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#1 2019-08-20 18:51:32

photor
Member
Registered: 2015-04-16
Posts: 12

Screensaver issue with XFCE 4.14

Hello Forum,

I run XFCE on Archlinux and I am quite happy with (I'm a Gnome refugee).

As this is a rolling release the new XFCE 4.14 came in the last days. Since then I observe some issue with screensaver and screen locking:
If I unlock the screen after suspend or hibernate (usually tested by hand a.t.m.) I observe, that the screen goes black again 5 minutes after unlocking the screen - even though I am working (so, it cannot be that the screen blanks due to inactivity). This behavior is new since 4.14; never observed before.

My question, has any one else observed such behavior, or is it something special here?

I have the feeling(!) that the powersave-settings and screensaver settings are interfering (maybe also with systemd settings) - but i don't know where to start searching/testing. So, I ask for some help here. If you need more information about installed packages or settings, I can provide of course.

Thanks,
Photor

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#2 2019-08-20 21:58:13

ToZ
Administrator
From: Canada
Registered: 2011-06-02
Posts: 10,949

Re: Screensaver issue with XFCE 4.14

Hello and welcome.

Which screensaver are you using?
What does the following return?

ps -ef | grep -E 'screen|lock'

Also, can you post back your current power manager settings?

xfconf-query -c xfce4-power-manager -lv

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#3 2019-08-21 15:05:48

photor
Member
Registered: 2015-04-16
Posts: 12

Re: Screensaver issue with XFCE 4.14

Hello ToZ,

here the output of the commands:

[photor@Picard ~]$ ps -ef | grep -E 'screen|lock'
root         6     2  0 16:15 ?        00:00:00 [kworker/0:0H-kblockd]
root        23     2  0 16:15 ?        00:00:00 [kworker/1:0H-kblockd]
root        30     2  0 16:15 ?        00:00:00 [kworker/2:0H-kblockd]
root        37     2  0 16:15 ?        00:00:00 [kworker/3:0H-kblockd]
root       139     2  0 16:15 ?        00:00:00 [kblockd]
root       266     2  0 16:15 ?        00:00:00 [kworker/3:1H-kblockd]
root       276     2  0 16:15 ?        00:00:00 [kworker/1:1H-kblockd]
root       278     2  0 16:15 ?        00:00:00 [kworker/2:1H-kblockd]
photor    1473  1272  0 16:15 ?        00:00:00 xfce4-screensaver
photor    1487  1272  0 16:15 ?        00:00:00 light-locker
photor    3065  3057  0 16:54 pts/0    00:00:00 grep -E screen|lock
[photor@Picard ~]$ xfconf-query -c xfce4-power-manager -lv
/xfce4-power-manager/blank-on-ac                        4
/xfce4-power-manager/blank-on-battery                   2
/xfce4-power-manager/brightness-level-on-ac             60
/xfce4-power-manager/brightness-level-on-battery        20
/xfce4-power-manager/brightness-on-ac                   120
/xfce4-power-manager/brightness-on-battery              20
/xfce4-power-manager/brightness-switch                  0
/xfce4-power-manager/brightness-switch-restore-on-exit  0
/xfce4-power-manager/critical-power-action              1
/xfce4-power-manager/critical-power-level               15
/xfce4-power-manager/dpms-enabled                       true
/xfce4-power-manager/dpms-on-ac-off                     14
/xfce4-power-manager/dpms-on-ac-sleep                   8
/xfce4-power-manager/dpms-on-battery-off                7
/xfce4-power-manager/dpms-on-battery-sleep              4
/xfce4-power-manager/general-notification               true
/xfce4-power-manager/handle-brightness-keys             true
/xfce4-power-manager/hibernate-button-action            2
/xfce4-power-manager/inactivity-on-ac                   60
/xfce4-power-manager/inactivity-on-battery              15
/xfce4-power-manager/inactivity-sleep-mode-on-battery   1
/xfce4-power-manager/lid-action-on-ac                   1
/xfce4-power-manager/lid-action-on-battery              2
/xfce4-power-manager/lock-screen-suspend-hibernate      true
/xfce4-power-manager/logind-handle-lid-switch           true
/xfce4-power-manager/power-button-action                3
/xfce4-power-manager/presentation-mode                  false
/xfce4-power-manager/show-panel-label                   1
/xfce4-power-manager/show-tray-icon                     false
/xfce4-power-manager/sleep-button-action                1
[photor@Picard ~]$ 

All parameters are set in normal GUI-interface for power saving and screen lock of XFCE-settings dialog.

I just realized following (on AC-power):

  • Laptop blanks screen after about 5 minutes (streaming music is going on in the background];

  • streaming stops after 25 minutes (power button blinking); I thought this is suspend mode, but laptop wakes up with moving the mouse

  • and wants screen-unlock password (streaming for 2 seconds wink )- and directly after that - wants unlock screen password again.

all in all a strange behavior and I would like to find out, what is going wrong.

Thank you for your help,

Ciao,
Photor

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#4 2019-08-21 15:11:09

ToZ
Administrator
From: Canada
Registered: 2011-06-02
Posts: 10,949

Re: Screensaver issue with XFCE 4.14

photor    1473  1272  0 16:15 ?        00:00:00 xfce4-screensaver
photor    1487  1272  0 16:15 ?        00:00:00 light-locker

You have two screen lockers installed and running together. They are probably interfering with each other. Try disabling one to see if the problem goes away.


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#5 2019-08-21 15:16:31

photor
Member
Registered: 2015-04-16
Posts: 12

Re: Screensaver issue with XFCE 4.14

Hello ToZ,

Thank you for the fast answer. That was my impression, so, I just killed xfce4-screensaver:

 photor@Picard ~]$ ps -ef | grep -E 'screen|lock'
[...]
photor    1487  1272  0 16:15 ?        00:00:00 light-locker
photor    3420  3057  0 17:12 pts/0    00:00:00 grep -E screen|lock

(I killed the process and I disabled in Settings-GUI). So, let's see, what happens - I may come back in about an hour wink

Ciao,
Photor

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#6 2019-08-22 14:24:58

photor
Member
Registered: 2015-04-16
Posts: 12

Re: Screensaver issue with XFCE 4.14

Hm. Does not seem to work. Screen does not behave as expected/specified in the power-manager: no screen blanking after 2 minutes on battery. Same with the other settings. That remains after reboot.

Any additional information to provide? Or something else to test?

I would like the screen to blank after a certain time (with locking) and the laptop to go to suspend after a longer time.

Ciao,
Photor

PS: how do I set XFCE-GUI to English? Then I can post a screenshot if necessary (now it is in German).

Last edited by photor (2019-08-22 14:31:27)

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#7 2019-08-22 14:51:21

ToZ
Administrator
From: Canada
Registered: 2011-06-02
Posts: 10,949

Re: Screensaver issue with XFCE 4.14

Maybe lets get updated information to move forward.

- Which screen locker are you using now?
- Can you post back one more time the output of:

xfconf-query -c xfce4-power-manager -lv

Can you also provide some debug information. First:

xfce4-power-manager --dump

...then:

xfce4-power-manager -q
xfce4-power-manager --no-daemon --debug

...and let the system time out. Post back what gets displayed in the terminal window.

PS: how do I set XFCE-GUI to English? Then I can post a screenshot if necessary (now it is in German).

Try running the settings manager manually from the terminal window using "LC_ALL=C". For example:

LC_ALL=C xfce4-settings-manager

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#8 2019-08-24 12:22:13

photor
Member
Registered: 2015-04-16
Posts: 12

Re: Screensaver issue with XFCE 4.14

Hello,

Sorry for being back so late. Didn't find time in between.
Remark: there was an update of [2019-08-22 16:27] [ALPM] upgraded xfce4-settings (4.14.0-2 -> 4.14.1-1) in between on arch daily update. So, maybe the situation is a little bit different now.

In fact the screen is now blanking after 5 minutes and it is locked (which is good for my personal paranoia wink) So, it looks like it is working better now, but testing goes on.

Anyway, here is the output:

photor@Picard ~]$ xfconf-query -c xfce4-power-manager -lv
/xfce4-power-manager/blank-on-ac                        4
/xfce4-power-manager/blank-on-battery                   2
/xfce4-power-manager/brightness-level-on-ac             60
/xfce4-power-manager/brightness-level-on-battery        20
/xfce4-power-manager/brightness-on-ac                   120
/xfce4-power-manager/brightness-on-battery              20
/xfce4-power-manager/brightness-switch                  0
/xfce4-power-manager/brightness-switch-restore-on-exit  0
/xfce4-power-manager/critical-power-action              1
/xfce4-power-manager/critical-power-level               15
/xfce4-power-manager/dpms-enabled                       true
/xfce4-power-manager/dpms-on-ac-off                     14
/xfce4-power-manager/dpms-on-ac-sleep                   8
/xfce4-power-manager/dpms-on-battery-off                7
/xfce4-power-manager/dpms-on-battery-sleep              6
/xfce4-power-manager/general-notification               true
/xfce4-power-manager/handle-brightness-keys             true
/xfce4-power-manager/hibernate-button-action            2
/xfce4-power-manager/inactivity-on-ac                   30
/xfce4-power-manager/inactivity-on-battery              15
/xfce4-power-manager/inactivity-sleep-mode-on-battery   1
/xfce4-power-manager/lid-action-on-ac                   1
/xfce4-power-manager/lid-action-on-battery              2
/xfce4-power-manager/lock-screen-suspend-hibernate      true
/xfce4-power-manager/logind-handle-lid-switch           true
/xfce4-power-manager/power-button-action                3
/xfce4-power-manager/presentation-mode                  false
/xfce4-power-manager/show-panel-label                   1
/xfce4-power-manager/show-tray-icon                     false
/xfce4-power-manager/sleep-button-action                1
[photor@Picard ~]$ 
[photor@Picard ~]$ LC_ALL=C xfce4-power-manager --dump
---------------------------------------------------
       Xfce power manager version 1.6.5
With policykit support
Without network manager support
---------------------------------------------------
Can suspend: True
Can hibernate: True
Authorized to suspend: True
Authorized to hibernate: True
Authorized to shutdown: True
Has battery: True
Has brightness panel: True
Has power button: True
Has hibernate button: True
Has sleep button: True
Has battery button: True
Has LID: True
[photor@Picard ~]$ 

The debug output will come later if needed (or wanted for further debugging) of course.

BTW: when starting the settings manager (to create screenshots of my settings) I saw the following; maybe it is relevant:

[photor@Picard ~]$ LC_ALL=C xfce4-settings-manager
(xfce4-settings-manager:3930): IBUS-WARNING **: 13:33:58.172: Unable to connect to ibus: Could not connect: Connection refused
(xfce4-power-manager-settings:3938): IBUS-WARNING **: 13:34:22.567: Unable to connect to ibus: Could not connect: Connection refused

If the screenshots will help I can post them, of course.

Thanks for helping.

Ciao,
Photor

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#9 2019-08-24 12:28:51

ToZ
Administrator
From: Canada
Registered: 2011-06-02
Posts: 10,949

Re: Screensaver issue with XFCE 4.14

photor wrote:

In fact the screen is now blanking after 5 minutes and it is locked (which is good for my personal paranoia wink) So, it looks like it is working better now, but testing goes on.

This is good. Which screen locker are have you settled on?


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#10 2019-08-24 18:41:35

photor
Member
Registered: 2015-04-16
Posts: 12

Re: Screensaver issue with XFCE 4.14

Hello,

believe me or not: both were running - like at the beginning when I started to ask.

photor    1494  1341  0 20:31 ?        00:00:00 xfce4-screensaver
photor    1513  1341  0 20:31 ?        00:00:00 light-locker
photor    2158  2149  0 20:32 pts/0    00:00:00 grep -E screen|lock

I am now experimenting - but why? A.t.m. it does what I want - more or less. (BUT: I want to know the reason - maybe I come back with more questions)

PS: it now runs as expected. So, it looks like it was just a short time issue in Archlinux. Solved - except ... 

PS2: is there a tool/possibility to disable screensaver e.g. during streaming or video (I think Gnome had an extension for this).

Thank you.

Ciao,
Photor

Last edited by photor (2019-08-25 10:19:33)

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#11 2019-10-20 10:37:14

pwolk
Member
Registered: 2019-10-20
Posts: 1

Re: Screensaver issue with XFCE 4.14

I have the same problem in OpenBSD 6.6. Uninstalling xscreensaver resolved the problem for now.

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#12 2020-09-03 04:41:16

dodecahedron
Member
Registered: 2020-09-03
Posts: 2

Re: Screensaver issue with XFCE 4.14

Having this issue on Debian testing.
I don't have a solution, but I tried plugging in an external monitor through HDMI. It lit up. In the "Display" application I was able to see that my laptop's display was disabled for some reason. I was able to re-enable it and unplug the external monitor.

How does one enable the main display prom CLI?

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#13 2020-09-03 11:26:04

ToZ
Administrator
From: Canada
Registered: 2011-06-02
Posts: 10,949

Re: Screensaver issue with XFCE 4.14

dodecahedron wrote:

How does one enable the main display prom CLI?

You can use xrandr. Something like:

xrandr --output DISPLAY --auto

...where DISPLAY is the name of your display as recognized by just running "xrandr".


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#14 2020-09-04 01:57:11

dodecahedron
Member
Registered: 2020-09-03
Posts: 2

Re: Screensaver issue with XFCE 4.14

ToZ wrote:

You can use xrandr. Something like:

xrandr --output DISPLAY --auto

...where DISPLAY is the name of your display as recognized by just running "xrandr".

Thanks.I will give that a try next time it happens.

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