<Resolved> Mint 20.2 mate, screen saver not working...

Landon8675309

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I've been having trouble with my screen saver not working for a while, it started back in April and what happens is that when my session times out or I hit CTRL-ALT-L it will immediately start the screen saver until I wiggle the mouse or press a button on the keyboard, but now all that I get is a black screen until I wiggle the mouse or press a key and then the login prompt comes back.

I found this fix: https://github.com/mate-desktop/mate-screensaver/issues/92

Which has you go into the File System and right click on the "etc" folder and choose "Open as Administrator" and put in your password, then open the "xdg" folder, then the "autostart" folder, find the file "mate-screensaver.desktop" and open it with a text editor...

Change "Exec=mate-screensaver" to "Exec=mate-screensaver --display=:0" save the file, log out and then log back in, and it started working again when I hit CTRL-ALT-L.

Several months went by and it stopped working again and went back to just giving me a black screen, I checked the "mate-screensaver.desktop" it still has the entry as: "Exec=mate-screensaver --display=:0"

The ".xsession-errors" file is full of errors regarding this problem and they pop up every time the screen saver goes to a black screen:


(mate-screensaver:1727): GLib-CRITICAL **: 19:09:35.814: Source ID 6862 was not found when attempting to remove it

** (mate-screensaver:1727): CRITICAL **: 19:09:46.509: matemenu_tree_get_root_directory: assertion 'tree->loaded' failed

** (mate-screensaver:1727): CRITICAL **: 19:09:46.742: matemenu_tree_get_root_directory: assertion 'tree->loaded' failed

** (mate-screensaver:1727): CRITICAL **: 19:19:46.743: matemenu_tree_get_root_directory: assertion 'tree->loaded' failed

** (mate-screensaver:1727): CRITICAL **: 19:19:46.743: matemenu_tree_get_root_directory: assertion 'tree->loaded' failed

** (mate-screensaver:1727): CRITICAL **: 19:29:46.774: matemenu_tree_get_root_directory: assertion 'tree->loaded' failed

** (mate-screensaver:1727): CRITICAL **: 19:29:46.774: matemenu_tree_get_root_directory: assertion 'tree->loaded' failed

(mate-power-manager:1725): GLib-CRITICAL **: 19:32:54.609: Source ID 1742 was not found when attempting to remove it


Any help would be appreciated.
 
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G'day Landon8675309, Welcome to Linux.org

Is there any difference in behaviour if the laptop is running on battery power or is connected to the charger ?
 
G'day Landon8675309, Welcome to Linux.org

Is there any difference in behaviour if the laptop is running on battery power or is connected to the charger ?
I guess I should have mentioned it, this is a full sized desktop PC.
 
Well....that blows that theory out of the water !
 
Have a look here
 
In Linux Mint...System Settings...Screensaver and adjust Delay from there. You can set it from...Never to 1 Hour and other things.
happy0021.gif


If you leave the computer the Delay kicks in to what it's set to...this it normal...wiggle the mouse then enter your password returns you to the Desktop...I have no idea how to fix the "fix" you tried as it's not something I'd recommend. :rolleyes:

The above is for Cinnamon 19.1...my mistake.
ashamed0002.gif


I've looked at Mint Mate 21 and if you go to Control Center...Screensaver...and see the options from 1 minute to 2 hours and at the bottom you have Help...so I can't understand why you have a problem.
confused0024.gif
 
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In Linux Mint...System Settings...Screensaver and adjust Delay from there. You can set it from...Never to 1 Hour and other things.
happy0021.gif


If you leave the computer the Delay kicks in to what it's set to...this it normal...wiggle the mouse then enter your password returns you to the Desktop...I have no idea how to fix the "fix" you tried as it's not something I'd recommend. :rolleyes:

The above is for Cinnamon 19.1...my mistake.
ashamed0002.gif


I've looked at Mint Mate 21 and if you go to Control Center...Screensaver...and see the options from 1 minute to 2 hours and at the bottom you have Help...so I can't understand why you have a problem.
confused0024.gif
I have the timeout set for 10 minutes at that point the screen should lock itself and the screen saver should start running, I've tried different screen savers and they all instead of doing what they should do they just go to a black screen and then I get an error in the ".xsession-errors" file that says:

" ** (mate-screensaver:1727): CRITICAL **: 21:20:35.055: matemenu_tree_get_root_directory: assertion 'tree->loaded' failed"

So... it is not working like it is supposed to.

Also... the "Help" section isn't actually "Help" it is just instructions and an overview of how to use the screensaver, however... it does say that there is an option for "Blank Screen" which does just give a black screen, I think due to the error that is showing up in the ".xsession-errors" file that it is defaulting to the "Blank Screen" option for some reason but I don't know why.
 
I don't run Mate...I ran it in Virtualbox from the ISO but didn't install it to get the info on the Screensaver.
ashamed0003.gif
 
After I went to bed last night this thing was trying every ten minutes to go into screen saver mode then eventually gave up, and these errors showed up in ".xsession-errors"...

(mate-screensaver:1727): GLib-CRITICAL **: 23:11:30.207: Source ID 7868 was not found when attempting to remove it

** (mate-screensaver:1727): CRITICAL **: 23:11:46.660: matemenu_tree_get_root_directory: assertion 'tree->loaded' failed

** (mate-screensaver:1727): CRITICAL **: 23:11:46.967: matemenu_tree_get_root_directory: assertion 'tree->loaded' failed

** (mate-screensaver:1727): CRITICAL **: 23:21:46.968: matemenu_tree_get_root_directory: assertion 'tree->loaded' failed

** (mate-screensaver:1727): CRITICAL **: 23:21:46.968: matemenu_tree_get_root_directory: assertion 'tree->loaded' failed

** (mate-screensaver:1727): CRITICAL **: 23:31:47.007: matemenu_tree_get_root_directory: assertion 'tree->loaded' failed

** (mate-screensaver:1727): CRITICAL **: 23:31:47.007: matemenu_tree_get_root_directory: assertion 'tree->loaded' failed
Window manager warning: Log level 16: Visible region is null

** (mate-screensaver:1727): CRITICAL **: 23:41:46.998: matemenu_tree_get_root_directory: assertion 'tree->loaded' failed

** (mate-screensaver:1727): CRITICAL **: 23:41:46.998: matemenu_tree_get_root_directory: assertion 'tree->loaded' failed

** (mate-screensaver:1727): CRITICAL **: 23:51:47.028: matemenu_tree_get_root_directory: assertion 'tree->loaded' failed

** (mate-screensaver:1727): CRITICAL **: 23:51:47.028: matemenu_tree_get_root_directory: assertion 'tree->loaded' failed

** (mate-screensaver:1727): CRITICAL **: 00:01:47.057: matemenu_tree_get_root_directory: assertion 'tree->loaded' failed

** (mate-screensaver:1727): CRITICAL **: 00:01:47.057: matemenu_tree_get_root_directory: assertion 'tree->loaded' failed

(mate-power-manager:1725): GLib-CRITICAL **: 07:10:58.932: Source ID 2316 was not found when attempting to remove it
[/B]

Would upgrading to MATE v1.26 be compatible with 'Mint "Uma" v20.2? Or would I end up badly screwing something up?
 
I ran "mate-screensaver-command --exit" from command line, logged out, logged back in, and it is working again.

I'm not expecting it to stay running though because in about 3-4 days it will probably quit again.
 
It's possible Mate might be the problem or maybe it's not a problem at all...Cinnamon doesn't have Screensavers...only the black screen which shows time and date. :)

Wiggle the mouse...enter password and I'm back at the Desktop. CTRL-ALT-L works the same in Cinnamon too. Anyway screensavers are a thing of the past...unless you're using a CRT Monitor as LED Monitors don't suffer from Burn-in.
happy0035.gif
 
It's possible Mate might be the problem or maybe it's not a problem at all...Cinnamon doesn't have Screensavers...only the black screen which shows time and date. :)

Wiggle the mouse...enter password and I'm back at the Desktop. CTRL-ALT-L works the same in Cinnamon too. Anyway screensavers are a thing of the past...unless you're using a CRT Monitor as LED Monitors don't suffer from Burn-in.
happy0035.gif
I know they are not needed anymore but I like the ambiance they give the room when I'm not at the PC.

I found my answer to whether or not I should update MATE from v1.24 to v1.26 and basically you -can- but don't.
 
Just a heads up.

@Landon8675309 you have had this problem going in one form or another since April and have just re-posted at

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=371743

Good practice is to either close that Thread there, or close the Thread here, or at least let us know that you are working at different venues to solve the problem (understandable).

We can't be expected to be mindreaders, and my crystal ball is in at the shop for maintenance.

Have you considered doing a clean install to LM 21 and seeing if the problem persists?

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz
 
Just a heads up.

@Landon8675309 you have had this problem going in one form or another since April and have just re-posted at

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=371743

Good practice is to either close that Thread there, or close the Thread here, or at least let us know that you are working at different venues to solve the problem (understandable).

We can't be expected to be mindreaders, and my crystal ball is in at the shop for maintenance.

Have you considered doing a clean install to LM 21 and seeing if the problem persists?

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz
I closed out the other one.

Regarding reinstalling... this OS was installed on a brand new harddrive back in November so really I shouldn't be having any problems but none the less I am...

I've been wanting to upgrade to v21 anyway, and I have a work around until I have time to do that (force quitting the screen saver and logging out) so I'm going to close this out as well.

Thanks for the reply. :)
 
Just a heads up.

@Landon8675309 you have had this problem going in one form or another since April and have just re-posted at

https://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?t=371743

Good practice is to either close that Thread there, or close the Thread here, or at least let us know that you are working at different venues to solve the problem (understandable).

We can't be expected to be mindreaders, and my crystal ball is in at the shop for maintenance.

Have you considered doing a clean install to LM 21 and seeing if the problem persists?

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz

Wow you're not the Wizard for nothing.
t2009.gif


OP...You might give Mint Cinnamon 20.3 a try. ;)
 
Have you considered doing a clean install to LM 21 and seeing if the problem persists?

Chris Turner
wizardfromoz
FWIW, I have done a clean install of Mint 21 MATE, and screensaver is not working there either. Not the end of the world, but it is a shame...as it was a part of my Linux experience.

Also it surprises me that there is not much information on the subject...yet anyway.
 
I closed out the other one.

I've been wanting to upgrade to v21 anyway, and I have a work around until I have time to do that (force quitting the screen saver and logging out) so I'm going to close this out as well.
Please don't close it out.
I'm having this same problem on new Mint 21 install, and hoping there will be a proper solution...soon. Not much info out there, that's how I found this thread. It's why I joined.
 
my screensaver works fine, the following are what my screensaver settings show
Screenshot from 2022-11-07 12-32-50.png
Screenshot from 2022-11-07 12-33-10.png
 

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