How can I change the background of the logon screen please?

beng · 2016-03-04 14:05:14

Hi
Can someone please explain how I could change the background of the logon screen (make it a bit more "funky" than the default one)?
Thanks
Beng

pvsage · 2016-03-04 14:14:21

sudo update-alternatives --config desktop-background

EDIT: More info on LightDM configs: https://wiki.debian.org/LightDM

Last edited by pvsage (2016-03-04 14:20:36)

beng · 2016-03-04 14:44:01

Hi pvsage
Thank you (couldn't remember the name of the logon manager).

KrunchTime · 2016-03-05 02:21:24

You can also change the background by editing /etc/lightdm/lightdm-gtk-greater.conf with your editor of choice as superuser. Navigate to the line starting with background= and replace the existing image path with the path to your preferred image. Save changes and reboot. I recommend commenting out the existing background= line in case you make a mistake and for reference purposes. I'm not sure if future bunsen updates will overwrite your changes, though.

johnraff · 2016-03-05 03:19:05

KrunchTime wrote:

You can also change the background by editing /etc/lightdm/lightdm-gtk-greater.conf with your editor of choice as superuser....I'm not sure if future bunsen updates will overwrite your changes, though.

They will, unfortunately. The package which manages that file is bunsen-configs. I'm not sure if there's anything you can do about that without breaking something during (un)installations/upgrades.

pvsage · 2016-03-05 07:52:57

@OP: My apologies for my initial post; I should have checked in BunsenLabs to see if it worked here. I'd forgotten that BL Hydrogen ships with a hard-coded lightdm config and without desktop-base installed.

Sector11 · 2016-03-05 12:49:42

So does this mean there is no way for a user to have their choice respected through an (un)installation/upgrade?

spacex · 2016-03-05 14:26:15

Or to make it easy and accesible for the future, you could do as me,
and add this to the system section in menu.xml:

<item label="LightDM Greeter">
	<action name="Execute">
		<command>
			gksudo geany /etc/lightdm/lightdm-gtk-greeter.conf
		</command>
	</action>
</item>

Obviously, you can change the label to "Login-screen", or whatever you want.

damo · 2016-03-05 14:36:05

^ That action is already there with "Menu -> System -> Login Settings"

KrunchTime · 2016-03-05 17:38:54

^For those using the stock BL menu. Mine is customized for my desires.

johnraff · 2016-03-06 03:11:33

Sector11 wrote:

So does this mean there is no way for a user to have their choice respected through an (un)installation/upgrade?

I think not, at the moment, unfortunately.

Without the bunsen modification, system admins would be able to edit /etc/lightdm/lightdm-gtk-greeter.conf, and, if an upgrade to LightDM wanted to overwrite it, dpkg would issue one of those "...has been modified... would you like to keep/overwrite..." dialogues. However bunsen-configs is replacing (using dpkg-divert) that file with a symlink to lightdm-gtk-greeter.conf.bunsen which applies the BunsenLabs login background image. It needs testing, but I suspect that dpkg diversion might prevent that config-file-modification check from working during an upgrade of bunsen-configs, so the file might get overwritten back to the default BunsenLabs login background.

Agreed, though, this is something we should enable if at all possible.

At first it looked as if installing desktop-base might be the easiest way forward (though it's a 13MB install, mostly consisting of wallpapers no-one wants). Unfortunately, the Debian wiki is wrong in saying that the default LightDM background image points to /usr/share/images/desktop-base/desktop-background, it's now /usr/share/images/desktop-base/login-background.svg. While desktop-background is a Debian alternative, there is no desktop-login-background alternative.

Maybe we have these two choices:
1) Point our login background image to one of the existing Debian desktop-* alternatives, ie desktop-background or desktop-splash, and set that alternative to our BL image. We already do this with desktop-grub and it works even without the package desktop-base installed.

2) Create a new Debian alternative bl-login-background and use that. This is already working with bl-file-manager etc.

Sector11 · 2016-03-06 16:24:04

KrunchTime wrote:

^For those using the stock BL menu. Mine is customized for my desires.

+1

Although I have recreated the "BL Default" as a submenu in case I want/can help someone. Damo and HoaS usually beat me to the punch and with better answers though.*

* Sector11 Usefulness Level = trap door + lifeboat
... or since I type at the speed of a tortoise walking up hill on ice...
Sector11 Usefulness Level = mudguards + tortoise

spacex · 2016-03-07 00:37:53

damo wrote:

^ That action is already there with "Menu -> System -> Login Settings"

Ok, sorry. I wasn't in Bunsen when I answered this. I just assumed it wasn't there, since he asked about it

#1 2016-03-04 14:05:14

How can I change the background of the logon screen please?

#2 2016-03-04 14:14:21

Re: How can I change the background of the logon screen please?

#3 2016-03-04 14:44:01

Re: How can I change the background of the logon screen please?

#4 2016-03-05 02:21:24

Re: How can I change the background of the logon screen please?

#5 2016-03-05 03:19:05

Re: How can I change the background of the logon screen please?

#6 2016-03-05 07:52:57

Re: How can I change the background of the logon screen please?

#7 2016-03-05 12:49:42

Re: How can I change the background of the logon screen please?

#8 2016-03-05 14:26:15

Re: How can I change the background of the logon screen please?

#9 2016-03-05 14:36:05

Re: How can I change the background of the logon screen please?

#10 2016-03-05 17:38:54

Re: How can I change the background of the logon screen please?

#11 2016-03-06 03:11:33

Re: How can I change the background of the logon screen please?

#12 2016-03-06 16:24:04

Re: How can I change the background of the logon screen please?

#13 2016-03-07 00:37:53

Re: How can I change the background of the logon screen please?

Board footer