Since Stable update 2025-02-04 screen is locked after some period of inactivity

[nikgnomic]

@jamjar

I don’t need a screensaver and would want to uninstall both xfce4-screensaver and light-locker if that will not cause any problem. Should I uninstall them?

Xfce 4.20 tour - Screen Locking

Lock screen management was massively simplified and “Light Locker” was dropped.
“lock-on-sleep” is now synchronized with xfce4-session and xfce4-screensaver.

Screen locking settings are now only handled by xfce4-screensaver to avoid conflicts.
A button to open xfce4-screensaver-preferences was added:

Arch Linux - light-locker 1.9.0-5 (x86_64)

Last Updated: 2023-05-19 17:03 UTC

[jamjar]

@philm

Simply adjust timing within xfce4-screensaver settings as pointd out already.

Thanks for that.

But on my system, where Power Manager’s Presentation mode is unticked, screen will go into lock in all of the following three scenarios.

1. xfce4-screensaver is not installed.
2. xfce4-screensaver is installed, but both tabs of Screensaver Preferences are turned off (i.e. untick both Screensaver tab’s “Enable Screensaver” and Lock Screen tab’s “Enable Lock Screen”).
3. xfce4-screensaver is installed, and both tabs of Screensaver Preferences are turned on. But on Screensaver tab, untick “Activate screensaver when computer is idle”; also untick on Lock Screen tab “Lock screen with Screensaver” and “Lock screen with System Sleep”.

If Presentation mode is ticked, then screen will not go into lock with 2 above. (I have not tried 1 or 3).

My provisional conclusion is that you have to tick Presentation mode if you don’t want screen lock.

ADDED LATER

After more observation, it appears that ticking Presentation mode must be the last thing you do.

Here are the data.

• After testing 3 above, I reverted to 2 (i.e. turned off both tabs of Screensaver Preferences) and then ticked Presentation mode. After waiting 20 minutes, result was: No lock.
• Then I wondered whether ticking Presentation mode plus 3 would work. So, I switched Screensaver Preferences from 2 to 3. (Notice that Presentation mode is stilled ticked from just above, but it was now no longer the “last thing done.”) Result: Lock.
• So I thought 2 was okay and 3 not okay and reverted to 2. Result: Lock.
• On a hunch, I unticked and reticked Presentation mode. Result: No lock.

We might say that whether you get lock is a path function not state function.

More data.

• I uninstalled xfce4-screensaver and rebooted. Result: No lock.
• I uninstalled light-locker and rebooted. Result: No lock.

Now, no screensaver has the ability to disturb Presentation mode’s “last thing done” status (unless there is a third one I am unaware of).

Still more data.

• After uninstalling both screensavers, untick Presentation mode. Result: No lock!

If you are like me and don’t need a screensaver (my Manjaro runs in a VM), then simply uninstall all screensaving packages and be done.

But I reinstalled xfce4-screensaver.

• Turn off both tabs of Screensaver Preferences: No screensaving, no lock.
• Turn on tabs, but untick “Active screensaver when computer is idle”: No screensaving, no lock.
• Turn on tabs, tick “Active screensaver when computer is idle”, but untick “Lock Screen with Screensaver”: Idling causes screensaving, but screensaving does not cause lock.

Basically, now I am replicating @andreas85 and @philm’s results.

It appears the problem was with light-locker (after the update). When I installed xfce4-screensaver, both screensavers ran and light-locker continued to do what it does.

I wonder if an update could include an uninstall of superseded packages. Of course, some people may not want that.

[Teo]

Me personally i will just stick to what is working (light locker), if i wanted the latest bugs i would be on arch unstable.

Call me when it is patched in a couple of months and i will gladly switch.