I want to use screen lock while downloading a file through Firefox, but when ever I do so the download stops (I guess everything comes to a halt?), is there a setting in XFCE which you can set/or change so the download keep working in the background while using the lock screen option?

This never happens in the Cinnamon DE or in the MATE Edition of Mint, there you can start a download in Firefox and lock the screen and the process does not stop. The download will take hours and I'm in need to be able to lock the screen for privacy reasons.

Last edited by LibreGhost (2023-03-14 17:57:42)

bggf1

Member

Registered: 2023-03-16

Posts: 17

Re: Firefox stops the download when using lock screen (Mint XFCE Edition)

Hi there,

When you say everything comes to a halt, did you check the Settings -> Power Management settings?

If that is not the problem:

If you have a URL, what about downloading on the command line with wget:

wget URL

I'm not sure anymore if wget is there by default or you have to download it with synaptic, but it is very often used. (wget or curl, but are pretty similar..)
to see if that works, or install another browser

to see if it Firefox related or GUI related

LibreGhost

Member

Registered: 2023-03-14

Posts: 5

Re: Firefox stops the download when using lock screen (Mint XFCE Edition)

Hi there,

When you say everything comes to a halt, did you check the Settings -> Power Management settings?

If that is not the problem:

If you have a URL, what about downloading on the command line with wget:

wget URL

I'm not sure anymore if wget is there by default or you have to download it with synaptic, but it is very often used. (wget or curl, but are pretty similar..)
to see if that works, or install another browser

to see if it Firefox related or GUI related

Right, but this says nothing to me (as a newbie to XFCE): https://docs.xfce.org/xfce/xfce4-power- … es#general nowhere does it say anything about keeping my computer running and not stopping tasks in the background while using lock screen. What should it be set to if so? Using wget will not work because you need to verify yourself on the site I'm trying to download the file from.

bggf1

Member

Registered: 2023-03-16

Posts: 17

Re: Firefox stops the download when using lock screen (Mint XFCE Edition)

I was just wondering if under your power manager -> system tab you had any "after x minutes..suspend" command or if everything was "do nothing."

I do not have any hour long download to replicate this, but for smaller files of a few GB locking the screen still downloads the file for me.

When does this happen, directly after locking the screen or a few minutes in?

If you open a terminal and start a command like

while true;do date;sleep 1m;done >> ~/timetext.txt

it will add a time entry every minute to this file and you can see if

it stop after a few minutes,
immedeately after locking the screen
or does it work all the time and only the download stops

I don't have a screensaver installed myself, but they also can suspend the computer if you have one installed.

https://docs.xfce.org/apps/screensaver/ … stallation

mint4all

Member

From: off the map

Registered: 2018-08-21

Posts: 276

Re: Firefox stops the download when using lock screen (Mint XFCE Edition)

... I am currently using Linux Mint XFCE Edition, here's the thing, I want to use screen lock while downloading a file through Firefox, but when ever I do so the download stops (I guess everything comes to a halt?), is there a setting in XFCE which you can set/or change so the download keep working in the background while using the lock screen option? ...

Just to get an idea what your setup looks like, could you please indicate the version of Mint + FF + network connection (wired vs wifi) you're using? Also from the FF download popup, if your long-ish download "failed" or was "paused". Thanks.

Cheers, m4a

---

Linux Mint 21.3 -- xfce 4.18 ... Apple iMAC -- Lenovo, Dell, HP Desktops and Laptops -- Family & Community Support

LibreGhost

Member

Registered: 2023-03-14

Posts: 5

Re: Firefox stops the download when using lock screen (Mint XFCE Edition)

I was just wondering if under your power manager -> system tab you had any "after x minutes..suspend" command or if everything was "do nothing."

I do not have any hour long download to replicate this, but for smaller files of a few GB locking the screen still downloads the file for me.

When does this happen, directly after locking the screen or a few minutes in?

If you open a terminal and start a command like

while true;do date;sleep 1m;done >> ~/timetext.txt

it will add a time entry every minute to this file and you can see if

it stop after a few minutes,
immedeately after locking the screen
or does it work all the time and only the download stops

I don't have a screensaver installed myself, but they also can suspend the computer if you have one installed.

https://docs.xfce.org/apps/screensaver/ … stallation

I have not changed anything within the power settings, figured it would be like it is in Cinnamon/MATE. Yes, same second as I lock the screen (immediately), and then when I'll login the download in Firefox has stopped.

LibreGhost

Member

Registered: 2023-03-14

Posts: 5

Re: Firefox stops the download when using lock screen (Mint XFCE Edition)

... I am currently using Linux Mint XFCE Edition, here's the thing, I want to use screen lock while downloading a file through Firefox, but when ever I do so the download stops (I guess everything comes to a halt?), is there a setting in XFCE which you can set/or change so the download keep working in the background while using the lock screen option? ...

Just to get an idea what your setup looks like, could you please indicate the version of Mint + FF + network connection (wired vs wifi) you're using? Also from the FF download popup, if your long-ish download "failed" or was "paused". Thanks.

Cheers, m4a

It is Mint 21.1, the latest version. Wired connection, everything is set to "do nothing", and have not changed anything since I'll installed Mint XFCE so should be the default power settings, like I wrote earlier this never happens in Mint Cinnamon/MATE. It says "failed".

Last edited by LibreGhost (2023-03-21 19:28:20)

mint4all

Member

From: off the map

Registered: 2018-08-21

Posts: 276

Re: Firefox stops the download when using lock screen (Mint XFCE Edition)

Thanks for clarifying your setup. Since you are using a wired network connection (eth I assume) which ordinarly is extremely reliable, FF logging a "failed" download would suggest that your download connection/session to the server is being dropped upon "locking" your xfce-session (Note: I often observe this error on a flaky wifi setup/environment).

That would indicate, imho, that Mint's default XFCE4-configuration for screen locking ("xflock4") drops your network connection. Because xflock4 (a shell script) is not being used by either Cinnamon or Mate, that would confirm my view ... Evidently, you're not alone with this problem as you can see from the r/MX-Linux forum post @ https://www.reddit.com/r/MXLinux/commen … is_locked/

Perhaps the workaround mentioned in THAT post might work for you? Alas, I have no test setup that I could use to work this out for you, but you could give a try as long as you don't mind that xfce's screensaver kicks in instead of the xflock4 script.

Cheers, m4a

---

Linux Mint 21.3 -- xfce 4.18 ... Apple iMAC -- Lenovo, Dell, HP Desktops and Laptops -- Family & Community Support

bggf1

Member

Registered: 2023-03-16

Posts: 17

Re: Firefox stops the download when using lock screen (Mint XFCE Edition)

Hi MintAll,

Thanks for that information, I did not know that this script was used when clicking on the lock screen button!
I gave a look a the script. It loops through some xscreensavers in the below order and the first one that fits locks the screen.
For me the first of these commands that works is light-locker-command and that is what I get.
The guy in the discussion you mention probably has installed "xscreensaver" as solution.

------------------------------------script
# First test for the command set in the session's xfconf channel
LOCK_CMD=$(xfconf-query -c xfce4-session -p /general/LockCommand)

# Lock by xscreensaver or gnome-screensaver, if a respective daemon is running
for lock_cmd in \
    "$LOCK_CMD" \
    "xfce4-screensaver-command --lock" \
    "xscreensaver-command -lock" \
    "light-locker-command --lock" \
    "gnome-screensaver-command --lock" \
    "mate-screensaver-command --lock"
do
------------------------------------

@LibreGhost:
If you choose to use "xscreensaver" as suggestion you can install it from synaptic.
The installation program may do the setup, but if you need to do that manually, or change your mind about the current active screensaver you can configure it:
Applications -> Settings -> Settings Editor-> xfce-session -> general -> lock command.
You can put the command in there, as shown in the script snippet above.
(The line in the script: LOCK_CMD=$(xfconf-query -c xfce4-session -p /general/LockCommand) will select that entry as first option.

Mmmhhh, If you had told me that the computer still downloads for some time after the screenlock is activated and stops after some minutes  of inactivity I would have tipped at a the hardware:

Some computers are "smart" and will not just shut down the screen after some inactivity, but also put other devices like disk, wifi etc. in saving mode.
This should not stop network activity completely, but could cause issues. but if it stops immediatly it must be something else

LibreGhost

Member

Registered: 2023-03-14

Posts: 5

Re: Firefox stops the download when using lock screen (Mint XFCE Edition)

Thanks for clarifying your setup. Since you are using a wired network connection (eth I assume) which ordinarly is extremely reliable, FF logging a "failed" download would suggest that your download connection/session to the server is being dropped upon "locking" your xfce-session (Note: I often observe this error on a flaky wifi setup/environment).

That would indicate, imho, that Mint's default XFCE4-configuration for screen locking ("xflock4") drops your network connection. Because xflock4 (a shell script) is not being used by either Cinnamon or Mate, that would confirm my view ... Evidently, you're not alone with this problem as you can see from the r/MX-Linux forum post @ https://www.reddit.com/r/MXLinux/commen … is_locked/

Perhaps the workaround mentioned in THAT post might work for you? Alas, I have no test setup that I could use to work this out for you, but you could give a try as long as you don't mind that xfce's screensaver kicks in instead of the xflock4 script.

Cheers, m4a

You might have figured out the issue, it has to be something with "xflock4". I'm not that conformable yet to screw around with that as of now, still a newbie, also right now I am using Mint MATE instead, since it works just fine in that DE, really wish I wouldn't have such a minor issue/reason to stop using XFCE, really needed something more lightweight, MATE will do for now.

Shouldn't this be some good feedback to the devs of XFCE? Anyway I'll be keeping an eye on this thread and see if more solutions come up. Thanks for looking into this!

Last edited by LibreGhost (2023-03-23 04:21:39)

kjm

Member

Registered: 2024-06-24

Posts: 1

Re: Firefox stops the download when using lock screen (Mint XFCE Edition)

Hello,
I think I found something that might be useful to some people. Config: Debian 12 XFCE, I guess this is common to other XFCE distributions.
In the settings editor, I found in "xfce4-power-manager" canal, a "lock-screen-suspend-hibernate" boolean setting, set to TRUE by default. I set it to FALSE.
Now it behaves like I wanted to. Firefox doesn't stop a long download when I lock the screen.
Note that it will not prevent from suspending/hibernate according to the corresponding settings. I set to never when plugged.