How To Add Screensavers To Ubuntu 12.04

Brian asks: Can you please tell me how to add screensavers to Ubuntu 12.04? I just get a black screen which is kinda very boring.

There are no screensavers shipped with Ubuntu 12.04. All you get is a black screen that appears when the system is idle. If you had screensavers then you can easily swap between native gnome-screensaver for Xscreensaver.

Ubuntu 11.10 was the first version where screensavers were removed. The change was made since GNOME developers thought that a black screen is optimal for putting your monitor into low-power. Now since for some people like Brian, it looks boring, we will today tell you how to add screensavers to Ubuntu 12.04.

Install XScreenSaver in Ubuntu 12.04

To install screensaver in Unbuntu 12.04 just follow the below mentioned processes:

  • First of all open terminal from Ubuntu’s Dash.
Open terminal in Ubuntu 12.04
  • Run the following command to first uninstall gnome-screensaver.

Sudo apt-get remove gnome -screensaver

  • Now install XScreenSaver and additional screensaver packages using the following command
Install xscreensaver in ubuntu 12.04 using the mentioned command

Sudo apt-get install xscreensaver xscreensaver-data-extra xscreensaver-gl-extra

Configure Screensaver in Ubuntu 12.04

  • Once the installation of XScreenSaver is over, search for screensaver in the Dash. Launch the screensaver utility and configure XScreenSaver. Select your screensaver settings as per your choice.
Launch Screensaver once xscreensaver is Installed in Ubuntu 12.04
  • Once the screensaver utility is started, it will prompt you to stop the native gnome-screensaver process and launch the xscreensaver in the background process.
  • XScreenSaver, by default will choose any random screensaver whenever it will start. You can also specify the screensavers to choose from by enabling “only one screensaver” mode. After enabling this, it will always use your favourite screensaver.
Select screensavers from Screensaver preferences window in Ubuntu 12.04
  • You will get certain options to tweak screensavers of XScreenSaver by clicking the settings button.
Tweak individual screensaver by using your custom settings in Ubuntu 12.04

So this is how you can add screensaver to Ubuntu 12.04. There are more tips which we will be giving in our upcoming posts related to screensavers in Ubuntu, so stay tuned. :)

About the author

Rockin Satyesh is founder and editor-in-chief of iTechMag. He prides himself in testing web & mobile apps. Satyesh is into web research and strategy development from past 5 years. He can be found on Facebook, Google and microblogs on Twitter as @rockinfuture

Tagged as: Ubuntu

Tags:

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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

alex June 1, 2012 at 1:11 pm

thank you

Rockin June 14, 2012 at 5:31 am

Your most welcome Alex.. :)

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